God Has Sent You An Invitation
(China Sermon 1)
The God of heaven, maker of this universe, and all things seen and unseen, has made good on his promise to reach out to all peoples and give them a chance at seeking redemption.
There was a time when it seemed that God would restrict his grace, and his mercies, to his chosen people, the people of ancient Israel, because of a man called Abraham.
Now the patriarch Abraham was special. At a time when the world was deeply into idolatry and waywardness this man Abraham decided that he would seek God and do his bidding. This was around 2000 BC, during China’s Xia dynasty that was established by Yu the Great, and Abraham left his home and his kindred, and followed the path God chose for him that eventually
…show more content…
One of these promises was that Abraham’s descendants would be blessed and through them the whole world would be blessed.
The God of heaven does not lie, unlike people, God always keeps his promises. It took about 2000 years, during the Han Dynasty, that Abraham’s descendants, the nation of Israel, produced the Messiah we call Jesus Christ.
The world from its creation had gone astray, it had turned wretched and wickedness was everywhere predominant. Even your own great Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher Confucius experienced, first hand, this wickedness; causing him to resign his post in the state of Lu and going into temporary exile, before returning home, after he was invited to do so by Ji Kangzi, the chief minister of Lu.
The world continued to explode in wickedness, and a tipping point was reached, when something dramatic had to be done or else all humanity could have been lost.
It was at this juncture that God intervened, and did something miraculous and timely. The Christians’ Holy Bible puts it like
…show more content…
In order to bring salvation to all humanity, Jesus Christ had to go through a process that at times was very painful, but he did not hesitate.
He had an earthly ministry that lasted all his life until he died at about 33 years.
He died by crucifixion, by wicked people who turned their backs on God.
But because God had sent him, and it was his shed blood on Calvary’s cross that was the means of our salvation, God raised him from the dead. Today, He, Jesus Christ, is alive in Heaven, and stands before God as our mediator, assuring us of divine representation.
And so Jesus Christ has sent you this invitation, he wants you to come into fellowship with him, He is inviting you to be part of his earthly kingdom the Church.
Here are his words to you as written in the book of Matthew chapter 11 verse 28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
And in the book of Revelation chapter 3 verse 20 He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with
The Aqedah as narrated in Genesis serves as a prefigurement to the Passion of Jesus Christ. There are great typological similarities in these two narratives, but in the Gospel we find the reality of truth, Jesus, who is the completion and fulfillment of the type modeled by Abraham in the Aqedah. Genesis 22 opens with God calling out to Abraham. Abraham responds, “Here I am!” (Gen 22:1).
Confucius was a philosopher, political intellect and an educator whose philosophies have significantly prejudiced not only the Chinese principles but the entire world evolution. He lived through the “Spring” and “Autumn” epoch of Chinese history, when east central China was separated over a dozen fighting states. The inordinate ailment and grief he saw swayed his political thoughts, which highlighted command, grading and the rule of a compassionate self-governing state.
...e toward him as well, since at one point he felt he deserved to die for what he had done. This grace gives him a purpose and strength to go on living, even though he may never completely overcome the hurt and pain.
of children, rising up and teaching them. He says that salvation will come from the people
One day God spoke to Abraham with an intention of making a covenant with man whom he chose as his partner. Abraham was told by God to leave his home to a different land since the people of Ur worshipped idols of wood and stone. The covenant made between them had a lot of promises. Abraham left with his wife Sarai, Lot his nephew,
Abraham is deemed the founder and one of three patriarchs of the Jewish faith. In Fundamental Theology, by Heinrich Fries, a detailed description of Abraham’s journey and faith is given. A summary of Fries explanation is that Abraham’s name was originally Abram. He was considered a “nomadic chief” from Mesopotamia. God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave his home and country. This was one of many tests Abraham faced. In the words of the Bible, Abraham was t...
It was wholly necessary that God manifest Himself to the world through Jesus Christ to save us from corruption. This corruption included sin and death, and the worshipping of other gods. Manifestation was necessary to be in the human form because otherwise, those people who needed to see to believe, would have remained doubtful. It was not an easy road to salvation for Jesus, but all was necessary to accomplish God’s plan, and to give us hope in eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Today, Jesus is still plays an active role in each of our lives.
One day, Abram had a vision. In the vision God tells Abram to leave his father’s house which is today’s Iraq, and travel to a place that God will show him. God said that if Abram who becomes Abraham obeyed this command, his descendants would become a great nation, and that he will bless thee,...
...o deserve death, but He died for us, that is, in our place, bearing our punishment due us because of our sin. He took our place and satisfied our punishment, and in turn we receive His healing. Through His gracious and perfect sacrifice we may accept His righteousness that is now imputed to us (Rom. 5:19).
Judaism is one of the most ancient religions in the world. Abraham, his descendants, and Moses are believed to have been the founders. According to Jewish beliefs until Abraham man worshiped many Gods. The story begins with Abraham and his wife Sarah trying to conceive a child. When Abraham was 99 and Sarah 90 God came to Abraham and told him they would have a son. After the child was born God again came to Abraham and tested his beliefs by asking him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Isaac willingly went with Abraham to be sacrificed. Before Abraham could sacrifice Isaac God sent an angel down to stop him. As a reward for his faith God made a covenant with Abraham that he and his descendants would be protected as long as they continued to show faith in him and live a life that was wholesome. Also from this it is said God blessed Abraham with many children. His son Isaac had two sons Jacob and Esau, Jacob who changes his name to Israel had twelve sons. Israel’s had twelve sons they are the “12 tribes of Israel” and their descendants are later known as the Israelites also called Hebrews.
“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.” (Mark 15:37) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) These are the last words of Jesus as recorded in the Bible. This paper looks at the events leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross as well as the controversy caused by the events.
all He had preached and taught. The fact of the matter is this: all the
Without Jesus, we as imperfect humans--falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23 ESV)--have would have no way of going to heaven to be with God (John 14:6 ESV). Jesus is calling out to you, all you need to do is answer him (Rev. 3:20; Rom. 10:13 ESV). Romans 10:9 also says, “... if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (ESV) We are being saved from a place “that burns with fire and sulfur”
Because Christ was human he experienced all the trials and temptations that we experience. Christ, however was strong enough to resist all temptation and lived a life without sinning - that is without disobeying God."[Jesus Christ] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15). Christ was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.". (Philippians 2:8)
The human race needed salvation because of one sin that affected the rest of humanity. God reached out through Jesus to guide us, “He has been manifested in a human body for this reason only, out of the love and goodness of His Father, for the salvation of us men” (Athanasius 2). It was through Jesus that salvation was brought to us because, “God has not only made them of nothing, but had also graciously bestowed on them His own life by the grace of the Word” (Athanasius 5). Another name for Jesus is the Word, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, The glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (Schroeder 20). Through this we understand that the Word has been with God since the dawn of time and it was through Him in which creation came to be (Pohle February Seventh).