Those Who Are on the Line of the Covenant (Heb. 11:20-22)
Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. May the blessing of God be upon all the individuals and families worshiping in the church, in their homes, and especially out of state, or out of the country. There are two types of people in the world. We see a lot of complicated things like, “Life is like this, and culture is like that,” but there are only two types of people in God’s eyes.
There are only two types of people: people that are inside of the stream of God and people who are outside. From the perspective of people, we may see there are a variety of people, but there are only two. Are you living your life centered on people, without believing in God, or are you living your life centered on God?
Even among people who believe in Jesus Christ, there are two further categories. The two categories are the people who are inside the covenant God gave us, and those who are outside of the covenant. People go to church so diligently but they say it doesn’t work out because they’re outside of the covenant. All you have to do is go into the covenant. In other words, you just have to stand on the line that God desires.
For people who emphasize the righteousness, actions, and diligence of humans, they ask, “How can we do that for free?” But it’s not for free; it’s impossible to go into this line. The scripture we read today said that Jacob, Joseph, and Isaac were within this line of the covenant. Abraham was one person who believed in God’s covenant and gospel, and that blessing was relayed to his children.
Once you believe in Jesus Christ, all problems are finished. People who do not believe in that are standing in another line. That person has to believe in themselves. They occasionally believe in God, but they always rely on themselves because they have to solve their own problems. These are the two types of Christians. That person is going to get stuck in their own limitations and fall. But the Christians who are within the line of God’s covenant have no limitations.
Coronavirus is not a problem for such people. Even a bad economy is not a problem for such people, but for the people outside the covenant, all of these things become the problem. God is giving us the evidence through the words of the Bible today.
1. Isaac
1) Abraham’s Faith
(1) Offered Isaac as a sacrifice (Heb. 11:17)
God told Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac. He didn’t compromise for even one second; he sacrificed Isaac. This wasn’t just his stubbornness. That wasn’t him acting strangely so he could gain recognition from people.
(2) Offspring through Isaac (Heb. 11:18)
(3) God could raise the dead (Heb. 11:19)
Abraham believed in the promise God gave him, that all peoples on earth would be blessed through Isaac, and Abraham’s decision of faith influenced Isaac. Isaac faced death and was saved. He had heard the gospel before, but this was the time that he completely experienced it.
2) Isaac’s experience
(1) Fate of dying without reason (Gen. 22:10)
I have to die for no reason, that’s our life. I should only have disasters if I do something wrong, but I’m facing disasters even though I didn’t do anything wrong. Even though I didn’t do anything wrong, I’m facing mental problems. If something happens as a result of something I did, I can understand it, but disasters and problems keep coming into my family line regardless, and that’s the fate of our original sin, that is separated from God and seized by Satan.
We can never escape from this with the actions of man. It is impossible unless it’s by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Isaac heard this covenant all his life through Abraham, but one day he went into the fate of death. He didn’t know why he had to die. If he was lazy then maybe he could think, “I’m dying because I’m lazy,” but it wasn’t because of that. That’s also our lives, but that’s how we experience the gospel.
If you keep trying to understand the gospel from the fundamentals of mankind, you will never understand. The problems of my family line have come into me and my problems go directly into my children. There’s no reason; the only reason is we’re in original sin, separated from God. So, we’re dragged into this fate and destiny by the ruler of the kingdom of the air, unbeknownst to us.
(2) Stopped by God (Gen. 22:12)
(3) God prepared a ram instead of Isaac (Gen. 22:13)
This is what Isaac experienced when he faced death and was saved. Isaac should have died but God provided the ram so that Isaac could experience the gospel. I should have died because of my original sin but Jesus Christ died on the cross for me. Even if we believe in Jesus Christ, there are people who believe this only as a theory and people who have actually experienced it.
Someone who has properly experienced this just once will not have any problems. If they are dead and then raised back to life, what problem could be a problem for them? The real issue is that people go to church without properly experiencing the gospel and only knowing it in theory, but if they did, COVID wouldn’t be a problem. If you say a person is a problem, they should not be one. A bad economy should not be a problem, but most of the people who believe this gather in churches. They think this is the standard and the next generation see this as a model, so that’s their level, too.
3) Isaac’s covenant
While Isaac was living in the land of Canaan, he faced financial problems. In today’s terms, there was a depression in the economy. So, Isaac was thinking of going down to Egypt to maintain his finances. If someone has experienced the gospel once, then anytime a person faces a problem or a crisis, God will continuously find them with His Word.
(1) Live in the land where I tell you to live (Gen. 26:2)
(2) Confirmed the oath sworn to Abraham (Gen. 26:3)
(3) Make your descendants numerous, All nations on earth will be blessed (Gen. 26:4)
In Genesis 26:2, the LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but stay here,” and Genesis 26:3, “I will bless you just as I blessed your father Abraham.” In Genesis 26:4, “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” He experienced the gospel once and the Word continuously went to him.
Even right now, we’re listening to God’s Word, but some of you think of it as a joke, because we haven’t experienced the gospel yet. It’s because we don’t know who we are yet. If I know who I am, I come to the conclusion that the gospel is everything, and from that point on, the Word of God will come to find us in our hearts.
2. Isaac’s Faith
1) God’s Blessing
(1) The blessing of reaping a hundredfold (Gen.26:12)
Isaac remains in the land that God told him to stay in, and he yields a harvest of 100-fold, but when we hear the term, “100-fold,” we ask, “How can we receive the blessing of 100-fold?” All the things you see with your eyes come from a source that is invisible. Isaac was someone who was within the line of God’s covenant. God told him to remain in Canaan and he did. So God has to show something to the people around Isaac. Who are these foreigners? Isaac is the one who will relay the covenant, and that’s why Isaac only farmed one year, but he reaped enough harvest for 100-fold so that others would see.
(2) Discovered a well of freshwater (Gen. 26:19)
In the land of Canaan, water was more precious than oil is now. So, if someone had a living well, that was a source of money for them, because you need to have that living water for you to drink water, and to water your crops and feed your animals. So, Isaac began to dig up these wells from the old wells that used to belong to Abraham, and the water flowed. Then, all the neighboring countries began to get jealous. They said, “We worked all our lives and we can barely make a living, but this person is creating wells wherever he goes,” then what they did was they gathered in greater numbers and stole the wells from him.
What should Isaac do? Should he fight back? The fact that you’re fighting itself is evidence that you don’t have the covenant. They took the wells away from him so he gave it up. Why did he yield? Is he stupid? He just knows that God will work endlessly in this way. Ultimately God gives Isaac the very source of water. If you want to talk about it in terms of business, God gave him the business that all other businesses would rely on, so all the neighboring people tried to steal it from him as well. If they tried to steal it, he gave it away. Why? Because he believed God would work however He needed to in order to relay the covenant.
(3) Rehoboth, blessing of economy (Gen. 26:22)
Even though Isaac was continuously stolen from, God gave him the blessing of Rehoboth. There are people who go to church knowing this mystery and people who go to church without knowing this mystery. For the people who know, a crisis is an opportunity. When they face a problem, they see the answer. Someone stole the well and they saw the answer, and when they faced a conflict, they quickly changed themselves. We are not God; we are so lacking that we must constantly change ourselves, but the older we get, the less we try to change, so that’s why young people don’t like old people.
Some people are elderly in age but young in their mind because they keep changing themselves, so even if they speak to someone younger, they can get along. If you’re within the covenant, you’ll become younger. Do I look young? Those are not my words, but these are the things many people have told me. My friend came from Korea and told me personally. His wife came to America and personally told me, when seeing me after 30 years, and told me all her husband’s friends were going bald.
What does this mean? It means if you have God’s covenant, your heart will always be there; there’s no changing for you. Why would you have to fight? You’re only fighting because you’re at a similar level to them. If you yield everything, you won’t have to fight, but you can only yield everything if you have something that enables you to be okay. That’s the characteristic of a person within God’s covenant.
If you face a crisis of death, just die, but people create problems for themselves because they’re struggling not to die. If there’s something to fight about, you should give it up. You should be at a loss, but only the person who knows that being at a loss is not a real loss can incur the loss. The person who has this can get married. If you notice this a little bit and then you get married, that’s okay too, otherwise you’ll always be fighting, you’ll think you are correct. Even though it’s not the Word of God, you’ll think your words are the truth. This is how you create problems wherever you go.
2) Jacob
This Isaac had a pair of twins and there was a mystery for these twins as well. While they were still in the womb, God’s Word came upon them. People who randomly have babies don’t know God. Life is something given by God. The Devil doesn’t give life, but the One Who created the Universe, the One Who is Life Himself gives Life.
(1) Interested in birthright (Gen. 25:31)
There were two brothers that were playing in the womb, and God gave the Word that “The older will serve the younger.” So, exactly according to that Word, Jacob, the younger brother, was always at home, very close to his mother. He’s always helping his mother cook and listening to the words of the covenant from his mother. Because he’s always at home, Jacob is able to hear the words of the covenant that Isaac received.
However, his older brother Esau had great people skills, leadership, and was very active in the community. He was great at business, but he had no interest in God’s Word. He was much more interested in living a very active life, meeting with people and making a lot of money through hunting, but Jacob was much more interested in the covenant. “How could this covenant be fulfilled?”
One day, Jacob bought the birthright from his older brother with a pot of stew. You should have greed for the covenant. That greed is not our greed, but we want what God has promised us; that’s not greed, that’s faith, and these are the acts of faith. Ultimately, he receives that birthright.
(2) Received blessing from Isaac (Gen. 27:27-29)
Finally, Isaac blesses Jacob to receive the covenant. Isaac transmits the covenant of Abraham to Jacob, Jacob was the one who went into that line of the covenant. Through Jacob, the 12 tribes of Israel were born.
(3) Become a community of peoples (Gen. 28:3)
Through Jacob, the 12 tribes of Israel were born. Because Jacob had stolen the birthright and the covenant from his older brother Esau, he had to run away from Esau, who was trying to kill him. Jacob thought he was running away, but that was actually God blessing him. Jacob thought he was working like a slave and barely being paid by his Uncle Laban, but it’s a fact that he had four wives and eleven sons through them. For the people who are within the line ofthe covenant, even if they stumble and fall, it’s still a blessing because the One Who is a source of blessings is blessing that person.
For people outside the line of God’s covenant, if they make a mistake, that mistake is a disaster, but for people within this line, that mistake is a blessing, it’s evidence that our life is not determined based on our actions. The blessing is being able to believe in the covenant by God’s grace.
(4) Blessed Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Heb 11:21, Gen 48:13-20)
Ultimately, Jacob blessed Joseph’s two sons, so Joseph connected the firstborn blessings. He and his sons received this incredible blessing of the covenant.
3) Esau
Esau did not have any interest in God’s covenant. He was working so hard to live, but his interest was not in God’s covenant. His interest was only in himself.
(1) Sold his birthright (Gen 25:33)
He was hungry, so he was interested in solving his hunger. That’s why he sold his birthright to eat the pot of stew; he was only interested in himself. There are people like this in the church, such people don’t know what the covenant is, they’re just interested in themselves.
(2) His blessing was taken away (Gen 27:35-36)
Later on, all his blessings are stolen away by Jacob. Later on, Isaac blesses Jacob. Jacob did not receive the blessing because he was working hard on his own, but his mother advised him to go receive the blessing while Esau was away. For the blessed people, even if they remain still, they will receive blessings because things work out. He didn’t know anything, but his mother was controlling everything from behind the scenes. That’s what God does.
If we try to make everything happen by using our brains and calculating, that’s what unbelievers do. COVID is a blessing, but people who say it’s a disaster are not in the line of the covenant. This crisis should be a blessing. The evidence is in the age of Noah’s flood, the flood was Noah’s blessing, but for people at a common-sense level, it was a disaster.
There are many people who go to church at the level of common-sense, but that’s the level of unbelievers. You need to be in the covenant that transcends that level. Coronavirus should be a disaster, but there are some people for whom it becomes a blessing. Why did God give us COVID? God is the one who can give and take away diseases. Do you think God gave us diseases to make us suffer? Do you think God was bored with nothing to do and had to make us suffer this year? God was giving us COVID to expedite the blessing of transmitting this covenant more quickly so everyone in the world can be connected from their homes.
That’s why even people in other states can work in LA. That’s only possible if God gave us COVID. What is God’s goal? God made this happen so the covenant of God can be made quickly online. For the people who know this, it’s a blessing. For the people who don’t know this, they’re always grumbling, but the people who have God’s covenant will receive God’s wisdom.
(3) Became tribe of Edom (Gen 36:1)
Ultimately, Esau’s faith and being physical-centered resulted in the Edomites. If someone is thinking, “I don’t have to do that well, I just need to make sure my kids do well,” it doesn’t work like that because Esau’s spiritual state determined all his future generations. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve believed. What is faith? Faith is someone who is within the stream of God’s covenant. The one who’s in the stream of relaying that covenant. For this person, nothing in Revelation will matter because God’s covenant is relayed there, too. But this has not gone into the members of the church, therefore they move according to their environment. Instead of following God’s Word, they keep following the methods of success in the world. They don’t follow God’s Word and they’re always afraid of what the world thinks, and that’s why they’re enslaved to the world. That’s what’s written in the Bible.
God blesses us to save the world, God is telling us not to be dragged by the world, but to lead the world, but we don’t have that strength. That’s why we must remain within the stream of the covenant because God said He will do it.
3. Faith of the covenant
1) Joseph’s covenant
(1) Saved family, Egypt, world (Gen. 37:7-10)
Today, we ourselves, our family, and our church must remain within the stream of the covenant. Joseph received this covenant from Jacob, how? Joseph would tattle-tale to his father all of the bad things his older brothers did, like smoking, drinking, and going to nightclubs. He would tell all the times his older brothers would take money from their father and use it for something else. What does this mean? It means he was always close to his parents, and he always heard the covenant of his parents from up close. One day, when Joseph’s mother passed away, Jacob’s covenant was upon Joseph.
God’s covenant was revealed through a dream: the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to Joseph. What does this mean? It means that you will be the one to save your family, Egypt, and all of Canaan. Joseph thought the sun and moon represented the parents, so he responded, “Should I bow down to you?” But later during the years of the famine, Joseph brought his family in to save them. For the people who have God’s covenant, it’s okay even if they’re slaves because he went as a slave to Potiphar’s house, but God was blessing Potiphar’s house.
God blessed the house not because of Potiphar, but because of Joseph, why? Because Joseph was inside the covenant, and Potiphar knew that. “Ever since this person came into my house, everything in my house has become blessed.” It wasn’t because of Joseph’s hard work. Trying your best and doing well is just basic, the church is not a place to talk about that. That’s what unbelievers talk about, that’s just the basic, common-sense level. But the church is the place that transcends that.
(2) Prime minister of Egypt, invited his family (Gen. 45-47)
Joseph went in as a prisoner but that was the blessing of meeting to become the governor. He met the Pharaoh, and that became the blessing to become the governor. He became the governor, and that was the blessing to save the whole world, why? Because he was inside the stream of the covenant. It’s the same thing today.
Believing in Jesus Christ is the greatest blessing, you must always believe and enjoy this. The One Who has all authority in heaven and on earth is with me forever, and then nothing is a problem, but you keep looking at problems and saying they’re problems, don’t you? That person is correct, but they’re not inside the line of the covenant. That problem is a problem, but it shouldn’t be a problem to me.
Why would it be a problem to me if the one who has all power on heaven and earth is with me? The fact that He has all authority in heaven and on earth means that any problem is under His control. God is the One Who created this problem and inside of God’s control, this problem has come into my life. If God created this problem, He has an answer. We’re talking about people who actually believe in this, not those who know it because of a Bible study, because they actually believe it and problems are not a problem to them.
But the people who don’t believe in this say so many words out of their own rationality and logic, thinking they understand, but God says, “No.” They work so hard on their own, but God pushes them to the side because you guys are speaking without believing that the One Who has all power in heaven and on earth is with you. But for those who believe this, nothing is a problem for them, isn’t that right?
Unbelievers believe in themselves, that’s why their life is limited. There are people who are Christians and go to church, but they’re still limited because they only keep God’s Word as a reference; they think of their own thoughts more strongly. They put the standards of their life on the standards of the world. May each and every one of you begin with the faith that believes in God’s covenant.
(3) Saved Egypt, Canaan (Gen. 47:13-26)
Because of Joseph, all of his family, Egypt, and the whole world was saved. God gave him the Word in advance about the seven years of abundance and the seven years of famine. If God gives them the Word in advance, anybody can run a business well. Because they would know to store up all their grain during the seven years of abundance to sell it later on. But other people don’t know the future. God gave this to them. Do you think God gives seven years of abundance and famine because He’s bored?
2) Joseph’s faith
(1) Brothers in the land of Canaan (Gen. 50:24)
(2) Carry Joseph’s bones to Canaan (Gen. 50:25)
(3) Relayed the covenant of Abraham
Joseph is the main character, Joseph is the one who will transmit the covenant, and God is moving everything for that one person. When he is seated at the throne of the governor, everyone in the world has to go to him to buy grain. There are people who are making so much money in this age, and there are also people who are becoming poor in this age, but God will pour wisdom upon the people who are within the line of God’s covenant.
Selling grain is not our goal; relaying the covenant is, relaying the blessing of the living God, and that’s it. It’s the same thing today. How simple is that? We’re enjoying the blessings and relaying the blessings, what’s so hard about that? The more difficult thing is not believing, it’s because we haven’t hit rock bottom in our lives yet. It’s because we still go to church without knowing who we are, so that’s why God gives us difficulties. God wants us to experience that we cannot do anything through our hardships, but we keep holding onto ourselves thinking we can do something.
Once God’s grace comes upon you, you realize life is nothing, but there are people who still trust in themselves. That means they’ve heard the Word of God in the Bible but it hasn’t become actualized in them. Satan is currently controlling all of our fate and destiny, but you only hear that as theory, it’s not real yet. Even now, they don’t know the meaning of only Jesus because they don’t know what the present problem is. COVID is not the problem, but the problem is the forces of darkness that make us lose hold of the covenant through fear. People say the problems we see without eyes are the problem, but for Joseph, that was not a problem at all. Slavery was not a problem because he was holding onto God’s covenant.
3) Covenant through Jesus Christ
(1) It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
That stream must be connected all the way from Abraham to us. Jesus Christ came to earth 2000 years ago. 2000 years ago, the promise God gave to Abraham that, “Through you, all nations will be blessed,” was fulfilled. Jesus Christ came to earth, and said, “Everything is finished.” He has finished all the problems of our life on the cross. If it’s finished, everything should be finished for us. There are some people who say it’s not finished yet, there are some people who say, “It’s not finished and I’m still struggling with life.” The Devil knows this and will continuously seize that person with depression, panic attacks, drug addictions, and fear. If Jesus says it’s finished, it’s finished.
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified on the cross and the LORD lives within me,” it is finished. We must believe this by God’s grace. It’s not about knowing this by research and studying, we have to believe only by God’s grace. “There’s no need for me to touch or meddle with my life anymore because God is controlling my life. The Master of my life is God, why would I try to meddle with that? All I have to do is try to believe that.”
But there are still people who are trying to make something of their own lives, but you cannot make a masterpiece that way. I will give you a prophecy. If you keep meddling with your own life, then the masterpiece of your own life will be exactly like your parents’, and if they’ve failed, then you’ll always have masterpieces of failure. If your parents have mental problems, then your children will be the product of mental problems. If the stream of the family line is always falling into diseases, then the product I create will also be diseased. Quickly change that stream into the stream of the covenant, the stream of the gospel of Christ. We enjoy this because it’s actually ours, that’s why everything is finished.
(2) Disciples of all nations, healing (Mt. 28, Lk. 16)
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. The blessing that was promised to Abraham, that all peoples on Earth will be blessed through him, has been given to us through Christ, but people try to avoid being in that stream. They keep going into the stream of “me, my plans,” and the physical things. Turns out, that’s the stream of the devil. It’s invisible to the eyes but it seizes that person.
Quickly change this stream, go and proclaim the gospel to all nations and heal them. That’s how to be within the stream of relaying the covenant. Even if you get married you have to marry within this stream. If you do not marry within this stream, then this stream will constantly go into problems. You will be a family where both of you will be so seized by mental problems whenever your business fails or if you get the coronavirus.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a pastor or elder; if you’re not within the covenant, you have no choice. “My mother and father prayed so much,” It doesn’t matter. I’m the first believer in many generations. Who was there to pray for me? We simply believe by God’s grace. Then, for me, it would have been impossible. Even right now, my family line is 99.9% unbelievers; only my mom goes back and forth to church. There are people who have such an incredible background of prayer, but I have the background of demons.
Then, it’s not about human actions, but it’s about God’s grace. So we believe by God’s grace. There’s no need to argue about what kind of family you’re in; are you in the covenant or not? There’s no need to argue about how much you’ve done for the church or not, are you within the covenant or not? “My father is an elder, my father is a pastor,” there’s no need to bring that up. You’re not living your life with your background. The background of God is the complete background. The one who has the background of God is the one who is within the covenant God gave you.
That’s what it means for the Throne of Heaven to bless you. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are actually within me. That’s not something I know with my brain from Bible study, but I actually believe it, and the works of that faith will actually arise. Wherever this person goes, disasters will flee and problems will turn into blessings because God is working.
(3) Filling, working of the Holy Spirit – Witness (Ac. 1:8)
This is not a fairy tale, this is a reality, and that’s why we must be witnesses. When we pray, God gives us answers. God gives us those things because we’re children of God. Sometimes we pray and God doesn’t give something to us because we don’t need it, but if someone is within the stream of enjoying and testifying of the covenant, God follows them around working. Even if they don’t pray, God works upon them, because they’re in the stream God deems most important, God will work on them on His own. These people pray differently because they pray with the flow of the covenant that will be fulfilled.
The president of Samsung did not give his company to the eldest son, but he gave it to his youngest son. Even though they’re all his children, they’re not all the same. He gave it to the one who can handle this task. God gives this to the one who can transmit this blessing. Just because we all go to church doesn’t mean we’re all the same, and just because a place is a church doesn’t mean all churches are the same. Just because people gather doesn’t mean that it is a church. Just because there are a few people, does that make it a church? No, the church should be church-like, it must be a church where the truth of Christ has come upon them, they will relay it outward.
For people like this, they never ask for money, but money follows them. These people may be uneducated, but God’s wisdom follows them. These people may not be able to do much but God will attach people who can . If these people are uneducated, then God will attach educated people. This is talking about Jung Jooyoung, he said, “If you need brains, you should hire people who graduated from Harvard.” That’s the president of Hyundai, and God attaches people to him because they have that vessel.
If you’re necessary for world evangelization, you don’t have to be smart because God will attach smart people to you so they will do smart things around you. If you need money, God will bring money to you. That’s what it should be like, you shouldn’t be chasing after money or success, you need to follow God’s stream. God has brought us into this stream and wants us to testify of it.
(4) Field (Business, academics) – Work that saves (70 disciples)
May your professional field be in the stream of testifying of this covenant. That’s how you will change into the stream of 100-fold blessings like Isaac. Why did God give Isaac the blessing of 100-fold? It wasn’t a miscalculation, he needed it. God needed to give the blessing of 100-fold in order to shut the mouths of everyone around Isaac. In other words, God will bless you up to the point you need to testify of the covenant in your field. Then, if we need the temple constructed, then God will work on the business of those who have the covenant as the economy of light. But if this temple is constructed like the Tower of Babel to boast of ourselves, that will be destroyed.
Conclusion
1. God’s covenant – Me
2. God’s covenant – Church
3. God’s covenant – Field
Let’s conclude the Word. The stream of the covenant given to Abraham was relayed to the Early Church through the disciples and the 70 workers. May your business and studies also be used to relay the blessing of this covenant. Other people may say it’s impossible, but nothing is impossible for God. What does it mean for things to work out? If the covenant is not relayed, things working out is not a good thing. The covenant of God and I must be aligned; this church must be aligned with God’s covenant.
There are really big Buddhist temples, so the size is not the issue. The church must be aligned with God, and my business must be aligned with God. That’s the mystery of blessings. May you stand in the line of this covenant where you believe, enjoy, and testify of the blessing of the covenant.
Prayer
Let us pray together holding onto the Word God gave us.