One in the Father of All

Ephesians 4:5-6, John 10:29

God is the Father of all (Eph 4:5-6, John 10:29). “All” in Greek is pas, which means “all,” and “all things.” In book 3 of the History of Redemption series (The Unquenchable Lamp of the Covenant), founding pastor Rev. Abraham Park defined “all” as the universe and all things in it ? both seen and unseen. Though this refers to all creation, it includes tangible and intangible, material and immaterial things, thus making this a much greater concept. Today, God creates all things in the universe, welcoming them through grace, and regarding them with compassion (Ps 145:9). As we ourselves are creation, this means that our living God warmly receives us and pours His grace upon us. We must believe that because He regards with compassion, He answers whatever we pray about and resolves whatever problem that arises.What kind of Being is the Father of all?

The Father of all is the Creator Lord of all

When looking at Acts 4:24 and Acts 14:15, the verses say that God made all things. As such, the Father of all is the Creator Lord of all. If God created all things, then He created you and me as well. If that is the case, then how must we live as God’s creation?

We must live according to our created purpose

God created us for the purpose to give the glory and praise to God (Isa 43:1, 21). If so, what are you and I living for today? One person lives to eat and live well, another one to enjoy life, and still another for his/her family. To them, that is the purpose of their lives. Of course, that is not wrong. However, our fundamental purpose, the first purpose, is for God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31). Today, whatever we do, we must see if it is indeed glorifying to God and do work that is so.

We must live being good

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Titus 2:14).” When we do good deeds, it becomes glory to God. If I believe in Jesus and have received the redemptive historical word, then my character must increasingly change into a good character. When we do good works, the people of this world see this, which in turn, returns glory to God (Matt 5:16). Giving the glory to God through good deeds means I suffer loss, yield and step down a bit. If we believe in the Father who is Creator Lord of all, then we must give through good works, suffer loss, and regard others. May we become those we receive abounding grace and I pray this blessing upon you in the name of the Lord (2 Cor 9:8).

The Father of all is the Sovereign Lord of all

Acts 10:36 says, “Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,” and 1Chr 29:12 calls God “the ruler of all things”. However in Acts 4:24, the adjective “Sovereign” is added. So, what does it mean to be the Sovereign Lord of all?

Sovereign Lord of all means “the ruler of all things”

“Lord” is marshal in Hebrew and it means, “to govern”. Therefore, it means our God is the Sovereign Lord and a great ruler of all things, namely the universe and all things in it. In Psa 103:19, Lord God of hosts, rules over all with His sovereignty. What is surprising is that the reign of God is realized through the prayers of the saints(Eze 36:37). God accomplishes the history of redemption by Himself but it is fulfilled through the prayers of the saints. Therefore, I bless you in the name of Jesus today for you to become prayer warriors who will pray ceaselessly for the fulfillment of God’s history of redemption.

Sovereign Lord of all means “head over all”

1 Chro 29:11 says, “Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.” When the head commands, hands and feet obey to the head. Therefore, when Father of all commands, all things move as ordered and obey accordingly. We are all subjected to Father of all and the head over all (1 Cor 15:28).

Father of all is “through all”

Eph 4:6 says, “one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” What does it mean by being through all?

Being through all indicates the omnipresence of God

The omnipresence of God refers to God’s presence spread out all over the world. “Through all” is dia panton in Greek and it means that God is everywhere and He works through everything. The disciples of Jesus asked Him when they saw a man blind from birth, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him (John 9:2-3).” This shows that God works even through a man born blind and someone who cannot do anything on his own. Therefore, please have faith in God that He could also work through you today and do not give up or get discouraged. Pray to God to work through you and show His work through you. If you have faith when you study, earn money, do business or even when you meet people, I can guarantee you that God’s work will reveal through you.

Being through all indicates that He unites all

God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit are all one. So from a theological view, we call God as God of Trinity (Eph 4:4-6). If we are in the triune God, we are all one. Furthermore, God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit want us to be united into one (Eph 4:6, 1:10, 4:3). Eph 4:6 tells us that God is through all. What does “unification” mean? It means different things becoming one. It means that despite the difference in hobby, hometown, personality, value, even ideology and culture, we could be united into one through Father of all. How does being in Father of allow us to unite into one? It is possible because Father of all is greater than all. Imagine, if you try to put a big bowl into a smaller bowl, the bowl breaks, divides and splits. However, because our Father is greater than all, no matter how great it might be, if it enters Father, it becomes one with the others(John 10:29). In our galaxy, there are about 200 billion stars. And in this universe, there are about 100 billion galaxies like ours. So in the universe, there are 200 billion times 100 billion stars which we just cannot count accurately. Our Father is greater than this universe. Therefore, even if we differ in our opinions, thoughts and minds, only if we can be in Father, we can become one. If that is the case, how do we become one?

Eph 4:2 “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love”

We must have all humility, gentleness and patience.

In the original Greek text, the phrase is connected by a word, meta. Meta means “with ~”, “having~”. We need to have all humility, gentleness and patience in order to become one.

All humility

The reason why the word “all” is only attached to the word “humility” is because humility to humble oneself is the most important factor. All of us tend to regard highly of ourselves and look down on others. But because God works through every one of us, we need to respect others. I pray that we unite into one by regarding highly of others not of ourselves and by humbling ourselves in our remaining life (Phil 2:8).

Gentleness (prautes)

Prautes means “to tame a horse or a wild horse” and also means strength softened through self-control. If we stay strong, disputes arise but if we restrain ourselves and become gentle, the disputes disappear. If we believe in Jesus, we need to become more and more gentle. How wonderful would it be not to crash into each other but to yield with gentleness? Only then, we will become one.

Patience (markrothumia)

This means, “steadfast perseverance” and it requires to endure once and twice and persistently for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God ( James 1:20).

We must tolerate one another other in love.

“Tolerance” is to generously overlook the mistakes of others and understand the situation of others.

To be generous is to have a big heart. If we can be generous, we can become one. 2 Cor 6:13 says, “Open wide to us also.” However, if we do not have the love of Jesus, we cannot open wide.

My beloved congregation! Satan wants us to divide, quarrel and collide so he keeps on making us collide and quarrel. Therefore, if we divide, we cannot win over Satan. Contrariwise, no matter how powerful the Satan may be, if we get together and pray in one voice and one faith, and advance in one faith, all the obstacles and hardships against the history of redemption movement will be removed and all nations around the world will be running to us dancing. We have been given this great duty. I pray in the name of Jesus that Father of all comes into us and that we, Pyungkang Cheil church and all churches of the word around the world, pray with one voice to defeat the Satan and win the spiritual battle.

August 1st, 2016 Summary of Rev. Philip Lee Seung Hyun’s sermon From the opening service on the first day of the 2016 Summer Retreat