The Centrality of God in Christ

Pastor Koay Kheng Hin
14 February 2021

Today is the third day of Chinese New Year. For most of us who are Chinese Christians, we have had our reunion dinners and celebrated the New Year in a very different manner from past New Year celebrations. Much more subdued. A less celebrative mood. Less angpow giving. Less visitation. Less food. Less activities. Less of everything.

However, the very essence of Chinese New Year goes beyond just the activities of the reunion dinner, the angpow giving and the visitations. Chinese New Year has always been about hope, relationships, family and community. For my sermon today, I wish to pick up the two characteristics of HOPE and COMMUNITY to ground my message.

Every Chinese New Year represents a new beginning and brings new hope. Every Chinese New Year celebrates community and in the giving of angpows, a symbolism of being a blessing to others. As a Chinese Christian, wherein lies our hope ? 

Ultimately, our hope is in the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wherein lies our sense of being a blessing to the community ? It lies in the good works that we do within the church and beyond the church.

I begin with Matthew 5:14-16 and I read.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

We indeed are the light of the world. I use the pronoun WE because when Jesus spoke these words, he was speaking to the community of the people of God. Therefore, there is an emphasis that doing good, the exercise of good deeds reflects the community.

In this respect, as a church, TOP must necessarily heed this call to good deeds. I am very encouraged and very glad that throughout this period of the pandemic, as a church, we have been engaged in helping the poor and the needy through the various ministries in the church, especially the visitation ministry and the CHC ministry. As we look carefully at verse 16, we can see two important insights. 

The first insight is that the light that is in us is drawn from the fact that we are children of God. In Jesus being the light of the world (John 8:12), thus we as his children too have this light in us through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and our abiding in Christ. One way in which this light shines is through the good deeds that we do. 

The second insight is that these good deeds serve the purpose of effecting praise to God the Father in heaven, that it brings glory to God. As we look at these three verses, we can see that the source and the center of all our good deeds is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It springs from our love of Christ and Christ’s love for us 2 Corinthians 5:14, “For the love of Christ compels us…..” and these good deeds demonstrates the love of God for all men climaxing in the death of Jesus Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”, the message of the gospel. To effectively bring praise and glory to God in our good deeds, it is important that our good deeds indeed spring from our loving relationship with Jesus. 

In Revelation 2:1-4 and I read,

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

Jesus commends the church in Ephesus for good works, perseverance of faith and their emphasis on right doctrine and teaching. Yet in verse 4, the Ephesian church was rebuked for the fact that they had forsaken their first love, their love of Christ, their devotion to Christ and their relationship with him. They had essentially focused on the work of God but lost their devotion to the God of the work.

The spiritual counsel to us as a church, TOP, even as we grow in good works, persevere in our faith and emphasize on doctrine and teaching, we must, first and foremost, hold on to our devotion to Christ. Our devotion to the God of the work must supersede our focus on the work of God. How then are we to gauge our devotion to the God of the work? 

After all is said and done, we must always grow in that pining for Christ, that positive expectation and eager hope of meeting him one day. At the end of his writing, the apostle John ends with Revelation 22:20, “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” imploring Jesus to come. The apostle Paul expresses the same sentiment at the end of the First Epistle to the church in Corinth with 1 Corinthians 16:22, “….come Lord.”

In conclusion, this Chinese New Year, may we all remind ourselves to be a blessing to the community by continuing in good works and hold on to the hope that Jesus is coming again, expressing, first and foremost, our primary devotion to the God of the work as we focus on the work of God.

I end with Titus 2:11-13, “¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Amen!