A Little Mustard Seed, A Little Faith

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:20

We often hear voices in our heads that we have so little faith; that we don’t have enough faith for it to matter. Because if we have even a little faith like a mustard seed, we can literally move mountains. So we therefore judged and concluded that, if we cannot move mountains, then we don’t even have that little mustard seed of faith!

Do you think God really meant that?

NO! We have been duped by the enemy for so long. In Luke 17:5-6, Lord Jesus used the same parable but in a different context; the disciples asked to be increased in faith:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”   The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you! Luke 17:5-6

We have been hoodwinked with the wrong focus. You see, we are not to judge how much faith we have to determine how much we can do but rather to know that with faith, however small will one day, move mountains and uproots trees! We should stop seeing ourselves as believers without faith, weak and helpless. We are to see ourselves as mountain-movers and tree-uprooters, since it take only a mustard seed of faith to do those things.

In Hebrew 11, we see all the giant characters of faith, yet in the concluding verse: All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. Hebrews 11:38-40.

So what is the secret promise that is even better and perfect than these amazing faith feats?

It is in the following verses in Chapter 12:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Hebrew 12:1-2

In the post-cross perspective, our Lord Jesus Christ is the Champion who is the Initiator and Perfector of our faith. In Amplified Bible, it reads: Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity]. Great as their faith may be, even the faith giants mentioned in the Old Testament couldn’t have received all the portions God has promised; the perfection of faith from the risen Lord!

So in conclusion, it’s not really about how much faith we think we have, but to just keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, and HE will be the One who will bring us to move mountains and uproots trees.

 

 

 

 

Remember ME

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”    1 Corinthians 11:23-26

I used to have many questions and opinions about the Holy Communion. “Do this in remembrance of me.” Why does the Lord keep wanting us to remember Him? He needs that much attention? Surely, He has more concerns about His impending betrayal than some bread and drink, right? So, do we just plainly remember, then what happens? Why do we need to do it so often?

If you like me, we have much to appreciate the Lord’s Supper, a wonderful gift. That even at the final hours of his imminent torture, His mind is still for the benefits of the disciples, then and now. You see, the bread is not just a mere symbol of the Lord’s body, it IS the Lord’s body, wounded and broken for us. The cup is not just a symbolic drink but the very blood, flowed out for the us. But what for?

If we refer to Isaiah 53, that tells us the details of what exactly the Lord’s body suffered for, then we will grow to appreciate the bread and the cup.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!

But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.  Isaiah 53:4-5

You see, our Lord Jesus has taught us by using the bread and cup, we can better focus on Him, not on ourselves or on the circumstance. The communion is the very physical representation of Jesus Himself. So, if we are weak or sick, Jesus used the communion to remind us, “I am the Bread of Life; Remember ME!”. If we are tired, and burdened, the communion says the Lord will give you rest, Remember ME. If we are depressed, the communion declares His suffering on the cross, so we need not suffer again, Remember ME. If we think we are unclean and unworthy, the communion points to the cleansing, washed by the very Blood, Remember ME. If we are rejected, the communion confirms that we are accepted, “Remember ME!”.

We just need to remember the “ME”.

 

Out Of The Mouth Of Babes

Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.”

But the leaders were indignant. They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’”   Matthew 21:12-16

We are all quite familiar with the account of Jesus driving off all the merchants buying and selling within the temple grounds. This is an account where for most of the time, we learned of Jesus’ indignation with regards to the degradation of the religiosity of the Jewish temple, to a greed driven machinery that is so far away from the heart of God.

After Jesus healed the blind and lame there, the children, in their innocence, praised God with much shouting. The corrupted leaders were not pleased, and even questioned Jesus. And our main focus here was Jesus’ reply:

‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have perfected praise’?”

Matthew 21:16 (NKJV)

You see, Jesus quoted a portion of scripture from Psalms 8:2 which reads:

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

But there is an obvious divine twist here. In New International Version (NIV), it reads:

you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

So if we line them up on the same term, Jesus has revealed the key here:

-> give You (God) praise -> You (God) have ordained (or give) strength -> You (God) silence the enemy and the avenger

So you see, the revelation is that if we praise and worship God, even when with our handicap, even when we are faced with difficult and surmounting circumstances, and with a bleak-black vision or future; God will give us the strength to persevere and He will see to it to silence the enemy and avenger; our enemy, our avenger.

The weaker we are or the bigger the problem we face, the more we need to praise and worship God; because through it comes our bigger help and our bigger stronghold, and our bigger defense from our Lord!! The final silence of our enemy and avenger will be oh-so-sweet.

 

 

Happy Thoughts!

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. […] Then the God of peace will be with you.   Philippians 4:8-9

We are coming to the end of the year and it is the time where we are feeling festive and blissful. We put down the bad and the ugly behind,  looking forward to a new beginning. And that’s really good. The bible says, fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, what is right and what is pure and lovely. What is admirable and things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

You see, we are being constantly ‘bombarded’ by terrors, uncertainty, diseases/viruses, and so many other negative things, that if we dont have a counter, we will then go on a slow spiral down into depression and sickness. Your mind will be trouble, your spirit will be down and finally sickness appears for a final countdown.

Happy thoughts!

That’s what the world can offer at best, keeping fixing on whatever happy thoughts you can gather and keep replaying in your mind. But dear brother and sisters, we have something even more power and everlasting. What is more true and right and pure and lovely and admirable and excellent and worthy of praise?

It is this: That God, Christ Jesus, Himself, left and gave up His own majesty and divinity to come into this world. Willing suffered at the hands of the very creation He wanted to save. To redeem us from our sin by taking our sin on Himself and suffered its consequences. After exhausting all the judgement and punishments on our behalf, Christ Jesus died a sorrowful death.

By His death – we are given life, by His strips – we are healed, by his sorrows – we rejoice. Out of love, to save you and I from eternal damnation. Think of such thoughts:

• That you are so preciously loved that Christ Jesus so willing to die in your place.
• That God will redeem you out of whatever bad situation you are in because He had redeemed you from the worst.
• That God Himself will restore what you have lost and will be above what you have originally lost.
• That Christ has done all that needs to be done, we are rest fully in His perfect work.
• That you are not caringly nurtured, truly blessed,  and highly favored because you are children of the Almighty God.
• That you are forever, saved and redeemed for eternity in heaven, a place Christ personally are preparing for you.
• That we have such an awesome and wonderful God that is so worthy of praise.

Such are the happy (excellent) thoughts!

Have a blessed Christmas full of revelation of Christ Jesus!

Through Christ

Recently, I haven’t had much time to write, ponder or reflect. I probably have been too caught up by the world too. But the Lord is so good that I have is this wonderfully nudging about “Through Christ”, that I just cannot not ignore.

God, the Father is holy beyond reach of us mere sinful humans; the Holy Spirit is invisible and silent. That is, why Jesus Christ came and He is the very visible image or representation of the invisible God (Col :15). There is just no way for lowly human beings to reach out to a high holy God. A simple bible search of “through Christ” yields 70 very powerful passages:

John 1:17

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Acts 10:36

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Romans 1:4

and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 1:8

[ Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome ] First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.

Romans 2:16

This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Romans 3:22

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,

Romans 3:24

and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:25

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

Romans 5:1

[ Peace and Hope ] Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 5:11

Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord JesusChrist, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:12

[ Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ ] Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

Romans 5:17

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Romans 5:21

so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:4

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Romans 7:4

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

Romans 7:25

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Romans 8:1

[ Life Through the Spirit ] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Romans 8:2

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 9:1

[ Paul’s Anguish Over Israel ] I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—

Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Romans 15:18

I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—

Romans 15:19

by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

Romans 16:27

to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

1 Corinthians 4:15

Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

1 Corinthians 8:6

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

 

The entire victorious Christian living; in fact, the key to the gospel is found within these 70 Scriptures. Christianity is not designed to be difficult. The Lord did not put His gift of eternal heavenly salvation as a trophy high on the podium, only for ‘champions’ who can manage to attain. This is not only impossible, but a ultimate lie.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-10

But Jesus Christ came, and deliver that trophy personally. Through His bloodied hands…

 

Will The Real Gospel Of Peace Please Stand Up

By now, most would have read about yet another horrific terrorist attack on Paris, one of the most iconic cities in the world. The disgust and sadness that followed, where unarmed civilians were brutally and calmly slaughtered were obvious. It is incomprehensible for fellow human beings firing assault rifles into unwary and inoffensive everyday-crowds of people. Even trained soldiers shudder at such thoughts.

The Islamic-State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Their call for Jihad, or “holy-war” is anything but holy. The attacks at a stadium, concert hall and cafes and restaurants in northern and eastern Paris where over a 120 were killed in cold-blood, is their way of fighting a “war”.

While much has been said and done, it’s too little, too late. I would insist that the top Islamic bodies and institutions condemn, re-educate and fight the theological extremism driving these terrors. However, in my spirit, I know I am barking up the wrong (fruitless) tree.

So, will the real gospel of Peace please stand up.

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s amour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s amour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body amour of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. (For shoes, put on the readiness to preach the Good News of peace with God.) In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.   Ephesian 6:10-18

With the full amour of God, I used to think of the sandals/shoes to be the least important, preferring to focus on the more gung-ho sword or shield. Ignorantly, I missed the point that the solider and his entire amour is propped up solely by these very shoes-> the gospel or Good News of Peace, with God.

So, what’s so important about the gospel of Peace?

You see, the gospel of peace is the very foundation; the message that Jesus Christ gave Himself to those who would trust and believe in Him (John 14:27; Romans 6:22-23). This gospel of Peace establish our standing and assurance from God-the Father that we are His children and nothing can snatch us out of His hands (John 10:29; 1 John 5:13). The Good News outlines clearly what is required to become a child of God, that God is not angrily-unforgiving and that nothing more is required to be made right (relationship) with the Most High God. (Romans 10:5–10).

The gospel of Peace for us believers has a 2-fold function: both defensive and offensive. On the defensive, in order to defend ourselves against the accusations and “flaming arrows of the evil one”, we must have the confidence in the position of Jesus Christ (as God and Son) and also our position in Christ (the redeemed saved by grace). We must understand the grace and mercy of God, that salvation through Christ is fixed solely on God’s goodness, not based on our own abilities, worthiness or what we have done (Titus 3:5).

On the offensive, we have to bring this gospel of Peace-Jesus Christ to the world. We need to let people know that they will never be able to buy or earn their way into heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9). Everything has been paid by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (Colossians 2:13-15); they just need to simply believe in Him. That’s it!

One of the main reason why such terrorism happens is because there are some very grave believes going around propagating. False ideologies and extremism that taught people to willingly commit cold-blooded mass-murders and blowing themselves up for a cause. We must counter these wrong believes that eternal salvation can be earned, a price able to be paid, to achieve a good position with a holy God; to have an access to express elevator into the heaven (with bloodied hands).

We need to let them know there is a better, surer way and only Way-> Jesus Christ, Who is  the very gospel of Peace. Only when we have the peace with God, can we have real peace with ourselves and people around us.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. Romans 3:23-25

Seek First – Just A Cookie Jar

My wife just made a jar of highly delectable cookies. I had more (with a revelation) than just filling my tummy. 😛

Victory Over Sin As God’s Children

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.

Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.   1 John 3:1-10 (NLT)

Very often, we are taught or understood concepts the wrong way up. We put the cart before the horse, and wonder why are we not experiencing a victorious Christian life that we should? You see, there are many lessons we have grossly misunderstood, contrary to what the Bible says in 1 John 3:1-10 (NLT), written by a disciple “whom Jesus loved”.

Firstly, we must have the knowledge that we, the children of God, are dearly loved by the Father. We are not orphans fending for ourselves or fighting and sacrificing ourselves to gain the God’s acceptance. We already have the Father’s favour! We already gained the Father’s love. Only children who knows they are loved are empowered to venture into life without always looking behind their backs.

Secondly, we are born into sin because of Adam’s fall, and are sinners because we are in sin. But because Jesus Christ came to redeem us from sin, we are no longer in sinners. This is solely by the blood of Christ that washed our sin away (past, present and future), we are no longer sinners, EVEN if we sin. However, we are not to live sinful since we have nothing more to do with sin, instead to new a life. Romans 6:1-4

However, if we are stagnant in sin, without guilt, without intention of getting out or even enjoying in a sinful lifestyle over long periods of time, then we have no revelation of who the Father really is or how much Christ had done for us.

A pig who loves the mud pool, even though if it is cleaned, will jump back into the mud pool the first opportunity it gets. But a sheep will never want to go near a mud pool, even if it is filthy. If it fell into a mud pool, the sheep will be miserable and will want to get out of the mud the first chance it gets. It is about who you are and knowing who you are; Christ has changed us from a pig to a sheep; so don’t behave still like a pig, you sheep!

So the very key of this message is “Do you want a victories Christian Life? Do you really know the Father’s heart and do you really know Jesus Christ’s love for you?”

Let’s pray: Our Father in heaven, we know you love us and gave Your very best- Jesus Christ your only Son to sacrifice on the cross for us. Christ suffered and died for us so that we can live a victorious and abundant life. Help us to see more of Your love, demonstrated by Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit guide and open our hearts to know more from the Bible and resources that reveal the grace and love of the Father and the Son. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hope and Joy in My Heart

Dear Lord Jesus, my hope is in You and You are my God of hope. I find hope in Your Word, in Your Spirit that is in me and in Your love. I pray that You would so fill me with Your hope, joy, peace, and faith that I become strong and unwavering, even in the midst of the greatest storm. Help me not to be shaken or become weak but to depend solely on You, my refuge and my stronghold. No matter how negative the people around me are, no matter how dim the situation seems; help me to remain in strongly in hope, joy, peace, and faith; Your Word and Your promises. I know You raise and hold me up by the power of Your Spirit. Help me to overflow with Your love toward others every day, that they may know You.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I pray that God, the source of all hope, will infuse your lives with an abundance of joy and peace in the midst of your faith so that your hope will overflow through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (VOICE)

The Holy Rest And Refreshing

For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”;   Isaiah 28:11-12

Are you always tired, anxious and worried? Are you troubled, depressed and plagued by many things in life? Are you feeling ill-health, empty and stressed? While the world offers many remedies, they mostly lead to even more harm and side-effects like addictions and poor health.

But God, the Father has something better for us-believers. It is the activation of Himself, the Holy Spirit who is in us. We call upon Him, to rest and refresh us. The One who is greater and stronger, the One who we can cling on and the One who never leaves us nor forsake us.

So what is the secret calling upon Him?  For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak – to pray in tongues. When you pray in the Spirit – in tongues, you can feel the stress and pain just melting away! The peace Jesus Christ had promised to us, just breaks down every fear and anxiety. Try it!

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

Let us remember to pray in tongues regularly, it is not enough just to have the head-knowledge but to use and exercise this wonderful gift from the Lord! This is the rest and the refreshing which God has promised us. (not the next vacation!)

So start praying in tongues always, and let His rest and peace fill your entire being. It is the holy R&R (Rest and Refreshing), the making of a holy and victorious life!

Jesus Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

Not many people might know much about the bloody animal sacrifices done under the law of Moses. Not many people might know the real reason behind all the animal sacrifices; the killings  and the blood, that do not sit very well in the modern age.

But I have learnt that it is important for us to know the ancient background and reason, even from our current context. And this is my understanding of the biblical intention for all the animal sacrifices from Hebrews 10:1-12.

In the old Jewish law of Moses, the purpose of the law was only a shadow – a dim preview for the real good things to come. It was by no means the actual solution. The animal sacrifices under the law was done over and over again, simply because it cannot be provided a perfect state of sinless-ness and the permanent righteousness of the worshippers toward the holy Father God. If the law can provide even one good sacrifice, it would not have needed to be done over and over again, year after year. If the animal sacrifices have worked well, the worshippers would have had their sin, guilt and the consciousness of them, taken away once and for all.

Unfortunately, it did not happen. The reality was that the consciousness of sin and guilt remained, year after year. The blood of bulls and goats was not a permanent resolution, they were just a simple pointers to the real answer, that is Jesus Christ, the One who came into the world to give Himself as the very divine, one and final sacrifice for us all, the very Lamb of God!

God the Father, did not really want the animal sacrifices in the first place. This was because they didn’t work conclusively, and they were not supposed to work indefinitely.  Well, the animal sacrifices were simply not capable to. They were serving just as a pointer and as a way for us human to recognise and understand the form and mechanism in which His Son, who is the ultimate sacrifice, and how He can take away the sins of the world, once and for all, the very perfect and permanent Way.

Jesus Christ is the final answer. He cancelled the first Mosaic covenant and replaced it with the second, Himself! He is the final answer and solution the fall of Adam, by embodying the sins of the world by His own blood and ushers us the believers and into the holy presence of God the Father..

Under the Jewish law, every priest’s work is never done, as they minister day and night. The sacrifices are offered day after day, the believers are never really saved conclusively; until the next sacrifice, that is. But with our High Priest, Jesus Christ, when He offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honour at God’s right hand. The sitting down speaks of the finished work of Christ, the work that is done once and for all. And never needed ever again.

We never had to be liable for our sins ever again. Never ever. That is the power of the blood of the Lamb of God!

The Current and Present Truth

Truth is a term used to indicate various forms of accord with fact or reality, the quality or state of being true. It is a fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. Truth is not of the past or the present, it is timeless. One obvious example would be:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:6

But do you know that there is also a current and present truth, a fact or belief that is accepted as true in relative to a finite period of time. In the beginning, the truth given to Adam from God was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and if done so, they would die. Sadly, they did and died. So that particular truth, is no longer current and is applicable only in the Adamic period.

In Moses’ time, through to the time of the gospel, the Leviticus law was the current and present truth then. Everyone including Jesus Christ lived according to the Mosaic law. Although, some still practise them under Judaism today, it is widely accepted in the Christianity that the Leviticus law is not current. The problem is that some Christian circles unwittingly separate the Leviticus law into “ritual law” and “moral law”, keeping the moral law but making the ritual law obsolete. But in this way, modern Christians are confused because under the Leviticus law, if you do good – you get God’s blessings (Deuteronomy 28:1-14); but if you failed and sinned – then God must curse you (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). In Deuteronomy 28, there are 14 verses of Blessings for Obedience but 53 verses of Curses for Disobedience. This cannot be right because it seems God is more interested in dishing out curses than blessings.

You see, the whole purpose of God’s law given is so that all people could see how sinful they were. (Romans 5:20)  It is when people kept failing at keeping godly lives then can they know they really need a Saviour – a Messiah! 

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised.  Galatians 3:19 (NLT)

In the early time of the gospels, the truth is to repent from their sins, turning back to God. And to be baptised by John, the Baptist. When Jesus Christ started His ministry, the truth is that Jesus Himself  is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29), and He is the very fulfilment of that law of Moses (Matthew 5:17-18). Obviously, there are many great truths about Jesus Christ during His time in ministry on earth. But more importantly, because Jesus haven’t gone through the crucifixion, death and resurrection, so the devil has not yet been defeated at that point in time. In other words, Jesus’ true fulfilment and prowess has not been shown fully before His suffering at the cross.

“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’  John 16:12

So what is the Current and Present Truth today?

The current and present truth today is one that must be seen through the lens of the Good News; the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God!

God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. Romans 1:2-5

If we have accepted Christ as Saviour and Lord, the Holy Spirit comes and lives within us. And for the first time in the whole of creation, this happened only after the accession of Christ to heaven. So with the Holy Spirit in us, the truth will from here onward be ever current and present because He will teach us everything we need to know as the truth.

We just need to remain in fellowship with Christ. And that’s the current and present truth.

But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. 1 John 2:27