The Law: Satan's Weapon against the Believer

Saturday, 31st May 2008

This post contains what some may consider to be "severely disturbing" content. Please read with care and caution.

As a boy growing up in Sunday School, I was made aware of a fallen angel by the name of Lucifer. He was an archangel like Michael and Gabriel, and was put in charge of worship.

Because he rose up against God, he and a third of the angels were banished from heaven, and is now behind the evil that is going on in the world. The tsunami, 911, SARS, earthquakes and cyclones are the works of his hands. He is described in Jn 10:10 as the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy.

This is a bad situation for those not under the New Covenant, as there is no protection for them to begin with. Because Adam had forfeited to him the God-given authority to subdue the earth, he has free reign to do to mankind as he pleases.

The good news for us New Covenant believers is that we have the shed blood of Jesus Christ to protect us from harm, curses and diseases.

So why is it that many of us still struggle, and do not experience the victorious, abundant zoe life that is rightfully ours?

Lucifer is also referred to in the Bible as the "devil". The Greek word for "devil" is diabolos (διάβολος), from which we derive the English word diabolical. While this is used to describe something that is extremely evil or cruel, what is interesting is that the Greek word itself actually means a "slanderer" or "false accuser".

And that is primarily what he does to the New Covenant believer, that prevents us from living that victorious life!

He falsely accuses us, makes us sin-conscious and distracts us from being Jesus-conscious and what the finished work has accomplished for us.

For example, let's say we are driving to church one Sunday morning, and someone suddenly cuts in front of our car. In anger, an expletive comes out from our mouth. After that happens, we start feeling guilty and we hear a voice saying, "Call yourself a Christian. Can't even exercise patience and self-control. Use bad words some more. On your way to church to worship God? Such a hypocrite." When we dwell on those words of condemnation, we feel lousy and are in no mood to worship God, and what results is that the entire church service is ruined. The devil has just succeeded in stealing the joy of being in the presence of the Lord with the company of believers.

And that is why John describes him as "the accuser of the brethren" in Rev 12:10.

But what weapon does the devil use to accuse us with? The irony is that the devil uses God's very own Laws as that weapon!!!

Picture a courtroom with us as the defendent, God as the judge and the devil as the prosecutor. The devil will present the case to God saying,"Your Honour. The defendent was found to be using an expletive and losing his temper. His behaviour is unbecoming of a Christian. I say he be punished to the full extent of the law, the law that you have prescribed."

Picture now another lawyer* stepping up to take the stand before the judge, and telling him, "Yes your Honour. My client has indeed broken Your law. However, I have already taken upon myself the punishment for this, as well as every single other breach of the law ever committed and ever to be committed, some 2000 years ago."

To which the judge replies, "Justice has already been served, and the law of double jeopardy dictates that I cannot punish the same crime twice. You are free to go. Case dismissed!"

*Jesus is described in 1 Jn 2:1 as our advocate (a lawyer who pleads in a court of law on our behalf).

And so coming back to the earlier example. Instead of giving in to the devil's accusations and dwelling on those words of condemnation, we instead tell him," Yes, I blew it, but Rom 8:1 tells me that there is now no more condemnation in Christ Jesus. I confess that sin of anger in that I agree with God's Word that tells me that Jesus has taken the judgement of all my sins, past present and future upon His own body on the cross. As such, I can go to church and worship Him knowing full well that I stand before Him blameless as the righteousness of God in Christ."

When we are Jesus-conscious, the devil is disarmed and defanged. He may go about as a roaring lion to seek whom he may devour (1 Pet 5:8), but we remain undevourable because we rest in the finished work. Amen?

God Works for the Good

Sunday, 25th May 2008

It's been a pretty eventful week.

On Monday, one of our hamsters decided to roam out of the house and until today, she has not been found.

On Wednesday, my son's favourite team Chelsea lost in the Champions League final.

As a dad, I sometimes struggle to explain to my kids why God, who is supposed to be in control of everything in the universe, will allow disappointments in life to happen. After all, He could have, if He wanted to, intervened to prevent Hannah from escaping. Or He could have prevented John Terry from slipping and hence missing that crucial penalty which would have resulted in Chelsea being champions of Europe (instead of that team with the diabolical logo).

What I can do however, is to tell them in all things, God works together for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). So no matter what bad things happen, God will somehow cause good to come out from it. This may take weeks, months or even years, but eventually, God is true to His Word.

And that is why we as Christians can still remain positive no matter what happens. Even though we see the devil causing cyclones and earthquakes, or causing havoc to the world's economy, we have hope and can cling on to Him, because He will make something good out of something bad. When Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, God eventually raised him up as the Prime Minister of Egypt to save the people from famine. When Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jewish leaders, God eventually used the finished work on the cross to bring about the devil's defeat.

Closer to home, when I passed my driving test only upon the 4th attempt, it was so that it would become a licence to live.

It may take some time for my daughter to get over her missing hamster, or my son to get over Chelsea not winning any trophy this season. But my prayer is that deep inside, they have the blessed assurance that God loves them both very dearly, and that no matter what happens, what matters is that He will never leave them nor forsake them. For that alone, life is meaningful and fulfillment is found in knowing that they are disciples whom Jesus love.

And as an earthly representative of their Heavenly Father, my prayer is that I reflect to them the unconditional and boundless love that is contained in the Father's heart.

Decent Exposure

Saturday, 24th May 2008

About a month ago, my daughter asked me whether she could attend the Hillsong United concert that was to be held at the Max Pavilion, Singapore Expo.

I did a Google search and discovered that tickets were only sold at New Creation Church's Youth Service.

Hillsong Church and New Creation Church have recently developed a symbiotic relationship. Brian Houston invited Ps Prince to speak at the Hillsong Conferences held in Sydney in 2006 and also in London in 2007. New Creation has reciprocated by inviting Hillsong United to perform at their annual The Zone youth concert for 2008.

I had wanted to attend the concert with my wife and kids, but alas all the tickets were sold out. Thankfully, a fellow church member (who happens to also be a cell leader, so his identity has to be protected for obvious reasons) managed to get an extra ticket, which he kindly offered to my daughter. And so, she attended the concert together with his entire family.

At about 6.30pm today, I received the following sms from her "lol. there's a pastor prince cd in the goodie bag". Later after the concert, she showed me the goodie bag, a picture of which is shown on the right.

She also told me that Ps Benjamin Lim Chin Wah, the youth pastor was the main speaker that night and he spoke mightily about "God's undeserved favour" :-)

My one regret (if I can call it that) is that I was not exposed to the true and unadulterated gospel as a child and youth, so I am glad that God has facilitated this decent exposure for my daughter (and the thousands of other youths at the concert) during their formative age. May this truth about being the Benjamin Generation of the Lord take root in her life so that she grows up on the firm foundation of what Jesus' finished work on the cross has already accomplished for her. Amen?

What the Cross Represents

Monday, 19th May 2008

Two days ago, I blogged about why Jesus had to become a man, and that was in order that He could qualify to be our kinsman-redeemer.

Yesterday, I blogged about why Jesus had to die, and that was in order to become the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins.

God is just, and that means that sin has to be punished. Proclaiming that gospel of grace does not mean that God has gone soft on sin. Quite the opposite. God hates sin, and sin has to be judged. And sin has been judged, but in the body of another. That took place 2,000 years ago. God's righteous fiery judgement fell on the body of Jesus. At that moment, God had to treat His Son as though He was the worst sinner, and that was why Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" (Matt 27:34).

Okay, so now we know why Jesus had to die. But why did He have to die on the cross? Could He not die by being stoned, the way Stephen died? Or be slaughtered, the way the bulls and goats were offered under the Leviticus system?

For the answer, we have to go back to the Old Testament again. In Deut 3:23, we read that "... anyone that hung on a tree is under God's curse."

Paul makes reference to this verse in Gal 3:13, and adds this to it, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being the curse for us"!

By dying on the cross, Jesus has taken upon Himself the curses that were meant for us. The missiles that were supposed to end up on us were diverted onto His body when He hung there on Calvary's tree.

And that, my friend, is the significance of the cross.

So, the next time you hear a sermon on Deut 28 telling you that unless you keep all of God's commandments, the curses listed in there will fall upon you, reject it in Jesus' mighty name, because Jesus has not only kept all of God's commandments on our behalf, He also died on the cross to take those curses upon Himself on our behalf.

The next time you hear someone talking about "generational curses", reject it also in Jesus' name because that is Old Covenant teaching and does not take into account the finished work of Jesus. In the New Covenant, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us, so there is no more curse left for us.

As a New Covenant believer, there are only blessings that continue to be upon us. Curses have been diverted away for good. Amen?

Born to Die

Sunday, 18th May 2008

Yesterday, I blogged about why Jesus had to become a man.

Today, I will blog about why Jesus had to die.

For that, we have to go back to the Old Testament also.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the glory of God that was covering them was removed. They then took fig leaves to cover their nakedness.

God then made them garments with the skin of animals (Gen 3:21) -- and for that, innocent animals were killed.

And that put into place the principle that sin had to be punished, and punishment was that blood had to be shed. Paul says in Rom 3:23 that the wages of sin is death.

We see this principle being carried down through the years. Abel offered an offering. Noah offered an offering. The Israelites had to kill a lamb and smear its blood on the lintel and doorposts of their home so that the angel of death would passover their place. The Levites and priests had to offer the blood of bulls and goats so that God would spare their nation. All these were types and shadows that would point to the ultimate sacrifice when the Son of God would shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins, once for all.

And that is why Jesus had to die. So that the wages of our sin would be paid by Him. So that He could take upon Himself all our unrighteousnesses, and in exchange for that, we could take upon ourselves His righteousness.

Modern nativity scenes would show the baby Jesus lying in a manger made of straw and hay. But the real manger that Jesus was laid in looks more like a tomb, like the picture shown on the right.

Furthermore, He was wrapped up in swaddling cloth, like the grave clothes that Lazarus' body was wrapped in (Jn 11:44).

Rick Warren wrote a book entitled "The Purpose-Driven Life". If such a book was written about the earthly life about our Lord Jesus, then the purpose that He came to earth as a man was to face death.

He was born to die.

And it is through His death that we have inherited eternal life. Hallelujah!

Tomorrow, I will blog about why Jesus had to die -- on a cross.

What if God was One of Us?

Saturday, 17th May 2008

Hooray! It is a long weekend and as a bonus, I am going to blog for 3 consecutive days!

I've been a Christian since December 1978, when I made the decision to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour at the Billy Graham Crusade held at the National Stadium.

However, it was only very recently that I understood the following:

1. Why Jesus had to become a man
2. Why Jesus had to die
3. Why Jesus had to die on a cross

To get answers to the above, we have to go back to the Old Testament.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus could not just come down as an angel instead? In the Old Testament, we read several references to "the angel of the LORD", which many believe to be the pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus in human form.

Yet to redeem mankind, Jesus had to become a man, starting off as a foetus in the womb of Mary.

So why did He have to do so?

In the Old Testament, there is this concept of a "kinsman redeemer" or ga-al גאל (Strong's H1350).

If anyone had lost an inheritance that was supposed to be his, this kinsman-redeemer could come in to buy back that which was lost.

This person had to have 3 qualities:
1. He must be from the same family
2. He must be able
3. He must be willing

In the book of Ruth, we see this principle taking place in the life of Ruth. Boaz was a relative of Elimelech (who was Naomi's son and Ruth's husband). By buying over the land, the kinsman-redeemer would also end up acquiring the dead man's widow, Ruth. We read in Ruth 4:6 of another man who had the qualities 1 and 2, but he was not willing to redeem Ruth because he did not want to endanger his own estate.

Boaz is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer.

And in order to qualify to become our kinsman-redeemer, Jesus had to become one of us -- ie. a man.

There was a secular song made popular in 1996 by Joan Osbourne entitled "What if God was one of us?" It was quite an irreverent song, and it's a pity that Joan may not have been aware that God did indeed become one of us 2,000 years ago -- so that He could be our kinsman-redeemer.

4,000 years before that, a man forfeited to the devil the authority that God had bestowed upon mankind to subdue the earth. It took another man to redeem back what that first man had forfeited. Hallelujah!

Tomorrow, I will blog about why Jesus had to die...
And on Monday, I will blog about why Jesus had to die on a cross...

Food for Thought

Sunday, 11th May 2008

A couple of weeks back, I had lunch with Jeff, a fellow brother-in-grace.

Just like myself, he's also not from New Creation Church. However, as an embracer of the grace message, God is using him to make a difference in his own church.

Over the past weeks, he has sent me 3 sms-es, which I felt were very meaningful, so they are being reproduced below...

Jack Neo said,' Just follow Law !'
JESUS said,' Just follow ME !'
JESUS has replaced the Law as our standard.
The law is impersonal, rigid and powerless to transform !
JESUS (GRACE and TRUTH) came personally to transform lives and set people free !
Jn 1 v 17, Jn 8 v 32, Rom 5 v 17, Tit 2 v 11 - 12.

Jesus is fully God and fully man.
As God He represents the Bread that came from heaven.
As man He represented their rebellion against His provision (pot of manna).
As God He is the Resurrectiön and the Life. (Aaron’s rod that budded.)
As man He represent their rebellion against the priesthood.
As God He is the Lawgiver who wrote the law with His finger.
As man He represented their rebellion against the law.(tablets of stone).
And Jesus became our Mercy Seat thru the cross.
As wood He was human, as gold He is Divine !

What we do does not define who we are !
Who we are defines what we do !
We love bcoz He first loved us.
We don't serve to be loved. We serve bcoz we are loved.
We don't ask to be freely given. We are freely given all things, so we ask.
We don't forgive to be forgiven. We forgive bcoz we are already forgiven.
We don't do righteous deeds to be righteous. We do righteous deeds bcoz we are righteous in Him.
We don't give to be blessed. We are blessed, so we give !
We don't preach the good news to be saved. Bcoz of the good news that we are saved, we preach !

Manga Messiah

Sunday, 4th May 2008

Great news! My 17-hour days are now over...

My son was discharged from the hospital two days ago and is now resting at home. He is recovering very well, and I want to thank all of you who have been covering him in prayer.

He received lots of hampers and presents from relatives and well-wishers, and we also got to partake of the fruits, healthy food and beverages :-)

One of the presents he received is a book entitled "Manga Messiah", which I have also conveniently taken to read for myself.

I am not really into Japanese comics, but I must say that God can even use this medium to proclaim His message to the world.

Initially, I was a little skeptical, but as I started flipping the pages, I must say that it portrays a rather accurate illustration of the scriptures. For example, the virgin birth comes across very clearly.

As a matter of fact, I even learnt some things that I was not aware of before! For example, on page 74 of the comic book, shortly after attending the wedding at Cana, Jesus was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover when He went into the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and drove out the merchants who were selling oxen, sheep and doves. I had previously thought that this incident took place much later in His ministry, when He was in Jerusalem to celebrate His last passover meal in the Upper Room the week of His crucifixion. So I did what the Bereans did -- I referred to the Scriptures and voila, this incident was indeed recorded in John 2, the same chapter where Jesus turned water into wine!

Another interest fact is found on page 88 of the comic book. Here, we read that Jesus was in Judea when He heard about John the Baptist's imprisonment. He decided to go to Galilee, and a map is drawn to show that in between the districts of Judea and Galillee lies the district of Samaria! It was during this journey that Jesus rested at Jacob's well and met the Samaritan woman.

I decided to check the scriptures on this again and voila, Jn 4:3-4 reads, "He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria." !!!

I did a Google search and discovered that the book is available in Singapore at SKS Bookstore.

I also checked out the publisher NextManga's website and discovered that other titles are on the way:

1. Manga Mutiny: Angels and Mankind on Open Rebellion
(Genesis through beginning of Exodus)

2. Manga Melech: The Rise and Fall of Gods and Kings
(Kings and Chronicles)

3. Manga Messengers: Will Those Who Are Lost Listen?
(Major and Minor Prophets)

4 Menga Metamorphosis: Flaming Rebirth of a World Turned Upside Down
(Acts and Epistles)

Can't wait to get my hands on them too!