Look at the hand of God (John 10:28-29)

Look at the hand of God (John 10:28-29)

28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[c]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 

Intro)

1. People of faith must be able to see the hand of God. There are many things in the world that are invisible but exist. Ultrasound cannot be felt by humans, but bats can sense and avoid obstacles in the dark. We don't feel the digital signal, but you can see that your cell phone or TV. We have ability to receive the signal and convert it into various sounds, music, and images. In fact, we do not feel God's hand, or His hand or craftsmanship very well. But faith, when it uses its power, makes it clear that God has given and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

 

2. The word “God’s hand” appears a lot in the Bible. Then why does the Bible speak of the invisible hand of God so many times? It is said that humans were created in the image of God. God sees as we see with our eyes, God hears and speaks as we hear and speaks, and God works as we walk with our feet. You must know that God works in the same way as you work as a person.

 

3. Therefore, there are many things that God worked with hands in this world, and we must know and believe that God works with His hands even now. The hand of God is with the Word of God. We can't even see the words (spoken words). But…

Even if we cannot see God's visible hand, we can feel God's hand through what we see.

(Then, how should we feel the touch of God and the hand of what he does? Let’s think about it in five categories. )

A) We must see the hand of God who created all things.

Isaiah 48:12-13 “Hear me, Jacob, Israel whom I have called, I am he, I am the first and I am the last. My hands have laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand is stretched out to the heavens; when I call, they stand together.” said God created the heavens and the earth with His hands.

When a university professor who believes in Jesus preached evangelism to a student, the student insisted that heaven and earth were created by chance. One day, the professor made the shape of the sun, moon, and stars in his basement, and made a model of the earth revolving and rotating. Then called a  student over and said “That's weird. After I slept one night, I came down to see this microcosm. Isn’t it amazing?” Then the student said, “Professor, are you kidding me? How does this just happen on its own? Aren't the professors trying to make fun of me for nothing?” he said. Then the professor said, “Do you really think so? Then, do you say that the sun, moon, stars, and everything else in the universe, which is greater and more delicate than this, came into existence by itself, without believing that this small model of the universe also came into being by chance? Isaiah 45:12 says, “I made the earth and created man upon it; I myself stretched out the heavens with my hand, and commanded its hosts.” Everyone should be able to see God's creative hand. Knowing that no house was built free of charge, believing that the giant house of the universe was built by itself is a strange logic.

B) We must see the strong hand of God who preserves.

God not only creates but also preserves them. He is not the one who leaves the world after creation, but the one who preserves or operates the sun, the moon, and the stars, and the truly beautiful heaven and earth, living and inanimate, to keep in motion. For example, a watch spins when it winds the mainspring or changes the battery, but stops if left alone. In this way, we must know that the rotation of the earth and the operation of the heavenly bodies do not happen automatically, but there is God's hand or energy that operates and preserves them. By controlling the life of each of us and keeping our heart beating, we are alive. If God's hand is removed from us, our heartbeat and breathing will stop, and life will die.
Psalm 104:28-29 says, “You have given them, and they take them; You have stretched out your hand, and they are satisfied with good things. ” and Psalm 145:15-16 says, “The eyes of the living are longing for you; you give them food in due season, and open your hand to satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
God is the One who preserves all things in the universe, even humans and angels, and He is still working. And he said that those who believe in Jesus and are saved will hold onto them and protect them until they go to the kingdom of heaven.

That is the meaning of today's text. John 10:28,29=

28. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of my hand. I did.

No matter how strong Satan is, he is not as strong as God. Therefore, after believing in Jesus, Please don't worry about anything (Weakness, lacking) preventing you to go to heaven?

C) We must see the hand of God who disciplines 1) discipline of love; When parents love their children, they must realize that just as they lift up a stick and beat their children when they make a mistake, God also punishes and punishes his children with material, disease, and war when they do something wrong. Deuteronomy 8:5,6 = You shall remember in your heart that the LORD your God disciplines you, as a man disciplines his son, and you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, follow his ways, and fear him.

2)

punishment for sinners: Romans 6:23 = The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus our Lord. For the sin in him, death awaits, the punishment of hell. I hope you believe in Jesus who died on the cross for you as soon as possible one day.

D) We must see the protecting hand of God.
God's hand is not only used for discipline and scourging, but also to protect His children. Psalm 10:12-14 says, “Arise, O LORD; raise up your hand, O God; do not forget the poor. Why does the wicked despise God, saying in his heart, You will not see? You have seen the wreckage. You find wrath and seek revenge with your hand; the lonely trusts in you.”

I read the writings of Pastor Han Kyung-jik, who was one of the great pastors in Korea.

“I was very discouraged for some reason while pastoring in North Korea, so I did not want to lift a hand. In his dream he could see that he was walking down a rough road. He was so tired that he was about to fall on to his right side, suddenly a big hand appears and pulls him up. He started walking down a rough road again, this time as he is about to fall on his left hand, a big hand appears again and lifts him up. He was walking with all his might, and this time he was about to fall forward, Then both hands appeared and lifted him up. His dream was so vivid. He realized, pastoral ministry is not something I do by my own strength. It is said that God has sustained him. Knowing that he successfully completed his difficult pastoral life.
But did God only support Pastor Kyung-Jik Han with the hand of power? no. He is holding all of you with the hand of power from time to time. A bloody little baby cannot survive without the hands of its mother. We, too, have lived until now because of God's caring and protecting hand. In Isaiah 49:15, she said, “How can a woman forget her suckling child, and not have mercy on the son of her womb? Even if they forget, I will not forget you; I have carved you on the palm of my hand.” In Numbers 11, the people of Israel complained about God for wanting to eat meat, and they complained about Moses and cried out. When Moses revealed this to God, God said, "Don't worry, I will feed you meat so that your nose smells." At that time, even Moses could not believe it, so he asked, “There are over 600,000 men and women who have made spears in the sky. Then God said again, "Is the hand of the Lord shortened?" Then he said, "You will see my words answered to you." Then a wind blew from the sea, bringing a huge flock of quails, and they fell and landed in the camp of Israel. It is said that the quails fly for several days, and when they are tired, they land and sleep for several days to the point that they do not even know what is catching them. So they sat down in the camp of Israel. I realized that there is nothing impossible with the mighty hand of God. Hallelujah!

Therefore, I hope that you believe that God our Father will not stop protecting and guiding you in all your life and life journey.

E) Look at the hand of God the crucified Son.

The hand of God that we must see is the hand of Jesus nailed to the cross. Without this crucified hand of Jesus, we would all have no qualifications to be saved, we would have no hope of the kingdom of heaven, and we would all be judged of our sins and condemned to eternal hell. Doubtful Thomas did not believe that it was impossible to hear the news that Jesus had risen. But Jesus appears to Thomas and shows him the hands and feet that have been crucified.

Eight days after Jesus' resurrection, the disciples were in the house, and Thomas was there. At that time, the door was locked, but Jesus appeared to the house and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and reach out your hand and put it in my side. And do not become unbelievers, but believers.” Then Thomas said, “Jesus, you are my Lord and my God.” Then Jesus said, “Do you believe in me? Blessed is he who has not seen and believes!”

The event of Jesus being crucified is the greatest event on earth that cannot be changed forever and the greatest event in history. Jesus' hands and feet still have the marks of the nails, they will be nailed when He comes again, and they will never disappear. We were saved because of the traces of that love. Those nailed hands should never be forgotten.

 

Conclusion)
By faith or spiritually, we must see God's creative hand, the marvelous and marvelous hand of God, the hand that preserves all things, the hand that chastens, the hand that protects, and we must always feel, thank, praise, and preach. I pray in the name of Jesus that we can become the one who live in this kind of faith and grace. Hallelujah!

 

                       061222 Pastor; Ik sun Ahn/ Translated by Sung woo Ahn