Introduction

Blessed Christmas, all my dear brothers and sisters and friends, both on site and online. Tonight, we join with untold millions and millions of people in unimaginable places and at crazy uncountable costs to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Now there are two things very unique about this birth of Jesus to me.

Christmas is the biggest celebration in the world

Number one is this is by far the biggest celebration in the world, in history. And yet it is about a baby. Now, almost all major celebrations are about amazing achievements of amazing people. Maybe a business guy built a magnificent empire, maybe a military conqueror conquers nations. Wow, great achievements, maybe a king building a huge empire. But I don't know of any celebration that celebrates a baby who has done nothing yet. I mean, honestly, the whole world is celebrating the birth of Christ, not about the death of Christ, big things; the birth of Christ. And there is no celebration, significant one. Family celebrations when a baby is born. Yeah. But a celebration of this size about a baby. That's kind of unique.

The concepts we have for Christmas today is very different from what it was actually like

The second thing about this celebration that is very unique is everything that we celebrate, all the concepts that we have for Christmas tonight that the world has for Christmas is very different from what we read earlier. What Jonathan, our song leader read about the birth of Christ. Everything is the opposite. All right, at Christmas, what do you think of? Everybody thinks of wow, warmth, family spirit, you know, always families around a table laden with food, a tree with amazing amount of gifts under the tree, everything. And then we read that scene that Jonathan read from Matthew. It wasn’t a very cozy family scene actually was about a young couple who are about to split. It was nothing abundant in the scene. Nothing that anything is like the Christmas we are celebrating all over the world with food and family and fun. In fact, if you look at this scene, and let's just have a quick look, you know, that's the picture of Christmas we have, you know, wow, nice stars shining bright, and all the things, celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-19

But then when we read what the Bible tells us, “Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way,” very different from the way we're celebrating right? “When his mother Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1:18-19) Now, is that a nice family scene? Exact opposite. All right, the picture we see, now the birth of Jesus took place in this way. Now the Christmas we're going to celebrate, took place in this way. Not formed family and food and fuzzy nice feelings, it was a quarrel. So teenage girl, probably teenager, pregnant, single, not yet married. She's going to tell the guy she's going to marry, Joseph. That word betrothed there is not quite like our engagement, right? We always think betroth is like engagement. You know in our culture, you have a kind of like engagement, and then you get married. In the typical Jewish culture, it's a little bit more complicated. Often, they will engage at birth. Often, often, not always, families will kind of like negotiate their kids. You know, my daughter marry your son, that's kind of like an ‘engagement’.

And then of course, if they grow up don’t like each other, then there's no betrothal. The betrothal actually was much more than an engagement. It was like, alright, two people now are ready, ready, usually, like just before getting married. That's the period of betrothal. You are betrothed to someone, that means we're already planning to get married. We're not like, Hey, we're a couple, you know, no, no, no, we were a couple long time. But now, now we're making arrangements to formalize this whole thing. So can you imagine Joseph and Mary probably had been saving money and be telling everybody when the wedding was going to take place, and everything was all set, and all set. And then she comes and tells Joseph, “Hey, can I have a word with you? I'm pregnant.” And I mean, which guy is not going to freak out? I'm sure he freaked out. It's not a scene of warm family. You know, it's a total disappointment. Huh? Are you serious? He has never had relationships with her. He probably never touched her. You know, in the traditional culture of those days, you know, everybody lives in a village. You know what's going on? It's not like in a city, you can hide in corners and do stuff. No. And he shocked, you're pregnant? Of course, the first word is going to say who? And then she comes up with this, ridiculous to his mind, ridiculous statement. “I'm pregnant by the Holy Spirit.” Wow. I mean, this is anger already, this is not disappointment already. You're pregnant, instead of admitting it, you come and tell me you're pregnant not by a guy, but by the Holy Spirit. Man, I mean, even if you confess it, it's better. You got to imagine Joseph has never heard of a virgin birth and it's never happened in history before and never will happen for eternity. Right? This unique virgin birth will never happen again and never happened yet at this point. And so, he's confused, he's disappointed, he's furious with her for not even admitting it. That's not a very nice scene. So of course, he storms off and he's angry. He's going to lose face. He's going to lose everything. He probably goes back and plans to divorce her. That's exactly what it says. And so, he's probably thinking through all the steps to divorce so and finally he probably goes to sleep at night, having decided some steps, I guess.

And then that night, an angel visits him, in a dream mind you. All right. Now, if you have known the Bible, in Luke chapter one, those of you who have Bible you might go back and read. In Luke chapter one, actually, an angel had already visited Mary, prior to this, because Mary is wondering, why am I pregnant? And an angel had visited Mary prior to this, Luke chapter one, go back and read it. And the angel has said, “Mary, you're honored above all women, you will have a child conceived by the Holy Spirit. And he shall be called the Son of God.” Wow.

Matthew 1:20

So, she had this visitation by the angel Gabriel. She had this confirmation. So, she then tells Joseph who didn't understand anything at that time. And then at night, an angel visits him in a dream. Now all of you have dreams, I have dreams. We all have dreams. Next morning, wake up. It's like it's a dream, man. But there's a certain thing about dreams, that where God appears to people. You know today, I still meet people who tell me these things, especially in countries where they don't have a chance to have an open Bible or where they have been told from youth don't believe the Bible. And it's quite common, I wouldn’t say very common, but quite common to hear people telling me, “Doc, I had a dream last night. And God, Jesus appeared to me.” I said, “How do you know what Jesus looks like?” I know is Jesus, it's all atomic. And I am sure.” And they give up everything and follow God. So there's a certain kind of uniqueness about a dream. I know I had a dream like that right, that confirms it's not one of those crazy dreams you have all the time.

And so, Joseph wakes up and he realizes, hey, Mary wasn't kidding. When she said, She's with child of the Holy Ghost, The angel confirmed it to me. Right? And so, we see here. Can you just picture this scene? Joseph lying, I guess, on a bed. I don't know what beds look like in those days but just picture this angel visiting Joseph. Right. Let's look at that. Verse 20. “But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 1:20) confirming exactly what Mary had said. Mary had told him, this baby is not from any guy, this baby is from the Holy Spirit, believe me, believe me, and he's getting more angry that afternoon, that evening or morning. And now it's confirmed. Yes. She said the truth.

2 Samuel 7:12-13

But before we go there, I want you to just see, all right, look at the words the angel said to Joseph. “Joseph, son of David.” Now, Joseph, was a simple carpenter. David, was the greatest king the Jews had ever known until today. The Jews still are dreaming of a king like David. And he is addressed as Joseph. Not the carpenter. Joseph, the son of David. Now, he's never been addressed like this. I'm very sure, though he knows his lineage is from David. They know their lineage. You know, they know they are descended from David but that’s 1000 years ago. King David was 1000 years before Joseph. That's like 40 to 50 generations you know, your great grandfather might have been the richest man in China, doesn't mean anything to you now. Nobody said wow, you are the son of the richest man in China? You say which one? The one, 1000 years ago. Nobody will say that you said wow, you are the son of this tycoon in the Song dynasty? You say you okay or not? I'm a Grab driver or something now, right? You know, so he's addressed this way, and this is probably the first time in his life. But you see, for Jews, this is something very significant. All Jews knew that David, King David had been given a promise, a promise that one of his descendants all right, one of his descendants would be king over a kingdom forever. One of his descendants, did you know which one? And Joseph was? Potentially he was a descendant. All right, okay. I'm sorry, am I jumping? Yeah, this one here, right? This is a promise given to King David, 1000 years before, and all Jews know this promise. (2 Samuel 7:12-13) And all Jews are still waiting for the successor of King David.

Right? That's 3000 years already. They're still waiting for a greater King David, who will come and restore the Jewish, restore Israel to its great glory. That's what they believe because that is what is said here, right? This is a promise given to King David, let me just read it. “When you days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you,”, doesn't say how many generations, “who shall come from your body and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne, the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12-13) So when he is addressed, Joseph is addressed, Joseph, the son of David. It's like, oh, now all these events today, what does it mean? It means? It means I'm going to be the one who will have a son, who will be king? Is what this whole pregnancy is about? That probably flashed through his mind. Because who would address you as Joseph, son of David? Right? So, when that was said to him by the angel, he probably figured out something, now this pregnancy is not a casual pregnancy, this pregnancy is not a careless one. This pregnancy is going to be unique. It's going to bring someone on the throne, that's going to sit on the throne of David as the great king. Wow.

But then we see. Alright, look at verse 20. All right, I'm just going to read that statement by the angel again. “But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20) That again, hits enough there because that's exactly what Mary said. But now of course, he's confused. Man, what's, what's all this thing about a pregnancy by a Holy Spirit? Why is there a necessity for this? David's descendant is going to be the great king, can’t I be the father? Why does it have to be the Holy Spirit to be the father? Why? I mean, I know the prophecy, all Jews know the prophecy, one of David's descendants will sit on the throne, this great flooring that will last forever and ever. Could it be this boy? But then the next phrase is conceived by the Holy Spirit. Now, why in the world, is there a need for a baby to be conceived by the Holy Spirit? I mean, you know theology, some of you say, Pastor, I know the answer. But can you imagine Joseph wondering what in the world do we need the Holy Spirit to make babies? Is it abnormal for a guy and a girl to have babies? Why the Holy Spirit? What's up? Can you imagine the confusion? He's got disappointment, he's got anger, he's got confusion. It's not a nice, fuzzy, warm Christmas dinner.

Matthew 1:21

The next phrase will tell you why this baby has to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. All right. Okay. The next phrase, the next sentence, the angel tells David, tells Joseph. “She will bear a son, Mary will bear a son, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from the sins.” (Matthew 1:21) All right, you and I think the name Jesus is a name. But the name Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua (Hebrew name for Jesus), Yeshua right? If you go to Israel, you say Jesus, doesn't mean anything to anybody. It's a very ang moh (English way), anglicized way of saying Hebrew name. The name Jesus is Yeshua. Now, some of you may know a little bit of Hebrew, Yah, is God. Yahweh, or some of you in English Yehovah Jehovah. Alright. Yeshua simply means God saves. Yah, is God, shua is saves, in simple Hebrew, right? You will name this boy that's going to be born. Angel said to him, “Jesus, Yeshua, for he will save his people from their sins.”

The uniqueness of Jesus Christ

Wah, this is more confusion for poor Joseph. Joseph is thinking the next king that's going to replace David as the great king is going to make Israel greater, conquer more land, make the Jews number one. But instead, this one, this special baby didn't come to make Israel great, but came to save people from their sins. Whoa. All right. So, can you imagine this guy? He is confirmed that Mary's not kidding but theologically he is all messed up now. What in the world is going on? Right so we have a poor single teenage pregnant girl and you have a confused man. This is not exactly the Christmas scene of today. Now, why does Jesus have to be son of God and son of Man? Right? Why not Joseph is the father and Mary is the mother? 100% man. Why does this unique baby, super unique, never again, never before have to be God-man? Conceived by God in the womb of a woman, 100% God from God, 100% man from the woman. Wow, why do we need a baby like this? Why are we always celebrating the birth of a baby? Are we crazy people? Have we lost our brains and celebrate the birth of a baby but millions of people are celebrating the birth of a baby because this baby is unique. This baby is very unique. This baby is 100% God and 100% man. All right, all of you who studied math, some young boys here. Can you have 100%-100%? Cannot la, mathematically 50-50 can right? Okay, 60-40 can, right? You know your math, right? Cannot 100 100, right? Not possible. You sure fail your PSLE if you say can right, okay. But when you talk about miracles, is not mathematics, is miracles. Alright? Miracles defy natural laws.

Jesus’ mission on earth was to go to the cross and die for our sins

And so, this baby is going to save his people from their sins and this baby has to be 100% God and 100% man am I confusing? You know why? Why does this baby have to be 100% God 100% Man? Because this baby was born for one mission. One single mission said here to save people from their sins. Alright, that's it. Some people say, “Wah Jesus, good teacher. Jesus, good prophet. Jesus does miracles.” No, no, no, no, no, no. Those are secondary roles. He has one primary role, one to save us from our sins. Now, how does it tie up? You see this little baby was born. And 33 years later, this baby would go to the cross. He was born for that. He was born to go to the cross. And on that cross and all of you who are familiar with Christianity, we always put a cross somewhere. On your shoulder, on the top of building whatever. This baby’s destination, mission was to go to the cross 33 years later and do one thing, die. He was born to die. Now we're even more confused. This baby would go on the cross 33 years later and die for our sins. But because this baby is 100% God, this baby who became a man on the cross, as God, 100% God, He knew all of us. Be honest today, I stood out the front door just 200, 300 of you. I don't know most of you. And even I see you every Sunday. I can't remember all of you. But as God on the cross, He knew all of you.

God knew everybody and their sins

He knew everybody. They say there's a billion people today, he knows all. What about all those from Adam, he knows. How about all those will come later, he knows. Why? He's God. On the cross is God, He knew all of us, on the cross as God, He knew all our sins. You know, I've been a pastor almost 40 years. If you ask me, hey pastor, can you tell me all your sins? I say you mad ah? Most of my sins, I don't even aware of them. A lot of thoughts in my mind, I should never have thought off. They crossed my mind, I didn't realize they were sins. A lot of times I look in my eye at things I shouldn't look. Flash here, flash there. I didn't even realize it. I mean, if I look back, yeah, I shouldn’t have done it. But you know, what about listening to stuff? Listen to gossip, listening to stuff you shouldn't listen to. Oh my goodness, how many times have we done that? How many times have we said words we shouldn't say? I can't remember. How many times you felt things, you're so angry about your dad, your mom, your wife, oh my goodness.

If anybody could open and see your heart with MRI, you'd be ashamed. But you know, as God on that cross 2000 years ago, as God, He knew all of us, He knew every single sin you committed, you could hide it in the head, or slight it in a slip of your eye, you could hide it anywhere, you can't hide from God. That's why people are terrified of the day of death. People are terrified of death because they face God on the day of death. And that's why people try to delay, delay the day of death as long as they can, even if the life is miserable. Because you know, one day you're going to stand before God who knows you and everything you have committed. And on that cross, 2000 years ago, that same God knew all of you. 2000 years before you were born. 2000 years ago, He knew me. Why? He's God. God is above time, past, present, future. What does that mean? It means a lot to me, it means nothing to God. He's above time, that's why he's called God. And on that cross, He not only knew all of us, He knew all our sins. And He remembered. Oh, my goodness, I can't even remember what I ate for lunch three days ago. Now, my age, sometimes yesterday, I can't remember.

Jesus who is truly God, truly Man is the perfect savior

But you know what? On that cross, when Jesus, 100% God, hung on that cross, He knew all of us, He knew all our sins, and He remembered. Oh my goodness. Only God can do that. That's why He has to be 100% God to be a savior. But as God, He can’t suffer shame, He can’t suffer pain, He can’t shed blood, He can’t die as God. God cannot die. God cannot bleed. But as man, 100% Mam on that cross, he suffered for our sins. Now, poor Joseph is wondering, what conceive of the Holy Spirit? For what? Can’t I have a normal baby like everybody else? Oh, no, you can't. If you want this baby to be the one that will save His people from their sins, he has to be unique. 100% God 100% Man. That's why we celebrate this baby because this baby is a one of a kind, 100% God 100% Man, the perfect savior. Every other religion has teachers, prophets, miracle makers, sure, plenty. Saviors? None. Any religion has teachings, plenty, mother can teach, father can teach, everybody can teach. Save you on the cross. One. All right. So that's why this birth was so unique. And that's why the world, knowingly or unknowingly celebrating a unique birth. Most people don't know why they're celebrating but it's because of the uniqueness of this baby.

It is finished

Alright, so I hope you understand that Jesus went on the cross, as God, knowing all of us, knowing every single sin of ours, taking every single one. And as man suffering for all, Godman, only he could do that. And you know, on that cross, this perfect savior, did a perfect job. Only God can do perfect jobs just for the record, some of you can get 99 for a test, 289, or 99, for your whatever, your PSLE, you don't get 100 all the time, but only God can. And you know, when Jesus on the cross, this is what happened. When he was in the cross, he had taken all our sins, every single one, missed out none, suffered for all, didn't forget any, paid for all. And when he had paid for all of our sins, this is what he said. Not I am finished. No. He said, “It is finished.” Mission accomplished. The reason why he was born, was to pay the penalty for our sins. And on that cross when He paid for the last sin of his people. He said, “It is finished, not I am finished, mission done. Penalty paid, settled by me.” You see God is holy, He must judge. If God doesn't judge, He’s not holy. He's not holy. He's not God. But if God is just holy, and not merciful, he's not our God. So, on that cross, we see the judgment of God because He is holy and the mercy of God taking our place. He didn't say, “Aiya, your sins ah, never mind, forget it.” No, has to be settled, but I will pay. Jesus will pay. Alright, so you see here the perfect savior 100% God, 100% man did a perfect job and said, It is finished. (John 19:30) Now this perfect job, perfect mission done, is also perfectly and simply offered to all of us here.

John 3:16

This is a verse most Christians know. “For God so loved the world and he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) You know, perfect Savior went to the cross, did a perfect job and gave a gift, so perfectly given that whoever believes. You know there is sometimes to get a gift, you know, I always like to joke my granddaughter, I say, “Okay, don't worry, grandpa will give you this.” “Really, really? When will you give it to me?” “100 years later on the moon.” You cannot give a gift, but can I get it? You see, always be careful, always look at the terms and conditions. Right? But this gift is to whoever believes. You know, some religions, you got to be very smart to work your way to heaven. You got to know the hundreds of rules and do 1000 things and then the end of it all then I pass. You know like going to Harvard, going to heaven is of course higher than Harvard. But this one is whosoever believes. You know a little a little baby. I have a little infant grandson, who's five months old. You know what? He learns to trust. First thing, long before he talks, long before he says thank you, he learns to trust, trust his mum. Nobody else, nobody else and their helper. Alright? There's some instinct about that kid, as young as five months he understands who to believe. Is probably the easiest faculty to have is trust. So, God made a perfect Savior, who did a perfect job on the cross and offered it in a perfect way to whoever believes. Now, of course, when this kind of gospel is preached, and this is the good news, there are many wise people thinking people would say Christianity is a very stupid religion. Then you just give people salvation. Then they do what they like after that? Right or not? You believe Jesus, you go to heaven then you go casino tonight? Go cheat la, you go heaven already.

Matthew 1:22-23

Oh friends, don't think God is stupid. Right? Because something else is also said. And this is tonight's message. After that, the angel said to him, not only will he be called Jesus, that's one name. He has another name, seldom used, seldom used, all right. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (Matthew 1:22-23), which simply means in Hebrew, God with us. Right? So, in other words, Jesus not only save his people from their sins, but Jesus also came to be with us. Okay, so how does that help? The argument I said, when people say, you just believe Jesus. So easy, got passport to heaven and do what you like. But problem is when you receive Jesus as your Savior. He comes to be with you. He come to be you, very hard to go to casinos tonight. Imagine what your wife does every day 24/7? He said, Now I am married, I can do anything. She's with me every day. You see God is not stupid. So, he not only saved his people from their sins, he came to be with us, not just to give us a passport to heaven, but a partner for life. For now, are you following me? God with us? 2000 years ago, God came down to be with them in Bethlehem. But today when you receive Jesus as your Savior, God with us still continues.

Galatians 2:20

Galatians 2:20, my favorite verse. I always tell people if I can only know two verses in the Bible. Let's say I am really horrible in remembering anything. I remember two verses, John 3:16 “whosoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life”. Galatians 2:20 is my second favorite verse. All right. And it says, “Christ lives in me.” Immanuel, that's what it is. I didn't receive just a promise with a passport. I receive a promise and a partner. 24/7, Wow. You Christian, in this life, suffer, suffer, suffer, then go to heaven. My friend I've been a believer for 40 years over and never never switch this for anything else. Never. Because I have a partner. A partner with me. 24/7. My partner is not Bill Gates is not Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, it's not some great guy. My partner is God. God. Now that's very comforting. You have a nice wife, great. You have a nice business partner, great. A nice life partner forever and ever, super great. I hope you understand what Immanuel means. Immanuel, means Christ lives in us, that He might live that wonderful life of Christ through us. “Christ lives in me.” I didn't receive a promise from the Bible, I receive a promise and a partner. Right? Immanuel. So tonight, if you remember nothing about the message, Christianity is not about going to church, it’s about God coming to you. It's about God, going to the cross for you. And God, more than going to the cross for you. God wants to come and live with you.

God is love

You see, we always preach God is love. What is God? What is love? What is love? You know, when two people in love very easy to see in church, they sit a bit close like that. Then outside I say, “You got new girlfriend?” “Pastor, how you know?” You think I stupid? You like somebody you sit near la. Right? If quarrel with your girlfriend, you sit far la. All right? You see a mother you know hold the baby like that? Okay? Why? When you love someone, you want to be closed. And God is love. He doesn't want to be closed. Closer than closed is, he lives in you. I hope this blows your mind because it blows my mind. This verse blows my mind. Every morning I wake up, I'm blown away by this verse, why would God want to live with me? Then I remember something the Bible teaches me. God is love. You know, I look at mothers and I am always amazed by parental love, especially mother’s love. Your mother. Sometimes the son is so unworthy. So ungrateful. And yet, you watch a mother's love. And you multiply that by a zillion, billion, trillion times. And that is God's love.

Immanuel: God is our partner

I hope you get it. Okay, and I hope today you understand, the title of this message was Immanuel. It's not about 2000 years ago, it's about now. Now. Life is full of challenges. Believe me. The challenges will never end on this world, a world filled with sin from the day of the Garden of Eden. Sorrow is the name of the adjective for this world. That's the reality. I'll never forget, my father said to me, when I was a young man. Dad said to me, “Son, life on earth is days of sorrow and moments of joy. Get used to it, son. This is not a world of joy.” You don't need to look around a lot. You don't need to study geopolitics. You don't need to study all the current events and TV, you know, the world is full of sufferings. Right? And yet, as we go through this short journey on Earth, 70, 80 years, 100 years. You need a partner; I need a partner. to guide me, help me, lead me. And I thank God, I have a partner. I have a wonderful wife but she can't be with me. 24/7 And she's nothing like this partner I have. All right. And I hope tonight you understand, Immanuel, is for all of you who have trusted Jesus.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Okay, now let's go on. This is the other verse, right? “Do you not know that you are God's temple, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) And now why all this? One of course, Christ wants to live through you, the wonderful life of Christ through you of kindness, of generosity, of love to others. And when you do that, the peace you have is unimaginable right? Now, another reason why Christ, Immanuel, Christ with us, for this is for believers, right? We're all given this great commission. We’re all given this great commission. We call this the Great Commission, right? “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18-20) That whole underlined phrase can be translated in one word, Immanuel. And behold, as you do all that, God is with you. As you go out and tell the world of this good news that there is a solution for sin.

Fear of death

What do you think is the scariest thing in the world? Fear of death. I know it I've been a doctor for a long time, I can see that. Fear of death. And I've always wondered why, before I became a believer, I always wonder why? If dying is just sleeping, everybody would line up to die, because sleep is so shiok (Singlish for comfortable). You know as a GP, you prescribed sleeping pills all the time. And it can't just sleeping pills, they go to take drinks and drugs so they can sleep. If dying is sleep, there will be the longest line in the world. But it has the shortest line because dying is not sleep. Dying is facing a God who saw everything in our lives. But I thank God, the same God who saw everything in our lives, also went to the cross before that, and paid the penalty for me. I know of no other solution, maybe you can come up with one, tell me about it. But I know no other solution, when a man can face death and say, “God seen it all.” I managed to evade my wife, evade everybody, evade income tax, evade police, evaded everybody but God alone. And I finally have to stand before God. But you know what? Jesus said it is finished. And I thank God for that. To me, the three sweetest words in the English language, it is finished. In Greek, one word, Tetelestai, actually in Greek, it simply means the debt is paid. That's all it means. You know, you owe people money and then they chop, settle. That's what it is. It's an accounting word actually.

The Great Commission (Matthew 24:14)

And so today, I hope you will realize God lives in you and that blows my mind. To know that right now as I stand here, I have a partner. People ask you, are you nervous to preach? Yes, I am. But I thank God I have a partner. Anything. Are you nervous to do this? Yes, I have never done it before, but I have a partner, you know, who leads, who guides, who comforts. Are you sure you can live the Christian life? Yes, I have a partner who will help me in all my weaknesses. Too many too number. He will help me. Right. And then for all Christians, especially when we do the Great Commission, and tell the world of the good news. Immanuel. God wants to be with us. As any creator, as any mom wants to be with her child, our Creator God wants to be with us. But sin separates us from God. But 2000 years ago, that was settled. Right? Last verse. For Christians, I rejoice in that I live in this generation. Why? Because there's a verse in Matthew 24:14, which says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations, and then the end shall come.” Now a lot of predictions about the end of the world and climate change and the world kind of go on forever. It will come to an end sooner or later, like anything. But you know what, as we approach the end, there is a promise attached to it. This ending will not come until the good news is proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all nations, and I'm glad God allowed me to take the job, the greatest job of all, and the longest project of all 2000 years, to tell the world, God loves you. And God's love is seen at the cross. And God's salvation is offered to you, whosoever believes shall not perish. And you not only will have a passport to heaven, but a partner for life.

4 points about the cross

To me, the cross has four points, four simple points, the easiest diagram to draw, the easiest symbol to draw is the cross. Two straight lines and right angles, that's all. It’s got four points. And that's the four points I want you to leave today with. A perfect Savior, God-man went to the cross and did a perfect job and said, “It is finished”. And he offered a perfect gift that all who wants to receive can. No high qualifications needed; no complexity required. And lastly, he offers a partner for you to live your life here, shine for him, bless others. Right? So, I hope you see the four simple points on the cross, perfect savior, perfect job on the cross, perfect gift to you and perfect partner for all of us who trust in Him. And I pray all you believers here, will go out today and look at this person and say I am the last lap runner of a 2000-year race to bring the gospel to the world. And likely many of you will run the last lap before race ends. And the world ends. And the last lap runner is always the glory runner. Hit the tape like Low Kean Yew. Right? Right? Okay, we can do that. 2000 years this relay race, take the baton at the last, run it and hit the tape and say, “Wow, what a privilege to run this race.” May God bless you. All of you who have not trusted Jesus as Savior, please tonight, just consider what was said. And I believe God, if you will give God this little part of your life, trusting God to show you. I believe God will do amazing work in your life. And for believers, what a privilege to have a partner, not just to go through life, through COVID, through the stresses of life, but to run the greatest race of all and bring this good news to all the world. May God bless you.

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