Now that i recall, I did VLI 1 Sem 2 in 2001 (coz i joined Morning Star Church then in Feb 01), then VLI 2 in 2002, then VLI 1 Sem 1 in 2003.
Anyway, i don't think anyone wld really read this coz its too long. but i wanted to post up the "reaction" i had to one of my assignment readings in VLI 1 coz i was so blessed again reading the section on "Other Discoveries" again.. and i think to myself, "wow, i learnt all that then?" Very good reminder indeed. I love VLI, aka ENLI now!!
Sign up soon if u havent' already! :)
----------------------------------------------
March 15, 2003
Bible
as the Ultimate Authority
brain opener as well.. (Pastor, the article is so “deep”!) The one topic that
really struck out to me was how Jesus used OT scriptures in his communication
to the people in His time, not really to blend in the crowd or to make them
understand Him, but truly because it was the Word of God and with which He used
to direct His mission on earth. It kind of brought up in me the notion that if
Jesus used the Word of God in His daily mission on earth, that we should very
well do the same! Hence the need for an intimacy in knowledge for the Word of
God in our lives as well as prayer in receiving the wisdom to allow the Holy
Spirit to open the Scriptures to us.
With
all the theological arguments that were brought up in the paper (ie. The
different possibilities that the Bible is inspired), I agree that all
theological arguments and reasoning is ultimately revoked or overturned simply
by the ministry of the Holy Spirit that bears witness in us to acknowledge the
divine authority of the Scripture. Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit in
us.
My
favourite quote from the article: “We recognize the authority of the Bible
as God’s Word written because we have no choice. The constraint comes from
beyond ourselves: we are simply allowing God to be God!”
The
Lordship of Christ
This
is my favourite article of the three! A list of a few discoveries I got out of
this article.
1)
That Jesus is ever and always Lord, whether or not anyone
acknowledges His lordship or surrenders to His authority.
2)
That no one makes Christ Lord, except God Himself! J
3)
Salvation belongs to those who receive Him, BUT
they must receive Him for ALL that He is, King of Kings and Lord of
Lords and not just a Saviour. He is our Lord who in His mercy and love for
mankind, lowered Himself to save us and allow us to know Him as He is.
4)
Surrendering to Him as Lord is not more holy or good
than someone who doesn’t or doesn't believe He is the Saviour. It is simply the work
of God in the heart of the believers through the gift of the Holy Spirit
working in us.
5)
And we remember that Jesus could NOT be Saviour if He
was not Lord. He has to be Lord over ALL, and that includes death.
6)
It is a futile attempt to hold on to sin with one hand
and hold Jesus in the other. There is no point to salvation if we are still
left in bondage to sin, the cause of eternal death.
7)
The definitive test of whether a person belongs to
Christ is shown in his willingness to bow to His authority.
Holy
Justice
This
article was really quite sobering; I guess for me most of all being to
recognize the vast abundance of God’s mercy and grace I am already living on
since my very birth.
The
realization of the difference between mercy and justice was a revelation recognizing
that mercy is not justice, but neither is it injustice. How often I have taken
mercy for granted! We tend to harbour the notion that God owes us mercy, or
that we deserve grace especially when we see it administered to other around
us. (eg. God, why is it that that happens to the other person, and not me?
Did I do something wrong? How come? And so on… ). Also to remember that
mercy and grace are both unmerited and cannot be earned, it is given totally
voluntarily by God.
The
fact that I am living is an act of divine mercy. God owes me nothing, I owe Him
EVERYTHING!
Other
discoveries:
Salvation
through Christ was a display of justice delayed in order that grace
would have time to work as a result of God’s mercy on us. This delay of justice
was not the denial of justice but really the establishment of mercy and grace.
I
have often viewed the OT as a harsh and merciless display of God’s holy justice
and anger and the reminder that the Law was actually a display of astonishing
grace was a fresh perspective in itself since in the universal law of creation,
the only thing we deserve as sinner is death, immediate death rather.
Unfortunately, what shocks/amazes us is when justice is executed and when mercy
is not extended, this is probably how much we’ve taken His goodness to us for
granted.
The
question that comes then is, if death penalty for sin is just? The
reason why so is that God created us voluntarily, and not only does He have the
sovereignty to make the rules, He gave us the highest privilege of being His
image-bearers. Unfortunately, we have not borne this special privilege well.
When we sin as image bearers, we are saying to the whole creation, that this is
how the God of host is. When we sin we also hurt people around us. When we
dishonor God, we also dishonor all of mankind who bears His image. Sin is an
act of supreme ingratitude toward One to whom we owe everything, to the One who
has given us life itself.
We
remember however that God loves us as His creation (He created us lovingly and
said we were very good!) and that is the reason why mercy was even extended.
And I believe that even when justice is executed, the heart of God also hurts
for the people it falls upon, very likely more than we could ever feel for
another human.
It
is really the mystery that a sinner continues to exist that should baffle us
rather than the question of whether the sinner deserves to die.
And of course I will always remember: No matter how much
injustice I have suffered from the hands of man I will never suffer injustice
from the hand of God. I may be innocent before man, but never before God. God,
thank you for your mercy on me!! My gratitude for your mercy alone surely
cannot be requited, what more the outpouring of your grace in my life. Thank
you, God!
No comments:
Post a Comment