God’s Oath, Jesus Christ (Heb. 7:20-28)
Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Once you understand this confession, it is the most important confession in the whole world. But if you don’t know that, you’re bound to keep saying words of concern, worry, and fear.
Last week, we received the Word of God entitled “King of Righteousness, King of Peace.” Only when Jesus covers us with his righteousness are we regarded as righteous. Then we receive a peace not from mankind, but from God when we are aligned with God. The Word of God covers my thoughts and His power covers my weakness, and His plan covers my plan. Simply put, no longer my thoughts, but His Word, no longer my mental abilities but His power, no longer my plan but His plan. When these things come upon me, I will be overflowing with peace.
The title of today’s message is, “God’s Oath, Jesus Christ.” This word “oath” is something that someone in a lower position will swear to someone in a higher position. You’ve never seen a King make an oath to someone else, but it’s always his subordinate who makes oaths. But in today’s passage, it says God made an oath. Why is it that God doesn’t lack anything, but He is bound to make this oath. Mt. 5:33 tells us humans to never swear on Heaven or Earth. Because we’re not gonna be able to keep our promises anyways. So He’s telling us not to waste our time. You need to recognize yourself properly, you cannot do this. We make our oaths saying “we’ll do this”, but we cannot. Even if you do do it, you won’t be able to continue it. Why? Only when the one who is perfect makes an oath and fulfills it are we able to keep that oath.
1. God’s promise
1) To Abram
(1) A son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir (Gen. 15:4)
(2) Your offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5)
(3) The Lord credited Abram’s faith as righteousness (Gen. 15:6)
That is what God promised to Abraham. “Leave from your father’s household, Ur of Chaldeans, and go to the land I show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, and you will be a source of blessings.” Even though God promised this, Abraham was 75 years old and his wife was 65, and they still did not have children. Without a doubt, God promised to make a great nation from him, meaning he will have many descendants, but they still did not have children. Later on, Abraham asked God, “I have someone working for me, what if I continue my lineage through him?” God says, “the son I am giving you will be from your flesh and blood.”
God calls Abraham outside in the night, and says “I will make your descendants as numerous as the uncountable stars.” Abraham believed in that and God counted it as righteousness. If people think we can do anything, that in itself is not righteous, we are separated from God. “If I set my mind to something, I can do it.” You don’t know what you’re talking about. Even Napoleon who was conquering the world was exiled to an island and died a lonely death. People say that because they don’t know.
2) Promised the land of Canaan
(1) Binding ceremony for the covenant (Gen. 15:10,17)
(2) God’s one-sided covenant (Gen. 15:18)
(3) A covenant for his descendants (Gen. 15:18-21)
God tells Abraham to go to the land He will show him, but how will Abraham believe in that? God says, “Bring me a few animals.” Back then, the way people would form a contract with one another was to get an animal, cut it into halves, and walk between the two halves, and that would be the signature of the contract. If anyone in that contract breaks the agreement, they had to be split in half like the animal. God made Abraham cut all the animals in half, except the pigeon because Leviticus said that pigeons are too small to be cut in half. Then, nightfall came, and there was a torch of fire that passed between the animals, that was God Himself passing by, saying “I will keep this oath.” After that, Abraham should’ve walked between the animals as well to keep the contract, but he didn’t.
What does this mean? God knew that Abraham was not someone who could keep continuation in the promise. God made Adam and Eve, and they could not keep the promise of not eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. That’s why God is saying “I will take 100% of this contract fulfillment, and if you’re not able to keep your part, I will take the burden.” Humans are incapable of keeping promises.
3) God’s oath
(1) Less makes an oath to the greater
(2) Oath to God Himself
(3) God Himself keeps the promise
Because human beings are not perfect, we cannot make an oath or keep it, and things do not work out according to our thoughts, and that’s why our lives will only work out when the One Who is perfect takes complete control and fulfills our promises. That is the oath God made with Abraham.
In today’s scriptures, the Hebrew people believed in Jesus Christ and believed in Christianity, but their faith is not maturing, there was something in their lives that made them stuck. They believed in Jesus Christ but something was stuck inside of them when they tried to completely believe in Jesus. The reason there is something within them that gets stuck is because Jesus Christ is the High Priest, but the priests are supposed to come from the tribe of Levi, so how could a Judahite become a priest? The Jewish people had thousands of years of the law of the Old Testament that they are looking at Jesus Christ with, and when they say Jesus Christ is the High Priest from the tribe of Judah, it doesn’t make sense.
If we believe in the complete and perfect Jesus Christ, we would have peace and our lives would work out naturally, but there’s something stuck from within us that prevents us from believing. From our perspective, we lived our entire lives, thinking that money, success, and people are everything, but now that we’re told that Jesus Christ is everything, it doesn’t fit. This is the Word of God that resolves that issue.
The human priests who were appointed to make sacrifices and atone for sins were imperfect; they themselves had to sacrifice for their own sins and they couldn’t go for more than 20 years. However, the Priest to whom God gave an oath is eternal; He is perfect and complete. If you receive Him, then no problem will be a problem to you.
The reason problems are problematic to us is because we are not perfect. Non-believers think they are perfect, that they are their own God, so they try to solve their own problems, they get caught, and they die. However, even children of God who believe in Jesus could be like that, too. You believe in Jesus Christ and try to be perfect yourselves. But since the very beginning, when we were created and designed, perfection is only complete when we are with God; we could never be perfect by ourselves.
Legalistic people and religious people keep trying to make themselves more perfect once they believe in Jesus, “I’m going to try to keep the Word this way, but because I’m not able to, I’m in despair, and when I look at someone and see they’re not living by the Word of God, I judge them and say they’re not Christian,” so we’re not able to enjoy Christ, and the only thing we’re able to do is reveal man’s transgressions, and the result is you oppress yourself and you oppress others as well. Then, Jesus’ name is not revealed; only the righteousness of humans is revealed.
2. Jesus Christ
1) Guarantor of a covenant (Heb. 7:22)
(1) Died for all (Heb. 7:27)
(2) Solved the problems of Sin, Curses, Satan, Death, Hell
(3) Priest forever (Heb. 7:21)
Then, Who is Jesus? God knows your weakness and promised to send you someone to take complete responsibility, and that’s Jesus. The imperfect human priest had to give sacrifices in the morning and evening every day, but Jesus Christ Who is perfect was able to forgive all sins at once. He forgave the sins of 7 billion people in one go. It’s not that He was throwing 7.5 billion balls, but He threw one ball and it cured all of the problems of 7 billion people. Jesus Christ died one time and that solved the problems of all mankind.
So, the result of God giving this oath and fulfilling it Himself is by sending Jesus Christ. The problem of mankind is the problem of sin, separating us from God. If someone is spiritually dead like that, they’re seized by Satan and the ruler of the kingdom of the air drags them around. They are trapped under the authority of hell, they live a hellish life on earth and go to an eternal hell. That is the beginning of all problems.
When we think of the word, “sin,” there are the acts of sin we see with our eyes, but there is also an invisible sin. If I steal someone or offend someone with my words, those are acts of sin, and we repent about that. But those acts of sin are only a result of the invisible sin we’ve always had. That invisible sin is because of the fact that you’ve already left God’s Word. Then, moreso than repenting for the repetitive acts of sin you commit, it’s more important for you to repent for the fundamental cause of not believing in God’s Word. That is the problem that Jesus Christ solved for the whole world.
(4) Lives forever (Heb. 7:24,25)
He is not only the priest then, but he is the priest forever. In other words, he is still atoning for our sins right now. He is the One we need. It’s not enough for a human priest to give sacrifices every morning and night, die, and then give the sacrifices over to their son, because with God’s law, we could never accomplish perfection. God Who is perfect must come to us and take our sins upon Himself for us to be regarded as righteous, without sin.
For example, let’s say we commit a crime and are sentenced to 1000 years in prison. You will die before fulfilling that sentence. Let’s say you’re sentenced for 100 years. After you fulfill that sentence, you’ll leave the prison and die immediately. It’s not enough. God has to say that you don’t have any sin. God said, “I will make you sinless, therefore, come out of the prison,” and that’s what happened. This is the Christ we all need.
2) One who believes (Heb. 7:25)
(1) The law made nothing perfect (Heb. 7:19, Gal. 2:16)
(2) Salvation through faith in Jesus (Heb. 7:25)
(3) Child of God (Jn. 1:12)
With one sacrifice, all the problems of eternity are finished, but we don’t enjoy this. We’re under a misconception that again, today, we need a priest, we need a sacrifice, we need to atone for our sins, but by believing in Jesus Christ, we become children of God and faith is truly everything.
There is a battle inside the churches, a battle between whether faith is everything or are acts everything. Paul tried so hard to reach a level of perfection with his actions, and he went up to a certain point and faced a limitation, so he was always lacking something. The perfect and complete God has to say that we’re righteous and sinless in order for us to have spiritual peace.
The fact that you’re children of God means that you are God’s child. Therefore, my status, who I am now, is someone who lives according to God’s decisions, judgements, and guidance. I’m no longer someone who’s trying to accomplish something on my own to impress other people, but God has called me righteous and I became His child, so He takes care of me.
With my actions, I always fall. It’s no longer about saying, “See, look, you fell down and that’s the best you can do,” but now we’ve changed into someone where God says, “This is why I am with you,” and He blesses us for eternity. That’s a child of God. Enjoy this every time you fall over because your life doesn’t change according to your failures. That status of being a child of God takes your life forward constantly.
Let’s say there’s someone born as a son of a king. Even if their IQ is only 90, their life isn’t changed. If someone is born as the son of a king, even if they’re unattractive, their life isn’t changed. That child will continuously receive the blessings of a child of a king. The child of a king doesn’t receive special rewards for studying hard, it’s just that they’re smart. Regardless, the child of a king will receive the blessings of a child of the king.
I’m a child of God, and it’s not about my goodness or actions, but by Jesus Christ, I’ve become a child of God and we enjoy that constantly. When you’re studying, your life is not determined by your studies. Your life is not determined by your job. Your life is not determined by your actions, either. It’s determined by God’s will and that’s why we’re children of God. You must enjoy this constantly.
As you continuously enjoy this, you will receive a different kind of strength. If someone keeps saying, “I can’t do it, I can’t do it,” then they won’t be able to do it. But God is holding onto us and says, “Even though you constantly make mistakes and do evil things, by Jesus Christ, you are still My child,” and He works upon us.
3) Jesus Christ
(1) Meets our need (Heb. 7:26)
It says this Eternal Priest meets the needs of man. What do humans need? We need the One Who is perfect. Humans do not need some great leader, we need someone perfect and complete because human beings are eternal, so we need something eternal. Even if you become the president, you’ll be lacking something. Even if you become president, you need Christ, and that’s Apostle Paul’s confession.
(2) Solution to all problems (Jn. 19:30)
This Jesus Christ finished all problems on the cross in John 19:30. What exactly did He finish? He finished the source of mankind’s problems. The problems of mankind are sin, Satan, and hell, and Christ finished it, and that’s what it means when He says it is finished. If you uproot the source of all your problems, the rest of your problems are solved already.
If you have a disease and there’s a certain source, you have to do surgery to take out the source so it doesn’t grow. However, if there’s some kind of tumor and you keep putting a cream on it, unless you take out the root underneath, it will never go away. The biggest problems in our lives are the problems of sin, Satan, and hell, and Christ has finished that completely. On the outside, it may seem like you have some visible disease, but that’s not a problem. We still have our old ways of living before we met Jesus Christ, and as time passes, that will slowly go away because the fundamental root has been cut out.
(3) In whom are all things (Col. 2:3, Rom. 8:32)
(4) The greatest knowledge (Phil. 3:8)
Col. 2:3 says all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus Christ. Your own abilities and knowledge and wisdom are imperfect, and no matter how much money you make, it’s not going to be enough, but everything is within Christ, but it’s a mystery, it’s hidden. The fact that it’s hidden means that not anybody can see, it is only visible to the people to whom God shows His grace. Paul didn’t know this, Paul thought he could become perfect by keeping all the law and doing good actions, and that’s why he was always so thirsty.
There was something lacking in his life, but one day, he met Christ. Then he makes this confession that, “Everything I’ve learned and accomplished with my life is rubbish because that knowledge came from being centered on myself, and it’s all rubbish. Now that I’ve met Jesus Christ, I know that everything that is perfect and complete and sufficient is within Christ.” You have to enjoy this, don’t keep it as knowledge, but actually enjoy it.
When you face a problem, you try to solve it yourself, but God has a plan in it, and ultimately God will move forward in the name of Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:32 says God gave us His Son, so of course He will give us all things. He gave us Jesus Christ His Son, so don’t you think He will give us all things? That means everything in your life is contained within Christ, it has already been given to you, but because we’re not able to enjoy it, we keep concentrating on our own efforts, good works, and diligence. But He is the True God, the Creator, Who moves everything in the universe with His hands now, and we have to enjoy this, moment by moment. When you face a problem, enjoy it more because He is perfect, and the key to solve this problem is with Him.
There’s something called a Master Key, this Master Key can open any lock in the world. The imperfect priest of the law in the Old Testament was like one key that could open one door, and if you wanted to open another door, you needed another key, and that was insufficient. It must be the Master Key that can open any door in the world. When people make any kind of problem, we’re able to unlock it with this Master Key given by God. But you have a different key for your car, your house, and that’s not enough to solve your problems. You need this one key, this eternal key that is everything, and if you understand it, it is truly everything.
Jesus Christ is the Key that is able to open any problems, the problems of your children, money, people, spiritual and mental problems. You must actually utilize it. Stop trying to open it with the key you’ve gained through your knowledge and experience, but open it with the Master Key of Jesus Christ because this is the key that will open the future and heaven. God has given you this perfect, eternal, one-time-use key that is so perfect, why are you not using it? You keep trying to solve your problems with your experiences, but you can’t open this lock unless it’s another door. That’s why with One being, Jesus Christ, He is perfect, complete, and sufficient.
We have been given this Jesus Christ, but we understand Him differently, we believe Jesus Chrsit died on the cross and saved me, but we don’t believe He is perfect, then what happens? We have to try to be complete and perfect ourselves, but there isn’t a single person in all mankind who is like that, so stop struggling uselessly but believe the complete thing.
If you’re someone’s child, then all you have to do is ask your parent whenever you need something, but instead, you’re worrying and trying to get a job. You don’t have to do that. When we say “Jesus Christ,” it’s not a Jesus Christ Who seems like everything. When you believe in Jesus Christ, you receive salvation, but there’s a big difference whether this Jesus Christ is the Master Key that solves everything for you or not.
The problem of the churches right now is that they don’t believe Jesus Christ is the Master Key, because they believe this Master Key is not able to solve every problem in their life, and that’s why they need other keys, they need the key to success and to material things, and that’s the problem of the churches today. When the perfect and complete Christ is revealed, nothing is a problem, and God is telling us to fully utilize this Key. Stop relying on your experiences, but instead trust in this key. That is what He is saying.
3. The one who is exalted above the heavens (Heb. 7:26, Ac. 1:11)
In Heb. 7:26, it says Jesus Christ has been placed in the highest honor in heaven. He ascended into heaven after resurrecting, is seated there, and is with us as the Holy Spirit.
1) Identity – Holy Spirit
(1) With (1 Cor. 3:16, Gal. 2:20)
Because the perfect Jesus Christ is with us, we have become His temple. Even if our personality or body is very lacking, there is a perfect and complete thing inside of us. We are God’s Temple. I’m not a problem, there’s something perfect within me. If the Temple is a little dilapidated, God will do construction on it. If a person is lacking but they have the perfect and complete God, God will change the parts that are lacking so that unbelievers will not look at this weakness and lose hold of the true goodness.
This Jesus is with us as our Master, and we give everything up to Him. Everything, everything you’re worried about, give it up to Him. You guys keep trying to think so hard to create your own key, but that key is limited and doesn’t work everywhere, but if you give everything up to Him, He will guide everything perfectly according to His time schedule. “Oh, what should I do about this person? Should I kill them or let them live?” That’s not something you need to decide. God never gave you that key, because whatever happens to people is determined by God.
(2) Guidance (Jn. 14:26-27)
In John 14:26-27, that Holy Spirit lives within us, and He is guiding us and reminding us. We are lacking, He teaches us all things, reminds us of all things, and that’s how we receive peace. All of your studies and businesses come from God. When we study science, it’s studying the nature that God created. When we have humanities or sociology, it’s the same thing. God is the One Who created all of it, so He has all the knowledge pertaining to this, so that’s why you must study while you pray, you must work while you pray; pray while you work because the Master is God and He has the key to the problem. If something blocks your way, He has the Key to open it. You go to church but you don’t believe this, we worry and struggle with things, thinking we have the answers ourselves, but even if you worry, you won’t have the answer. Quickly go back to the Master.
If your car breaks down, where do you have to take it? If someone’s a little educated, they’ll say, “I’ll fix it myself,” but that’s the problem. There’s something you can never know. You have to take it back to the manufacturer. You have to take it to the company where it was made in order for them to fix it. For the problems of mankind, we have to quickly go back to the One Who created us. He is the One Who created us, designed us, and holds all of our plans, so He reveals everything to us, but if He’s far away, it will take too much time and that’s why He is with us as the Holy Spirit.
(3) Answers to prayers (Jn. 14:13-14, Jn. 16:24)
It would be hard for God to meet with every person on the earth, one by one, so all at once, He speaks to us by giving us the Holy Spirit. That’s why when we pray, He answers us. Even when you pray for unnecessary things, He answers, saying “That’s unnecessary,” but if it’s necessary, He says, “This is necessary.” If you just have your greed, God will say, “I will not give it to you because it’s for your greed.”
If a 5-year-old kid asks for $5,000 from her father, do you think the father would give her $5,000? Let’s say the father is extremely wealthy. If this 5-year-old-kid asked for $10,000, would he give it to her? What would happen if he gave it to her, and the child has $10,000? That child would get kidnapped. If that child did not have $10,000, they would not have been kidnapped.
If our vessel is not permitting it, and we ask for this and that, God not giving it to us is the answer. If a child is 5-years-old, it’s better to give them $1 or $5, so no matter what, God answers us perfectly and accurately according to our vessel.
But for an adult, $5 is not enough for them. They have to start a business, they have to get a job and educate their kids, so $5 is not enough, so God gives appropriately. God gives according to the work He needs. If you’re completely opposite of God and you work for your own greed, God is only going to fulfill your physical needs. But if you’re working for God’s project, God will take care of everything for you, God will answer everything by the working of the Holy Spirit.
2) Authority – Holy Spirit
(1) Break down darkness (Mt. 12:28)
(2) Transcend time and space (Heb. 1:14)
When you receive God’s Word at this moment and pray, God works, transcending time and space at this moment. The acts of humans, we have to meet them personally. But at this time, when you are worshiping, God is working in this moment, simultaneously at your job. This is the level of a child of God. We’re living on the earth, but we’re at the level of flying around in heaven.
Imagine how hard it is to live a walk of faith if you don’t know this. “I have to persuade this person and confront that person, I have to go there,” how could you live like that? You have to struggle and think to solve this problem, then of course, you’re bound to get mental problems, and of course, depression will automatically find you even if you ask it not to, why? When a child of God receives the Word of God and prays holding onto that Word, God works in that moment to fulfill His Word as an answer to the field.
At this time, if you’re just thinking about God’s Word, that’s prayer. Not the thoughts that come from your greed, but the thoughts that come from God’s Word. Right now, at this time of worship, if the Word of God is hitting your heart, then immediately, you’ll receive answers. In every sphere of influence of your life, this Word will be fulfilled, and that’s the special right of a child of God.
There’s no need for a child of God to meet with people one-by-one to accomplish something, but if you just make the command, it will be fulfilled. If a son of a president is in Washington DC and they want to meet someone in California, they make the command and it just happens. If they were not the child of the president, they would have to buy their own plane ticket, do their work, and fly over. But if the child of a president says, “Dad, I want to meet with my friend,” then the child doesn’t have to go themselves but the president will take care of it.
We have to live for the week. We have to study, work, and meet people we don’t want to see. There will be things in front of us that we’re not confident of handling, and if you think about those things, it may be so scary. When you come to church and listen to the messages, you think it seems true, but when you think about other things, your head starts to hurt.
(3) Background of the throne (Phil. 3:20)
Today, God is giving you His Word, and God will work upon all the things that make your head hurt. God doesn’t work on something just because it makes your head hurt, but God works according to His Word, because we are the people who live with the background of the throne of heaven. Our lives do not come from our experiences, our own ideologies, or our own philosophy. All our answers come from the background of God’s throne, that’s the status and authority of a child of God.
(4) All nations – Disciple (Mt. 28:16-20)
Now, we have the blessing of going to make disciples of all nations. We are playing the role of being a witness to all nations to tell them that Jesus Christ is perfect and complete. There are people hidden in your school and job just waiting to hear this news, but on the outside, they pretend they’re not; they act very arrogant. On the outside, they are lying, saying “I don’t need anything else,” and that was Paul.
Paul thought he was great, however, until the perfect thing comes into a human being, we are bound to be lacking and thirsty. You have to enjoy the thing that is perfect and complete for you to be healed of your drug addiction. Why do you do drugs? People do drugs because they need drugs. Why do people gamble? They gamble because they need to, isn’t’ that right? Why do we keep drinking alcohol? Because we need it. Why do we feel a need to lie compulsively? Because we need it. Why is it that we fight with everyone we meet? Because we need that.
In other words, this is the result of not believing the fact that you’ve been given the perfect, complete thing to fulfill all your needs. You have to feel that you don’t need those things. You can only be healed of your drug addiction if one day, you feel you don’t need it anymore. You will be healed of your addiction to alcohol and gambling when you feel you don’t need those things anymore. You have to feel that you don’t have to lie anymore for you to stop lying, isn’t that right? Then what do you have to do? You have to believe in the perfection of Jesus Christ. Only when you feel that only Jesus Christ is perfectly complete and sufficient for you will you be liberated from your addiction to drugs, alcohol, and gambling.
Why do you guys make money? Because you need money, but if you live like that, you’ll have no choice but to fall into money. Yes, we do need money, but if we hold onto and believe in the Jesus Christ who is perfect and complete, money is contained within Him. God has hidden people in your field who have been prepared to receive this message. God is going to give you evidence for you to stand as a witness to find those people. As you do that, your business will follow in Christ, and you will be bound to rule over your material possessions, and you don’t have to persuade other people, but God moves them. This is the status and authority of a child of God.
You must enjoy this. If you don’t enjoy this, even if you keep going to church, it will be the same.
3) Restore the covenant
(1) Image of God (Gen. 1:27)
God restores us to the original form of Genesis 1:27, of being made in the image of God. God gave us His Spirit, so when the life of God’s Spirit comes into us, will we be changed. All fruits and results of our lives come from this life, and from this life, God continues to give me blessings, that through me, I will make disciples and raise the future generations to do this work.
(2) Blessing, save lives, disciple, future generation (Gen. 1:28)
(3) Rule over, conquer (Gen. 1:28)
As I’m doing that work, the blessings of ruling and subduing follow me. Even if I don’t say, “Money, money”, money will follow, and even if I didn’t emphasize or chase after success, my name is exalted. God promised it, “I will make your name great.” People who don’t know this said, “Let’s make the Tower of Babel and exalt our name,” and the result of that was the Tower of Babel was broken down. The only way, God promised to do it, and it’s only Jesus Christ. It’s impossible with our own human efforts and diligence. The One Who is perfect and eternal must be with us, forgiving us and loving us, saying we are righteous for our lives to be possible. Everything is contained within this.
For those who testify of this to others, God pours everything, following them around. We are living on this earth as the ambassadors of heaven. I hope you will have a week where you truly enjoy this work and have no choice but to relay this to others.
Conclusion
1. God’s promised oath
2. Jesus Christ
3. One who enjoys through faith and becomes a witness.
Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the Word God gave us.