亞伯拉罕把他的兒子獻給上帝作為祭品

Al Ngu    October 16, 2023

Ever since I read the verse seek after glory, honor, and immortality offered by God, it suddenly struck me that we are not just seeking after eternal life in our journey on this earth, and serve God only.

Roman 2 ⁶ God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”^[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

But the context of serving God is so much more enunciated and emphasized in a stronger and telos way or purposeful way when you incorporate this verse. The idea is to not just to seek God for your own problem-solving, live direction, or any challenges and tribulations that you and I may face in this world, and there are plenty of them. But just to know that we don’t exist in this world only but we live in this world for a purpose and we all know that purpose is to serve God and walk with God, to love God and enjoy God and eternal life.

But the glory of serving God, and seeking God in this world is something that that needs to be really inculcated into our minds, our children and ourselves and grandchildren and everyone. Because glory and honor must go with immortality. It is very interesting that Paul uses the word immortality because there’s always written as eternal life, but in this time around, he calls it “immortality”! Which is also more in sync with a scientific language.

What does it mean to seek out the glory, honor on top of immortality? To meet to seek out the glory and honor means you live in an honorable life, but not just in a passive way, but in actively pursuing the goal of God, the call of God for our lives. How can you reach the glory and honor that God gives to us without knowing there is such calling of God for such? And its not just eternal life, going to heaven, but while on earth God desires and requires us to be actively seeking glory and honor and immortality.

I remember in The Patriot movie, Mel Gibson was the main actor for the war between England and America, in which British soldiers got every person in that small town into a church, mothers, children and man, and they locked the door. Then the commander gave the command to burn the church down with the people trapped in there. In response,  there’s a line that one of the British soldiers questioned the command saying, “Why burn down the women and the children in there? There’s no glory in it.”  That line stuck with me for the longest time. Even unbelievers in Christ and their savagery mindset senses the meaning of glory. Do you know why? Because it is a very in-bred DNA, and that God has ingrained into our being when He created us in his image. I know that that image has been considerably depraved and lost because of the fall of the original man Adam, however, we still retain certain amount of that image of God. And also by the common grace, not the special grace, many today whether believers in Christ or not have what is called ‘conscience’ in this world and that is by the common grace, or the original DNA of God. And that’s why there’s such words like when a man, behaves such cruelty, he’s like a beast animal, therefore it is our inbred calling to seek glory and honor. ‘Honor’, I will consider to be at the lower level compared to ‘glory’. Honor is doing things to be honorable to be commendable, to be praise worthy. But seeking glory, there’s a level of this as the highest I will consider, that is, the highest level one can reach between humans and God. Because that glory is totally reserved for God and he shares that glory with us. Because Jesus said “I have glorified you just as my Father is glorified me.”

Romans 8:30

³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

And if I pull right in his epistle that we are in the process of being sanctified and glorified!

My main thesis for this chapter is that we must not live for eternal life in this world only. We must live for glory and honor and eternal life or immortality. That’s the whole package deal. You can’t just go for, eternal life but neglect, glory and honor. And that’s why we cannot just be a Christian just preparing to go to heaven one day. Wow well enjoy the prosperity and the blessings of God in this world as much as possible without any sacrifice without any pursuit of the call of God. Now, to seek out the glory and honor is literally seeking after the calling of God and moving to it, and serving God in your utmost ability as the Holy Spirit empowered you for his calling in your life. Just like Paul say, “I worked harder than all the other apostles, but it’s not me, but it’s the grace of God inside me working through me.” (1 Cor 15:10)  He sought glory, honor and immortality beyond all we can imagine. That’s a high call, and a high bar.

If Christ gives you that desire to seek out the glory and honor , it must come through in your life in your walk with God in this world before you meet him in the eternal life he offered and promised.

Al Ngu    October 12, 2023

Israel was attacked in an unprecedented terrorism attack by Hamas just few days ago and over 1000 innocent Israelite Jewish people were killed and some were captured hostage and even babies killed. The atrocity and cruelty of which shocked the world and Israel was totally caught off guard surprisingly and has since sprung into attack mode.

This has made me burdened to write on my reflection from the Bible on the theological position of Israel in our evangelical world and the reformed world. The reality is there’s just so much confusion on the position of Israel in the theology of the word of God, the charismatics dispensational view holds Israel in a high regards even to this days and calling Israel and the churches two separate entities. While the covenant theology of the reformed world which I’m in now, has posited that that the church is the modern day Israel today inherited from Abraham as in the scripture that says only those who are called by God are truly the children of Abraham and not everyone.

Therefore it is imperative we understand how do we view Israel as a church and where do they fit into all the overall agenda and program of God’s work in this world?

Romans 9:1–5 (NIV)

I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, ⁴ the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. ⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!  Amen.

“For to them to the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises”…. the list goes on when right now we are in the midst of the biggest turmoil & blood shed by terrorism in Israel. And the most shocking is what we see on the social media the news that  of such heinous crime been committed against humanity in Israel.

So the question goes: “Where does Israel stand in the plan of God?” 

There’s so much confusion on really the place of Israel in the plan of God. The Old Testament (OT) is clear absolutely, what is not clear is the NT (New Testament) and now the time we are living now is really the expansion of the New Testament and it requires us to understand that.

That’s why I am determined to write a book on this on Israel and the church, the call of God for them, the call of God for Israel and the church. Can we synchronize them? It is tremendously interesting and make sure that we don’t go on the wrong footings reading from Paul’s epistles, someone who’s been tasked to preach the gospel mainly to the gentiles to all over the world even though he also ministered greatly among the Jewish people. The way he speaks about his heart for Israel is stunning and reveals the staggering depth of his heart compassion, feelings, affection and love for his nation Israel. Often times we get a picture that Paul’s going on all about justification, satisfaction and redemption of the elect and people forget that the background of it there is still the plan of God for Israel.  Nobody can argue that God is done with Israel neither is God done with Israel even though Israel rejected God again and again in the OT and also Israel has suffered, and triumphed & celebrated believing in God.  So Paul was saying that “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart “ (v2).

That’s like a man in anguish or a mother worried sick for her kid as he was so sick and he’s walked away from the Lord. Like Monica in anguish and unceasingly praying for her beloved son Augustine (who turned out to be one of the greatest theologian who wrote “Confessions”), I’m trying to draw some parallels for that kind of passion, crying out to God desperately and hence Paul’s unceasing anguish. But what’s profound about his passionate feelings for Israel is the fact that he said his conscience bears him witness in the Holy Spirit, in other words it is not just a personal emotional fling or a superficial outbreak of a subjective experience, but it’s justified, vindicated, confirmed and affirmed by the Holy Spirit!  

Even though Israel rejected him but he still feels such compelling affection and love for them. He shared his witness that the Holy Spirit confirmed in his heart he feels such deep anguish and sorrow for Israel! To the nations of this world, I wanted to tell how many Christians actually scream having this deep anguish for the nation of Israel? Of course we can’t and don’t do that as we have no connection or have any background connected with Israel, because today essentially the majority of us never been to Israel.  I have read so much about Israel from the scripture on OT and Israel features prominently in the book of Psalms, Genesis, Exodus, etc in every way and it’s all over but we have no biological or cultural affinity or connection with nation of Israel.

Of course God understands that probably you won’t be able to reach the kind of anguish to the level the feeling and the strength, heart for Israel but it does illustrate the point that it is legit to have such affection for Israel. And to answer question that totally legit and it should be done because Holy Spirit is the witness!  “Because my conscience bears witness in the Holy Spirit” .

You know to the point he said I could wish “I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers”– now this this is taking really deep dive now. I think there’s a divine endowment upon all the burden that he feels for Israel. It’s incredible since right now if you look at back his life, he was so driven to protect the sanctity of Torah, the Judaism zeal, that he thinks the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ is corruption at that time.  And now his feelings and passion for Israel remained unchanged but in the right direction for the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit bears witness in his conscience. This is this is deep and profound  he could be in such emotional state that he wished he could be cut off and cursed instead of the unbelieving Israel. Now that that is too much I think that’s insanity. I don’t know it could be metaphorical language and it could be a figurative language how far, how strong they almost feel this way.  I think he has unceasing anguish and cried and wept for Israel when so many gentile churches have been established under his missionary effort, his teaching and the training word of God.

Sometimes I do feel like that because I have for the past years, preached, taught in the church and I wish I could have given more time and to my children, and family and others close to me. But I didn’t feel the unceasing anguish and sorrow but not to the level that that Paul described talk about what himself so I would just say that this is they’re very profound. I said all this highlighted especially in the context of what Israel now is going through. That’s why I chose this passage i Romans to kick off.

-ii

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