By sis Tan Yan Ling
Mankind is intelligent. We can perceive, we can reason, and we can construct, so sometimes we falsely think that we can do whatever we want in this world. The truth is that we can do whatever we want in this world only to a certain extent. We are limited by many things. For example, our abilities, the weather, other people’s willingness, accidents, and the laws of our country. We are not omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient like God (1 John 3:20). We cannot orchestrate and control everything in this world. How many times in history have we seen valiant conquerors dying suddenly and great empires falling to ruin, never to regain their former glory? If we are not careful, having some success in life can blind us with pride and lead us to our eternal demise.
Let us use our perceptive abilities to take an honest look at the world and events happening around us. Marvel at the vast and beautiful skies, seas and lands, the living creatures, and the intelligence behind them all. Grieve at the evil and destruction befalling us amidst all the beauty. The world – both the natural environment and human civilisations – perpetuates the same patterns in cycles. There are life cycles, water cycles, tides, tectonic activities, sun rise and sunset, etc.; there are divided kingdoms, great unification efforts, then war and divisions again. That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). So, let us reason: is it more likely that a sweet coincidence like the Big Bang set up these systematic and intelligent patterns in nature, or is it more likely that there is something far greater, intelligent and superior than us at work?
Now, let us construct our conclusion: I believe that God created the world (Genesis 1:1) and I encourage you to open your hearts and read the Bible. Christianity is reasonable. Verify for yourself if the Bible is really the Word of God, that comes from our Almighty Creator or not. This is important not only because the Bible provides us with comfort and wisdom to cope with issues in our lives, but also because within it is a persistent warning of hell (Matthew 13:42), with a complete escape plan so that we can choose to be saved from the danger (for example, in Mark 16:16). If God is real and the Bible is from God, then we would do well to heed the advice to be saved. It is no joke at all.
In the present era, we know from the Bible that God has put in place a plan of salvation based on faith through Jesus Christ, God’s only son whom He gave up to be crucified to death to pay our debt of sins (John 3:16). Do you know what “salvation by faith” means? I hereby attached a humble resource I recently wrote for our ladies’ fellowship session based on my reflections on the topic. It is written for “Bible Marking”, i.e., you should be able to follow the script to make notes or markings on the accompanying handout. If you are a non-Christian, I would recommend you go through the resource with a Christian as there are some portions that you may need clarification, but if you wish to, you can also do this on your own to get the gist of the topic. For Christian sisters, this resource is part of a set of eight topics proposed to help non-Christians get to know the gospel. If you are keen to contribute towards the project, please feel free to contact me and we can write another Bible Marking resource together. Let us use our perceptive abilities wisely to grow in the knowledge of our Lord (2 Peter 3:18).
Script: https://bit.ly/3qPACgF
Handout: https://bit.ly/3cwjp6P
Full list of topics: https://bit.ly/30DLVOw