God's Creation With a Purpose — Stephen Kaung

Good morning, brothers and sisters. Thank God for gathering us together this morning. Is it a surprise to you? It is to me because I was hoping the Lord may return last night and we don't need to meet this morning.

How good that will be! But through His great love for us, knowing that we are not yet ready, so He still gives us this time to make us ready for Him. But brothers and sisters, please remember the Lord may come any moment.

Readiness for the Imminent Return of Christ

The reason why He delays is not because He is not anxious to come back to receive us to Himself, but because He knows us. He knows that probably we are not yet ready for Him. So out of His great love for us, He is still waiting.

Brothers and sisters, do not think that you are waiting for the Lord to return. On the contrary, it is the Lord who is waiting for us that He may come. When we are ready for Him, He will come right away.

That is the heart of our Lord Jesus. So dear brothers and sisters, as long as we are here and we can meet together, it is due to the patience of our Lord Jesus. Before He left this earth, He told His disciples that He is coming back.

He is coming back to receive them to Himself. Now, why is it that He has not yet come? Twenty centuries have passed, and there is still waiting. Brothers and sisters, may I put this question to all of us.

Who is waiting for whom? Are we waiting for the Lord, or is the Lord waiting for us? I don't think we have any question of our Lord Jesus. How anxious He must be in coming back to receive us to Himself.

But it is because He knows us well. He knows us that we are not yet ready for Him. So do not blame God that our Lord Jesus has delayed coming for twenty centuries. We need to ask ourselves, is my unreadiness preventing Him from coming?

I often have the feeling the Lord may come back in my lifetime. It is very possible. Every prophecy preceding His coming back has been fulfilled. There is no prophecy we need to wait to see it fulfilled before the Lord can return.

Brothers and sisters, may I assure you that every prophecy in the Bible that concerns the coming of the Lord, that precedes His coming, has been fulfilled. The next event that will happen on earth is His return.

So we are as close to His return as it can be. The only reason for His delay is you and me. He loves us so much. He does not want to come back to see us unprepared and be left behind. He wants to come back to receive every one of us to Himself.

That is His heart's desire. So brothers and sisters, may I again remind you that the Lord may come back at any moment. How good it would be if He should come back now to see that His whole auditorium is emptied because He has taken us.

But how sad it will be if there are some left behind because of unreadiness. So thank God for giving us another opportunity to get us ready for Him. Brothers and sisters, don't miss this opportunity. This is a rare opportunity.

We do not know how many opportunities we still have. It may be the last. So be ready for Him. Let us all examine ourselves before the Lord to see there is still something within us that ties us to this world, unable for us to leave at any moment.

Are you ready, brothers and sisters? Are you ready? If the Lord should come now, will you be taken or be left? This is a serious question. It is not something for us to wait to see what prophecy is yet to be fulfilled before the Lord's return.

No, brothers and sisters, you are mistaken. All the prophecies preceding the coming of the Lord has been fulfilled. The next one will be the coming of the Lord. So dear brothers and sisters, we are living at a very thrilling time.

I always feel how thrilling is our time. What if the Lord should come now and this whole auditorium is emptied? Hallelujah! Praise the Lord if that is the case. Hopefully this is not wishful thinking, that it is real.

Do you think this is impossible or do you think this is quite possible? While we are meeting here this morning, the Lord cometh. And what if this whole auditorium is emptied? By the grace of God, we have all been raptured and none is left behind.

Praise the Lord if this is the case. And this is my prayer. So brothers and sisters, thank God for still allowing us to meet together. Give us another opportunity to be ready for Him. This is the mercy of God.

We cannot let this opportunity pass. Brothers and sisters, this may be our last opportunity to be prepared to meet the Lord. Are we ready? This is a pressing question with each one of us this morning.

So that is the reason why we are meeting this morning, because we realise the Lord may come any moment. What if He should come and some of us will be left behind? What pity that will be. So brothers and sisters, seize this opportunity.

Maybe this is the time that the Lord has provided for you to make you ready for His return. And this is exactly the reason why we are meeting here this time. To be ready for the Lord. Our Brother Mike had already begun last night.

So I will not repeat what he has already said. I will go right on and share with you what burden the Lord has given to me. So will you please turn to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. We will read from verse 19 through verse 21.

1 Peter chapter 1, verse 19. But by precious blood, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ, foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but who has been manifested at the end of the times for your sake, who by Him you believe on God, who has raised Him from among the dead, and given Him glory, that your faith and hope should be in God.

May we have a short word of prayer. Dear Lord, we do want to thank Thee for being so patient with us. We thank Thee for giving us another chance to get us ready for Thyself. O Lord, we cannot thank Thee for the love that Thou hast loved us.

We pray, Lord, that by Thy grace we may seize the opportunity and let not this opportunity pass. But rather, Lord, use this time to prepare every brother, every sister in this auditorium to be ready for Thyself.

The Triune God and the Purpose of Creation

We commit this time into Your hand. Lord, use it to make us ready for Thyself, that our time here will not be wasted. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen. When you open the Bible, you read, In the beginning, God.

Before God, there was nothing. God is the beginning. He begins everything. And if we can use human description, in order to understand, before there was anything except God. Our God is a triune God. Three in one.

Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are three, but they are one. If you try to understand this, you have to use human way of speaking. Suppose we put it this way. In the beginning, God. But God is a triune God.

A Trinity. Three in one. Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And there was a consultation among the Godhead. The Father loved the Son. He had the thought of creating creation to give to His Son as His gift.

But being God, He is all-knowing. He knows the end before the beginning. So while God was thinking of creation to give to His Son as His gift, He realized that there will be a problem. An archangel, whom He will create, will rebel against Him.

So while, if I may use human words, God was hesitating whether He should create or not, His Son stepped forward and said, Father, if this is Thy will to do it, go ahead. I'm willing to offer myself as the Lamb, to offer myself as a substitute for the sins of the world.

I'm willing to come into this world to die on the cross for the sake of saving people. And it is on the basis of what the Son has offered Himself. That God started to create. Sure enough, in the beginning, God had not created man.

The highest of His creation were angels. And among the angels, one was an archangel, Lucifer, the bright and shining star. If you really execute chapter 28, you will find a description which does not fit the King of Tyre.

It is a description of a creation who is almost perfect. He is gifted with ten gifts. He is full of music. He is supposed to lead the angels in worshipping God. He is to be an anointed angel over God's throne.

Lucifer's Pride and Rebellion Against God

But unfortunately, this angel in the beginning served God well. He led the angels in worshipping God. But gradually, due to his much traffic, he began to be proud of himself. Brothers and sisters, pride is always a great sin in the sight of God.

Whether it's angel or man, it doesn't matter. If pride gets into our heart, we tend to be doing something out of ourselves that we should never even attempt. This archangel in the beginning was very faithful.

He was leading the angels in worshipping God. He was anointed angel over God's throne. But unfortunately, because of his much traffic, he began to look into himself. Brothers and sisters, it is always troublesome if we look into ourselves.

Because what can you see in yourself? Unless you see yourself as nothing, or you will see yourself as somebody. And you will get proud of yourself. This is always the case. So we should look off unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

We should never look into ourselves by ourselves. This is very dangerous. And this archangel began to look into himself. He saw how gifted he was. He saw how he was above all but only below God. And he got dissatisfied.

He wanted to be like God. If you read Isaiah chapter 14, you will find there a description that will not fit King of Babylon. Suddenly, the Bible said, I will, I will, I will, five times. He wanted to be above everybody.

He wanted to be equal with God. To put it in another way, he wanted to displace God's beloved son. That was his desire. He was almost perfect. Not quite. Ten characters, not twelve. Because ten is the number of responsibility.

Twelve is the number of perfection. Nevertheless, he was above all except one, his own God. But he was not satisfied. So in Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28, you find again and again he wanted to rise up above all, to be equal with God.

To put it another way, he wanted to displace the son of God. That is his ambition. And because of his ambition, he was driven out of heaven upon the earth. Most likely at that time, the earth was under his domain.

And that's the reason why in the Bible you find in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now God never created anything undone. When he created it must be done. But then you find the earth was surrounded with water.

Why? We find in the scripture the reason for this was because the rebellion of Lucifer against God. That's what we call this Ice Age. We do not know how long this Ice Age continue. But we do know there was upon a time the earth was surrounded with water.

It was under judgment. For what? Because there was no man yet. It was because of the rebellion of the archangel. But thank God in his great mercy we find the spirit of God brooded upon the face of the deep.

The Restoration of the Earth and God's Unfolding Plan

In other words, the love of God began to come upon this ruined earth. And in six days the earth was restored to be habitable. So brothers and sisters, the description we find in Genesis chapter 1, the six days is not creation.

It is recreation. The spirit of God, the love of God came upon this judged earth and restored it in six days to be habitable. Now why is it so? We know why the earth was under judgment. It is because of the rebellion of Lucifer.

But why is it that the spirit of God brooded over the face of the deep? The love of God came upon this earth and restored the earth in six days. To make it habitable because God's plan is gradually unfolding.

The Son of God will come into this earth to be the Savior of the world. So as you read Philippians chapter 2, 5 to 11, you will find in the beginning God and His Son. His Son was equal with Him and that is not something to be grasped at.

Now this word hinted to us that once upon a time there was someone who tried to grasp the place of God's Son. And that was the Archangel Lucifer. He tried to displace God's only begotten Son. And because of this he turned himself into Satan, an adversary of God.

And God's judgment came immediately. But God is love. He could not allow this situation to continue without solution. So the Bible tells us the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the deep. God's love began to climb upon this ruined earth.

And in six days He restored it to be habitable. Why does He do it? Because God is unfolding His plan of defeating His enemy. I often say for an old grown-up person to beat a little boy, there is no glory in it.

But for one who is younger, smaller, to overcome one who is bigger, greater, now there is glory there. So God, for God to destroy His enemy, that's an easy thing. If God only breathed, the enemy would die.

But that doesn't give God glory. But if you create man a little lower than the angels, brothers and sisters, we human beings are above all the animals but below the angels. For the angels are spirits.

They can be anywhere. But man have a body. There is a restriction where we are here in this auditorium. We cannot be elsewhere. We are limited. So the Bible says God used someone lower than the angels to defeat the archangel.

That is the glory of God. So brothers and sisters, thank God we human beings are being built not for ourselves. The Bible tells us very clearly man is not created for himself. God does not have this idea.

Humanity's Purpose and the Fall

Man is created for God. Man is created to be used by God to defeat His enemy. That God may get all the glory. That is the purpose of man. But unfortunately brothers and sisters, we human beings began to lose God's thought.

We think we exist for ourselves. And we seek everything for ourselves. That's what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. They were there to guard the Garden. You know the Garden does not have any wall.

God's idea was for Adam and Eve to be that wall. To keep the enemy from coming in. But unfortunately they were not faithful to the Lord. And allow the enemy to come in to persuade Eve and eventually Adam to eat the forbidden tree.

And that's the fall of mankind. But brothers and sisters, when our Lord Jesus came into this world, what does the Bible say? In Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 through 11 we find he who is equal with God and there's not something to be aggressive.

Now that's a hint. Hinting to us once upon a time, there was someone who tried to aggress to be equal with God. And that was Lucifer, Satan. But here was God's only begotten Son. For the love of us he is willing to leave his glory.

Christ's Self-Emptying and Total Dependence on the Father

Lay aside everything except his Godhead. He cannot give up his Godhead because that is what he is. But all the glory and honor and power accompany his Godhead. He laid aside. And brothers and sisters, that is quite a laying aside.

What do we have that we can lay aside for God? When we are doing a little thing for God. We feel proud about it. Look what I have done for God. But brothers and sisters, not so his beloved Son. He had everything but he laid down everything except his Godhead.

Because he is God and cannot be but God. But he lays aside everything that's connected with his Godhead. And what an emptying our Lord Jesus did when he came into this world. And when he emptied everything except his Godhead, his power, his honor, his place, his glory, he took up the form of a man.

Now the word form in our idea usually speaks of outward form. But the word is icon. An icon doesn't mean outward form. It means inward form. That is to say his inward reality. Even though our Lord Jesus came as a man.

And to be a man he had to lay down his outward form of God. That is to say he cannot be anywhere as God is. He cannot do anything as God is. He is not free for himself. He has to obey his Heavenly Father.

So look at the life of our Lord Jesus. What an emptying has our Lord Jesus. He never does anything by himself throughout his life. He said I speak because I have heard my Father spoke. I do because I see my Father did it.

He never went anywhere by his own. You remember his brethren did not believe in him. And during the feast day they told our Lord Jesus go to Jerusalem. If you don't want faith that's where you should go.

But the Lord said you can go anywhere you want to but I cannot because my Father has not bid me to go yet. Yet afterwards he went secretly. So dear brothers and sisters throughout the life of our Lord Jesus on earth even though he was only 33 and half years but during those years he never did anything on his own.

He never say anything on his own. He never go anywhere on his own. He emptied himself so much so completely that even though he were the Son of God yet he was helpless, hopeless depending on God on everything.

That's the life of our Lord Jesus. And having taken the outward form of a man he humbled himself as a man. You never see a man who is so humble. He said I cannot do anything by myself. I cannot even say anything by myself.

I cannot go anywhere by myself. It all depends upon the Father. What a life of dependence on God is the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear brothers and sisters sometimes we may think we are very obedient to God but to be compared with our Lord Jesus during his 33 and half years his obedience to the Father is absolute.

There was no once not once that he would do anything say any word go anywhere by his own and not only that but he was so obedient to the Father even unto death and that the death of the cross. Brothers and sisters during the Roman time the most cruel punishment is crucifixion.

Christ's Sacrificial Death and Salvation

Think a living person to be crucified on the tree not a polished wood but they just cut down the tree and nail the person to the tree and lifted it up. We cannot imagine the suffering of crucifixion but our Lord Jesus suffered all this for us.

Never say a word for himself. He died on the cross for the sin of this world for you and for me that we may be saved and saved to the uttermost. That's the salvation of our Lord Jesus. So dear brothers and sisters we are here this morning thanking Christ Jesus for what he has done for us.

He died for you he died for me he died in our stead and because of his death we today have life and life eternal to the praise of God. So dear brothers and sisters we are here this morning to thank the Lord for what he has done for us and may we be faithful to him until we see him face to face.

Shall we pray? Dear Heavenly Father we want to thank you for your tremendous love for us. Lord we were all sheep of sinners and yet Lord thou are willing to send thy only begotten Son the Son who has pleased thee in all things to die in our stead.

By his blood our sins are all forgiven. By his resurrection thou has brought us into life and life eternal. Oh dear Lord we are what we are today it is all because of thy great love for us. How can we help to keep ourselves for loving thee for worshipping thee for glorifying thee.

We come this morning to give ourselves to thee totally. Lord we pray that throughout our days on earth we may be a glory an honour to yourself. We commit everyone in this auditorium into your head. Pray that when thou shall return none will be left behind but by the grace of God we may all be captured and meet thee with us in our precious days.