Sunday, 26th June, 2016
Pastor Joseph Fan
This morning Pastor Joseph from Bread of Life Training Institute in Taipei came to share with us a message – The Precious Cross.
In this world, different people have different opinions and judge things differently based on different standards. As Christians, Pastor Joseph reminded us, we ought to have only one same standard – God himself. We all believe that there is a God and He loves us (1 John 4:9); However, sometimes we may wonder, “Why does God not listen to my prayer?” The answer may be because of our sins. Pastor Joseph gave us the definition of sin: not to follow God’s will and not achieving God’s standards. And according the Bible, sin includes both conducting things one’s not supposed to do and not doing things that one’s ought to do (James 4:17). The punishment / price we pay for sin is death (Romans 6:23).
How does God view sins?
In God’s eyes, sin not only includes the sinful behaviours, but also includes all the unrighteous thoughts (e.g looking at a woman lustfully – Matthew 5:28; speaking “empty words” – Matthew 12:36-37; hating others – 1 John 3:15; unforgiving – Matthew 6:14-15; etc.). There are also sins that God is even more disgusted about. For example, disobeying the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17), adultery (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:18-19), the seven things that are abomination to God listed in Proverbs 6:16-19, and complaining (Numbers 11:1).
Jesus died on the cross for us
Sin separate us from the holy God. No human beings can save themselves as we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That’s why we all need the salvation from Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, who died on the cross to pay the price for our sins, so that we can have a new life in Him. And this is how a righteous God demonstrates His love for us (John, 3:16; Romans 5:8). Here is God’s promise for us:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” –1 John 1:9
At the end, Pastor Joseph challenged us, do we only confess the sins in our eyes, or are we all willing to confess the sins in God’s eyes?