Luke 6:47-48 (NKJV) “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.”
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from a setback in life. The Christian faith is a very personal faith in God, and how resilient we are is dependent on the foundation we have built in our hearts. It has to do with knowing God and His character, including what He will or will not do as our God and Saviour. Because we have the full counsel of the Word, we can articulate our conviction as we fight the onslaught of the attack.
We should have no fear in us because understanding the perfect love of God for us will remove all fear, including any fear about God and the coming judgement. Fear is one of the weapons that the devil uses to attack and torment us. For Christians, the sting of death has been removed and voided of its power against us. The worst-case scenario for sickness and illness is physical death. Even though separation from loved ones is undeniably painful and a cause of grief, Christians don’t need to be fearful of death because as soon as we breathe our last breath, we will be in the presence of God—that’s the confidence we hold and one of the foundations that will enable us to be resilient.
Another foundational truth we need to establish in our lives is the perfect love of God. Ever since the fall of mankind, God has relentlessly pursued us with His love. He knows that we are helpless and spiritually bankrupt because nobody can earn acceptance from God in their own strength and through good works, there is no way mankind can redeem themselves from the penalty of sin. He pursued us and established an unconditional covenant with Abraham to send forth His Son Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross of Calvary. As Abraham’s spiritual descendants, we inherit the blessing of having God as our covenant partner, and His obligating Himself to face all of our challenges, including the sin issue that separated us from God. Jesus was made sin for us on the cross and took upon Himself the curse of the law. As a result, Jesus established a new and everlasting covenant for us through His shed blood, one that won’t allow any of us to be separated from God’s unconditional love from now to eternity. Whenever we partake of the Holy Communion, we are reminded of our covenant with Him, His unconditional love and proactive commitment to love us and to never forsake us in all circumstances.
Sermon Series: Resilience (Part 2)
能抗洪的根基
路加福音 6:47-48 凡到我这里来，听见我的话就去行的，我要告诉你们他像甚么人，他像一个人盖房子，深深的挖地，把根基安在磐石上。到发大水的时候，水冲那房子。房子总不能摇动，因为根基立在磐石上。
韧性是指从生活中的挫折中恢复过来的能力。基督教信仰是对神非常个人化的信仰，我们的坚韧程度取决于我们在心中建立的根基。这取决于我们对上帝及其祂品格认识的程度，包括祂作为我们的上帝和救主有所为与有所不为。因为我们有圣言的完整籍慰，所以我们可以在受到攻击并奋起反击时清楚表达我们的信念。
我们的心里不应该有惧怕，因为了解上帝对我们完全的爱将消除所有恐惧，包括对上帝的惧怕以及对将来审判的恐惧。恐惧是魔鬼用来攻击和折磨我们的武器之一。对于基督徒来说，死亡的毒刺已经被去除，对我们已无能为力。生病的最坏情况是身体死亡。尽管与所爱的人分离无疑是痛苦的和悲伤的原因，但基督徒不需要害怕死亡，因为当我们吐出最后一口气时，我们将置身于上帝的同在之中——这就是我们持有的信心，并且使我们能够保持韧性的基础之一。
我们需要在生命中建立的另一个基本真理是上帝的完美之爱。自从人类堕落以来，上帝就以祂的爱持续地追随我们。祂知道我们是无助的，属灵上也是匮乏的，因为没有人可以靠自己的力量及通过善行赢得上帝的接纳，人类无法救赎自己免遭罪的惩罚。上帝追随我们，与亚伯拉罕立下了无条件的约，好差遣祂的儿子耶稣基督在骷髅地的十字架上为我们死。作为亚伯拉罕的属灵后裔，我们继承了神作为我们立约伙伴的祝福，以及祂亲自一肩担当了我们所有的挑战，包括使我们与上帝分离的原罪问题。耶稣在十字架上为我们成为罪，并承担了律法的咒诅。最终，耶稣通过祂所流的宝血为我们建立了一个新的、永恒的约，这个约不允许任何相信祂的人与祂无条件的爱分离，从现在到永恒。每当我们领受圣餐时，我们就会想起我们与祂的盟约、祂无条件的爱和主动承诺，在任何情况下都不会抛弃我们的爱。
讲章系列：韧性 (第二部分)