|
Week:11, Season:1,
2015
Posted on Saturday by PCT
|
|
Lift the Christ on High
|
|
Scripture：《
John 3:14-21
》
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
|
|
|
|
Learn to rely on Christ
Mr Ng You Hock was born in Malaysia. He studied Taoism for thirty-two years and made his living curing people’s illnesses by burning paper amulets and Taoist chanting. Many people who came to him were cured. Mr Ng was satisfied with his work and this gave him more confidence in his practice of Taoism. However, one day, his wife became seriously ill and his child was diagnosed with mental illness. Mr Ng suffered great anguish as he had been curing people for thirty-two years with Taoist magic but could not cure his own family. While he was at this lowest point of his life, a church pastor led a group of Christians to invite him to believe in Jesus. Mr Ng finally determined to remove all Taoist altars from his house and he abandoned his Taoist beliefs. Though at first, he and his family were wracked by doubts many times after they made the decision to follow Jesus, their trust in Christ helped them to conquer all difficulties on their journey to become Christians.
Mr Ng later shared a video to witness to his life-shaking change. In the past, he had been able to change the destiny of others but had nearly lost his own life, spirit and family. “When I feel I am more powerful, my mind is further away from peace. Although in the process of following Christ, I was tempted by the evil spirit to give up my belief more than once, it shows me that the power of Jesus Christ is greater than any gods I used to worship. This makes me believe that the temptations from the evil one will not shake my faith in God and I will never go back to live in sin again.” said Mr Ng.
Lift the peace in Christ
The centre of the Christian faith is our trust in Jesus Christ by raising him as the highest point in our life. Faith is the most important lesson for all Christians. We shall find that witness to the grace of the Lord cannot be explained by scientific theory but can only be found through believing in Christ. It is sad that many people say they cannot consider believing in Christ, because this is not based on scientific evidence. They do not have the peace of mind or confidence to choose a faith and they fear reality. However, even Christians can become the easiest ones to keep God away. In non-Christians’ spiritual life, God’s existence is not recognised so they often attribute all suffering in their lives as being their destiny. For first generation Christians, like Mr Ng, he received the salvation of God and experienced the joy of being in Christ and so he raised the peace of the Lord on high. On the other hand, a Christian who has lived in the grace of God for a long time, may take it for granted or stop seeking the Word of God; thus the chance of making mistakes or walking toward unrighteousness might increase; which may lead their life in God to be less secure.
No human thought or theory can explain God’s amazing work or give it a clear definition. We cannot define God. Until now, no doctors or scientists can find a scientific explanation of how Moses cured people by putting a bronze snake up on a pole and then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. (Numbers 21:4-9)
“Lifting the Christ on high” is the key for us to return to God. When someone is willing to look at the lifted “bronze snake,” his/her life then is cured. This healing power tells us that the work of God cannot be defined by humans. Like in John 3 verses 16-17, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Jesus emphasised that God sent the only hope for mankind to those who are willing to lift Christ on high, and then the peace of the Lord will be with them.
Lift the joy of Christ
Trusting in the Lord is a joyful thing greater than any ordinary happiness. It is an attitude of trusting that our life is in God’s control. John 3:18-19 said “Whoever believes in him is not condemned.” This tells us that the ultimate value of our life is being connected with Christ.
The joy of being a Christian is to understand the joy of being at peace in Christ which can help us to separate from the noise, confusion and fear of the world. However, living on the earth, “holiness” and “earthliness” both exist and challenge us. Christians must connect with Christ and keep their eyes on “the cross of Christ.”
This faith practice is to lift Christ on high and rejoice in him. The joy is different from ordinary happiness because there is assurance of this joy being one with Christ, which also can extend to build up a positive attitude toward our life, spirit and faith. We shall be able to experience faith in a way of realising its power and the joy it brings to us.
Lift the centre of Christian faith
We need the light of God in our lives to keep being constantly satisfied with the presence and peace of the Lord and his salvation. Jesus is the channel of the light of God, the truth of God, and the salvation of God. This is the reason that all Christians should put Christ at the centre of their lives. No Christian should depart from this faith centred on Christ. We need to lift Christ on high because those who look on Christ will be saved, set free and forgiven. Therefore, we need to pray that all worship in the world will be directed towards Jesus Christ and the true light of God will shine on our deepest weakness. We will be able to drive away the inner darkness of people through lifting Christ on high so they may receive heavenly peace and joy in Christ.
Lifting Christ on high is displaying an attitude of surrendering to the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Each time we surrender our lives to God, his eternal salvation will come to us. So, surrender all of your sins to Christ; surrender all negative emotions before Jesus. All difficulties will be surrendered before him and you will conquer the tough challenges in your life, as long as you are willing to lift Christ on high. To surrender is not to be supressed by God but to be set free from all sins and bondage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For discussion：
1. Do you surrender yourself before Christ in everything you do and make him the centre of your life？
2. Are you willing to place your emotions, personality and success before God？ Are you willing to lift up the cross of Christ rather than carrying the heavy burden of sin？
Please pray for：
1. The times we have forgotten to rely on God. May the Lord forgive us.
2. The teaching of truth from God which can help us to know the passion and love of Christ.
3. The joy of the Lord to help me become enthusiastic about the Word of Christ and become a channel for others’ to know the gospel.
Prayer：
Dear heavenly father, thank you for giving your own son Jesus to be our saviour. His suffering and scars fulfilled your salvation. Lord, call me to worship only you and make Jesus the centre of my life. Teach me to lift Jesus’ name on high away from the worldly wrong teaching. Help me to understand your words in the Bible more clearly. In the name of Christ. Amen
Something you can do：
1. Avoid travelling or partying during the Lent. Try to spend a family dinner time reading a passage of scripture and bless each other.
2. Prepare a short talk about the good news of Christ or your personal faith story associated with the season of Lent and share this at your Bible study group or fellowship. Witness the love and salvation of Christ during the Lent.
|
|
|
|
|