An overview of salvation history
(Genesis)
In the
beginning there is God. He is before all things. He creates the universe. The
crowning act of creation is the creation of man in His image. The Fall of man
separates him from God. Man is enslaved by sin. His relationship with God is
broken. God then institutes His redemption plan. He makes a covenant with a man
Abraham. Abraham and his offspring are to become a great nation and to inherit
the land of Canaan. The story continues from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob (the
story of the patriarchs).
(Exodus)
Abraham's
offspring has multiplied. They are enslaved in Egypt. Through Moses God
delivers them out of the oppression of Egypt. God meets with them at Mount
Sinai in the Sinai wilderness. The nation of Israel is now established. God
makes a second covenant with them. He gives them the law which includes the
building of a tabernacle for God to dwell.
(Leviticus)
The
worship of God dwelling in their midst represented by the tabernacle as the
dwelling place of God is done according to divine instructions concerning
offerings and sacrifices.
(Num/Deut)
The
people prepare to leave Sinai and embark on the conquest of the promised land.
Before they begin their conquest Moses gives them a review of their history,
another overview of the law, and blessings and curses. Obedience would bring
blessings. Disobedience to God's covenant meant exile but with the promise of
restoration.
(Joshua)
Joshua
takes over the mantle of leadership from Moses. He leads the Israelites into
the promised land.
(Judges)
The
Israelites turned to idolatry and disobedience. They fail to keep covenant with
God.
Israel is ruled by judges appointed by God. God had to keep on delivering them
from oppression.
(1-2
Samuel)
The
Israelites ask for an earthly king. God gives them Saul and then David. God
makes another covenant with David; that one of his sons will never fail to sit
on the throne of Israel as long as they keep covenant with God.
(1-2
Kings/Chr)
David is
succeeded by Solomon. Under him, the kingdom of Israel reaches its peak in
terms of territorial control and influence. However after the death of Solomon,
his son Rehoboam who succeeded him could not keep the kingdom together. The
kingdom divided into two parts; the northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern
Kingdom (Judah). One king after another leads Israel and then Judah astray into
idolatry. The kings did not fare any better than the judges. The story of
Israel's disobedience repeats itself. Finally, the northern kingdom(Israel)
falls to the
Assyrians
in 722 B.C. The people cease to exist as an entity. The southern Kingdom
(Judah) falls to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Babylonian exiles form the
remnant who later returned to Jerusalem, thus continuing God's redemptive plan.
(Ezekiel)
The
prophetic ministry of the prophet holds the people during this period of exile.
The exilic period was a spiritually traumatic period for the people for they
had lost their promised land and their temple. God promises them of a new
covenant that Is
to come
to be instituted in the coming of the Messiah.
(Ezra/Neh)
The
Babylonian empire was conquered by the Persians. The Israelites fared better
under Persian rule. A remnant was allowed to return to Jerusalem and they
rebuilt the temple.
The
Israelites go through a period of 400 years of prophetic silence, awaiting the
coming of the Messiah. In fulfilment of the covenant with David, God sends His
Son Jesus Christ as the Messiah in the lineage of David. The birth, death and
resurrection of Jesus climaxes the redemption plan of God. Through Him the
broken relationship between God and man caused by the Fall can be restored.
This redemptive act of God is effected for both Jews and Gentiles bringing them
together into one body (the church). The Gospels witness to us the story of
Jesus Christ. The book of Acts and the epistles tell us the story of the
establishment of the church. The story continues with the Second Corning in the
future and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth as revealed in the book
of Revelation.
The missionary mandate of the apostle Paul
As the
apostle Paul received his dramatic missionary call, he gradually began to
understand it in the context of what had been revealed in the Old Testament. He
was inspired by the Holy Spirit to see the gospel of Christ Jesus as fulfilling
the promises given to Abraham. God promised to Abraham land, seed and blessing
(Gen 12:1-3, 1524-5). The blessing was not simply confined to Abraham; all
people groups throughout the earth would be blessed through Abraham. When the
book of Exodus opens, the promise of the multiplication of his seed
(descendants) was already fulfilled. When Joshua brought the Israelites into
the land of Canaan, the promise of the land also ca me to pass. However, for
the next 1400 years the promise of blessing to all people groups through
Abraham had yet to be fulfilled. in the days of Jesus and Paul, Israel still
awaited the fulfilment of God's saving promises, the coming of his kingdom and
the worldwide blessing that was pledged to Abraham. Paul initially did not
realise that Jesus is indeed the Messiah that the nation of Israel had been
waiting for. When Paul was called and converted, he came to believe that the
promises of the Old Testament were
being
fulfilled through Jesus of Nazareth and the gospel.
Abrahamic Covenant
Genesis 12: 1-3
The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave
your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will
show you.” 2 “I will make you into a great nation and i will bless you; I will
make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who
bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will
be blessed through you.
Genesis 15: 4-5
4 ‘Then the word of the LORD came to
him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body
will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and
count the stars- if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “50 shall
your offspring be."
Mosaic Covenant
Exodus 24: 4-8
4 Moses then wrote down everything
the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the
foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve
tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt
offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. 6
Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he
sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to
the people. They responded, “We will do everything that the LORD has said; we
will obey.” 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said,
“This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in
accordance with all these words.”
New Covenant
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 “The time is coming,” declares
the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their
forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because
they broke my covenant though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that
time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on
their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. “No longer will
a man teach his neighbour or a man his brother, saying, ’Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their
sins no more."
Ezekiel 36: 26-27
26 I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give
you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow
my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Gentiles as the children of Abraham
Romans 4: 9-12
9 Is the blessedness only for the
circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's
faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it
credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but
before! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the
righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then,
he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order
that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is also the father of
the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps
of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Romans 4: 16-17
16 Therefore, the promise comes by
faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's
offsprings - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of
the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “l have
made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God,
in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that
are not as though they were.
Promised in the old Testament
Galatians 3: 6-9
6 ‘Consider Abraham: "He
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
7 Understand, then, that those who
believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify
the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham:
"All nations will be blessed through you." 9 So those who have faith
are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatians 3: 13-14
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse
of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone
who is hung on a tree.” 14 ‘He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to
Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we
might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Galatians 3: 26-29
26 You are all sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptised into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 lf you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Inclusion of Gentiles into God's people
Ephesians 2: 19-22
19 Consequently, you are no longer
foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of
God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is
joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him
you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his
Spirit.
Ephesians 3:6
6 This mystery is that through the
gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one
body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Genesis 12: 1-3
The LORD had said to Abram,
"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the
land I will show you." 1 "I will make you into a great nation and i
will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Questions
1. Is
there any difference between seeing Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and perceiving
him as the Universal Christ ? Elaborate on your answer.
2. What
are the similarities and differences between the approaches of the apostle Paul
when proclaiming the gospel in Acts 13:16-41 and Acts 17:22-31 ?
He speaks
to the Jews and gentiles differently. The end is the same. The Jews have to
come to a point where they see Jesus as the Messiah. The gentiles have to come
to see Jesus as the Christ. In both Paul established the deity of Jesus. To see
Jesus as the Christ, the Saviour of the world. He sees Jesus as God.
=============
The
Missionary Mandate.
We are
all called. It's just that the specific calling is for a few. But for one
pastor that's called in the church there'll be hundreds that do more work than
the pastor. So you have to ask who's more important. Most of the work will be
done by you and me. So we are also important. Everybody will have to play their
role.
If you
see the ministry in terms of faithfulness, God is more interested in the means
than the end.
If you
look at Lee Chong Wei yesterday, the end was the gold but if you look at him
play, he played his heart out. Sometimes we don't see the end but when we see
the Lord, he'll say well done my good and faithful servant. We just do what the
Lord has told us to do. If God told you to be a worship leader, you have to do
what's necessary and then leave it in the hands of the Lord.
Our
lesson begins with this question. Who is Jesus? This question has been asked
everyday for the last 2,000 years. The gospel is being shared and the spirit of
God has been working non stop. At this moment there will be someone asking who
is Jesus? Are you God? That's why beyond healing, prosperity and so on, finally
when the person accepts Jesus, he'll have to ask this question. Who is Jesus?
Before we
come to today, when was the first time this question was articulated? I said
Jesus, not Jesus Christ.
Matthew 16:13-17
13 Now when Jesus went into the
region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say that the
Son of Man is?
14 And they answered, Some say John
the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
15 He said to them, But who do you
[yourselves] say that I am?
16 Simon Peter replied, You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 Then Jesus answered him, Blessed
(happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and
blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.
Jesus was
speaking to a Jewish crowd so saying a prophet makes sense. Peter said you are
the Christ. Which means the Messiah. Jesus said to know Jesus as the Messiah,
you need divine revelation.
Acts 9:4-6
4 And he fell to the ground. Then he
heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing,
troubling, and molesting Me]?
5 And Saul said, Who are You, Lord?
And He said, I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting.It is dangerous and it will
turn out badly for you to keep kicking against the goad [to offer vain and
perilous resistance].
6 Trembling and astonished he asked,
Lord, what do You desire me to do? The Lord said to him, But arise and go into
the city, and you will be told what you must do.
Paul
asked who are you Lord? In Matthew verse 16 Jesus is the one that asked, who do
you say I am?
Who are
you, Lord? When you are evangelising and you look at unbelievers, you ask them
this question and these will be some of the answers you'll get.
Some say
Jesus is a good man. Some will say he is a great moral teacher. Some more
spiritually inclined will say he is a prophet. Some will tell you Jesus is the
Messiah. Or some unbelievers may actually say he is a bodhisattva. These are
some of the answers.
If he
says Jesus is a moral teacher so is Confucius. And if he is a prophet, so is
Muhammed. There are also some unbelievers that says they are not interested.
When we share the gospel we will meet this fundamental question. When we share
the gospel we will have to confront this question. When we meet someone who is
sick he will see Jesus as the healer. Period. Or of he has financial
difficulties, he will see Jesus as his answer to prosperity. Finally we have to
preach him as God. Jesus is God ultimately is the task we have to proclaim. And
this is where many unbelievers get jammed.
If you
preach Jesus as a moral teacher, they will have no problem. Gautama Buddha is
also a great teacher. If you say Jesus is a healer also no problem, because
their god also can heal. When they confront Jesus, and you say he is God they
get jammed and they have to make a decision. If he is a good man, a moral
teacher or healer, you don't have to make a decision.
When you
share the gospel, you have to confront the person that he has to believe that
Jesus is God. If not he cannot be saved.
If you
look through the sinner's prayer, you will see he must acknowledge that Jesus
is God. All of us in some ways do evangelism. When I talk about morality, I've
no problem but when I say he is God, you'll find they go quiet.
Acts 9:5
who are you? Why is it Paul never asked more? Because it is God that convert
hearts. When Jesus appeared to Paul, Jesus has dealt with Paul and he knew that
he has met the Messiah.
What is
the meaning of Messiah. It has appeared as the anointed one. To the Jews he is
the Anointed One.
What was
on Paul's mind when he met Jesus on the Damascus Road?
Acts 13:16-41
16 So Paul arose, and motioning with
his hand said, Men of Israel and you who reverence and fear God, listen!
17 The God of this people Israel
selected our forefathers and made this people great and important during their
stay in the land of Egypt, and then with an uplifted arm He led them out from
there.
18 And for about forty years like a
fatherly nurse He cared for them in the wilderness and endured their behavior.
19 When He had destroyed seven
nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them [the Hebrews] their land as an
inheritance [distributing it to them by lot; all of which took] about 450
years.
20 After that, He gave them judges
until the prophet Samuel.
21 Then they asked for a king; and
God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty
years.
22 And when He had deposed him, He
raised up David to be their king; of him He bore witness and said, I have found
David son of Jesse a man after My own heart, who will do all My will and carry
out My program fully.
23 Of this man’s descendants God has
brought to Israel a Savior [in the person of Jesus], according to His promise.
24 Before His coming John had
[already] preached baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25 And as John was ending his
course, he asked, What or who do you secretly think that I am? I am not He [the
Christ. No], but note that after me One is coming, the sandals of Whose feet I
am not worthy to untie!
26 Brethren, sons of the family of
Abraham, and all those others among you who reverence and fear God, to us has
been sent the message of this salvation [the salvation obtained through Jesus
Christ].
27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem
and their rulers, because they did not know or recognize Him or understand the
utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have actually
fulfilled these very predictions by condemning and sentencing [Him].
28 And although they could find no
cause deserving death with which to charge Him, yet they asked Pilate to have
Him executed and put out of the way.
29 And when they had finished and
fulfilled everything that was written about Him, they took Him down from the
tree and laid Him in a tomb.
30 But God raised Him from the dead.
31 And for many days He appeared to
those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are His
witnesses to the people.
32 So now we are bringing you the
good news (Gospel) that what God promised to our forefathers,
33 This He has completely fulfilled
for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second
psalm, You are My Son; today I have begotten You [caused You to arise, to be
born; formally shown You to be the Messiah by the resurrection].
34 And as to His having raised Him
from among the dead, now no more to return to [undergo] putrefaction and
dissolution [of the grave], He spoke in this way, I will fulfill and give to
you the holy and sure mercy and blessings [that were promised and assured] to
David.
35 For this reason He says also in
another psalm, You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption [to undergo
putrefaction and dissolution of the grave].
36 For David, after he had served
God’s will and purpose and counsel in his own generation, fell asleep [in
death] and was buried among his forefathers, and he did see corruption and
undergo putrefaction and dissolution [of the grave].
37 But He Whom God raised up [to
life] saw no corruption [did not experience putrefaction and dissolution of the
grave].
38 So let it be clearly known and
understood by you, brethren, that through this Man forgiveness and removal of
sins is now proclaimed to you;
39 And that through Him everyone who
believes [who acknowledges Jesus as his Savior and devotes himself to Him] is
absolved (cleared and freed) from every charge from which he could not be
justified and freed by the Law of Moses and given right standing with God.
40 Take care, therefore, lest there
come upon you what is spoken in the prophets:
41 Look, you scoffers and scorners,
and marvel and perish and vanish away; for I am doing a deed in your days, a
deed which you will never have confidence in or believe, [even] if someone
[clearly describing it in detail] declares it to you.
Paul saw
himself as a Jew that believed in Jesus Christ. He goes to the synagogues where
the Jews go for the reading of the law. He goes there to minister to the Jews.
Paul goes through their salvation history. I want to work by personalities
which I think is easier to understand. History is defined by the men of that
period. Russian history can be defined by Stalin or it can be defined by
events. Like the last 5 years in Malaysia it's 1MDB.
We go to
Adam and you know when's that. Then Noah and you know that's when God destroyed
the world. Then came Abraham and salvation history began with this person. Fast
forward to the book of Exodus and you have Moses. From Moses you move onto
Joshua. What was he remembered for? Moses was known for Mount Sinai. Joshua was
the person that led the Israelites into Canaan land. Then came the judges, like
Samson. Then the Kings. You have Saul. Tall and handsome but he also tak jadi.
So I tell my daughter don't go for tall and handsome. What's important is good
character. I pray for my daughter that they find a godly husband. I have two
daughters.
After
Saul was David and after David is Solomon. The nation of Israel then divided
into two, Israel and Judah after Solomon. The northern kingdom disappeared
because the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom.
Then at
586 B.C. came the Babylonians. The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Then came the
Persians a few hundred years later, Ezra and Nehemiah, they disposed of the
Babylonians. By now it's 440 B.C.
From here
down to Jesus is 400 years and there was no prophetic message. God was silent.
Then came Jesus.
At the
time of Jesus and Paul we have almost the whole Jewish nation waiting for the
Messiah. A lot came to claim themselves as the Messiah but they were false
Messiah. That's why Jesus ask who do they say I am? At that time there was a
Messianic fever going on.
When they
look at the Messiah, I want to summarise like that. From 2 OT verses.
Jeremiah 23:5-6
5 Behold, the days are coming, says
the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch (Sprout), and He
will reign as King and do wisely and will execute justice and righteousness in
the land.
6 In His days Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name by which He shall be
called: The Lord Our Righteousness.
The Jews
were oppressed by the Romans at that time so they look forward to the
fulfilment of this prophecy. They were waiting for a ruler.
Psalm 110
A Psalm of David.
1 THE LORD (God) says to my Lord
(the Messiah), Sit at My right hand, until I make Your adversaries Your
footstool.
2 The Lord will send forth from Zion
the scepter of Your strength; rule, then, in the midst of Your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves
willingly in the day of Your power, in the beauty of holiness and in holy array
out of the womb of the morning; to You [will spring forth] Your young men, who
are as the dew.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not
revoke or change it: You are a priest forever, after the manner and order of
Melchizedek.
5 The Lord at Your right hand will
shatter kings in the day of His indignation.
6 He will execute judgment [in
overwhelming punishment] upon the nations; He will fill the valleys with the
dead bodies, He will crush the [chief] heads over lands many and far extended.
7 He will drink of the brook by the
way; therefore will He lift up His head [triumphantly].
The Jews
read this as a Messiah. Of you are a Jew waiting for a Messiah, you look at the
coming of a great ruler where even the Emperor will bow to him. They were
looking for a warrior Messiah. Before you complain of the Jews, look at
yourself. We like heroes. That's why I like Ip Man and Bruce Lee. Heroes always
win.
There are
a lot of Messiah scriptures but I want to pick one where the Jews missed it.
Isaiah 53:1-5
1 WHO HAS believed (trusted in,
relied upon, and clung to) our message [of that which was revealed to us]? And
to whom has the arm of the Lord been disclosed?
2 For [the Servant of God] grew up
before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no
form or comeliness [royal, kingly pomp], that we should look at Him, and no
beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He was despised and rejected and
forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and
sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we
did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
(sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of
punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and
afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].
5 But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement
[needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the
stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.
This is
also a prophecy of the Messiah but this Messiah was very different. The Jews
didn't look at this properly. The Jews were probably only looking for the
warrior Messiah because they have been under Roman rule. That's why when Jesus
was on the cross they didn't see him as the Messiah. Only after Resurrection
did they realise it.
Paul was
brought up with very strict Jewish teaching. He was also probably looking for a
warrior Messiah. That's why he cannot accept Jesus as the Messiah. Two things
happened as I read on the Damascus Road. This Paul is depicted as harsh and not
good looking. You have to understand what was on this man's mind on the road to
Damascus Road.
He was
probably someone who had handled many Stevens. Many has been tried so he would
have heard their testimony many times and they would have proclaimed Jesus as
the Messiah. Paul is a sensitive man, a man that has a conscience. So he saw at
the point of their death they still proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah. His mind
says it's not possible Jesus is the Messiah. So there must have been a struggle
in his heart.
Jesus
appeared and the spirit of God came upon him and he saw Jesus as the Messiah.
There was a crisis point in his life and before and after his vision, he saw
Jesus differently. Before and after Damascus Road. Before, he saw Jesus as an
imposter. A false Messiah. After, he saw Jesus as the Messiah. What's important
is that he was called to minister to the gentiles. If you read the OT before
the NT, you will see he came for the Jews. Only in the NT, you see the deity of
Jesus being emphasised. Throughout history no religion have rested their faith
on the Resurrection. Buddha died. Muhammad died. Only Jesus resurrected to
affirm his deity. He is very familiar with how God met man specifically, in his
case in a blinding light.
When he
received his call and he had to move to the gentiles, his understanding of
Christ became realised. The Jews are very ethnocentric people. They have a
certain superiority complex. Because of their religious position they were
given privileges by the Romans. Others were also under the Romans like the
believing and non believing gentiles. They have a sense of racial superiority
and Paul was one of them. So when he had to minister to the gentiles he had to
see Jesus as the universal Christ.
Racial
superiority is a very current thing. This is a curse where communities of
people defined themselves by race. If you ask anyone they won't say their race
is an inferior race. This is not biblical and it's a curse. What we should see
is that race is only skin deep. It's only pigmentation. What really define race
is primarily by culture.
When we
say Chinese we are talking about Chinese culture. Culture is defined by
language. From language we form communities. Language is one key thing. That's
why many missionaries in Taiwan who speaks their language and stay there for
many years are accepted.
The Nazis
believed they are a superior race. And that's how they almost conquered the
world.
I want to
end with this.
Acts 17:22-31
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting
of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are
very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects
of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So
you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to
proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and
everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples
built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed
anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything
else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the
whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the
boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and
perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of
us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own
poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s
offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or
stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked
such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he
has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has
appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the
dead.”
Paul was
in Athens and philosophers were gathered there. Paul's speech in Athens have
been used as an evangelistic model. How does Paul evangelise. Let's see how
Paul does it.
Paul said
they are religious. Do they like to hear that? Yes. Paul always see himself as
proclaiming the gospel and not promoting the gospel. He wanted to introduce
them to the known God and not an unknown God. He even quoted their Greek poets.
He was engaging them. Is your gospel approach a confrontational approach or an
engagement approach. We want to draw them to come face to face with Jesus and
engage them to ask this question, who is Jesus? He is trying to tell them they
are all in idolatry but in a way that they need to repent. He spoke on the
resurrection of Jesus that proves his deity but as usual some sneered but
others wanted to hear more.
I asked
in the beginning who is Jesus. There is only one Jesus Christ. But there can be
many Jesus. He is called Jesus of Nazareth to pinpoint which Jesus. The Christ
speaks of his deity. The title that talked about him beyond his humanity. The
Christ is the Messiah that the Jews are waiting for and the universal Saviour
of the world.
How do
you look at the Jews? Some says the Jews are superior. They are the chosen
people. Some will go the other way. A little anti-Semitic. So what's our
position? This is the principle of means and end.
The Jews
falls under the means. That's Israel. The end is all men, which includes the
Jews and the church. You think about this.
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