In chapter 8 of the Gospel according to John, there is a well-known story. A woman caught in the act of adultery was brought to Jesus. According to the law at the time, she should be stoned to death. ]]Jesus was asked to express his opinion. He, in turn, asked those who were without sin to throw the first stone. One by one, all the people left without throwing a stone. Obviously, all have sinned. Eventually, Jesus told the woman she can go, but she should not sin anymore.
Having a sinful nature, we human beings cannot be perfect. Sages in all cultures, including us Chinese, have tried very hard to find ways to improve ourselves. And many have succeeded, but only partially. Through their efforts, much progress have been made in understanding human nature and the universe. Yet no matter how hard we try, we cannot be totally satisfied, in an honest assessment of our lives. And in the end, no one can escape death, the ultimate consequence of sin.
Jesus, the Son of God, had made the necessary sacrifice, dying on the cross for our sins, so that we can be reconciled to God. To complete this reconciliation, however, we need to be properly humble and accept Jesus’ love and sacrifice.
Dr. Wan cited the case of his mother-in-law as an example of what can happen when someone believes in Jesus. She had a difficult live and was quite bitter towards a lot of things. When questioned, she admitted that the gods that she prayed to never responded to her personally. When it was suggested to her that Jesus, as the true God, will respond to her personally, she decided to give it a try. Apparently God did respond to her. She had developed a personal relationship with God and she is now a Christian. She is also much happier, and no longer bitter as before. Christians have a different outlook on life because we have hope.
People often turn to God as the last resort, when all their efforts proved inadequate and they have nowhere else to turn. And those who are sincere will succeed in finding God. But we don’t have to wait until we are desperate. God has been waiting for us for a long time. All we need to do is to give Him a chance.
These thoughts are what I gathered from 溫偉耀‘s sermon at our church this morning on this title. I cannot repeat his wonderful sermon in detail, but I think I understand and agree with the main points. At the end, quite a large number of people, many of them seemingly quite young, came forward to accept Jesus. I felt God working among us and was deeply moved.
1 comment:
Thank you for your kind words.
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