Heaven Rules All The Time | Elder Ang Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from acts church. We hope this message

will light up your day. I'm going to start off with this simple question.

Since Heaven rules is the team for twenty twenty three here in our church,

the question is this, Can Heaven rule all the time in our lives?

Is a question that I've been asking. I've been reflecting throughout this year

because it's been how fast the year has gone by. We're already in the

fourth quarter. Just ponder upon this. Can Heaven rule in crisis time?

Can Heaven rule in times of peace? I mean, we see a lot

of different events taking place here in the world. Will haven't rule whether we

are prospering or whether we are being persecuted? Is it? No? It's

a question that I think it begs and answer somehow in our minds. And

to be able to even answer this question, I think it's so important that

we know who this ruler of Heaven is first, because unless we are fully

convinced that this ruler is rightfully on the throne, we will never be subjects

of heaven to begin with. Because Heaven is this big concept sometimes or Heaven

rules, what does it really mean? The Kingdom of Heaven rules in our

lives. No, We've been sharing messages throughout the year. I'm sure you

have heard different messages on Kingdom, different messages on Heaven. And so I

just decided to list down some questions and hopefully find answers because I was looking

for some of these answers as I was listing down these questions, which I

hope will convince us that Heaven indeed can rule all the time in our lives.

Amen. So I've broken it down into six questions actually, and so

we're gonna go to my DCS today. Okay, question We're gonna start with

question one? Is there a God? Anyone ever asked that question? Because

I know when I was growing up it was a question in which I ask

myself often. And there are many different ideas of God in the world today.

In a way, no one has ever seen God. No one can

claim to say I've seen Him face to face, per se, and so

many people actually sort of abandon the search for God even before they have really

begun it, only because he's not a tangible person in which you can see,

you can touch, you can perceive with your senses. But to answer

this question, does God exist it's actually necessary for us to start with something

that we can examine. Does that make sense, something that we can examine,

something that we can see, something that is obvious, And that's where

we should always start with. And I chose to start with the universe that

we live in because it is here. It is, it is here in

existence, the universe that we live in. And whenever we look around us

and look at nature and look at these amazing universe that we live in,

I think the first question that always comes to mind is this, how did

they get there? How did the universe come about? Do y'all ever ask

this kind of existential questions? Noah, day to day just thinking about semester

exams. No is a really big enough a problem in your history. But

that's that's really and if you have time sometimes it's good to sit down and

ask all these existential questions or how did all this come about? How they

get there? And you know, it's it may seem strange, not that

many people say whatever they want about how the universe came about. Many people

actually realize that there is something so amazing around them, the fact that they

are just a mere spec here in this big, large universe. But they

always ignore this question how did it get there? And so let's look at

some of the different answers that we can find today. There are many,

okay, there are many in terms of answering questions today. We have come

to this place where you can answer whatever you want in today's world, which

is a dangerous place to live in. But I'm just gonna share maybe a

few normal answers that we sometimes hear, okay, to the question how did

it get there? How did the universe come to be? And some actually

say this, no, that it did not. Basically, it is not

really there at all. So some people who actually say that this whole thing

that you're living in is a figment of your imagination. It's not really there.

It's an illusion. Matter simply does not exist. Okay, I don't

know whether I can subscribe to that, but there are really some people who

really believe that the universe simply does not exist, that they are just floating

somewhere in the twilight zone somehow. Okay, Okay, that's one answer.

Another popular answer is this that the universe has always been there. Ever heard

of this one. It's always been there. It has changed, it has

evolved, but there was never a time in which the universe never existed.

But this idea also has become increasingly difficult to defend because more and more scientists

today, when they research and when they find out about the universe, they

believe that there is a beginning and therefore also there will and there should be

an end. Okay, it's okay, these are just different answers. The

third answer is this some people, actually some now the question to the question

how did the universe get to where it is? Some will say it's by

chance chance. That means that at some remote point in history nothing became something

by chance. Basically there was the ingredients came about somehow for a spontaneous reaction,

and that's how the universe came into being. Sometimes I think subscribing to

this needs a little bit more faith than even believing in God. It really

nothing to something by chance suddenly, no science. I really believe being an

atheist needs more faith than believing in God in all honesty. But okay,

that's the third answer. The fourth answer is that religious one that we hear

quite often that the universe was created and that the very fact of its existence

is proved that there must be a power and an intelligence greater than the universe

itself, which wield it into existence, which caused it to exist. And

that power and that intelligence is the supreme being to whom some people call God.

Makes sense. Okay, So that's the few answers that we have.

And this is why I know. The Bible actually says this in Romans chapter

one, verse twenty. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his

invisible qualities, his eternal power, and divine nature, so they have no

excuse for not knowing God. In other words, our existence is the proof

of his existence, and it's the fact that we are here is a proof

that there has to be in existence a greater power. And so Scripture is

actually saying, a man who can look at the universe around him and say

that there is no God has denied his own reason and tak himself out of

the truth of his very existence. I know. Deep. Okay, But

but but let's move on to the next question. First, what if we

do not have the Bible? Imagine imagine with me if we do not have

the Bible with us today, and I'm assuming that most of us here a

Bible believing Christians. If you're not welcome to a philosophical class that hope to

eventually summarize and end up somewhere. But let's assume there is no Bible.

Can men see some content or some substance to this word God? Anyway?

If without the Bible, does the word God or a supreme being makes sense

or not? Because behind the things around us that we can see the question

that we must always ask, is there a power greater than those things?

Doesn't it make sense to ascribe that power as the existence of God is a

question that we will ask, and we have to ask ourselves, because if

we go back through human history, we find that in the very beginning,

man's religion was always a belie belief in one supreme being who made everything.

You study history and you'll see that actually only later did that from one supreme

being did it slowly degenerate into a belief in plurality or multiplicity of beings and

things. That's why eventually you see human nature everything is so can worship one?

Can worship nature? See waterfall? Ah, so powerful? What the

for? Then you see tree? You are so powerful? This tree,

worship tree? And then you know the great warrior, This will a very

powerful Okay, worship this great warrior, got ten great warriors will worship all

ten. But if you studied all the way back, you will realize that

at the beginning, in the earlier stages, they always ascribe to one,

one big supreme being. It was only throughout the years, uh and the

centuries that eventually it included nature, included inanimate objects, included dolls, included

a block of break, include a lot of things like Okay. Therefore,

can it be said that true uncomplicated eyes looking at the world, and with

uncomplicated minds thinking about it, is it possible to conclude that it was made

by a higher being, by a higher power, by a supreme being,

you know. Personally? For me, I came to my own conclusion that

we do not need the Bible to tell us this, because since I was

young, and I never always I can't claim to always know the Bible or

have knowledge of the Bible. There was a point of time when I was

a young child, just thinking and just perceiving all these things. I already

came to a point or conclusion that there's got to be something bigger than just

me and my father and my family, and the government and the different powers

that are in charge of the government. To my own conclusion that there has

to be something more powerful, and that is coming from my own experience of

growing up. Actually, we do not need the Bible to tell us about

God per se, because we can deduce just from observation, using our physical

eyes, using our minds. We can actually list down some of this self

evident truths about this supreme being, just true observation. Okay, the first

thing is this, if there is a supreme being, he must be a

supreme being with a lot of power. Because you think about it. If

you go to school, a lot of you are in university today. Every

tiny atom in the universe is packed with power. How does nuclear I can't

remember all these things like that, but I know just one small little thing

and then it can cause great power nuclear fusion fision. I don't know what

you're learning physics, but that's the reality. We imagine the sun. Just

think about the Sun for a moment. How powerful is the Sun. The

amount of energy that's in the Sun is enough to actually sustain the whole world

to a certain extent. You know, even if the Earth's exist tilts a

little bit away from the Sun. We are all doomed one way or the

other. Think about it. It's almost inconceivable. Power that determines no,

the seasons, that determines the weather. Think about it. So it must

be a supreme being of tremendous power. Then he must also be a supreme

being of tremendous intelligence. Ever thought about it? Since if he's the one

that made it all, if all these things, no, I don't see

a lot of people who can recreate a lot of things here in nature,

in all reality. Think about water. Think about water, the simplest of

all substance, Yet it's so complex because this very matter, water is what

keeps the entire planet clean, It's what keeps the planet fertile, it's what

keeps us all cool. You know, the tides are moving up, and

it happens day after day after day. Think about how every day millions of

liters of water gets caught up into the air, and every day that happens,

and then whatever that's caught up a few kilometers above in the atmosphere is

then dropped down all the way onto Earth. But it's dropped down so gently

that it sustains life without humming plants, without humming animals, without humming humans.

I really believe, just by what I see with my eyes that if

there is a supreme being, it's a supreme ring of amazing intelligence. Because

look at our own human bodies. You know, you can't fully fathom how

amazing every organ in your body works and works together somehow, and no one

is able to recreate all these things. It also tells me that this supreme

being is very imaginative. You see, men, we try to create variety,

but most of the time we end up creating sameness. We try to

create variety, but we end up creating sameness. What else the creator,

if there is one out there, he is a supreme artist. His creations

are basically an infinite variety of colors, shapes, texture. Just walk out

into nature and you realize that you can be standing in a garden with a

cacophony of colors, all different colors everywhere, and some people will look at

what so many colors? It's like, oh, it's ugly, But you

walk on into nature. Hardly would you actually say all these different colors is

an aberration to my eyes, I hate colors everywhere. No, you look

out into nature and I think you appreciate no One of the best seasons I

like, if we live in a four season country, is actually autumn.

There's just something about autumn that gives you a whole range of colors from green

all the way to rate, and that is an amazing creation of God.

And that shows us that he's imaginative. If there is this supreme being in

existence, So the logical conclusion is that there is a supreme being managing and

holding together the universe that he has made. You see the complexity of humans

and animals. No one is able to recreate this to perfection and get it

all to work and to weave into one another until today. Another conclusion that

I can draw is that this supreme being should be personal. Right if you

look around the world, think about the highest, the most advanced, and

the most significant creature. Which is the most advanced and significant creature here on

earth? Cockroage Bend says cockage. Okay, anyone else want to give it

a shot. It's basically you and me sitting down here today. Band puts

himself lower than a cockroache for whatever strange reason. Is a reason is either

complete humility or someone is to enlighten my brother. But you know, think

about it personality. That is exactly what distinguishes humans from animals, and it's

one of the most important, if not the most important quality that we can

see actually around. So without making reference to the Bible, I have actually

learned a great deal about the nature of this supreme Being simply by just sitting

down and thinking. And perhaps this is one of the reasons why many people

actually do not find God, because we don't have the time sometimes to sit

down and think. But sitting and thinking has its limitations, I must say,

especially if this is a search for truth, which is just one side.

What do I mean by that? You see, we are all finite

creatures, finite meaning that there is a beginning from conception and then there will

be an end that we all end up in a grave. Okay, that's

finite, and we will always have difficulties understanding something that is not finite.

That's the reality of it. But suppose suppose the search is not one sided.

Suppose that this personal supreme being has spoken about himself, and suppose the

record of what he has said about himself is still available today, then surely

we will be in a position to confirm or reject whatever ideas that we have

come to about this supreme being just by our reasoning right, And so let's

move on to the next question. What does the Bible say about God?

What does the Bible say about God? You see, Christians actually believe that

God is the supreme being who has spoken, who has voluntarily revealed the truth

about himself, and he has done it true human agents all down the centuries.

Basically, he chose one small nation, Israel, to be the channel

of his communication with mankind, and from that one nation he chose a handful

of men, which are the prophets, to be his mouth peace. And

through them he has given the human race a picture of his own nature.

That is the Bible in which we read today. The question is does that

picture coincide with what we have already come to understand or does it conflict whatever

we have observed or whatever we have reason out in our own hits. Ever,

ask yourself that question, because the amazing thing is that when we turn

to the Bible, where the words of God's prophets are recorded for all time,

we actually find that all the things shown by reason and observation are actually

confirmed by revelation. And that is something that I really believe as I read

the Bible more again, I told you all that I didn't start off reading

and knowing the Bible. I started off by observation, like any one of

us. But as I read the Bible more and more, I realized that

whatever that I observe with my eyes is really confirmed to God's revelation in his

words. You know. For instance, God actually tells us that he is

the creator of the universe. Amen, And the very first words of the

Bible tells us that in the beginning God created this. Doesn't get any more

literal than that, okay, Genesis chapter one. He actually told Job no,

you know, remember who Job is, the outspoken Old Testament saying no.

He told Job that he had made and planned the world long before Job's

existence. And basically Joe was having his argument, We've got no God,

why do you allow this to happen? Why do you allow that to happen?

Why? And God actually just he didn't even answer any questions that Job

asked. He just asked him the word you there. Did you measure this

world? Did you come and do all the quantities surveying when this world was

being made? Did you measure the shorelines of the sea, and basically it

was one of those job moments for God prob because Joe had nothing, He

had no response. That's the reality of the bigness of God, and that's

why the Bible shows that God is infinitely powerful. In First Chronicles twenty nine

eleven, we see that the world came into being at his word of command.

In a way, it's not an exaggeration to say this about God's creation.

No sooner say than done, No sooner say than done than miss.

Immediately after he said it, it was done. And you see God say,

let that be like, and there was like. God say, let

the earth team with life, and there was life. And the Bible actually

records that every time he spoke, it happened, and that surely is a

mark of infinite power. He spoke and it was. But this God of

power and Mike has also told us that he is personal and creative. We

see that in Genesis chapter one as well. As you read on. You

see his intelligence, his imagination, his creativity. It expressed themselves through personality,

so that God thinks, God speaks, God feels, He decides,

He relates to other beings in a personal way. And that's why when we

read his word. It's not just reading a bunch of words. It goes

beyond that. I know. Sometimes you're think about reading is like reading your

textbook, and you're like, man, even then, even that it's actually

the author of the book communicating with your right so you're like, yeah,

but I don't like what he's being communicated because it's all used for exams and

tests. But the reality is that it is a personal God and all this,

all of this is actually revealed in the Bible, confirming that the ideas

of God we have gleaned through the process of observation and reasoning. So sometimes

people object know that we are making God into nothing more than a glorified human

being, like as though we are making God in our own image, because

when we read it, we see and then we box him up. And

therefore God must also have faults. And that's why God must also have feelings

to match with whatever we have seen the human feelings around us. And that's

why I says, we question God, hey, why are you allowed this

to happen? Why? Hey, why why the bad things have to happen

to good people? We question God? But then we have to ask the

next question, is God like us. You see this question, it's almost

like asking her, is someone's father like his son? Do you realize that

there's something a bit off with that question. You don't really ask whether the

father is like the son. It's a bit upside down. You usually ask

is the son like the father. See, the Bible tells us that we

are like God, made in his image and likeness, and that does not

say that the greater is contained in the lesser. So God is the greater,

He is not just contained in us per se, and that God is

like us. Of course in many ways, his personality is like ours,

as we have seen, but also in many important respects, God is unlike

us. And here are some areas where God is just He's just different from

us, and he's actually revealed in the Bible. Let's go trade. Let's

go trade. The first thing is God is spiritual, his spirit. We

cannot he No, you can't see him per se, you can't touch him,

you can't locate him. We are tied to a particular location because of

our physical bodies, because we are material beings that can only be at one

place at one time. But God can be anywhere. You see, he

feels his creation is very difficult for us to think of a God who cannot

be captured by our own normal senses of touch, side, smell, hearing.

But he is spirit and we have to relate to him spiritually. Second

thing is this God is omnipotent, and this does not mean that he can

do anything, but that he can do anything he wants to do. Does

that make more sense? Because omnipotent this means that God only has the ability

to do anything that is compatible with himself. Because sometimes I have people who

ask me no, then God can do anything that he can lie, Lah,

he can make a mistake, But we know God can lie, and

God can make mistakes, so he can do anything that is compatible with himself.

The third thing is this God is omnition. That means he's all knowing.

He knows the future as well as the past, so technically nothing is

hidden from him and there is nothing that's beyond his comprehension. Needless to say,

this is an attribute that is unique to God because I don't think anyone

of us here can claim to be omnition all knowing. If not, you'll

probably know what's coming up of your exams ready, or if not, we'll

all be lining up outside the fody shop, waiting to buy the next number

and hit the jackpot. But we're all still here in church. Charlie Louiah,

praise a lot. Okay, fourth flee Is this God is omnis need,

present, present everywhere. God is everywhere, but he cannot be limited

to any one locality. Basically, he is not tied to place. He

is not tied to space. And if I were to ask Lord, where

in the universe are you, he might answer, you have asked the wrong

question. I am not in the universe. The universe is in me.

So God is greater than the universe itself, and yet He is even nearer

to me than my own heart beat. Think about it. How amazing this

God is. Another attribute of God is this? He is eternal, basically

without beginning and with no end. Then those who ask no, because some

people will ask again, where I go to Sunday School and all the best

to sell with When a kid comes and says who made God? Who made

God? Sounds like a very very clever question that we all ask when we

were kids. But it's like asking this question, what is a square circle?

Because by definition God simply exists. There cannot have been a time when

he did not exist, and there can never be a time when he actually

seizes to exist, Otherwise he would simply be a finite being like you and

me with beginning, and which God is not at all. In fact,

his name in the Bible, Jehovah, means I am, you realize I

am. That's how he refers to himself. Basically, he's always in the

permanent present tense. God is always. That's another word that I've seen used

to describe God always, which is amazing. Now, of course, it's

hard for us to grasp this because in a sense, we will never be

able to fully grasp it, because our minds itself is finite and we cannot

fully understand infinity, that is the reality of it. But God exists in

his own right as part of his own nature, and that's why in Psalms

nineties it says from everlasting to everlasting, I am God. That is what

he says for every created thing. There are three tensers now all of us,

there are three tenses that exist. But before we exist, it was

a what's not? And then where we are today is now, and where

we will be eventually is where we will not be where we will not be.

We will actually cease to exist at some point. But God never describes

himself as what's not, is now and will not be. He actually describes

himself as the one who was, who is, and is to come.

Basically, he is always there. And so remember this, God is not

made in our image, and we cannot claim that he is totally like us,

but it does mean that we are like him in some important respects.

And perhaps the only way to hold these two things in balance is to see

them in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For you know, the

greatest thing God ever did was to visit this planet as a human being,

bringing the greatness of his glory of eternity right into the daily lives of mankind.

That's why Christianity always makes sense to me when I look at Jesus,

because in a way, I wouldn't say that he is finite, but him

being men starts to make sense to me, makes sense of a lot of

things to me. And that's why Jesus actually said this. No, he

who has seen me has seen the Father, and quite honestly know every other

picture of God by the one provided by Jesus is inadequate. And therefore,

when we find Jesus, we have actually found God. So the next question

we must ask ourselves is this, then, who on earth is Jesus.

We have to ask that question. And the true picture is actually available because

his every words, his very actions were all reported by eyewitnesses and are actually

there recorded in the New Testament for anyone who actually takes the trouble to actually

read it. And the first thing one has to say about Jesus of the

Gospels is that there can be no doubt that he was a real human being.

He had a body like ours. He needed rest, he became hungry.

He was thirsty. He knew pain, he understood discomfort. He had

a mind like ours. He had to learn to read and write. No,

Jesus didn't come up from Mary's woman and straight away he was talking.

Really, he had to learn to read and write. He had a sense

of humor. He had to employ logic and reason, just like each and

every one of you here. He had a spirit like ours. He felt

the need to pray, and he joined in public worship. Jit Jesus actually

to the synagogue every Saturday to worship. He understood all these things. But

if we say that Jesus was a man like us, then we ought to

go on and ask this next question, like which one of us? Because

we do, I mean, we see Jesus he's like us. But okay,

in all honesty, like which one of us? Because when I examine

his life I find in fact that he was not born the way I was

born. He born quite special. Okay, right, we all can acknowledge

through God's words. He did not live like I live my life, and

I don't think he died the way I will die eventually. And so there

is a dimension to the life of Jesus that is different, that makes him

distinguished, that makes him a pretty remarkable person. And indeed, one of

the most disturbing things when you read about the ministry of Jesus in the scriptures

in the Bible is whenever he uses God's name, because people ask him,

know who are you? And then he goes, I am Everyone's like,

may, why is he? Why does he talk like that? In fact,

the Jews don't even there mention God's name. No, they me it's

all in in consonants. Actually you can't even pronounce it because they don't even

have the audacity to say God's name is so holy that they don't even there

mention it. And then this is some ordinary blow walking the streets, and

then he's saying, I am, I am, I am. Basically half

the time they are probably waiting for God to send a lightning to strike this

person, but the lightning never came. Actually, uh, we know it

went all the way to even at his trial when they put him on trial

and say that you're a bad person. And then they asked directly, you

know, to tell them whether or not he is the son of God,

and Jesus still replied, I am. You can find the account in Luke

twenty two, John eighteen. So Jesus was not just an ordinary human being,

not just from the records that we have read, but also from how

he claims himself to be. You see, he simply cannot be fitted into

any human category, a truth that took even his disciples a long time to

fully understand that, because one day, remember this story, Jesus took his

disciples to the mountain and then he said to them, I've got a question

for you. We've been together for two and a half years. You have

lived with me, talk with me, shared the whole, shared my life.

No eat with me, done all these things. We mean, Now

he asked them this question, who do people think I am? And then

they replied that people regarded Jesus as a reincarnation of one of those Jewish prophets

Elijah. They had also answered no, But then Jesus asked them again.

He put back the first question and he asked them, but who do you

say I am? And then Peter at that spot on the spot, at

that moment, he said, you are the Christ, the son of the

Living God, not a superstar, not a reincarnated prophet, not a great

human philosophy for philosopher, but God incarnate, basically the son of God who

came to earth. And that was an amazing moment because that was when Jesus

actually, you see, his entire ministry took a turn, because he waited

and waited and waited up until that realization came upon them. He could not

fulfill his purpose of coming here on earth to earth unless that was realized.

And only after that that you actually see the account of Jesus beginning his journey

down to Jerusalem basically to die and to rise again thereafter. And that's why

Jesus could actually talk about building his church only after that realization, because he

says, now on this knowledge, you will build my church. And it's

amazing. You know, the church today, numbering into the millions, is

basically still made up of people who share that similar confession as Peter did those

many centuries ago. You are Christ, the son of the Living God.

Heaven rules all the time because Jesus died and rose again. Amen. Henceforth,

the last question is this, what do the Cross and resurrection mean to

us today? Ever? Ask yourself that question, because the Bible actually tells

us, and you can read the whole thing. Okay. Usually when I

ap preach, I go scripture by scripture, paragraph by paragraph. To today,

I'm just going over view, like, Okay, I think all the

references are there. You can go ahead and read it. But the Bible

tells us what the Cross means to us. Okay, I'm going to break

it down into a few relationships. What does the Cross mean to us in

relation to the world. The Cross was a reconciliation. Okay, let me

explain, and I'll go into this in the next ten minutes and after you

all get ready. Reconciliation just means this. It brings together two alienated parties,

two warring parties, two parties who can't agree. You see, God

loves men, and he has never hated him or men, has never been

his enemy, no matter what man has done against God. However, there

is an offense on God's part, not an offense towards men himself or herself,

but towards man's sin. There's a big difference. You see, God

loves sinners, but he hates sin, and it is his offense to sin,

which is actually described in God's Word as the wrath of God. He's

not angry with the victims of sin, which is men. He's angry with

sin itself. That's the biggest negative face here in the universe. And so

the Bible clearly teaches that the Cross deals with God's hostility towards sin, and

when these offenses are taken away, then only can reconciliation take place. Therefore,

in relation to God, the Cross was basically an offering. Let me

explain this very simply by repeating what John the Baptist said of Jesus. He

says, that is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the

whole world. Basically, Jesus provided the final and complete sacrifice, which alone

is able to truly and totally atone for our sins, yours and mind.

In relation to the law, the cross is a satisfaction. Let me explain

this. Since I'm a lawyer by training. You see, a laws do

solve problems. We can all admit it, right, You have laws in

these land, laws anywhere is to help you solve some problems. But it

also does create one big problem, and that problem is what should be done

to those who break the laws? All the while, the dilema is this,

No, if someone breaks the law, do we punish or do we

pardon? Do we say naughty, naughty? Smack? Or do we say

carry on, carry on? Do we show justice or do we show mercy?

Because we cannot do both. So whenever we have to deal with a

wrong world, whether it's a naughty child or whether it's a hardened criminal,

we have to decide which is to be done to them when they break the

law. You see, God alone can avoid this dilemma because God alone can

be both just and merciful at the same time. He alone can punish and

pardon. And of course we ask ourselves, how in the world can he

do this? Well, in human experience, one can only be done at

the expense of the other. The only situation in which both mercy and justice

can be done is where an innocent person voluntarily accepts the punishment due to the

guilty and that's what happened on the cross. You see, at the cross,

divine justice was satisfied. Basically, the price of sin was paid in

full. Yet the sinner, though guilty, is set free provided that he

accepted the offering that God made on his behalf. Makes sense, the cross

is a satisfaction in relation to the law, in relation to the sinner.

Therefore, the cross now becomes a substitution. In fact, it is what

we just saw that Jesus substituted himself for me, the guilty sinner. So

the cross is a complete and satisfactory way of dealing with man's sin without going

against the principle of justice. Basically, our God is just. Our God

is also merciful. If he is just means you must punish for wrong.

There must be punishment for wrong doing. And so there was both the punishment,

and there was also the mercy and the pardon. But the effectiveness of

this requires faith on our part. You see when the sinner believes that Jesus

died for him in that moment, his sins given and he has a place

in heaven. But that is not all, know, that is simply the

beginning of a new kind of life, a life live out every day in

light of the Cross. You see, you don't just live your life for

the very moment in which you became a Christian. Because the secret of life

is not just to say he died for me, but to also add and

I died with him. We must come to that realization. Christ is meant

to be my substitute, not only in death but also in life. So

the life that I now live is no longer mine, but the life of

Christ, who died for me and now lives in me. Basically, I

died with him on the cross, and his reason life is mine now as

well. It's powerful when we think about how all these weaves together as believers

today, and so the Cross is central to a Christian. That is why

until today Christians still preach Christ crucified and also Christ resurrected, because that is

what it means life really is about. You see, the resurrection is the

factor that sets Jesus apart from all the other kings and rulers here on earth

a lot of times, so we have a lot of rulers in our lives.

It could be our parents, it could be the government. It could

be our daily schedule ruling over us. It could be circumstances, it could

be money. All these are real, and there have been all sorts of

rulers, all sorts of kings over the century. I tell you what's the

main difference. Because not one king or not one ruler in history has been

able to overcome death. I don't see, in fact, and I think

about rulers, and I think about kings, and I think about lords.

The whole world is actually filled with tombs. Tombs in basa is called makam

of those who are royal. Basically, no king, no lord, no

ruler, no dictator, no president has ever been able to conquer death.

Only Jesus defeated death. They die, he rose again. That is the

main difference, and that's why the empty tomb until today becomes something that is

so powerful for us to remember. Because God has overcome the penalty of sin,

which is death. He has overcome the power of sin, which is

death, and the empty tomb tells us that no longer are we bound by

death ourselves if we put our hope and our trust in Jesus at the resurrection.

On the other hand, God actually just reversed the entire world's verdict on

Jesus, because it sees the world actually put Jesus to death because they said,

you were you are wrong, you bless Theeme. And of course that

was what the Jews were saying. You say things about God that you are

not. You claim to be God, you blessedem. But there was no

such laws in the Romans governance that would allow them to put him to death,

and so they had to find another reason to put him to death.

So the Romans say that you committed treason, basically, you took the place

of Caesar, and because of that, we are going to condemn you to

death. So the world actually the verdict that they put on Jesus's life was

death, but God reversed that verdict. And that's why today we see that

Jesus has overcome death and no longer is hee bound by death, and those

who put our trust in him, lily, are also no longer bound by

death. Because Jesus is the way Jesus is the Truth, and Jesus is

the Life, and Heaven will rule in our lives when we follow his way,

we obey his truth, and we receive his life in exchange for ours.

This is why I believe Heaven rules all the time, because the ruler

is legitimately, rightfully, logically and literally there in full authority. If he

is there. The question that bags each of us today is this, are

we going to ignore him or are we going to acknowledge him? Because it's

only when we acknowledge that he is the ruler that we can truly say that

Heaven rules in our lives all the time. We hope you've been blessed by

this message. For more information on our church, please visit asks Church Are.

We are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week

is going to be a good week, a hit for you. God bless