Bill Johnson - The Reason for the Greatest Story Ever Told
Jesus came and bore the punishment for all that was wrong, and then He turns to us and says, «You’re reconciled to God, now you be a reconciler.» Thanks, good morning! Double-yoker—excuse me, double yoker! I want to go home, crack open some eggs. Anyone else want to do that? I think we just need to go home and see if I heard of that happening to somebody once. Every egg they opened for a season of their life was a double yolker because the Lord does stuff in the natural to illustrate spiritual truths, and it’s so fun! It’s a language of the spirit. Unusual circumstances sometimes testify to it. Anyway, wonderful! Merry Christmas!
A three-year-old in church learns the Lord’s Prayer and comes home to quote it for his family: «Our Father who does art in heaven.» Harold is his name. Amen. Amen. That was close! A wife invited some people over for dinner. At the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, «Honey, would you like to say the blessing?» The little girl said, «I wouldn’t know what to say.» The mother replied, «Well, just say what you hear Mommy say.» The daughter bowed her head and said, «Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?»
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, who was five, and Ryan, who was three. The boys began to argue about who would get the first pancake. The mother saw this as an opportunity to give a lesson and said, «If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait.'» Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, «Ryan, you be Jesus.» Oh goodness! One more! After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy responded, «That preacher said he wanted us to be brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.»
Alright, that’s all. Just poor sense of humor. Why don’t you open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 1? We’re going to read from two places in Scripture: Matthew 1 and a verse, I think, from chapter 2, and then also 2 Corinthians 5. We’ll use these two passages. Let’s read the first one here in Matthew, and then I want to talk to you for a bit before we jump into 2 Corinthians 5.
We’re going to start in verse 20: «While he thought about it, this is Joseph. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bring forth a son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.'» He will save His people from their sins. Jump to verse 23: «Behold, this is what a prophet said: 'The Virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, ' which means God with us.»
You should call His name Emmanuel—God with us. Christmas is the season that emphasizes the absolute greatest story ever told, which is the coming of Christ. There are a lot of people who have this notion that Jesus came to Earth to plead on our behalf to calm down an angry Father who was looking for someone to punish. I don’t know if that’s something you would believe because we’ve gone through this enough over the years, but Jesus actually came to do the opposite. He came to reveal a Father who was passionate for His people.
But here’s the context in which He came and the context in which we live today. The secularization of culture is working very hard to remove the concept of a Creator. When you get rid of a Creator—let me rephrase that—when you get rid of the designer, you get rid of design because you can’t have design without a designer. The effort is to erase the lines of uniqueness in all that God has made and the purposes that He has created us for. So if you don’t have a designer, then you don’t have design, and you are free to do what you want.
Design implies that when God created us with design, He created us with purpose. Purpose carries with it the implication of destiny, and destiny carries with it the responsibility of accountability. So the bottom line is that the effort to destroy the concept of a Creator, a designer, is to erase that which we were born with. It’s the conviction that I’ll have to give an account of my life.
When God created the worlds, it says in Genesis 1, ten times it says, «He created,» that these animals reproduce after their kind. That phrase is mentioned ten times—after their kind. There are two laws in creation that are actually part of why it was necessary for Jesus to come. Number one, we reproduce after our kind. You plant a flower seed; you don’t grow a horse, you know? It reproduces after its kind. Within each species, there’s latitude, but there’s no crossing over. If you take a male donkey and a female horse, I think it is, they breed, and you get a mule, but that mule cannot reproduce because it is outside of design.
It’s got to get deep into us that by nature, we were created to reproduce. Now I don’t just mean, obviously, children who have children, but I mean just in life that we are contributors to society. That’s who we are. In the story of the miners, there’s this parable where ten servants were given a sum of money. They in turn reinvested it, and when the master came back to collect the profit, the one who increased his one talent to ten, the master said, «Now be in charge of ten cities. Enter into the joy of your master.»
Here’s what you need to see: responsibility was their access to greater joy. Greater responsibility, because joy is not something you get by doing nothing; it’s something you get by functioning according to design. Design is what connects us to purpose. Design is what there are different gifts and individuals in this room. Unique giftings—every one of you has something to contribute to the overall story of mankind that no one else can contribute. There’s a uniqueness in every person. We were made in the image of God.
So when you destroy the concept of design and purpose, you’ve erased the sense of accountability for illustrating who He is. And every person—let me back up. The sin issue entered the picture. Sin is operating outside of design. What is the design? It’s in the image of God. Anything outside of the nature and character of Christ is what is sin. So when Jesus came, He came because of this reproducing out of kind.
You have horses give birth to horses, people to people, flowers to flowers, but sinners reproduce sinners. That cycle had to be stopped—we’ll get to it in a minute. Another thing that He created in all of creation was—He called it in Genesis 8, I think it is—He calls it seed time and harvest, seed time and harvest. That means you reap what you sow. You plant a seed, and it will bring forth fruit. If I sow a hundred acres of corn, I’m going to have a harvest from that corn. If I sow mercy, «Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.»
It’s just written in all of creation that what you plant, you will harvest. And so Jesus, saying that humanity has been planting actions apart from God—not for His glory, independent of purpose and design—stepped onto the scene to stop the flow of sowing and reaping. Well, we’ll look at it in a moment. He actually took upon Himself all the fruitfulness of wrongdoing that we earned. He took upon Himself what I deserved so that I could receive what He deserved. That’s what salvation is. It’s not just a temporary postponement of sin; it’s actually that He took upon Himself the punishment I deserved, and He did it so that I could receive the life He deserved. That’s Christmas.
I saw a picture this week that I really liked. It was a Christmas wreath and a crown of thorns, and somebody put the two together so it was half wreath and half thorn, and it said, «The season, the reason.» It was a costly introduction to a season where everything is about a Father restoring people to design, restoring to purpose.
I cringe at times when I hear what some people confess Christ will say about another movement, a political party, a racial group, a socioeconomic group—whatever comments that are made that are just frightening to me. And what concerns me is I know they will have to harvest those seeds. It’s not only damaging, but it comes around. I’ve watched people who seem to be naturally contentious. They have a lot of contention in their life, and sometimes I just want to tell them, «Stop planting the seeds; this will change in your life if you just stop planting the seeds.»
So Jesus says, «Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.» What we are harvesting today are the seeds we planted yesterday. Jesus came and interrupted the cycle so that irreversible damage could be stopped, and a new creation would take place.
Take a look with me at 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5 in verse 15 says, «He died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.» Verse 17: «Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.»
Look at verse 17 again: «If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.» The last thing we needed as people is some kind of soothing ointment over the open wound of sin. We didn’t need a spiritual band-aid over a problem; we actually needed to come and to change everything to where there was a new start, a new beginning.
In Genesis 1, we read of the creation of all things on the seventh day. He rested. Since that time, there has never been anything new created until Jesus died and was raised from the dead. Then everyone who puts their faith in Him is what the Bible calls born again, and in that born-again experience, they become something that has never existed before—a new creation.
I had a couple of plants in Weaverville that I had for years. One of them, I had in Redding before I moved to Weaverville. I actually ended up with this plant for like 19 or 20 years, so we had a good friendship. I only watered it with coffee. If I had leftover coffee, that’s what it got. If I had none, it didn’t get anything. If I wasn’t in there for a few days, it just didn’t get anything unless maybe my secretary watered it.
So I had this one plant that was in this pot this big, and it had been in this pot for probably 17 or 16 years. Anyway, right before we moved, I decided to transplant it. I took it out, and when I brought it out of the pot, French roast coffee is what it smelled like! It smelled like this plant was a reproducer of coffee. I mean, it had just been saturating coffee for 17 years!
So I put it into a bigger pot, and something happened. I put it in this bigger pot, and within a very short time, it started to blossom and have flowers. I had never seen that before in my life. I put it in a new setting; it expanded to its new environment and produced things it never produced before. Never once did it ever produce flowers, but it did in this new pot.
Jesus, when He caused you to be born again, you were put into His shoes that are significantly larger than ours, but every day of our life, He works to enable us to grow into the fullness of what He designed us to be. And in that context, we bring fruitfulness to the planet through our life that is impossible without the grace of God, impossible without that natural gift that God would give us so that Jesus could be seen once again.
This verse, «Old things have passed away; all things have become new,» has become a champion verse for probably all of us. Let’s read a few more, and then I’ll talk, and we’re going to pray over a few things together. Verse 18: «All things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and He has given us the ministry of reconciliation.»
Say this with me: God has given me the ministry of reconciliation. Now let’s say it together: God has given me the ministry of reconciliation. That’s actually true for everybody in this room. It’s a mandate; it’s a call. Kind reproduces kind. Once you’re reconciled to God, your nature is to be a reconciler.
Kind reproduces kind. Kind reproduces kind. Alright, you chance— you missed it! Alright, jump down to verse 20: «Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.» Verse 21—last verse: «For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.»
Verse 21 again: «He made Him—that’s Jesus—who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.» Here’s the deal: my favorite definition of mercy and grace is this: mercy is when I don’t get what I deserve, and grace is when I get what I don’t deserve. Mercy is where I don’t get what I deserve; grace is when I get what I don’t deserve.
Jesus came, lived perfectly, faced every kind of temptation a person can face. He did not yield to any of them in the slightest measure. He became what would be called a lamb that had no blemish—was not defiled. There was nothing wrong with it; He became the perfect offering. Why? Because this cycle of sowing and reaping was going to destroy, for eternity, all of humanity.
And Jesus stepped into the middle of that and basically said, «Put the harvest that they deserve on Me; I’ll take all of it.» It was in the past and every person in the future. He took upon Himself the punishment that every person deserved. It’s not an angry Father who’s looking to destroy people; it’s this creation that requires productivity—increase, reproducing after its kind, sowing and reaping. It’s the way we come into life. If He changes the laws, He changes the way we come into breakthrough and maturity and progress.
So instead, Jesus came, bore the punishment for all that was wrong, and then He turns to us and says, «You’re reconciled to God; now you be a reconciler.» I don’t understand this verse that says that Jesus became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. I like it; I just don’t understand it, but I sure like it! How is it possible for you and me to be living examples of the righteousness of God? But that’s what He says. Those are shoes that we’re growing into.
I believe that today marks a season of breakthrough. About two or three weeks ago, Eric led a prayer time here, and he spoke about the last several weeks of the year—maybe five weeks—that we’d see more miracles in that period of time than we did in the previous 11 months. In other words, it would be compounded, increased. We prayed into that. Then Chris got up around the same time and announced, I’m going to use the word reconciliation/restoration—he used different terms—but it was people who had family members who had not been walking with the Lord that they would be restored in their faith and their relationship with God.
It was a great time of prayer, and one of the greatest miracles in the Valentin household took place before the day had passed. He literally went home from here, and got a phone call from one of his grandsons who was going left when God was going right, saying, «I’m not right with God, and I want to be.» It’s a long story, but it’s a beautiful story. I feel like when God is breathing on something, that’s what we give ourselves to. We stand in that, and we say, «We join our voice with His.» His is the creative, powerful voice, but it’s the partnership that brings release and specific application to His heart to broken situations.
So we hear what God is saying. We say, «This is the day of reconciliation. This is the day of reconciliation. This is the day of being restored to God.» I think it was within the last two years that Billy Graham died. What a wonderful man! I shouldn’t hate to say this, but my name is actually Billy. Don’t call me Billy; my name is Bill! But my name is Billy. It’s not William. They ask me, you know, «Is your name actually William?» No, it’s Billy! My mom’s apologizing—my—no, don’t!
It’s an incredible honor. My mom met Billy Graham. My uncle worked for him and was his right-hand man for a number of years. My mom met him just weeks before I was born, and I inherited that name, which is a great honor. Billy Graham—a great man, a man of integrity, a man of great faith! He just gave his life for people to know Jesus, to know the love of God. He did it all over the world.
And then last week, we had the homegoing of Reinhard Bonnke, who is one of the greatest men I’ve ever met. Tonight, we have Heidi Baker coming. It would be Heidi, Reinhard Bonnke, and Brother Yun. Those are the three scariest people I know! Reinhard just went home to be with the Lord, an unusual evangelist who brought so many—79 million people came to faith in Christ through his ministry throughout the years that they know of.
When the Lord takes people home like this, their gifts remain. But I don’t believe that what God is doing is going to raise up another Billy Graham or another Reinhard Bonnke. What He’s doing is trying to bring all of us into that inheritance—to walk in the grace, to walk in the anointing, to walk in that heart for people that these two great leaders had.
So we’re going to pray into that today. We’re going to do a couple of things together. Whenever we’ve done this—I don’t know how many times it has been, but maybe 10 or 15 times in 20 years—we’ll take part of a meeting just to pray corporately over specific things. How many of you were here for the «I want my knife back» meeting several years ago? It was just the weirdest story, a series of events that basically has to do with lost items—God miraculously restoring—and there’s a long story to it; I don’t want to take the time for it now. We saw the Lord honor corporate prayer for that area, and we had stories that continued. We had inheritances that were lost in court cases that had been wrapped up for years that were released that week—so many things that were bound and lost that were restored.
It was extraordinary. What was it? It was doing what He said He was doing. It’s breathing out what He’s breathing. It’s involving ourselves in what He’s involving Himself with. And I believe today He’s involving Himself in these things. We’re supposed to pray for economic breakthrough for those who have impossible economic situations. We’re supposed to pray for relational healing for those who have impossible conflicts in family. The cool thing is nothing is impossible with God.
And the things that look to be the most impossible—tell them hello; Jesus is calling! We had somebody call years ago. Our secretary was praying for somebody behind her desk that just needed a real deliverance, and they were praying for him. The church phone rang, you know, so she went and grabbed the phone, and instead of saying, «Good morning, Bethel Church,» she said, «I plead the blood of Jesus,» or something like that. She wasn’t thinking; she was still praying for this person in her mind when she answered, and the person on the other end of the phone fell under the power of God.
So you never know what you’re going to get! We’re going to pray together for economic breakthrough. We’re going to pray for relational healing. I feel like there are—anytime you gather this number, it’s not even a word of knowledge—we always know there are relational difficulties and challenges. We’re going to pray for healing, and we’re going to pray for health. There are impossible medical cases in this room that just need a miracle.
We’re going to join together and pray for that in just a moment because this is—I saw colon cancer healed right here. A woman got out of a wheelchair right over here after 58 years and began to walk! I’ve seen a whole series of about four different diseases right over there just completely healed that were impossible. MS was healed, West Nile virus was healed, several things—all over this room! I can look around and just see right back over here a woman’s jaw that broke 10 years ago. She couldn’t open her mouth without pain, and she was instantly healed!
All through this room, an Olympic athlete right over here was healed of career-ending type injuries. Jesus heals them! So it just happens here! And it might as well be your day. In fact, we have so many watching on Bethel TV. We bless you! We prophesy to you—get in on this because we want to pray for this kind of breakthrough.
But the greatest miracle of all is actually a person being reconciled to God. Reconciled to God—it’s not hoops that we jump through; it’s certainly not joining a church membership or something. It’s not that. It’s a personal relationship with Jesus, and Jesus comes and is standing with the hand of the Father. He’s reaching for yours and saying, «I want to bring these two back together. I want to restore you to design, to purpose, because you have a purpose for your life that is rich, wonderful, and significant.»
And that’s what He does! He restores and reconciles to design and purpose. If there’s anyone here that would just say with me, «I want to be reconciled to God. I don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus; I don’t know what it is to be the new creation, to actually be different on the inside by His doing, not mine. I don’t want to leave this place until I know I have peace with God.»
If that’s anybody here in that category, all I want you to do is put your hand up, and we’re just going to pray for you. Right back over here is one. Anybody else? Put your hand up. Right down here’s another one. Put your hand up. Right over here’s another one—beautiful! It’s time! Amen! It’s just time! Another one back over here—beautiful! Yeah, we give thanks for this! This is about to multiply, so get ready to disciple people!
Get ready—Jesus didn’t say go make converts; He said make disciples, and this is the great privilege! So all put your hand up again if you raised your hand a minute ago. If you raised your hand right here, anyone sitting around them, just put your hand on their shoulder and pray for them right now. Pray for the greatest, most significant breakthrough of their life to come right now!
To come right now! The Spirit of God to come upon them! At the end, I’m going to ask you guys to come to the front here to talk with our team, but right now I want you to pray. Anyone who’s watching on Bethel TV that would just say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave this broadcast until I know that I have found peace with God.» You just pray the same thing, «God, restore me. Reconcile me to God. Reconcile me. I put my faith in Jesus—in His work to restore me completely.»
So we declare over these people that there would be such a transformation—a transformation of life that happens from the inside out! Inside out, just declare, «I believe in Jesus!» Let’s say it all together: «I believe in Jesus as my Lord and my Savior.» I sit here as a disciple, as a follower of Jesus—Jesus, change me now from the inside out! Change! I give you my past, I give you my present, I give you my future—I give you my trust. All of my trust is in You! Thank you, Lord! Beautiful!
Now, anyone who has a relational impossibility—put a hand up. I want to see who you are. Stand if that’s you—any kind of a relational impossibility. It’s just impossible with man. For most of us in this room, our problem starts getting solved the moment we stop being impressed by the size of our problem. For most of us, we just need to shift our attention to a perfect loving Father who is more than able to repair and fix that situation.
I want you to extend your hand toward these. Some of you stand around them—just pray for them! Once again, on Bethel TV, we declare the same thing—that God would work wonders in your household, in your family, and that family members that have been out of sorts with other family members—we declare that Jesus bore the dividing wall in His flesh when He was crucified. He took away the power of division, and we declare the healing and restoring of broken hearts.
God, restore families! Restore households! Restore marriages! Restore children to parents and parents to children! Church, I want to hear you pray—just take just a moment longer to pray over these and just bless them! Bless them! Thank you, Lord! Yeah, before the Christmas season is over, we ask for miracles in households, miracles in families! Restore in the wonderful name of Jesus! And Lord, we do pray this—that You would be glorified! Amen! Amen!
Good! Sit down! Anyone who is facing an impossible medical situation, I want you to stand! Without God, it’s an impossible medical situation! Stand up—impossible medical situation! Yeah, please stand! It’s just a day of miracles! The things I’ve seen happen, oh goodness gracious, in this room! You know, this colon cancer guy was a gang leader from another city who heard that God was healing people, and he came here and got healed! The report I got back was he went back as a gang leader evangelizing the gang members with this message of Jesus' love!
So we just declare that over every household here. Stand up around these folks and pray for them! Just declare that the God of more than enough visits your household! Just declare—the God of more than enough visits your household! That this Christmas season would be a season of great celebration, great breakthrough, great favor! God, give wisdom for every dollar You release so we handle it in a way that honors You! Pray this in Jesus' name!
Thank you, God! There are a few folks we’re praying for right now—this will make sense to a small handful of you. Is there an economic issue in your life, and it’s been there for several generations? Just raise your hand if that’s you. We’re just ready to break that cycle—that generational curse of lack off. If that’s you, let the people that are praying for you know—just say, «That’s me; it’s been multiple generations.»
Then those of you praying—just pray with that insight. We just break that cycle of generational lack; we declare it ends now in Jesus' mighty name! Alright! Just declare over them, «We bless you in the name of the Lord!» Now, let’s have everybody stand for this last one.
Alright, everybody stand! How many of you have a family member who is not walking with Jesus? Just put—it’s not everybody, but it’s almost everybody in the room! So this is what we’re going to do. Just grab a hand, and if the person you are holding hands with, if you don’t know their name by now, that’s your fault— you’ve been with them for hours here!
Excuse me, I just want you to pray for their family members to come home to Jesus. And if they have no family members, then pray for their neighbors—just pray that this love of God would touch everybody they know! Lift your voices—let’s pray! Just break, God, we just pray even for our cities that are represented here, that there would be literally a harvest of souls—thousands, tens of thousands of people—millions through the broadcast! That people would just come to know the love of God and be restored to design, be restored to purpose.
We pray this in Jesus' wonderful name! Amen! Amen! Alright, you can drop the hands now! We had several people come to faith in Christ this morning. I want the team over here to get that banner up right away. Got a banner over here! I’m going to ask those who came to faith in Christ this morning, I’m going to ask you to do us a favor, and yourself a favor—come up here just for a moment. We have people that we know and trust; I just want them to talk with you and to pray with you. That’s all; we don’t want anything from you; we just want to bless you!
I’m going to ask the ministry team to come up to the front right now because we’re going to extend a time of ministry to people. We’re going to let you go a few minutes early here in a heartbeat. But I would like for those who put their faith in Christ this morning—if you would right now make your way down to these with their hands up! Come down to them! Talk to them! Church, bless them as they come! Amen!