In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of revelation, realization, and responsibility in relation to the word of God. He highlights the failure of responsibility throughout human history but assures that God's purposes will ultimately be fulfilled. The speaker emphasizes the significance of God sending His only Son, Jesus, to reveal His heart and demonstrate His love. He urges the audience to seek revelation, realize the truth of God's purpose, and fulfill their responsibility in light of this understanding. The sermon concludes with a prayer for God to open His word and guide the listeners according to His will.

Will you please turn to Genesis, the book of Genesis, chapter 1. We'll read from verse 26 through verse 28. Genesis, chapter 1, verse 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over the whole earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth. And God created man in his image. In the image of God created he him. Male and female created he them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every animal that creepeth on the earth. The book of Hebrews. Hebrews, chapter 5. We begin with verse 7. Seven to nine. Who, that is our Lord Jesus, in the days of his flesh, having offered up those supplications and entreaties to him who was able to save him out of death with strong crying and tears, and having been heard because of his piety, though he were sun, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered, and having been perfected, became to all them that obeyed him author of eternal salvation. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, as we gather here in thy own name, we sense that we are already living in eternity. We praise and thank thee that thou art our God, and we are thy children. We look to thee, Lord, to open thy word to us and bring us into that which is according to thy will. Lord, we are all here. Speak. Thy servants hear it. We ask in thy precious name. Amen. We thank God for gathering us together again this time. I often feel that such opportunity is very rare, especially as we are approaching the end. The time certainly is ahead. So we just desire that we will not miss such an opportunity. I personally feel that I would not like to preach to you or preach at you. I would rather ask all of you, both the old and the young, to join with me in meditating on the word of God. In other words, there is no speaker nor hearer here. We are all before the Lord together, seeking to know his heart and desiring that he may have us for himself. Now, the theme for this conference is taken from Revelation chapter 1, verse 1 through verse 3. It is revelation, realization, and responsibility. And all these three are related to this matter of time. Why is revelation so urgent? Why is realization so needed? Why is responsibility has to be fulfilled? Because the time is ahead. Very close. And if we miss the revelation, the realization, and the responsibility, then, dear brothers and sisters, when we shall stand before him who loved us and gave himself for us, should we hang our heads in shame? Or can we look up to him and see his glorious face? Brothers and sisters, revelation is absolutely necessary. Without revelation, we are spiritually dead. Revelation comes from God. And we do thank God because he is the God who reveals himself. And it is his good pleasure to reveal his Son in us. But what is revelation if it is not realized in our lives? It would be just theory, theology. It doesn't help. On the contrary, it condemns. Because the more revelation you receive, the more you are responsible to it. So, dear brothers and sisters, we need revelation. We need to see God. We need to see God's purpose. We need to see God's Son. We need to see what God intends to work in us. We need to see all these things. And not only to see them, but to realize them. By the grace of God, by the working of the cross, that revelation will be our vocation. That it becomes real in our lives. And out of such revelation and realization, we are able to fulfill the responsibility that God has called us into. So, brothers and sisters, this is a very serious time. We have no time to lose. We need to really be before the Lord and ask Him that He will not allow this time to slip away. My responsibility is on responsibility. People do not like to hear even the word responsibility. But, brothers and sisters, if we really know what responsibility is, why is it that God should put responsibility upon us? Then, brothers and sisters, we will see responsibility in an entirely different way. We will see that it is a privilege. It is an honor. And it leads to glory. So, I hope, brothers and sisters, especially young people, do not be afraid to hear this word responsibility. It is a glorious word. Who are we that God should put responsibility upon us? Brothers and sisters, we should be most thankful that God should ask us to bear responsibility with Him. We would like to approach this matter of responsibility on three sides. Very simple. Why responsibility? What responsibility? How responsibility? Thank God, His truth is simple. Now, brothers and sisters, in anything, not only spiritual, heavenly things, even ordinary, common things, if you really want to understand what it is, you cannot begin with yourself. Because if you begin anything with yourself, you miss the whole picture. Because you are not a beginning. So, when we talk about responsibility, why there is responsibility? Why is responsibility put upon us? You cannot begin with yourself. We have to begin with the very beginning. And dear brothers and sisters, who is that very beginning? Except God Himself. In the beginning, God. In this matter of responsibility, you have to begin with God. You have to understand what kind of God is He. Then you will begin to understand what our responsibility is. Our God is the great I Am. He is the self-existing One. He is the beginning of all things. He is the beginning and He is the end. He is the living God. He is the supreme will in the universe. He purposes according to His good pleasure. Even before the foundation of the world. And whatever He purposes, He fulfills. He accomplishes. He is the God who promises. And He is God who fulfills all His promises. He is the God of responsibility. He is responsible to no one, but He is responsible to Himself. So that's why the Bible says He cannot deny Himself. He is always responsible. Now, knowing that God is such a God, then we will understand why He gives us responsibility. So dear brothers and sisters, we have to go back to the creation of man. In the beginning, when God created man, He created man in His own image. You know, brothers and sisters, of all the created beings that God created, man is special. Before He created man, there was a council among the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And out of that council, they created man. They created man in their own image. He never did that before. He never did that to the heavens, nor the earth. He never even did that to the angels and all the other creatures. He only did that to man. Man is created in God's image. Now, I hope you remember that, especially young people. You are created in the image of God. You are special. And what do you mean by image? Image in the Scripture does not refer to outward form. It refers to inward quality. In other words, you are made according to the inward character, quality of God. Now, that speaks a lot. But this morning, we will just concentrate on one point. When God created man in His image, He created man with a free will. Because God Himself is a free will. He can will anything He wants to. He has perfect freedom in exercising His will. And when God created man, He created man with a free will. In other words, if you have a will, then you can choose. You can decide what do you want. You can decide your own destiny. Where are you going? Brothers and sisters, this is a great privilege God did not make you a robot that you can only do what He wants you to do. He builds you, He makes you, He creates you with a will as free as His own. He gives you the liberty to exercise your will, to choose your own destiny. Now, this is a great responsibility. The very fact of the creation of man involves responsibility. That is why we say a newborn baby has a will, but he does not have the consciousness, the understanding of his will. So that's why we know that babies, whatever they do, you cannot hold them responsible. But as they grow up, then they came to the age of accountability. Whenever they exercise their wills, they will be held responsible. So, brothers and sisters, in the very creation of man, you find God in giving man and free will. Responsibility is already there. You cannot say, I'm not responsible. You know, sometimes, especially we who are the Lord, we say, well, God so loves us, He does everything for us. Everything is grace. So, where is our responsibility? We just enjoy what He has given to us, and that's it. Now, is that Christianity? Is this the Christianity that you like? You do not understand God. You do not understand God's heart. You do not understand God's way. He wants you more than that. He gives you a free will. What risk God has taken in giving man a free will. But to God it's worth it. He does not want someone to love Him and to serve Him because that's automatic. There's nothing He could do. That's not love. That's not service. That doesn't give God any glory. He would rather take the risk and make man in His own image. Allow them to make their own choice. Put them under responsibility. What honor God has given to man. Number two. After God created man in His own image, He blessed man. He gave man dominion, authority over the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, the living creatures on the land. He gave man power. He put man in the garden of Eden. And God said, kill it and guard it. In other words, from the very beginning of the creation of man, God gave them authority and power. Now today people want authority. People long for power. But do you know what authority and power are really for? Where does it come from? Authority and power come from God. God is the only authority in the universe. All power belongs to Him. And yet He gave man authority, dominion to rule and gave man power to do the work. Now think of that. Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden is not a small garden, maybe behind your house. That garden of Eden must be like a park. And God said, guard it. There was no wall to the garden. Adam and Eve, they were the wall of the garden. In other words, they were almost everywhere. So the enemy had no chance to slip in. Now what power is that? You know the sole power of man has not even been fully understood. When you think of the power that Adam had, it's beyond our imagination. But with that power given, he should be able to exercise his authority and fulfill his responsibility. So, brothers and sisters, if you are thinking of authority and power, think of responsibility. Maybe that will take you away from that ambition for authority and power. Because authority and power are given to fulfill God's given responsibility. Not only that, when God put Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, God said, I have prepared all the trees in that garden. Fruit-bearing trees. I love fruit. All kinds of fruits. Beautiful leaves. And God said, I have provided all these for you. You may eat and live. But, in the midst of the garden, God planted the tree of life. It symbolizes the life of God. Divine life. You know, when God created man, he breathed his breath into man's nostrils. And the Bible said man became a living soul. So, in other words, man's life is a created life. It came from God. And yet, it is a created life. But thank God, because man was made in the image of God. So God already had the thought in his heart, I will create a man in my image, who has the capacity to receive me, my life, my uncreated life, my eternal life, my divine life, into him, so that he may be joined to me in life. Brothers and sisters, how glorious that is! How precious are the thoughts of God to man. From the very beginning, his desire for man is not only man may live, but man may receive his own life and have communion with him, union with him in life, to know him, not outwardly, but inwardly. Brothers and sisters, how glorious that is! But by the sight of that tree of life, God planted another tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Some people think that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is an evil tree, but I personally do not think so. God would never put anything evil in the garden. The evil one is outside the garden, and Adam was called to guard the garden and do not let the evil one slip in. So there is nothing evil in the garden itself. Then, what is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Now, I think, brothers and sisters, this tree does not need to be explained because we all have eaten it. We all know its bitterness, its sourness. Knowledge of good and evil, that is the supreme knowledge the world has ever known. What knowledge the world knows higher than the knowledge of good and evil? In other words, whether it is scientific knowledge or it is philosophical knowledge, none can compare with ethical knowledge to know good and evil. That is the highest knowledge on earth. But, brothers and sisters, without the life of God, this knowledge is death because it makes man independent of God, thinking that he knows it all. He does not need God to guide him, to teach him. So God purposely put the second best tree in the garden of Eden. And the choice is between the best and the second best. Why is it God should do such a thing? Because he wants man to know that he created man above all things, but under one. Man has dominion over the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, the beasts of the field, but he is under God. Only under God will he be able to fulfill his commission, fulfill his destiny. So God put them in the garden of Eden, and then God gave a command. Of all the trees in the garden, you can freely eat. What a generous God he is. But this tree, the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For it, on the day that you shall eat thereof, you shall surely die. A command, a law, was given to man in order to put man in his right place. So, brothers and sisters, aside from the fact we are created in his image, having his will, a will free, free, aside from the fact that he has given us power and authority and responsibility, we find ourselves under the fundamental law of God. You are under him. You are not a master of the world. You are not even your own master. You have a master. You have a God. You have a creator above you. Listen to him and live. Disobey him, you die. Very clear. What is that? Responsibility. That is responsibility. So, brothers and sisters, from the very beginning responsibility is built in man. It will help man to fulfill his destiny. It will bring man into the full purpose of God. And, brothers and sisters, what we are trying to say here is, we need revelation. Without revelation, we are blind. We really do not know anything if we do not have revelation from above. All we depend is upon the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We think we know everything. But, brothers and sisters, we know nothing. But, revelation creates a great responsibility. You cannot separate these two things. Now, look at Adam. God has given him so much. And how did he respond? I believe we all know the story. There in the Garden of Eden, they did not. fulfill their responsibility. They allowed the enemy of God to slip into the Garden in the shape of a serpent. And the serpent deceived Eve. But, do you know, Eve gave the serpent the ground of temptation. Temptation comes from Satan, from the enemy. But, sometimes we provide ground for temptation. Evidently, Eve wandered away from Adam. He was, she was alone. Brothers and sisters, God created us in such a way that we need to be together. We need each other to support each other. And when Eve wandered away from Adam, she was alone. And look what she was looking at. She was looking at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Isn't that strange? That she was not looking at the tree of life. But instead she was looking at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Something must be going on in her heart. She admired the tree. Good to look at. And then Satan came and said, does God said of all the trees in the garden you should not eat? It means behind that question God is hard. He does not want you to live. He will not allow you to eat any other fruit. And man at that time eats nothing but fruit. If you cannot eat the fruit, you die. God is a harsh, hard hearted God. And then Eve said, no, no. Of course that's ridiculous. We can eat all the trees. But this one we cannot eat nor can we touch. See? The idea that God is a hard God began to sink into her mind. God never said you cannot touch it. He only said you cannot eat it. But Eve began to accept the temptation of Satan and add to the Word of God. Brothers and sisters, you remember in Revelation chapter 22? To the Word of God you shall not add anything, nor taking anything away. It is pure. It is the Word of God. Be careful not to take away anything from the Word of God, nor to add anything to it. And that's what Eve did. So Satan got a ground. He came in and he said, you know why God does not allow you to eat it? It is because if you eat it your eyes will be open, you will be like God. And Eve took it and ate it. And evidently at that moment Adam came and he gave Adam to eat. Eve was deceived, but Adam sinned deliberately. That's why sin entered into the world from one man, Adam. He knew all about it, but he loved his wife more than God. If he did not eat, he would lose his wife. He loved his wife so much he would rather share that eternal death with his wife. That's human love. That's why even our human life, love, has to be purified. The Lord calls us to love Him more than our father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children. Even our own lives, even our love needs to be purified. Oh, brothers and sisters, Adam failed in his responsibility. He failed to take care of his wife. Do not allow his wife to wander away from him. He failed to guard the garden. He allowed the enemy to slip in. He disobeyed God's command deliberately. He sinned, and the wages of sin is death. So, brothers and sisters, from the very beginning of the history of man, you can see it is a failure of responsibility. But thank God, whatever God says, He will do it. Whatever He has purposed, He will accomplish. He is not defeated in any way. He delays His purpose. But He has not defeated His purpose. On the contrary, out of the failure of man, God came in with even something far bigger, far greater, far glorious. Something that will reveal His heart more than anything else. We never know the love of God until we see Him give His only begotten Son. Brothers and sisters, in the fullness of time, God sent His only begotten Son, the One who was with Him from the beginning. The One who is always pleasing to Him. The One whom He loved more than anything else. The One whom, for whom He created all things, and yet to show His love to man, to you, and to me. Brothers and sisters, He is willing to let go His only begotten Son. And what a Son He is! In obedience to His Father, as His love towards His Father, He emptied Himself. He emptied Himself of all the glory and honor of God. He cannot empty Himself of His deity, no, because that's what He is. But He emptied Himself of all that surrounds Him. And He came to this world, a fallen world, a world of violence, of corruption, of sin. And He took up the form of a born slave. As a man, He took up the form of a born slave. He came as a slave, as a love slave, whose ears have been pierced, who loves His Master, and will not leave His Master's house, willing to serve His Master all His life. That's the sentiment of our Lord Jesus when He was on earth. Throughout His life He obeyed His Heavenly Father. He never did anything on His own. Never say any word on His own. His time was always in His Father's hand. He did not have all the privilege that Adam had. Adam was put in the garden of pleasure. But our Lord Jesus was born in a manger. He was tempted in the desert. He had not the privilege, even of a common person, how He suffered, but how faithful He was. Less privilege, more responsibility. His responsibility is much more than what God had given to Adam, because He came to save the lost. He came to redeem a fallen mankind. He came to show the love of God to man. He came to bring man back to the purpose, the loving, glorious purpose of God concerning man. He died on the cross to shed His blood for the remission of our sins. His body was broken to open a new and living way for us to come to the very presence of God. He not only forgave our sins, He gave His own life to us. Eternal life. Divine life. A life that has already been proven that can live on earth and fulfill all responsibility. Brothers and sisters, and this life has been given to you and given to me. I am not worthy. Dear brothers and sisters, do you know you have this life in you? It is a life of privilege. A life of responsibility. A life that is well able to fulfill all the responsibilities that God may call you to do. But whether with such a gift you will fulfill your responsibility or not, there is your free will to decide. All the potentials are there. Brothers and sisters, all the potentials to fulfill your responsibility that God has placed upon you. All the power is there. Now it is up to you. Will you respond? Take up the responsibility for His sake. Will you do that? Lord, we stand amazed at Thy great love. We are overwhelmed by what Thou has given to us in creation and more in redemption. Lord, we are doubly dying. Where can we go? What can we do? But, Lord, we want to go with You. We want to do Your will. We want to fulfill Your purpose. Glory, glory to God. In Jesus' name, Amen.