Devotional No.6

Scripture：Genesis 2:1-3

(Prayer→Reading→Meditation+Contemplation)

My meditation:  

The first reference to God's ordination and sanctification of the Sabbath (Hebrew shâbath or shabbat) in today’s verses is a very special event. It is not difficult for us to see that God is both working and resting in his Creation. We have seen before that God is well-planned and orderly in His Creation. His order includes the law of working and resting. This law is important to us and the rest of the world. It is very important to know how to work and rest for it not only affects the human body but also the human mind and spirit.

Through faith, we see not only God’s creation, but also His appreciation of His creation in a relaxed and restful manner. Indeed, shabbat means to stop, cease and repose. As we are like God, we should follow His law of work and rest. Even after the Fall of Adam and Eve, God’s sabbatical law is still valid and it should be respected by all of us. Why? God not only stopped on the seventh day but also consecrated this day as a holy day (Genesis 2: 3). God blessed the seventh day and “sanctify” (Hebrew qadash) it. Sanctify is mentioned the first time here in the Bible.

Coming back to Sabbath, does God need to rest? We know that God is supreme and almighty. The Bible [Psalm 121: 4] even says that He does not slumber or sleep. We therefore cannot say that God needs to rest! Why did He set up the Sabbath then? A reasonable speculation is that it is set for mankind and the other creatures. The Bible [Heb 4: 9] also says, “There remaineth therefore a rest (Sabbath) to the people of God.(KJV)”  It is obvious that the Sabbath in question is not the present-day Saturday (or Sunday) but the ultimate and eternal promise of rest! No wonder that it says in Judaism that "more than Israel has kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept Israel."..........

Question:

Is resting important to you? Do you have room for the Sabbath in your life?

Howard

中譯

Devotional No.5

Scripture：Genesis 1:1-31

(Prayer→Reading→Meditation+Contemplation

My meditation:  

I would like to summarize the teachings and enlightenments given to me in Genesis 1. Today’s Scripture tells us that:

1.       God is the Creator of the universe,

2.       His creation is well planned and orderly,

3.       God created man according to their image and entrusted mankind with the stewardship over His creatures.

As believers, the emergence of the world is neither accidental nor purely physical. There are profound mysteries embedded in the wisdom and power of God as manifested in His creation. For example, we do not know why darkness can exist in the creation by God who is both light and perfection.

The Bible, as a book of religious truth, should not be understood by purely historical or scientific standards. Neither should we take it to be merely a human literature. The basic reason comes from the teaching by the Apostle Paul, namely, "the Bible is God inspired" (2 Timothy 3:16). In other words, the ultimate author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit and this is our conviction as Christians. To the atheists, the Bible is only one of the various religious writings among the various human cultures such as Taoism, Buddhism and Islam. In fact, we will not easily take the books of the latter to be sacred writings as inspired through heavenly revelations.

What is the meaning of the Bible to the believers? Obviously, it is the basis of our faith and truth as God’s Word. It is also the authority and standard for us to follow and rely on. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to have an objective reason to support our faith let alone the question of eternal truth!

Let me demonstrate the application of the Bible with the "the spectacles of God (Faith)”. Though we cannot see God, we should be able see that this world is created by God as told in Genesis through “the spectacles of God". Even though an atheist would see things very much as we see them, his materialistic view however could only tell him that the world is purely made of matter and that the ultimate source of matter is again matter (today's science would call it mass and energy).

Question:

How would you see the world and its events as a believer?

Howard

中譯

Devotional No.4

Scripture：Genesis 1:11-31

1.           Prayer

2.           Reading

3.           Meditation

My meditation: The third point that attracts my attention in today's Scripture is that God created man in their image. What matters is not only the plurality of God (Elohiym) but also the IMAGE of God. We have reason to believe that people are indeed looking like God even physically. Of course, the Bible also said that no man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. (John 1:18; KJV). Fortunately, the Lord Jesus Christ did come in flesh to us so that we can see that God really looks like a man. A person’s name and hence his image is kind of equivalent to the person as someone’s name is the conduit of someone’s soul energy (liveliness) in Orthodox Judaism. Just as Christ is the visible image of God the Father, Adam was the representative of God in His creation. In fact, we can see that man is God's delegate over His creation according to Genesis (1:28). This representation gives human beings both special rights as well as solemn obligations. Yes, rights and obligations are inseparable.

On the contrary, we can ask, “How much difference would it make if no man in the image of God is made? Here are some of the possibilities I think of:

Ø   There are no people to manage the Earth and the living things. Of course, God can select another living creature to look after His creation. Nevertheless, such an arrangement might lead to "equality" issues.

Ø   Unless there are other non-human creatures to be made after the human personality and characteristics, the universe may become mechanical and dull as "fun and the human emotions" will not exist in the unmanned universe!

Of course, you can think of other possibilities as well. However, you may arrive at a similar conclusion as mine, that is, there will be a shortfall if no one were made in God’s image in His creation. One of the reasons will be read in subsequent Biblical verses which tells us that the spirit of man is coming from the breath of God. Thus, man is a living soul. Remembering that God is a Spirit, only a spiritual man can communicate with God spiritually. Indeed, human beings partake God’s divine personality and nature (2 Pet 1:4) which reveals the importance of spirituality. The aforesaid also brings out the concept of the Earth as the spiritual center of the universe.

Question:

If God did NOT create human beings, how would His Creation be different?

Howard

中譯

Devotional No.3

Scripture： Genesis 1:11-31

1.   Prayer

2.   Reading

3.  Meditation

 

My meditation:

Today’s scripture tells us that God begins to create the living things starting from Day 3. The order of which is:

Day 3: grasses, vegetables and trees are created

Day 4: the sun, moon and stars are created

Day 5: fishes and birds are created

Day 6: cattle, insects, beasts and human beings are created.

God's creation was finished on the 6th day and there are 3 things that attracted my attention. As God made plants on the 3rd day and yet the sun and the stars had yet to appear. We know that plants cannot carry out photosynthesis without light. How can there be plants without the sun? Well, we’d remember that God had already installed the pro-living environment already, namely, the combination of light, water and land. Hence, there was light even though it was not from the sun or the stars.  Where did it come from? God is definitely the answer. As the creation is basically physical in nature, light coming not from the stars was then shining. This phenomenon is a mystery and very fascinating. I have no answer to what exactly is the light in question even though I have my views.

Let me share with you the first two things that have drawn my attention

There were evenings and mornings since the first day. Thus, the light should be coming from one direction rather than coming from all directions in order to produce the night and morning phenomenon. If it is so, how light can exist before the stars were created? We shall leave it to the scientists to solve this mystery. Of course, there are other possible explanations besides the above speculation.

The second thing is that the "Earth" was the center of Creation. Though it is not explicitly mentioned, the Earth appears to be the center of the universe. Such a view doesn’t fit in well with today’s scientific discovery as the Earth is found to be only a small planet in a solar system. How can it be the center of the universe? This question could be answered easily be presuming that the Creation story is purely a fictional one. Thus, Genesis is basically a mythical composition. However, such an interpretation would mean that the biblical record is not necessarily factual. If this is the case, it will be difficult to ascertain that the Bible is composed of eternal truths. It will be even more difficult to convince people that the miracles in the Scripture are true (such as Jesus' resurrection).

On the other hand, we cannot rule out that the earth is really the center of the universe arising from God’s omnipotence. Yet, how can we explain the idea of an earth-centered universe? Obviously, a possible suggestion is that the Earth is really  the physical center of the universe such as the explosion centre in the Big Bang theory. Another possible explanation is that from the spiritual perspective, namely, all spirituality is focused on the Earth. We shall explore this possibility tomorrow.

Question：

What are the implications of an Earth-centered universe?

Howard

 

Chinese Translation

基督徒環保關注組 (Christians for Eco-concern)

我們是誰？ Who are we?
我們是一群基督徒，深信聖經的教導和應許。

我們很注重神賦予世人的管家職分。

我們注意到地球很多資源正被濫用和破壞，這當然是罪對於世界的一種影響，如果人類不及時改正，它會危害我們和子孫的生存。

所以，我們因信主耶穌救恩的功效和應許，走在一起，呼籲世人應及早回到神為我們預備的祝福裏，讓大地成為我們生活的樂土。好叫世人和大自然能融洽地發展下去。 

我們的使命宣言 Mission Statement
我們相信 神創造了美好的世界，而我們是 神所召命作大地的管家。

我們深切關注 被造萬物正被濫用和破壞─這就是罪，並且危及我們的生存。

我們相信基督徒需要心意更新及調較生活方式來投身關顧自然環境。

我們深信藉著耶穌基督，教會應有獨特貢獻來帶出醫治被造萬物的盼望。

因此，我們委身於提醒基督徒群體，從本港眾教會及信徒開始，對地球生態作出適切的關注及行動。

歡迎你加入我們的行列 You're welcome to join us!

Howard, webmaster