Jesus’ Manifestation: Epiphany
An all-creatures Bible Message

Jesus’ Manifestation: Epiphany
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
4 January 2015
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Psalm 72:8-20
Proverbs 12:10
Isaiah 60:1-6

Jesus’ manifestation, His epiphany, should be seen in the life of every true believer.
 
This is what the celebration of Epiphany Sunday, today, is supposed to be all about.
 
We can see Jesus’ manifestation in the lives of the children of God who live in the heavenly will of God.
 
And, we can see the absence of Jesus’ manifestation in the lives of the people who live in the evil and ungodly ways of this corrupt world.
 
As an example, God never thought about creating a factory farm; they were created by human beings whose god is money, and who have no empathy for the feelings and wellbeing of animals or the people who care about them.
 
God did not put animals in small cages to test and experiment on them; humans do this against the heavenly will of God.
 
God did not even think about putting several chickens in small cages stacked row upon row to produce more eggs; ungodly humans do this.
 
God did not want the male children of the fertilized eggs of these egg laying hens to be suffocated to death or ground up alive upon hatching; only ungodly human beings do these atrocious things.
 
God never wanted female pigs to be kept in crates so small that they cannot even turn around, nor did He want them to be raped to constantly keep them pregnant; only unscrupulous human beings do these things.
 
God did not create cows so that their babies would be stolen from them one or two days after birth and cause the mother and child to mourn horribly for each other; only depraved human beings do these things.
 
God never wanted the male calves to be kept in confinement on low iron food to keep their flesh white, and then slaughter them when they are only a few months old; only self-centered and evil people want their veal flesh and support this ungodly industry.
 
And these same self-centered and evil people dine on the diseased livers of forced-fed ducks and geese and think of them as delicacies (foie gras).
 
The people who do these horrible things and support these industries with their money are the ones who don’t have Jesus’ manifestation in their lives, for they prefer to follow the corrupt ways of the devil and his minions.
 
But God did foresee the evil intent of the human heart and soul, if people turned away from Him, which is the reason He created us to eat only plant foods (Genesis 1:29-30), and why we are told in Proverbs 12:10…

10. A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast [animal],
But the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
NASB

Jesus’ manifestation is seen in the life of a righteous person; but Jesus’ manifestation is not seen in the life of a wicked person, even if they go to church and say they believe, or even if they say that they are born again.
 
After all, isn’t Satan known as the father of lies?
 
People say a lot of untruthful things when they follow the devil.
 
Let’s now take a look at Psalm 72:8-19, and bring it up to date and see if we can tell who has Jesus’ manifestation in their life.

8. May he also rule from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.

Even though this is a prayerful psalm of David for his son Solomon, we can look to the future of David’s lineage to the time of Christ, which makes Him the “he” of this psalm, for only the devil and the Lord can reign over the whole world.
 
And, with the appearing of the children of God, and the second coming of Jesus, the devil will be defeated and only Jesus will reign.

9. Let the nomads of the desert bow before him;
And his enemies lick the dust.
 
10. Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
 
11. And let all kings bow down before him,
All nations serve him.

All the peoples of the earth, including their leaders, will stop openly following the devil, and will give homage to the Lord, but even then only the true children of God will have Jesus’ manifestation evident in their lives.

12. For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted also, and him who has no helper.

No group cries louder, or is more afflicted, or has so few helpers than the exploited animals who suffer and die by the tens of billions every year.

13. He will have compassion on the poor and needy,
And the lives of the needy he will save.
 
14. He will rescue their life from oppression and violence;
And their blood will be precious in his sight;

It is important for us to remember that these rescued lives will be both humans and animals.
 
And just because this will happen in the future, it is no excuse for us to keep quiet and not do everything we can to free the whole of creation from its present corruption every day of our lives.

15. So may he live; and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless him all day long.

This kind of true prayer and blessing only comes from those with Jesus’ manifestation in their lives.

16. May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains;
Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon;
And may those from the city flourish like vegetation of the earth.
 
17. May his name endure forever;
May his name increase as long as the sun shines;
And let men bless themselves by him;
Let all nations call him blessed.

We are constantly praying that the people of the world would stop following the devil and return to following the Lord our God.

18. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
Who alone works wonders.
 
19. And blessed be His glorious name forever;
And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen, and Amen.
 
20. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
NASB

But our prayers for ending the corruption of creation and for the second coming of Jesus should never end until all is fulfilled.
 
With these things in mind and Jesus’ manifestation in our heart and soul, let’s look at Isaiah 60:1-6…

1. "Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

This is the way Jesus appears.
 
This is the way we also appear in our lives when we have Jesus’ manifestation in our heart and soul.
 
It’s not that other people see the actual light, but that they see a godliness within us, which is expressed in our loving, compassionate, and peacemaking way of living for the benefit of the whole of creation.
 
They see the presence of Jesus within us, even if they don’t acknowledge it.

2. "For behold, darkness will cover the earth,
And deep darkness the peoples;
But the LORD will rise upon you,
And His glory will appear upon you.

Darkness has covered the earth, but with Jesus’ manifestation within us, we can overcome the darkness and bring hope to the world around us, particularly to those humans and animals that can’t speak for themselves.

3. "And nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

We can change the world; we just can’t afford to give up.

4. "Lift up your eyes round about, and see;
They all gather together, they come to you.
Your sons will come from afar,
And your daughters will be carried in the arms.

If we stand firm in our conviction to free creation from its present corruption, then others will see us and have the courage to join us.
 
And more and more we will see the kingdom of heaven come to earth as it is in heaven where there is no pain, mourning, or death.

5. "Then you will see and be radiant,
And your heart will thrill and rejoice;
Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you,
The wealth of the nations will come to you.
 
6. "A multitude of camels will cover you,
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba will come;
They will bring gold and frankincense,
And will bear good news of the praises of the LORD.
NASB

In the day when this passage was written, camels were a mode of transportation, but it’s really only symbolic of the ways of transportation, and thankfully today we don’t “need” to use animals and exploit them; we can all live together in peace.
 
We cannot afford to allow the evil darkness of this world with all its pain, suffering, bloodshed, and death overcome us; we must stand firm against it with Jesus’ manifestation shining forth from within us.
 
We can and must overcome the corruption, injustice, indifference, warring madness, and animal exploitation that are so rampant in the world around us.
 
We can and must live as peacemaking children of God, and diligently work at helping to free the whole of creation from its present corruption.
 
We can!
 
We must!
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

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