Will you please turn to Isaiah?
Isaiah 43:10.
Isaiah 43:10:
“Ye are My witnesses,” saith the Lord,
“and My servant whom I have chosen;
that ye may know and believe Me,
and understand that I am He:
before Me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after Me.”
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together this morning. We know that Thou art here among us, because Thou hast promised it.
Lord, what dost Thou say to us this morning? Speak to us; Thy servants hear. We commit this time into Thy hand and trust Thy Holy Spirit to do His work.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
We want to thank the Lord for gathering us together this morning. Every time we are able to gather together, it is the mercy of God.
I suppose we all know that our Lord is coming soon. As a matter of fact, we are waiting for Him every day. He can come at any time now, for all the prophecies preceding His coming have been fulfilled.
Indeed, there are still some prophecies to be fulfilled—prophecies concerning His coming and afterward. But, dear brothers and sisters, we are not waiting now for any prophecy to be fulfilled. The next thing that will come is the coming of our dear Lord Jesus.
We are waiting for Him every day. It is a very exciting time, even though it is a most difficult time.
Brothers and sisters, are we ready for His coming? Are we going to be that welcoming party to Him?
We thank God for another chance, that we may be better prepared for His return. Every brother and sister here is expecting our Lord Jesus to return. Our prayer is, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Thank God, we believe that His coming is imminent. But, on the other hand, we want to thank God for His long patience. He does not want anyone to miss that opportunity.
So He still gives us a chance to be prepared for Him. This is another chance that He has given us. Let our hearts be open to Him, and allow His word to prepare us, that when He comes, we may see Him with joy.
This theme is found in Isaiah 43:10: “Ye are My witnesses.”
Now, brothers and sisters, does God need any witnesses? Who can be His witness? He is the beginning, and He is the end. He is the first, and He is the last. Nobody was there when He existed.
Yet the Lord says, “Ye are My witnesses.” It is something for us to meditate upon, and that is what we will do this morning.
God is the self-existing God. There is nobody else there. But why does the Scripture say, “Ye are My witnesses”? We would like to find out the reason why.
In Genesis 1:1, we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is not the beginning of God; this is the beginning of creation.
When God created the heavens and the earth, He did it alone. Can you imagine that, when God wanted to create, He had to spend a long time doing that? I do not think so. He just said a word, and it was done.
When God created the heavens and the earth, they were complete.
You remember when Job and his three friends were arguing together about God. Even later, a young man, Elihu, joined in. But after all their conversations, we find in Job 38 that God began to speak.
Job 38:1-2 says:
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
“Who is this that darkeneth counsel
By words without knowledge?”
In spite of all the arguments of Job, his friends, and Elihu, God said, “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?”
So nobody is fit to talk about God. The more we talk about Him, the more we utter words without knowledge, because He is self-existent and He is before all.
God challenged Job concerning creation: “Where wast thou when this was done?” And Job had to be silent.
So, brothers and sisters, our God is the self-existing God. He says, “I AM THAT I AM.” This is what He is.
But let us remember that when God first created the heavens and the earth, He did not create man as we are today. The highest of His creation was the angels.
Angels are spirits. They do not have bodies, though they may take up a body. Basically, they are spirits.
Among all the angels that He had created, the best and highest of them was Lucifer, the brilliant star.
God built Lucifer in such a way that he was called the brilliant star. How do we know about that? Because the Bible tells us.
There are two places in the Old Testament that tell us something about this archangel. One is Isaiah 14. Even though God is speaking about the king of Babylon, suddenly in Isaiah 14:12 He begins to speak of something that cannot be applied to any human being. He is speaking about Lucifer, the brilliant star.
The other passage is Ezekiel 28:11-19. Though it speaks of the king of Tyre, suddenly the Bible describes something that cannot apply to any man. It is speaking about the brilliant star.
The Bible tells us that when God created Lucifer, the brilliant star, he was created almost perfect. There is a detailed description of the stones that adorned this archangel, and he was given great wisdom and talent.
He became the anointed covering cherub. In other words, he covered the ark, the throne of God. He was most gifted. He was very musical.
I believe that, probably at that time, he led the angels in worshipping God. The Bible tells us that when he was created, he was perfect, and he seemed to serve God in that way.
But gradually, because of his merchandise, he began to look into himself. Brothers and sisters, it is always dangerous to look into yourself.
In the beginning, Lucifer was faithful to God. He led the angels in worshipping God. But gradually, somehow, he began to look into himself.
It is always dangerous to look into ourselves, because if we do, we will either become proud or become disappointed.
Though in the beginning Lucifer was faithful to God, because of his beauty and his merchandise, he began to desire something beyond what he was.
We find this in Isaiah 14. Lucifer said within himself, “I will ascend above the heavens. I will be in the council of God. I will be like God.”
As a matter of fact, if we read Philippians, we will find what Lucifer really wanted. He wanted to be equal with God. To put it another way, he wanted the place of the Son of God.
Because of his pride, because of his merchandise, because of his sin, he was banished from heaven. Most likely, the earth that we know of was, at that time, under his control.
So when judgment came upon Lucifer, the earth entered into emptiness and void. This is what you find in Genesis 1:2.
There is a great gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Genesis 1:1 is the creation, but in verse 2 we find that the earth was empty and void.
In other words, the earth that was created by God in such perfection entered into emptiness and void. Empty means it had lost its purpose; void means it had been ruined.
So the earth was surrounded with water. It had lost its purpose and the reason why it was created.
We do not know how long this continued. We only know that there was a so-called ice age. Once upon a time, this earth entered into an ice age. It was surrounded with water, and everything was dead.
But, brothers and sisters, did God give up? No. God has His plan.
I often think that for God to destroy Satan, it would be so easy. God could use His breath to put Satan to death. But that would not give God glory.
Why did God not destroy Satan? He only drove him out; He did not destroy him. Why is this so?
Humanly speaking, it is for God’s glory. If a grown person beats a little child, is there any glory in it? No.
So God has a plan. He wanted to have something lower than the angels, and through that something lower than the angels, to destroy that archangel. This is the glory of God.
Even though we do not know how long that ice age continued, we know that God began to restore this earth to be habitable.
The six days that we find in Genesis 1 do not refer to the beginning of the earth. Actually, the earth had already been created, but unfortunately, because of the sin of Lucifer, it was covered with water. It was under judgment.
But God is love, and God has His own plan. The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God brooded over the face of the deep.
God’s love began to turn toward the earth, and in six days God began to restore the earth to be habitable.
Now why did God do this? Because He wanted to create a creation lower than the angels that would be used by Him as His witness to defeat His enemy, Lucifer.
That is why man was created. So, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember: why was man created? What is God’s purpose concerning man?
Did He create man for man’s own sake? No. We were created not for our own sake. Man was created for God’s sake.
Man was created to perform God’s purpose. Man was created to defeat God’s enemy and to bring back God’s glory. That is why we were created.
But unfortunately, we may forget why we are here. We think we are created for ourselves instead of knowing God’s purpose for man.
So, dear brothers and sisters, it is most important for us to understand that, in the first place, we were created not for our own glory. Therefore, we are not supposed to live for ourselves.
We are created for God. God created us with a definite purpose. He wants to fill us with Himself. He wants to use us to defeat His enemy. He wants to use man to fulfil all that He has ordained.
That is why you and I were created.
You find in the Bible that on the sixth day, after everything on earth had been restored, God created man.
When He created man, He created man in His own image, according to His likeness. This does not speak of outward form; it speaks of inward quality.
Man was created according to God’s inward quality, because God breathed His breath into the nostrils of the body of man, made of earth. Something of God Himself entered into man.
With that something, God made man able to receive God into himself. There is no other creation that can receive God into itself.
All creation should manifest the glory of God, but none can receive God into itself.
Man is the only creature that God has created into which the life of God can come, that we may be united to God in Christ Jesus. That is the model of man.
In Psalm 139, we find that man was marvelously and wonderfully created. We are marvelously and wonderfully created. For what purpose? For God’s purpose.
So, dear brothers and sisters, it is only right for man to live for God’s purpose, not to be selfish and live for himself.
After God created man, He put man in the garden of Eden. He made a beautiful garden, full of trees bearing fruit good for the food of man.
Notice that in the midst of the garden, God planted the tree of life. The tree of life represents God’s life. If anyone should eat the fruit of the tree of life, he has the life of God.
But by the side of the tree of life was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Brothers and sisters, do you think God would put a bad tree in that garden? I believe not.
As a matter of fact, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the next best tree to the tree of life. What knowledge can be compared with the knowledge of good and evil? Ethical knowledge is the highest of all knowledge.
So the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not a bad tree. It is itself a good tree, better than all the other trees except the tree of life. Of course, it gives knowledge.
But, brothers and sisters, what knowledge can be compared with ethical knowledge—to know good and to know evil? This is the highest of all knowledge. God planted this tree by the side of the tree of life.
God wanted man to make his choice. Man has a free will.
Probably today you feel that if we did not have free will, we would be better off. If God made man so that he could only obey Him and do nothing else, that would save us much trouble.
But, brothers and sisters, that would be like a robot. God wants man to have a free will, as He has free will.
God said, “Of all the trees in the garden, you can freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat; because if you eat it, you will surely die.”
Brothers and sisters, this was how God put man under His control. Man was created above all creatures, but man was created under God, and we obey God.
God did not say, “Do not eat the tree of life.” As a matter of fact, that tree was in the midst of the garden. It must have been a wonderful, beautiful tree.
So when God said, “You shall not eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” that command would automatically draw man to the tree of life. This is the love of God.
Then God put man in the garden of Eden. In the garden, God gave man a command: to dress it and to keep it.
In other words, God wanted man to improve upon what He had made—to make the fruit trees more fruitful. That was the task of man on the earth.
But God also said that man was to keep the garden, because the garden did not have a wall. God wanted man to be that wall, because God knew the enemy was outside the garden.
So you find that man had a twofold labour:
Dear brothers and sisters, think of the power that God had endowed Adam with. God made Adam the wall of the garden, to keep the enemy out of the garden.
But unfortunately, we know what happened. Adam and Eve ought to have been together, and they ought to have been working. They were to be guarding the garden. It was a tremendous work to be done.
But Eve became at leisure and began to depart from Adam. Because of this, in general, we find that Eve and Adam were careless. They did not fulfil God’s command. They left the garden unguarded.
The serpent at that time was the cleverest animal. So Satan took the form of the serpent and began to tempt Eve.
Eve was supposed to be with Adam. If they were together, they could overcome the enemy. But because they were separated, Eve was tempted by the tempter.
Eve took the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and gave it to her husband.
Here you find that Eve was deceived, but Adam was not deceived. He knew exactly what would happen. He knew God’s command, but he loved his wife more than God. So he too ate.
Then they found themselves naked.
I often wonder: when God created the animals, He gave them skins as clothing. When God created man, what was man’s created clothing?
Man was not naked in the beginning. God must have clothed them with something.
I feel that when God created man, He made glory the clothing of man. They did not know they were naked because they were clothed with glory.
But the glory left them, and they discovered themselves as naked.
Dear brothers and sisters, it is a sad story. God wanted man to be used by Him. God wanted to fill man with Himself, and instead we find that man failed God and failed himself.
This is the sad story of the garden of Eden.
But, dear brothers and sisters, do you think God will give up?
Man may fail, but God never fails. He has His way, and God willing, we will continue if He should tarry.
Dear Lord, as we relate Thy purpose and how man failed Thee, we thank Thee that Thou didst not give up.
Even with man’s failure, Thou hast manifested Thy glory in a greater way.
Dear Lord, we come together to relate Thy salvation and what great work Thou hast done. Thou hast made failed man to become a testimony. It is wonderful in our hearts.
Do open our understanding, that we may see what great things Thou hast done for us, that we may always bow before Thee and worship Thee.
We ask in Thy precious name.