GRACE AND TRUTH IN A FALLEN WORLD: - China Horizon



GRACE AND TRUTH IN A FALLEN WORLD:

Thoughts on Christ and Ethics for 21st Century Internationals

Samuel Ling

NEED OF THE HOUR: TRUTH AND GRACE

As the 21st century dawns, truth is considered by many postmodern people to be non-existent (we only have arratives” or tories”), and grace, though desperately needed, is in short supply (false grace, however, are peddled everywhere).

Billions of people need to know God personally – in Asia, in the Muslim world, in the West and elsewhere. Thousands of Christians are mobilized – in the Third World and in the West – to be salt and light for Christ, from six continents to six continents.

Internationals, often with a dual, triple or quadruple cultural exposure, are margin people who are called by God to be his witnesses, to bring light (truth) and healing (grace) to broken people who need God.

Margin people who want to walk with God and represent Jesus Christ in the real world often ask some poignant questions:

1. Is Christianity a mere reflection of contemporary western lifestyle? Or can I develop a Christian lifestyle unique and relevant to my cultural context?

2. Is my Christian faith relevant to the burning social, economic and cultural issues back home in my country (or among my people group)?

3. Does Christianity have remnants of colonialism? Am I partaker of this mentality?

4. Can my faith in Christ work in the world of business and the professions? Or do I find peace at the church, and leave my faith behind when I go to work?

5. Does my Christian faith have anything to offer to a religious world of animism and contact with the spirits? Or is my Christian only in the realm of my mind?

6. Will I have time to be a Christian in the real world?

7. Will I have encouragement and support to live as a Christian in the world?

Jesus, our Lord and Savior, speaks to our real world. He walked in our world, and taught us by word and example how to live for him by his power. He saved us, he heals us, and he will empower all who sincerely follow him. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ! From the context, structure and content of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), we can draw some realistic principles to help us follow him.

FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS

Let us study the context of the Sermon on the Mount, and discover some foundational principles in Jesus’ person, his life and ministry, for us to follow.

Principle 1. Jesus is obedient to God law and God plan (Matthew 3:13-16). He requested John to baptize him. He wanted to fulfill all righteousness. Every miracle performed by Jesus on earth was according to God plan. Jesus was consciously obedient to God law. He consciously followed God timing.

Yes, there are absolute norms in God Word for us to follow – and we are to obey the Word of God and follow God timing.

Principle 2. Jesus lived with the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17). The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus was always filled with the Holy Spirit.

The same power of the Spirit is available to you (Romans 1:1-4, Phil. 3:10).

Principle 3. Jesus grew in the spiritual disciplines (Matthew 4:1-2). He grew and learned obedience on earth (Hebrews 5:5-8).

We are to mature in grace and in knowing God (II Peter 3:17)!

Principle 4. Jesus was victorious in spiritual conflict (Matthew 4:1-11). Filled with the Spirit of God, and armed with the Word of God, Jesus triumphed over the Devil.

The name of Jesus is powerful over all the forces of spiritual darkness. Christians believe in the reality of demons (often disguised as angels). Christians also believe in the possibility and the power to triumph over the Devil (Ephesians 6).

Principle 5. Jesus is Lord (Matthew 4:17). Jesus’ gospel was: the Kingdom of God is near. The kingdom is where God reigns as King. The kingdom arrived because the king has arrived. (It will come in fullness when the king returns at the end of history.)

This means that God wants you to – and it is possible to – acknowledge Christ as Lord and King in all that you think and do – in the real world.

Principle 6. Jesus claims our lives (Matthew 4:18-22, 5:1). To become a Christian is to become a disciple, a student, a follower of Jesus Christ.

There is no true Christianity, and no true power to live, apart from a total commitment and surrender to Jesus Christ.

Principle 7. Jesus is compassionate (Matthew 4:23-25). Jesus died and rose from the dead, to defeat sin and death for us. That his amazing grace. But Jesus offers to us more than grace. He also offers mercy to all who turn to him in need. Jesus heals the broken hearted. He makes people whole.

By the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of God Word, you can become whole. Healed by Jesus, you can be God representative to heal others. We are called to be compassionate. People do really need the Lord!

CORE PRINCIPLES FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING

Now let us look at the structure of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gave us an amazing order of principles to live by. For all who will follow Jesus, here is a blueprint for living. Jesus also gives us sufficient power (his Spirit) to follow these principles.

Principle 1. How is your heart? (Matthew 5:3-10) Is it open before God? Do we confess our need and our brokenness before God? Are we cleansed and pure before God? Do we desire the things of God more than anything?

Principle 2. Do you know your mission in the world? (Matthew 5:11-16) Jesus calls you to be salt, to be light, and to suffer persecution in the world. In a real sense, suffering for Christ is an essential element in the Christian life.

Principle 3. Do you live by the highest standard? (Matthew 5:17-48) The Word of God is our standard. It calls us not only to refrain from murder, but from sinful anger; it calls us not only to refrain from sexually immoral acts, but also from immoral thoughts. It calls us to be absolutely truthful in our promises.

This means that it is possible to live purely in a world of corruption!

Principle 4. Are you growing in the spiritual disciplines? (Matthew 6:1-18) What have you experienced in prayer? In fasting? In sacrificially giving to God beyond the tithe (the 10% which already belongs to him)?

Principle 5. What are your priorities and plans in life? (Matthew 6:19-34) How do you manage your time and money? Are you free from worry? Do you have inner freedom about time, work and money? Does everything in your life belong to God?

Principle 6. Do you appreciate the difficulty and the precious value of following Jesus Christ? (Matthew 7:1-23) It is not easy (though God gives us the strength) to follow Jesus. Yet to all who seek, Jesus says, we shall find.

Principle 7. Are you building your life on a foundation of faith and obedience? (Matthew 7:24-27) Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy, to be blessed, to be used by Jesus.

Your culture and society may be pre-Christian, post-Christian, or anti-Christian. As salt and light, we will pay the cost of suffering to bring light to darkness. It will take time to transform a culture – perhaps 2 generations or more. Meanwhile we trust, we obey, and we live out the reality of Christ teachings.

GETTING STARTED:

THE FIRST STEPS OF FOLLWING CHRIST

The Sermon on the Mount with some amazing promises. God blessing and true, lasting joy will come to those whose heart is right with God.

Step 1. Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). There are many broken hearts and broken homes around you. Are you healed, before you go and heal others?

To be poor in spirit means to admit before God that we are spiritually bankrupt before him; that we are nobody, we can do nothing without relying on his power.

Step 2. Blessed are those who mourn (Matthew 5:4). True repentance is not merely feeling sorry and trying to win God pity. True repentance includes four elements:

a. Admit that I have broken God laws.

b. Truly grieve for my offense against God.

c. Come to the cross of Jesus Christ, and ask for cleansing.

d. Believe by faith that Jesus has forgive our sins.

We then can experience living waters in our hearts – every day! (II Corinthianse 7:10)

Step 3. Blessed are the meek (Matthew 5:5). The meek are those who are poor – those who admit that all that they have, come from God.

In a world of rights and competition, it is often difficult (or impossible?) to be meek. Meekness is not the same as weakness. It is spiritual strength which chooses to give up rights, for the sake of truth and grace. It can be done; it has been done, by many saints who followed Jesus down through the centuries.

Step 4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6). Whether you country allows freedom of religious worship, or you have to fellowship with a small number of Christians in private, Jesus calls you to desire him, his word, and the blessings he has purchased for you on the cross (is righteousness”). Through prayer and meditating on God Word, we can be satisfied, and strengthened to live, and to suffer, for him.

CONCLUSION

There is much more – more principles, more blessings, more joy to experience. As we walk with Christ in a broken world, we will grow in our maturity, in our sensitivity to our limited resources and God amazing power… we will grow and appreciate that the king of the kingdom is … great!

Samuel Ling, China Horizon

P.O. Box 40399, Pasadena, CA 91114

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