105 - The Seven Words from the Cross (6)#
105 The Seven Words from the Cross (6)
(JP Text Group - Organized by Happy Angel)
Continuing to share the Seven Words from the Cross, Lecture Six.
The Bible, John 19:30: When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You. When Jesus Christ offered His life for us, it was so that we could have eternal life. Jesus Christ accomplished all salvation for us on the cross. We live in the salvation You have prepared, and because Jesus Christ bore the stripes for us on the cross, we can live in heavenly blessings and heavenly health.
Through Your word, let this heavenly blessing come upon us. At this moment, You will personally work among us, and the Holy Spirit will guide each of our hearts. We lay down all our burdens, and we receive answers, strength, and provision from Jesus. Lord, we thank You. May the Holy Spirit guide the hearts of every brother and sister, helping us understand Your word. We thank and praise You, and we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
We greet each other by saying: God has done great things for you.
Sharing the sixth lecture of the Seven Words from the Cross, the two shortest words Jesus said on the cross: It is finished!
Brothers and sisters, what does "It is finished" mean? Completed, accomplished, successful, victorious, triumphant. Although Jesus only spoke these two brief words, they contain God's infinite grace. It is precisely because of this statement from Jesus that guarantees we are in God's blessing. It is these two words that assure you that you are justified, for Jesus has completed this work of redemption.
Brothers and sisters, there is still one thing lacking: death has not been completely abolished. Our bodies have not yet been changed. Once all this is completed, Revelation says: It is finished. At that time, everything will be over. Jesus on the cross only completed our work of redemption; the issues of the spirit, the problem of sin, Jesus has already completed all of it. This great declaration was heard by the Apostle John, who recorded it. When Jesus was naked and hung on the cross, He endured the most painful humiliation and the greatest suffering. On the surface, it seemed that Jesus had failed, but that is not the case.
There is a joke about a bilingual church. One time, the regular translator was absent, and the pastor temporarily found someone who had just come to faith but had a high level of English. He began translating the pastor's sermon, translating English into Chinese. When the pastor said, "IT'S FINISHED!" do you know how this brother translated it? Because he had never read the Bible, he translated it as "It is done." In fact, his translation was not wrong at all, because "finished" can also be translated as "done." But what Jesus meant was "It is finished," which are two extremes. To the world, it seemed done, done, because Jesus was crucified, but in reality, Jesus was not done. He is finished. Amen! Brothers and sisters, the message of the cross seems foolish to those who do not believe. But to us who believe, it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18: For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
People are most unwilling to hear the message of death, the message of the cross. People hate this, but this is the power of our God. All blessings and all grace come from the cross, from what Jesus accomplished for us. Amen! The devil tried every means to nail Jesus to the cross, but what he did not expect was that God used the cross to give us abundant grace. God wants to use the cross to let us obtain His power.
The perishing ones are the unbelievers. Unbelievers think, "What’s the big deal about talking about the cross every day?" But for us, without the cross, there is no life. Amen! So "It is finished" is not the cry of a loser, but the song of victory of the saints. Amen! The original meaning is that God has perfectly completed His work of redemption.
Sharing the first point: Jesus fulfilled the law on the cross, satisfying God's requirements for justice.
Brothers and sisters, before we believed, we were called sinners. Why were we called sinners? Is it because we committed sins that we were called sinners?
When sharing the gospel with many people, we say, "Believe in Jesus."
They ask, "Why should I believe in Jesus?"
"Because we are all sinners because we have sinned, and since you are a sinner, you need to believe in Jesus."
They say, "You are the sinner."
Many people do not acknowledge that they are sinners. Do you understand? They might say, "I have never broken the law in my life, so why am I called a sinner? I don’t feel like a sinner." In people's minds, they think that only those who break the law can be called sinners. But what is God's standard? Even if you have not committed a crime, you are still a sinner.
Romans 5:12: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
There are terms here that need explanation. Sin entered the world through one man. One man refers to the first ancestor of humanity, Adam. He disobeyed God's word, and thus death came upon Adam. All of Adam's descendants are also under death. Amen!
Romans 5:18-19: Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
The many refer to us. Because Adam sinned, all of Adam's descendants are sinners. Likewise, through one act of righteousness, Jesus Christ, we see how things are. Why did Jesus have to go to the cross? Why did He have to die for us? It is because of sin. Where did this sin come from? It came from Adam. Because Adam became a sinner, all of Adam's descendants are also called sinners. Amen!
In the age of dynasties, if a father committed a crime, the child would be called a sinner. It is the same. There are two special men in the world. One is Adam, who had no childhood and was directly formed by God from dust. When he was formed, he had no sin. He was the first unique man. But he failed because of one trespass. When God said, "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die," Adam ate it. Because of his one trespass, all of Adam's descendants are called sinners. Isn't that unfair? We say, "Lord, we are truly wronged; we were born as sinners." Indeed, it is very unfair!
Another special man was born, referring to the one by one act of righteousness. This refers to Jesus Christ. Jesus was also born without sin; both of these men were born without sin.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. How do we distinguish this? It is simple. Anyone born from the union of a man and a woman is among Adam's descendants. But Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit; He was born through Mary's womb. He is without sin.
By His one act of righteousness, what does righteousness refer to? It refers to bearing all our trespasses on the cross. Because of one act of righteousness, we are all justified and receive life. Is that fair? Is it also unfair? Some might say, "Lord, I am still sinning," and the Lord says, "I have called you righteous." Is that fair? It is also unfair.
Brothers and sisters, this is God's grace. At first, we say, "Lord, I have not sinned; why do You call me a sinner?" God says, "I have given My Son. If you believe in Him, even if you have sinned, I still call you righteous." This is a passive voice; because of one act of righteousness, everyone is also justified and receives life.
God does not judge based on our actions but based on God's act of righteousness. Amen! Suppose Peter stands at the gate of heaven and asks you if you have sinned. You say yes. "Then go down; you are not qualified to enter heaven." It is not like that.
Even if you have sinned, God says you are justified by Me, so you can enter heaven. Amen! This is a passive voice. Even if you say, "I am a sinner, a sinner who has received grace," God says, "I have already called you righteous." The passive meaning is that you can only accept this. This is God's unfairness; God says, "If you believe in My Son, I will call you righteous, and you will receive My life."
Through one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. This is a noun; this is an identity. Because of Adam's one disobedience, the whole world became sinners. Likewise, through one man's obedience, that is, Jesus Christ's obedience, we did not obey the law, but it is okay; Jesus obeyed. Because of Jesus' obedience, we are also called righteous.
From this perspective, our justification and our life have nothing to do with our actions. This is a change of identity. Amen! In the past, we were sinners; now we have become righteous. What is the reason? There is a cross in between, where Jesus was hung, so we are justified. This is what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross. It is for us that He accomplished it. In the past, we were sinners; now we are justified. Every time you see the cross, remember that Jesus on the cross has already called you righteous.
We have been talking about the righteous. What special meaning does being righteous have for us? If we encounter problems, if we face difficulties, and feel very anxious, not knowing what to do, if someone has a chaotic family, others comfort him by saying, "Just bear with it; families are like this." This is the worldly solution. When you believe in Jesus, after being justified by God, God says, "I will give you strength to overcome this." Amen!
When you have burdens, you will know how to act. You say, "Jesus Christ is my rest." When you encounter difficulties, you can pray to God because you are righteous. God will surely listen to your prayers; if you are a sinner, God will not listen. Unbelievers regard the cross as foolishness, but in fact, many of the things they do are foolish. When people encounter problems and do not know what to do, they will seek various gods; those in business will seek the god of wealth.
Brothers and sisters, does that really work? I tell you it does work. Because that is the devil's work, the devil is also a spirit who will temporarily give you some small favors, but remember, the devil will never give you grace because grace is given freely, just like we receive the identity of the righteous, which is freely given by God. The devil will never do such a thing for us.
Today the devil gives you a little favor, but tomorrow he will take away more from you, aiming to take away our lives. People do not understand this, so they are unwilling to come before the cross. Instead, they are willing to worship various idols. In fact, that is really of no use. Because in this world, there is a good and loving God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has accomplished salvation for us.
When He said "It is finished" on the cross, we have already been called righteous by God. If you read all the books in the world carefully, there is no book that says, "Besides Me, there is no other God." This is the only book that writes such bold words; the Buddhist scriptures do not dare to say this. Only the Bible says, "Besides Me, there is no other God." Amen! Because this world was created by God, He knows what people are like. Even if our actions are very bad, God already knows our situation. Amen!
God says that because of one man's obedience, we are justified! This is why Jesus Christ had to die on the cross: so that we could be justified and receive life. Amen! This is God's requirement for justice. What does God's justice refer to? God's standard of justice: to reward righteousness and goodness, and to judge and punish evil. Amen!
In the Old Testament, when people sinned, the Bible shows that God has a standard: when people are full of evil, God's judgment, which is death, immediately comes upon them. This issue appears in the Bible more than once. People also say that when a person is full of evil, they will surely face divine retribution. What does this mean? It means that today, if people cannot deal with you, there is still God. It means that when one is full of evil, God will surely deal with you. God refers to this as divine justice.
In fact, this justice means that God cannot see even a tiny bit of sin. If He sees it, He must punish it. Amen! In the Old Testament, the Israelites also faced God's punishment because they indeed sinned. Under the requirements of God's justice, God absolutely cannot lower His standards. Therefore, Jesus came; He came to fulfill God's standard of justice and to complete the law.
Matthew 5:17: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
What does it mean to abolish the Law and the Prophets? Many people say, "You preach grace, which means you want to abolish the law and no longer obey it." Let us clarify this scripture. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law." In the past, the Pharisees, the chief priests, and the scribes thought that Jesus had abolished the law because Jesus did many things on the Sabbath that were not allowed. Jesus said, "I did not come to abolish the law; the words of the prophets must be fulfilled."
Brothers and sisters, what does it mean to abolish the law? If there is a law and you violate it but do not need to be punished, that is called abolishing the law. Amen! Let us give an example. If a person commits a crime, God's law states that a murderer must die. If Jesus says, "It's okay; you don't have to die," that is abolishing the law. The law clearly states this, yet the violator does not receive punishment; that is abolishing the law. Jesus never taught this. Instead, Jesus said, "I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it."
What does fulfilling mean? This person killed someone; in front of the law, in the face of God's righteous judgment, this person must die. But Jesus says, "I acknowledge that he has indeed sinned, but I will die for him so that he may live." Has the law been abolished? No, brothers and sisters, we can receive life because Jesus Christ died for us, and we are justified. It is because Jesus Christ was cursed; this is the important basis for God calling us righteous. God's justice has not been compromised.
Jesus fulfilled the law and satisfied God's requirements for justice. In the past, how painful it was under the law. The Israelites struggled under the law for fifteen hundred years, trying to find God's blessing but failing to do so. Because they were under the law, today many church brothers and sisters still live under the law, which is a very painful thing because they do not dare to acknowledge that they are righteous. They do not dare to be certain that God will surely listen to their prayers because they are uncertain in their faith.
Acts 13:38-39:
38 Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
This is spoken to the brothers; they were all under the law. Amen! You should know the way of forgiveness. Jesus Christ came to bring the way of forgiveness. In the New Testament, Jesus encountered many sinners. Jesus interacted with these sinners and ate with them. Jesus did not condemn these people's sins, especially the woman caught in adultery. She was caught in the act and brought before Jesus. Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." Why could Jesus let her go? Because Jesus was about to bear this woman's sin. Amen! So Jesus brings us the way of forgiveness; brothers and sisters, can you understand this?
Forgiveness does not mean He abolished the law; it is because Jesus is going to bear all our sins. When Jesus said "It is finished" on the cross, at that moment, He was bearing all our sins. He accomplished this. Amen! Thank God.
What the Israelites could not obtain in the past, now there is the best method, which is the gospel, also called the good news. In the past, in all matters, they could not be justified. Now, by believing in Jesus Christ, they can all be justified. There are no other conditions; as long as you believe in Jesus Christ, you are justified. God did not say, "Try hard to fulfill the law; after keeping the Ten Commandments, I will call you righteous." No one can obtain the identity of the righteous, but Jesus says, "Come and believe in Me; I have already fulfilled the law, so you are justified." Amen! This is the first thing Jesus accomplished for us on the cross: fulfilling the law and satisfying God's requirements for justice.
Second: He completed the Father's plan of salvation.
Why did the Heavenly Father send Jesus to this world? It is because of His love for us. Many who believe in Jesus know this, especially when sharing the gospel with unbelievers, we often use a verse:
John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
This is the best proof of God's love for us. Why does God love the world? Why must God give His Son? Because everyone has sinned, our God must carry out salvation, and there must be a person to bear our sins, and this person must be sinless. Therefore, God sent His only beloved Son into this world to die for us so that we would not perish. This is a sign of God's love for us. Brothers and sisters, it is indeed so in the Bible; our Jesus was crushed by the Father.
Isaiah 53:10: Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt.
Brothers and sisters, do you know what a guilt offering is? A guilt offering is an offering for sin. Under the law, when someone sins, they must bring a bull, sheep, dove, or turtledove, and bring a clean animal to the priest. This is the content of the Old Testament Leviticus. They come to the priest and say, "Priest, I have committed a great sin." The priest does not ask, "What sin did you commit? List them all." It is not like that. Do not misunderstand; at this time, the priest does not look at the person but at the offering.
When this person brings the sheep to the priest, the priest must carefully examine the offering, not looking at how many sins the person has committed, but whether the offering is without blemish, whether it is without defect. Amen! The priest carefully checks that the offering is perfect. This person then lays their hands on the head of the sheep and says, "All my sins are transferred to this sheep." That is the prayer!
What does this prayer mean for us? If we confess one sin, God forgives one sin. We do not know how many sins we have not confessed. God's forgiveness of our sins is not based on our understanding of sin but on God's understanding of sin. Amen!
Many times, we unintentionally hurt others and offend others without knowing it. How can we confess that? At that time, the Israelites did not know what sins they had committed. For example, they had forgotten what they did a year ago. How could they remember things from a year ago? So they laid their hands on the sheep and said, "All my sins are transferred to this sheep." It is such a transfer of sin! After the sin is transferred, the priest hands the person a knife, and they must cut the sheep's throat, letting all the blood flow into a basin. The priest takes this basin of blood before God and finally tells the person they can go home.
The lamb must be completely burned; you can go home in peace because all sins have been replaced by this lamb. Amen! This is the guilt offering of the Old Testament. It is not the priest telling the person to quickly confess their sins; God looks at the offering. Amen! In the New Testament, God does not look at us but looks at Jesus Christ, the offering. He is our guilt offering. God must carefully examine whether Jesus is without sin, whether He is without blemish, whether He is without defect. When God sees that His Son is indeed without sin, without blemish, and without defect, all of God's righteous anger is poured out on this lamb. When Jesus said, "It is finished," it means He bore our sins.
Remember, when you accept Jesus Christ, say, "Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner." At that moment, it is like laying your hands on Jesus, saying, "All my sins are transferred to Jesus." Jesus bears it for you, and God says, "I will no longer remember your sins and transgressions because all your transgressions have been transferred to My Son." He died for you; it is Jesus who completed the work of redemption for you. When God does not remember your sins, this great good news means that God will begin to bless you. If you have sins, God cannot be close to you or be with you. You must know that you are already justified by God. Amen! Not because of your actions, but because of the sake of the Father's only beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:4: Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.
Many people do not understand this verse. The church still teaches that you must strive not to sin, strive to escape this evil age, strive to have good behavior, strive to give yourself up. I want to, but I can't. I have tried hard many times and failed. Many people say, "I want to try hard to enter heaven, but after trying for years, I still fail. What should I do? I have to be like this."
Let us see what God says: Christ gave himself for our sins according to the will of our Father. God is not asking you to give yourself up; you must understand that Jesus has already given Himself for your sins. He wants to save you from this evil age. Has the focus changed? In the past, the focus was always on you, always on the environment. The more you look, the more you fail, the more discouraged you become. Now God says, "Do not focus on yourself; focus on Jesus Christ, focus on this guilt offering."
When we encounter difficulties and setbacks, feeling anxious, looking at ourselves and our surroundings only makes us angrier. But God does not want you to look at these; God wants you to focus on Jesus. He has already given Himself for your sins according to the will of the Father. He wants to save you from evil. Brothers and sisters, if you have sinned, understand that only Jesus can save you from this evil age. Your efforts are of no use. What you need to learn is how to rely on Jesus Christ. First, you must understand that Jesus has completed the salvation for you on the cross. He has the power to help you escape from evil.
Third: Let us see what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.
He destroyed the devil who has the power of death. Many people like to use the devil as an excuse. For example, some people commit sins and say, "It is not me who sinned; it was the devil who tempted me." Some become weak and say it was the devil who tempted them, and they did not come to the gathering because the devil tempted them not to go, as if everything is related to the devil. Brothers and sisters, where does sin come from? Let us first look at
Genesis 3:14-15:
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
At first, the devil only tempted Eve, but God's grace was upon Eve, which proves that God's power, wisdom, and authority were upon Eve and Adam! Strangely, the devil still tempted her. Whose power is greater? If the devil's power is greater than God's, we could never overcome the devil. Jesus could not defeat him either.
According to the Bible, God's power far exceeds the devil's power. Why did Eve ultimately fail? If we could see through the devil's schemes, we could easily overcome sin. The Bible tells us that desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
At first, sin in humans begins with desire. What is desire? Some say it is greed, which is part of it. Desire includes many things: human desires, lust, pride, all called desire. Let us analyze this simply so we can understand how to easily overcome the devil. It is very simple. God initially told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "I will give you greater blessings. You may eat from any tree in the garden, but do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."
Adam conveyed God's will to his wife Eve. God said, "Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." After hearing this, Eve began to think about one question: Why? Children understand to ask why. Especially when they are very young, they ask their mothers, "Why is the sun there? Why are the stars like that? Why? Why????" This is the question that came from Eve.
People particularly like to ask why. When asking why, she was thinking, "Why can't I eat from this tree?" In fact, Adam did not know why; he could not answer. The devil saw an opportunity and began to tempt her. This is a matter of desire, brothers and sisters. When Eve began to doubt why she was not allowed to eat, the devil magnified her desire a thousand times, telling Eve, "Did God really say you shall not eat of any tree?" Eve thought, "No, there is just one tree whose fruit we are not allowed to eat." Where is the focus? On what is not allowed to be eaten.
The serpent further tempted her, saying, "No, it is that God is partial; the fruit of this tree is too good to eat. If you eat it, you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Originally, a small "why," a small question, was magnified a thousand times. The more Eve thought about it, the more she felt it was true. She ate it, leading herself into sin. I have analyzed this matter, and you will understand how to overcome the devil's schemes. In fact, the reason Christians sin also starts from desire. For example, when two people have a small conflict, they begin to harbor a little hatred. In fact, it is nothing; it is just a little discomfort. The devil sees an opportunity.
You have a little dissatisfaction with that person. Immediately, the devil magnifies it a thousand times, saying, "Not only did he do this to you, but he has done this to you long ago." As a result, many lies are instilled in you. After the devil magnifies the problem, the more you think about it, the more despicable that person becomes. When you come to church, you find that he is whispering with others, and you think he must be talking about you. When you pass by him while shopping and he does not see you, you think, "He is avoiding me."
The devil always magnifies very small matters a thousand times, causing misunderstandings and suspicions between people, ultimately leading to enmity. Isn't this sin? It becomes hatred, so that in the end, when you see him, you will curse him. This is the devil's scheme. If you can see through this, you can easily overcome the devil. How to overcome? You must focus on Jesus. Even for us believers, it is the same.
If we do not look at Jesus, there are too many problems between people. In the morning, I saw a news story about a young couple who just got married. They divorced because the taste of the tofu pudding was different. The reason was that one person liked salty flavor, while the other preferred a light taste. Just because of this, they divorced. Let me analyze how the devil works. The devil initially says to one person, "Look, he likes salty food, and you like light food. You have different tastes; can you endure this for a lifetime?" That person does not love you at all; that person is here to torment you. You will suffer for life. Because of such trivial matters, they divorced.
The devil magnifies this small issue a thousand times, and the conflict between people becomes very intense. The devil initially led you to focus on the wrong place. God did not allow Adam to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because God had prepared better fruit from the tree of life for him. What is God's promise to us? When you have burdens, do not look at your burdens; bring your burdens to Jesus Christ. God can heal you. Amen! Jesus Christ is your rest.
Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden." This means do not look at your burdens, do not look at your environment, do not look at how difficult it is for you now; you should look at the abundant supply of Jesus Christ for you. When everyone does not look at Jesus Christ, the disputes in the church begin. When all eyes are on Jesus, you will see love, see unity, and many powers will manifest. This is a great mystery. Why do we keep looking at Jesus? Because He is our guilt offering. Amen! God sent Him into this world to accomplish God's will, which is to destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:8: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Is it clear? It is not for you to fight with the devil; you cannot win against him. You must focus on Jesus, who can destroy the works of the devil. When the devil tells you again that God does not love you, command the devil to leave in the name of Jesus. Jesus once said, "Get behind me, Satan." This means do not let me see you. Amen!
Do not let the devil whisper in your ear, and you forget who you are. With one whisper, you begin to hate your husband, hit your children, and see everyone as unsatisfactory. This is because your focus is wrong. You must focus on God because Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Amen! How did Jesus come to destroy the works of the devil?
In Genesis 3, I will put enmity between you and the woman, your offspring, the serpent's offspring, a group of devils, many, and the woman's offspring. Note that this is singular, referring to our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Remember, we are absolutely enemies with the devil; he cannot give you even a little grace. He always wants to calculate against you, always wants to slander you, always wants to destroy you. But Jesus Christ came to build you up. Amen!
The offspring of the woman shall bruise your head. This refers to when Jesus Christ said "It is finished" on the cross, the head of the devil was crushed. At that moment, he completely failed. You shall bruise his heel. This is a prophecy, and it is simple to explain. It refers to Jesus' feet being pierced, while the devil's head is crushed by Jesus. Amen! This matter was already accomplished two thousand years ago. The devil has become a loser.
Colossians 2:13: And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.
Think about what "all" represents. It is what God sees as "all." Amen! Before you were born, God already saw "all." God saw all your trespasses, including past, present, and future sins. God forgave all your trespasses and made you alive together with Christ. There is something very important here: by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Are the Ten Commandments our obstacles? Jesus fulfilled the Ten Commandments and the laws and regulations. Deuteronomy 28 contains many blessings, and even unbelievers desire to receive such blessings. You will be blessed when you go out and blessed when you come in; everything you do will be blessed. Wherever you go, that place will be blessed. This is recorded in Deuteronomy about blessings.
You are a blessing star; wherever you go, there will be blessings. However, there are conditions. God says, "You must obey all my statutes and commandments." Only then will you have this blessing. What if you cannot obey? Some say it does not matter if you cannot obey, but God is not like that. When you cannot obey, curses will come upon you. You will be cursed when you go out and cursed when you come in; wherever you go, that place will be unlucky. Everything you do will not go smoothly.
Many people keep condemning themselves, saying, "Oh, I find that I cannot do it. I cannot do business; wherever I go, the company goes bankrupt. Whatever business I do, I lose money. I am a jinx; wherever I go, something will definitely go wrong." Many people think it is bad luck. Some even attribute the problem to bad feng shui. They say, "This year, my family business keeps losing money because I just bought a house, and that house is facing the road; it is leaking money." They look for a fortune teller to rearrange the furniture to be blessed.
If it were really that simple, the fortune tellers would have become wealthy long ago.
Brothers and sisters, your blessings come because Jesus Christ bore the curse for you, so blessings come upon you. It is no longer that this place is blessed while that place is cursed; it is not like that. Jesus has nailed the legal demands that stand against us to the cross. Jesus bore the curse for you. All the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 are upon you. Amen!
The key is whether you dare to believe, whether you dare to declare it. How many people do not dare to declare themselves as righteous? Many do not. It is not surprising. I have been to many churches where people do not dare to say they are righteous. They feel unworthy, indebted. You must correctly declare the blessings that God has given you in the Bible. The Bible says that since the legal demands that stand against us have been nailed to the cross, He has disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
The cross is your glory. When Jesus Christ said "It is finished" on the cross, you have already been called righteous. After being justified, the blessings of the righteous come. You should believe that the blessings mentioned in Deuteronomy 28 are already upon me. Because Jesus has already fulfilled all the laws and regulations for me. Amen! He bore the curse for me, so blessings are upon me.
Brothers and sisters, believe that wherever you go, that place will change because you are there. God's blessings will manifest there because Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil. He has destroyed the works of the devil. Many of the deceptions of the devil have been unraveled by God. Do not speak negative words or have a very bad mindset because it is not you who will overcome the devil; it is Jesus who destroys the works of the devil. Amen!
Our words are very important. To what extent? When your focus is wrong, your words will also be wrong. If you believe correctly, your words will also be correct. Let me talk a little about children. How you guide children is crucial. Your behavior will create a huge contrast for them. Before I believed, I was in marketing training and once talked about how important influence is. What kind of message you convey to others and what you let them see is crucial.
In the past, there was a survey about a mother who always scolded her child, giving him the law: "Do not do this; do not do that; you will fail; you will fail..." This child lived in fear and trembling every day. One time, the mother said in the kitchen, "Son, go get the bowl from the table." The child was already quite big. Getting a bowl was no problem.
As the son was about to get the bowl, the mother said, "Be careful; don't break it, do you hear?" What happened? The bowl broke. Whose fault is it? In fact, it is a mistake in words. His mother always conveyed the message to the child that he would definitely break the bowl. As a result, that is what happened. His mother said, "See, I told you that you would break the bowl." At that time, I thought, "Since you know he can break the bowl, why do you still let him get it?"
Brothers and sisters, if you still educate your children in a law-based manner, change it! This is very important. Jesus has already removed the curse and the legal demands that hinder you. You must also remove them. Amen! I will tell my child, "Duoduo, help mommy get the bowl from the table. You are the best!"
The child is just over two years old and still walks unsteadily. When the child hears this, he thinks, "Yes, this is no problem; I can do it." Amen! If you always think of yourself as a failure, that you cannot do it, that God will not listen to your prayers, how can you gain assurance? Jesus has already accomplished salvation for you on the cross. God has accepted you. He did not abolish the law; He fulfilled it, so you can receive God's blessings.
The last point to share: Jesus accomplished peace for us on the cross, opening the way to God.
In the past, there was a thick curtain between the holy place and the most holy place, which no one could cross. The high priest had only one opportunity each year to enter the most holy place to seek grace before God's throne of grace. Even if he entered, it was with fear and trembling. When Jesus Christ said "It is finished" on the cross, He had already removed the obstacles between us and God! Amen!
No matter where you are, you can pray directly to God. In this matter, the Catholic Church still teaches that you do not have the right to pray directly to God. But the Bible tells us that you can pray directly to the Heavenly Father; you can come boldly before Him. Amen! The reason is that Jesus has already accomplished the work of redemption for you on the cross.
No matter what you need now, no matter how bad the environment is or how anxious you feel, remember that Jesus Christ is your eternal supply and comfort. When you have sickness, do not say, "Lord, when will I be healed?" You should say, "In the name of Jesus, I command this sickness to leave," because Jesus has already borne all my sins. He is my atoning sacrifice. Thank and praise the Lord!
1 John 2:1-2:
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
In Greek grammar, there is a genitive case called the vocative. My little children, refers to believers. This is John's message to the believers. The following words are for us: "I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin." John also hopes that we do not sin. But we will still sin. If anyone does sin, John gives us the best method to overcome sin, which is to let you know that with the Father, there is an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous.
There is a testimony about a person who stole something for the first time and was caught and sent to prison. The other people in prison were all big thieves; he was considered a small thief. Others asked him how he ended up there. He said he saw something good but did not manage to steal it, so he ended up there. "This is my first time stealing." Those people said, "Because your skills are lacking, you should learn to be more observant. Your experience is too little..." After this person is released, will he steal again? He will have learned more things in there.
If you focus on sin every day, you will definitely sin. Many testimonies have already told us that in the past, people kept confessing their sins but found that the more they confessed, the more they sinned. In the end, they did not want to believe anymore. What is the correct method? Do not look at your personal problems, do not look at your sins, do not look at your environment, do not look at how terrible and pitiful you are now; you should look at the supply of Jesus Christ! If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father. This means we should again focus on Jesus. The advocate is the righteous Jesus Christ; He has already made atonement for our sins.
When you know that Jesus has made atonement for you, this power will enable you not to sin anymore. Amen! Is this very important? When your child has not yet stood firm, you tell him, "It’s okay; you will definitely stand firm." The child will be filled with strength because your words give him strength. Our strength comes from Jesus Christ.
When you understand that Jesus is your atoning sacrifice, you will have the power to overcome the problems in life. When you encounter problems, you will no longer complain; you will say, "My Lord will supply me because I believe in Him; He loves me." Amen! This is an important testimony and revelation.
1 Peter 2:24: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
When you are sick, think of this verse. Jesus bore my sickness on the tree, so I have already been healed. This is the correct guidance, which is to return to what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross. Every time you focus on Jesus Christ, you will be filled with strength, joy, and peace. Amen!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You. When Jesus said "It is finished" on the cross, this is not the cry of a loser, but the song of victory. When You declare victory, You also give us hope. You tell us that the devil has been completely defeated. When you are willing to accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior in life, by believing in Him, your sins have already been forgiven. No longer rely on your actions to please God, no longer rely on your efforts to receive God's blessings, because God has already blessed you. Do not focus on your environment, problems, or lack; you should see the abundant supply of Jesus Christ. He will bless you, and God will surely listen to your prayers.
Take your steps; Jesus on the cross not only died for your sins but also brought down His blessings for you. Everything you do will see God's abundant blessings. Do not worry; do not be afraid; He will surely be with you. Jesus is the cornerstone that the builders rejected. Therefore, when Jesus said "It is finished," it is a great declaration. For us, it is the gospel, the good news. The work of Jesus on the cross destroyed the power of Satan and redeemed your sins.
You are under God's grace; you live under God's blessings. Every time you meditate on the salvation of Jesus on the cross, strength will arise. Your life will change because of Jesus Christ. Even if you do not see the results now, do not give up; God will surely let you see the results. Lord, You have given us the faith of Abraham because when Abraham was old, and God said, "Your offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore," Abraham believed. We also believe that when Jesus said "It is finished," He accomplished all salvation, and blessings have already been established in my life. We thank You for this, and we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!