Let Me Share What I Believe

[Soldier4Christ]

 We can consider the whole Bible as a diary written by the human-son, who was more fortunate than Nam Xuong’s son. In the Old Testament, the human-son recorded the images that his Father-God sent so that he could recognize Him. In the New Testament, the human-son wrote about his reunion with his Father-God.

You may say, “I agree that the images of Jesus Christ were unbelievably precise, but could the authors in the Old Testament simply be lucky?” No, this is very unlikely, because those images were very difficult to conceive. Although the Jews always longed for a savior, nobody would expect their savior to be beaten, cursed, and finally killed in a humiliating manner.

Let us look at similar evidence, that is the incredible accuracy of the prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the history of the Jews. We cannot say that these prophecies were written after the events. In fact, many of these events occurred thousands of years after the prophecies. These prophecies are very specific, and not vague and are easily distorted such as, “Your first child will be either a boy or a girl.” Also we cannot say that the Old Testament was lucky, because more than 2000 prophecies have become reality. And we cannot say that these prophecies were likely to occur, as some events were stranger than imagination.

Although I cannot list all the prophecies here, let me present just one of them that most of us know about, that is the dispersion of the Jews. Many years before it happens, Moses wrote, “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.”135 The prophet Hosea prophesized, “My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations.”136 These prophecies were written while the Jewish people were still a strong nation. Who could imagine that they would be realized?

Furthermore, who could imagine that a people scattered for 2000 years, like the Jews, could survive and regroup into a nation? Yet, the Bible predicted this. If the prophet Jeremiah first said, “I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, an object of ridicule and cursing, wherever I banish them. I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their fathers,”137 then Jeremiah also prophesized, “I will build you up again…. I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth…. He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.”138

In 1948, one of the greatest miracles in human history occurred: the nation of Israel was reestablished.

The fact that the image of Jesus Christ is scattered throughout the Old Testament supports the Bible as the word of God. If you were to gather ten people together and ask them to write ten articles about human nature or God, would you expect them to all have the same philosophy? Now, if these ten people belonged to different generations, would you still expect that your collection be of the same worldview? But that is characteristic of the Bible. Although it was written by so many authors from many walks of life over a duration of many centuries, the Bible remains a unified book with a singular theme: human salvation by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Not only is the Bible comprised of many different and independent articles, it can be thought of as a mystery novel written by many authors. In the Old Testament, some authors presented leads that could be followed by more leads of other authors. In the New Testament, these leads, which previously seemed to be incomprehensible and unrelated, suddenly converge into a solution. In order to write such a mystery novel, we would need the solution before writing the leads. In the case of the Bible, only God could be the “author” of the whole Bible because before Jesus Christ, only He could understand the plan of salvation and only He could reveal appropriate information to the authors so that they could present appropriate leads.

If we had forty musicians sitting together but playing independently, we would have a noisy racket. However, if we add a conductor and a score, then we have music. The Bible is a love song entitled “Salvation,” written for human beings by the composer God, played by forty musician authors under the direction of the conductor Holy Spirit.

Will you quiet your soul so that you can hear this love song?

[Soldier4Christ]

CHAPTER 9
SCIENCE

We have just examined evidence that supports the fact that that the Bible is the Word of God. Hopefully, you agree with this evidence. However, you may still have some reservations. In your mind, there may be a word that keeps yelling out as if it wants to argue with the word “Bible” – that word is “science.”

Because of its success in explaining the natural world and bringing many technological advances, science itself has virtually become a new religion. Some think that science has completely replaced God. “In this scientific age, how can anybody believe in God?” they say. Although nobody ever really cared to explain this to me further, this sentence seems to imply one of the following:

1) Science can provide everything

2) Science can explain everything, and religion is merely superstition

3) Evolution has proved that God does not exist and that the Bible is wrong

Let us analyze these statements.

I do not think that many people agree with the first statement. Even if we only consider material possessions, science cannot provide us with everything. On the contrary, more and more people are becoming disappointed with science and technology. They consider it a threat as much as a benefit. The dangers of nuclear war and pollution have become a reality for all of us. Computers, instead of serving humans, are slowly gaining control over us.

Coming from the perspective of an Asian culture, I can clearly see the emptiness of Western civilization. Underneath the flashy clothes of technology and in the midst of florescent urban lights, people are extremely lonely, silently fighting against each other for a living. Finding peace with oneself is difficult in itself, let alone finding true peace in God.

The second statement is also difficult to justify. Not only are there many unsolved problems in science, many problems lie beyond the scope of science.

The main purpose of science is to answer the question “How?” not “Why?” Science lets us know how the human body is formed, but it does not study the reason for our existence. Science has no authority to discuss the values behind poems, music, and paintings. Who can use science to analyze Shakespeare? Who can use science to define love?

Because the word “superstition” is very vague, let me define it as “religious activity that attempts to answer questions that science has not been able to.” How can I win somebody’s heart? One answer is to burn her picture, mix the ashes with water, and drink up. And then when television said, “Apply ‘Capricorn’ perfume, with added pheromones,” burning pictures became superstition. How does lightning occur? One answer is that the gods are fighting each other. When science came up with its explanation, the gods quietly disappeared.

Yes, using religion to fill in the gaps of science is superstition. But this is not the view of a Christian. To Christians, all phenomena, whether explainable by science or not, are controlled by God.

Science is built on the idea that our universe always follows certain laws. If you throw a rock upwards, it will fall down. If you put a kettle of water on a stove, its temperature will rise. The purpose of science is to discover these laws and to predict what will happen. Science does not try to understand the ultimate origin of the laws, but Christians know that they all came from God. He created the universe and gave the universe a natural order so that humans can live in.

Before Newton discovered the law of gravity, apples still fell down when they were ripe. Science does not make the apple fall, but it only helps us understand this phenomena. God makes apples fall, regardless of whether science can explain or not.

Therefore, Christians do not shun the benefits brought about by science. When I am sick, I go to see a doctor. When I need to travel a long distance, I use an airplane. Christians not only use science, but history records many brilliant scientific discoveries by Christians such as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, and Newton.

I myself was trained in science and am still doing research for science. I have met many famous scientists who are Christian. Not only do they feel that science and religion are not in conflict with each other, they feel that science helps them in their belief. The more we know about anatomy, the more we admire our Creator who designed our bodies so intricately. The more we know about physics, the more we believe in the All-Powerful who gave the universe such a wonderful order.

Christians who are also scientists therefore do not try to find mistakes in science in order to bring back God. Like all other scientists, they try to bring science closer to the truth, so they can appreciate more and more the power of God though the understanding of His creation and providence.

Now let us talk about evolution. Evolution is the idea that plants and animals change from generation to generation. Those with more favorable genes will have an advantage in surviving and having children. Cockroaches that survive a bug spray will continue multiply while those who die will not. Pretty soon, the bug spray will be useless because all the cockroaches will be able survive it. Germs regularly evolve and bypass the body’s defenses. That is why there is a new flu vaccine every year, because flu viruses continuously evolve.

Nobody denies evolution in this sense. However, many scientists claim that, over millions of years, all life, including human beings, came about through this process and evolved from simpler animals such as monkeys.

First of all, this kind of macroevolution can be wrong. It is a hypothesis that has several technical difficulties. One of the biggest problems with evolution is scientists don’t know how large changes, which results in a new body part or a new organism, developed. There is no evidence to support that these large changes were the result of a gradual set of infinitesimal changes at the micro level. Simple logic would expect that somewhere within the millions of species alive today, at least a few should have been identified as being in the process of transition.  So far, none has been discovered.

[Soldier4Christ]

But what if human beings in fact did evolve from simpler animals? Yes, suppose that we disregarded evolution’s technical difficulties. If – I want to emphasize the word if – in the future, someone can conclusively prove this, then what?

Surely, more people would use evolution to attack religion. Communism, for example, considers evolution as something that can liberate people from God. This is a big mistake, because even if evolution is correct, such a conclusion is still wrong.

As we have discussed before, the Christian God is not a “God of the gaps” of science. Evolution cannot push God away from our lives. Even if evolution is correct, then in his power, God used evolution to create human beings.

“But the Bible says that God created the universe in six days?” Yes, but we have to remember that the Bible is not a scientific document but is the Word of God, telling us about His plan of salvation. Therefore, the Bible uses common language and images of the people of the time, rather than the precise scientific language that would have been hard to understand. For example, the Bible talks about the “sunrise” and the “sunset.” When talking about the smallest seed, Jesus referred to “a mustard seed”139 rather than a scientific name of a yet discovered smallest seed. When he died Friday evening and resurrected Sunday morning, the Bible said it was three days, similar to the way Vietnamese calculate age, instead of calculating the exact number of hours. Similarly, in discussing creation, the Bible only uses 34 sentences140 and was written in the genre of poetry in a very primitive society. We therefore cannot conclude that these verses serve as a scientific document. We should not insist that the universe was created in six earth days according to our time measurement.

I need to emphasize that even if God used evolution to create human beings, it does not mean that human beings are merely animals. Clearly, we do not only live to satisfy our instincts, but we have thoughts, morality, arts, and most importantly, a concept of God. This shows that if evolution took place, it was only God’s means of creation rather than the author of creation itself. Furthermore, if evolution is right, then somewhere along its process, God interfered, “breathed the breath of life”141 giving human beings a soul so that they can have the image of God.

Actually, science disagrees with the Bible not in what it can explain, but in what it cannot. More precisely, science does not accept what the Christians refer to as “miracles.” Miracles are events contrary to the supposed universal laws of science. For example, if I let go of a rock and it flies up to the sky, then I have a miracle, because this goes against the law of gravity.

The Bible records many miracles preformed by God, the prophets, Jesus Christ, and his disciplines. The parting of the Red Sea – allowing the Jews people to cross – was a miracle. Giving sight to a person blind from birth is another miracle.

We can consider this universe as a watch. Science observes this watch-universe and then discovers some laws causing the watch to operate and therefore can predict what happens to the watch. These discoveries only bolster the existence for its Creator. Now let us assume that this Creator, for some reason, decided to change the time of the watch. He can do this easily because he created the watch, but sadly, scientists inside this watch-universe refuse to believe it happened because they do not believe in miracles.

Actually, God did not just create the universe and occasionally perform miracles, as we occasionally adjust the time on our watches. The universe is like a mechanical watch that needs to be wound continuously. If He ignores it, it cannot survive. Unlike man-made “gods” built of rock or wood, God has power over human beings and always pays attention to us. He expresses His will through history, even through the weather. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”142

Let’s suppose that one day, God decides to cause the sun to stay still for a few hours. Those who witnessed the event would surely agree that this was a miracle. But many others would not believe, and demand that they see the miracle for themselves before believing. Let’s suppose further that God agreed to repeat this miracle everyday so that everyone could see it. Ironically, because this phenomenon would now occur daily, and thus science would be able to predict its occurrence, people would no longer consider it a miracle.

Every day, we see God’s miraculous wonders in seemingly mundane events such as the existence of four seasons in a year or the gravity between two masses. Regardless of whether science can discover any law, regardless of whether events occur daily or only once, the hand of God controls everything.

“I might accept the providence of God,” you think, “but, being raised in a scientific environment, how can I blindly believe in the salvation of Jesus Christ?”

Actually, all civilized people engage in “belief” every day. When I am sick, I take medicine, believing that it will cure my illness, even if I do not know anything about the medicine. When I step into an airplane, I believe that I will arrive at my destination, even if I do not know anything about aerodynamics. These beliefs are not blind, because although we may not understand them thoroughly, they are reasonable from what we do know. Also, they have been showed to be credible in the past.

Believing in the salvation of Jesus Christ is similar. Although we cannot completely understand everything, we must agree that whatever we can understand is reasonable. The blood of Jesus Christ mixes wonderfully with God’s love and justice and satisfactorily answers many questions in the minds of people searching for a meaning in life. Christian education always encourages people to learn more about God and his salvation. The Bible is not a book of meaningless incantations, but rather contains very clear teachings. To those who believed in him, Jesus Christ said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”143

Christianity also shows concrete results. Many Christians are be prepared to testify about how their faith in Jesus Christ has changed their lives completely. We only have to look around to see.

There are many blind faiths in this world, but believing in the blood of Jesus Christ is a faith based on a solid logical foundation.

While we have seen that science and religion are not in conflict with each other, I want to take this opportunity to tell you that science is comprised of many disciplines, each of which studies the universe from its own perspective. Life, on the other hand, is comprised of many aspects related to each other in an extremely complicated manner. As there are people who only appreciate the material world, there are also many people who judge everything only according to discoveries within certain specific disciplines. This can lead to a mechanical, one-tracked worldview that is dangerous.

An example relates to sex. Nowadays, many researchers study this subject and there are many books teaching us how to sexually satisfy our spouses. While I do not diminish these discoveries, I believe that many people have gone to the extreme, paying attention only to techniques and disregarding the most important aspect of marriage that science does not study and has no ability to measure, that is love. Without love, sex, even with the best techniques, degrades people to the level of animals.

A second example is Communism. Communists only know life through the lens of economy. Karl Marx therefore explained that, like opium, religion was created by the rich to suppress the masses.

Once, Mr. A confided to me that his life was now nothing. He said so because when he went to the doctor, the doctor said that he was too old. When he tried to learn English, his teacher said that he would never be able to speak the language fluently. Although these people may have been right, his conclusion that his life was now nothing was wrong because his life is not simply his body or his language.

He is a painting ignored by its owner because some time in the past, a expert in material science came along and commented that the canvas was old and the paint was cracked.

Then one day, he read the Bible and he discovered that his life is a painting, painted by God-the-Artist. With the purifying blood of Jesus Christ cleansing the layer of dust-sin covering him, he became a masterpiece that people could admire, compelling them to praise the power of the creator.

When the artistic aspect of a painting is ignored, scientific analysis can become useless if not dangerous. Yet, when its artistic value is appreciated, science is an effective means of helping us to appreciate the ability of the artist. Einstein wrote, “Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.”144

[Soldier4Christ]

CHAPTER 10
COME BACK FROM THERE

In the last few chapters, I have tried to answer a few questions that I have encountered when sharing the Gospel with the Vietnamese. Hopefully, they have satisfactorily answered your own questions about God, people, and His salvation plan. Many scholars devote their whole lives to study these theological questions. Although I welcome this scholarly attitude, I ask you to take a step of faith.

Because our limited minds cannot understand everything, we cannot wait until we know everything before believing. Neither do we need to know everything in order to believe. I do not need to know medicine before going to a doctor. Nor do I need to have an engineering degree before entering an airplane. Actually, that is what “faith” is about. A demand to know everything is a demand to become God. After you believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will enter into each of us and help us to understand more truth. (We will talk about the Holy Spirit in the next chapter.)

In this chapter, let us take another look at the meaning of the cross, so that we can maintain focus on the purpose of this book and have a starting point to discuss the Holy Spirit.

One perspective is that of God the Judge, who loves humanity but must punish sin. Now let’s us look at it’s meaning from another perspective – the death of Jesus Christ as our redemption. Peter wrote, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”145

In Vietnamese history, General Le Loi was once surrounded by the enemy. Another man, Le Lai, volunteered to wear his commander’s coat and escape through enemy lines. Mistaking Le Lai for Le Loi, the enemy chased after Le Lai. Le Loi thus survived, continued the war, and finally was able to liberate the country. Likewise, we were surrounded by Satan, who tried to keep us in hell. Jesus Christ volunteered to become human, wearing our coat of sins to die for us on the cross. Because of this, we can live to eternity.

Yet, no example can completely describe the grace with which God died for us. Human redemption requires some loss, some sacrifice. For example, suppose that a son of a billionaire is kidnapped. If the father pays the ransom, he sacrifices but he also concedes to the criminal. But if he eventually gets his money back, then he did not really concede. In God’s plan of salvation, Jesus had to sacrifice because God had to punish sin, but he emerges victorious in resurrection.

Earlier, we analyzed the evidence of the resurrection. Now, let us look at its meaning.

The most important conclusion we can draw from the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that He has overcome death. “But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”146 Thus, Christians no longer should fear death. Of course, our bodies will die one day, but that is not the end of the matter. Jesus Christ was resurrected, and so will Christians. “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”147 “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’”148

According to Luke, within forty days after his resurrection, Jesus appeared before many people. Finally, “he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”149

But not only was Jesus Christ resurrected, but he also ascended into heaven. He had accomplished his mission on the cross, and hence he no longer needed to stay on earth. Forty days was enough to teach further truths that could not be understood before his death.

Returning to heaven in glory, Jesus Christ was rewarded by God. “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”150

Although he was now God’s “right hand man,” Jesus Christ did not forget his disciples. The Bible teaches that he now appears for us in God’s presence151 to pray and “is also interceding for us.”152 Therefore, Christians not only look forward to the last day to receive eternal life, but they can also pray to God in the name of Jesus so that they “may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”153

Prayer is beyond the scope of this book, but note that Jesus Christ completely understands our situation. Let’s say that you have a relative working in the White House. However, if your relative has been immersed in politics for too long, he might feel distant and may not understand your current problems anymore. Thankfully, knowing Christ is better than knowing all the presidents.

He once was a human being. He was tempted, just like us.154 When he was a baby, his parents had to take him to Egypt as a refugee. He was despised and flogged. He experienced loneliness and sadness. He was hung on the cross between two robbers. Therefore, he empathizes with you and is able to take care of those who trust in him.

Jesus Christ did not promise us prosperity in this world. On the contrary, he warned us, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”155 One of the things he did promise, however, was peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”156 Peace comes to the believers because they know that he is ever-living, all-powerful, understanding, and is now sitting at the right hand of God. Peace comes to them because they know that, “all things God works for the good of those who love him.”157

Jesus Christ will return to this earth in the “Second Coming.” He confirmed, “I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”158 This will be on the Last Day, Judgment Day, the day on which sinners will face eternal damnation and believers will be resurrected, as Jesus was.

[Soldier4Christ]

 If you asked me when Jesus Christ would return, I would say that nobody knows. Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son.”159 Why? Why doesn’t the Bible let us know precisely the time when this important event will occur? Jesus Christ replied, “If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”160

This is a very important point. If you knew exactly the time he would come, you could remain in a life of sin and put off believing in Jesus until just prior to that time. But Jesus doesn’t want such a calculating faith. If he were to return tonight, would you be ready to face him?

Although the Bible does not specify a time for his return, it describes some “signs” or events that are to occur before he comes back.

It says that, in the last days, we will witness a declining morality – a last gasp of Satan, like a candle flickering before going out. The apostle Paul wrote, “Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”161 He warned, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”162 Jesus Christ also taught, “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.”163

If you look around today and see many false teachers and vain philosophies that deter people from the truth, then you need to be careful and stand firm in your faith. This is a sound heralding the return of Jesus. Nowadays, with many psychological discoveries and advanced propaganda techniques, those teachers have many effective means to denounce Christianity. Do not listen to them. They are just a last attempt of Satan before his complete silence in eternal hell.

Jesus Christ gave us other signs. “When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away…. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”164

War and earthquakes and famines are not new; they are the result of our sinful nature and hence were in existence since Adam committed the first sin. What is new is their incredible ability to destroy. Nobody is optimistic enough to believe that humans are becoming more civilized and more loving towards each other. The Bible has no such optimism and clearly states that until the Last Day, people will fight with each other and wars will not only continue, but will do so with ever more destructive capabilities.

I dare not rely on these events to assure you that Jesus Christ will come back within our lifetime. What I want to tell you is that our world is coming closer and closer to this time. We always have to be on guard for this day. If you believe in Him, please stand firm in your faith and do not let heresy lead you astray. If you still hesitate in believing, please hurry to him because he might come back in the next minute.

How can we stand firm in our faith before Jesus’ return? Surely, he is sitting in heaven, praying for us, but that is still a long distance away. If we face temptations and misguiding philosophies promoted with the latest propaganda techniques, and if we have to live in a constant threat of war, enticing us to “enjoy life,” how can we remain steadfast in our faith?

Once again, when we see the answer, we can appreciate God even more. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he did not abandon us. The Holy Spirit came down to live inside those who believe in him to give them a new life, to give them more gifts, to comfort them, and to encourage them to stand firm in faith while waiting for the day that they come face to face with their Savior.

[Soldier4Christ]

CHAPTER 11
THE HOLY SPIRIT

Suppose that you did not know anything about the Bible and that you have not read the previous chapters. What would you have thought that Jesus Christ would do after achieving his mission of saving all of us by dying on the cross? Of course, he would not remain dead forever, but would be resurrected. Afterwards, he would either continue to live in this world or ascend to heaven. Perhaps we would prefer him to choose the former, but he taught his disciples, “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away.”165

Why? If he continued to live in this world, Jesus Christ would have to bear a human body, with all of its limitations. Imagine that he still lived in this world today and Christians from everywhere tried to surround him to ask him for advice, to touch him, or just to get a piece of his clothes for a souvenir! Clearly, this would be impractical. If he continued to live in this world, Jesus Christ would have to abandon his human body, transcend the limitations of space, as he tried to be with many people around the world at the same time. In fact, Jesus did just that: he is living with us in the form of the Holy Spirit. He and the Holy Spirit are one. We will talk about that more in the next chapter.

For now, let us simply understand that Jesus Christ returned to heaven sitting at the right hand of God, and then sent the Holy Spirit down to us. “Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”166

Jesus Christ did not leave his disciples confused in this matter. He talked a lot about the Holy Spirit. Before his ascension, he told them clearly, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”167

The disciples obeyed his command. Despite persecution there, they stayed back in Jerusalem, waited and prayed. Jerusalem was then in preparation for the Jewish Pentecost and was full of people returning from afar.

On that historic Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down. Luke describes:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ... We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!168

Actually, this is not the first time that the Holy Spirit came down. The Bible says that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit.169 After he was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended on him.170 The Old Testament recorded the work of the Holy Spirit before Jesus was born. For example, he gave Joseph wisdom171 and Samson strength.172 Also, as we have discussed before, “prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”173

The important difference is that before the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit only came to some people for a short period of time to help them achieve a specific task. After that day, the Holy Spirit has descended not only to live inside each believer, but also to help those who sincerely want to come to Jesus in faith.

Yes, coming to faith in Jesus is not an easy thing to do. It requires that a person be humble and accept that he or she is sinful. Nobody can make another person believe in Christ except for the Holy Spirit, and likewise nobody can believe in Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit.

As the boat Ego is about to capsize, we are truly desperate. We see the lifesaver, but we cannot grasp it. There is only one thing that we can do: pray. And that’s all we need to do because if we sincerely pray, the Holy Spirit will help us to repent and believe.

Living inside a person, the Holy Spirit not only gives us the ability to do certain things, but also gives us a new life. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”174 In this new life, the believer lives with a “new dimension” that he never understood before. Some people think that believing in Christ is a loss and Christian life is boring. However, many believers are prepared to testify to the contrary. Before accepting Christ, they felt that their lives passed by meaninglessly. Now, with the Holy Spirit in their hearts, they have a new life, a new source of strength, a new direction, a new sentiment, and a new hope. As the Bible says, they have been “born-again.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Once, Jesus Christ spoke to a person named Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again…. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”175 Let me ask you this question: have you been born-again? Maybe you do not know when this happened, but you should know whether or not your life has changed. Before, when I followed my friends to the church, I felt very lonely and could not understand why people were doing what they were. Many times, I had to pinch myself to stay awake. As I looked at people praying, I wondered how they could be that sincere. As I listened to them sing with all their hearts, I told myself that I could not do such a childish thing. Yet, now I constantly look forward to the following Sunday, to come to church and receive the spiritual food that my soul desires. I know that I have been born-again.

But this is only one of many signs of being born-again. The clearest sign is belief in the blood of Jesus Christ. Nobody can be born halfway. Other people may not know whether you were born-again or not, but you should know. Please do not think that going to the church regularly or belonging to a Christian family is enough. These thoughts only lead you to eternal damnation. The Bible says, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”176

I like to compare the Holy Spirit with a loving mother. Both bring me a sense of closeness and gentleness. Believing in Christ is being born-again, becoming a baby, but believing in Christ is not becoming an orphan. Believing in Christ is to join an extended family in which God is our father, other Christians are our brothers and sisters, and the Holy Spirit is our mother.

Mother Holy Spirit teaches believers all things necessary for his or her faith. Jesus Christ spoke to his disciples, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”177

The Holy Spirit inspired the authors of the Bible and teaches believers to understand it. This is not just pure theory. I know people who have tried to use their own ability to understand the Bible before believing, but to little avail. But after believing, they suddenly felt that the Bible was so clear and that they could appreciate things that they previously could not understand. The Bible is like a Vietnamese folksong. While the artistry of these folksongs will never die in the hearts of the Vietnamese, foreigners cannot fully appreciate their spirit, even though they may understand the meaning of the lyrics. Mother Holy Spirit not only gives birth to the believers, but also nurses her children with the folksong Bible, so that their hearts are constantly connected with their country in heaven.

Mother Holy Spirit teaches the believers to call God “Father.” “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”178

It was Mother Holy Spirit who guaranteed believers a large inheritance. Perhaps you have believed, but you still doubt the things you will receive, such as eternal life. You are you doubtful because you refuse to listen to the word of Mother Holy Spirit and to look at the statement from the Bank of the Bible. The paperwork is there and the guarantee is there, so why should you doubt and lose peace?

Mother Holy Spirit also comforts believers when they are punished by God. She reminds them that God disciplines us because he loves us. “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”179 Whatever happens to believers, they are reminded by the Holy Spirit that their troubles are only short-term. They are reminded of the Bible’s promise: “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”180 They know that God loves them when they go through their tribulations in life.

Please picture a beautiful image, that of a mother stretching her hands, encouraging her son to learn to walk. The Holy Spirit acts in this way, teaching believers to be “sanctified”; that is, to become more pure, holy, and spiritually mature.

Actually, a believer’s soul is not always calm. From the day they believe, their soul is a battlefield where the temptations of sin and the desire to please God are in constant conflict. Believers have peace and joy because they know that they will win in the end, thanks to the power of God. However, as long their souls are confined in corruptible bodies, they bear conflict.

Do not think that Christianity is wrong because there are believers who commit sin. And if you are a believer, do not give up because you feel that you repeat the same old mistakes. Please remember that Paul said, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other.”181

Once I saw a documentary about orphanages in Vietnam. The thing that saddened me most was that these orphans were so passive. Without people to encourage them, they just sat there. There were children who were old enough to speak, but could not. They completely lacked the curiosity necessary for growing up. Similarly, without the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, human beings are inactive and lack the desire to fight against sin.

Conflict within our souls is thus desirable. Fortunately, with belief in Christ comes the teaching and encouragement of the Holy Spirit. The main thing is that we “keep in step with the Spirit”182 so that we will not give up. The mother stretches her hand to encourage her son to walk towards her; the son awkwardly does so step-by-step. Thanks to his mother, he keeps on trying. His mother is his goal. Her arms are the reward. Reaching her, he feels safe. Looking at her, he won’t walk into ensnaring traps.

Sometimes, he falls and is hurt. Sometimes, a believer sins and is disappointed. However, Mother Holy Spirit remains patient, and the son, keeping his eyes on her, will see that her waiting arms are still there, protecting, encouraging, and supporting him on his walk in life. Later when he looks back, he appreciates that she let him fall occasionally just for him to grow.

Without God, we can still live an exemplary life. Although I agree that doing so is admirable, I would want to not try it. It won’t bring salvation. It also demands an extraordinary effort with a lot of sacrifice. On the other hand, believers can live a life pleasing to God if they simply follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They do not do this for salvation – they already have been saved – but because of their love for God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Love is the motivation, and love can compel people to do extraordinary things.

Similarly in the garden of faith, believers can bear fruit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”183 All this comes not from their own effort, but is a gift of the loving Holy Spirit.

A famous Vietnamese author, Nhat Hanh, wrote a book encouraging children whose mothers were still alive to express their appreciation by pinning roses on their lapels on the Vietnamese Mother Day. In the same way, if you have the Holy Spirit within you, pin a cross-shaped rose on your heart. Tonight, in solitude, come to talk with the Holy Spirit, saying “Dear God, I want to thank you for coming into my heart. Please teach me not to displease you anymore. Please teach me to love you so that my life can bear fruit.”

[Soldier4Christ]

CHAPTER 12
THINGS THAT ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND

As emphasized before, we are limited beings and many things about God are beyond our ability to understand. Most of these are things that we either have no need to know or no right to understand. However, there are a few things that God wants us to know, even if we cannot comprehend them completely. We will look at some of them in this chapter.

There are a few things about God that, although they may seem contrary to logic, are not wrong. Logic is a manmade product and people are the product of God. Therefore, God is above logic. We cannot force Him into the limited framework of our logic.

For example, consider a child who only knows how to count from one to three. If we ask her what two minus one is, she can give the answer. However, if we ask her what one minus two is, she would say that it is impossible, because she has no concept of negative numbers. Likewise, heavenly mathematics is different to human mathematics. For example, in heaven, three is one and one is three.

Responding to these difficulties, we, as believers, should not consider them illogical, but neither should we try to understand them entirely. There will always be something wrong with any purported explanation. This it could lead to heresy or have negative effects on our faith.

According to the Bible, there are three Persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The Father created the world, Jesus Christ sacrificed to save humanity, and the Holy Spirit guides us in our new life. In theory, we know that Jesus Christ has already ascended into heaven, is sitting at the right hand of God, and has sent the Holy Spirit to the world.

Yet in our daily devotional experience, we have a different feeling. We feel the Holy Spirit, but we do not feel distant from God the Father or the Son. These two Persons are as close to us as the Holy Spirit is. Furthermore, we feel that the three are equal. When we think about Jesus Christ, we feel that he is no different from God the Father. We also feel that the Holy Spirit in us is no less than God the Father.

Through our experiences, the believer feels that three is one and yet one is three.

The Bible says the same thing, confirming what we feel. It affirms that there is only one God. In the Old Testament, Moses wrote, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”184 In the New Testament, Jesus Christ said, “I and the Father are one.”185 Similarly, the Apostle Paul said, “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”186 By definition, God must be above all, therefore there should not be any other Person that is also above all like him. “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.”187

Clearly, the formula “three is one and one is three” is beyond our logical comprehension. Some persons try to explain this mystery away instead of accepting it with humility. But all human explanations ignore a few facts in the Bible. If they conveniently ignore some details in the Bible they can explain everything. For example, some say that there is only one God, but he wears many different “masks” in different times of his plan of salvation. This view does not mesh with many other details in the Bible such as the fact that Jesus Christ prayed to God the Father. Be wary of those who only use part of the Bible and conveniently ignore parts that contradict their theories. This is a sign of heresy that will appear more and more in the last days.

We should be glad that God is above our understanding. If we could completely understand Him, He would no longer be our God. The mystery of the Trinity is a lesson teaching us that we cannot form God in our own image. While we live in this world, we have to accept many things that we simply cannot understand. Only when Jesus returns can we understand more. “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.”188 We will have to wait until the Last Day to understand more. But for now, let us live with faith and humility before God and other people.

The mystery of the Trinity leads to a similar mystery concerning Jesus: He is both human and God.

In the first few chapters of this book, we looked at historical evidence showing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (or God because they are one). I hope that I have not emphasized his divinity to the point that we forget that he was also a human being like us.

He was born in a normal manner by a woman. He did not know how to speak or walk instantly, but spent time to grow in body and in wisdom. Before his ministry, he labored in his father’s business as a carpenter. During his ministry, he was hungry189, tired190; he slept191 and ate192; he was also angry193, sad194, and happy195. He experienced pain and temptation and death, just like anyone else.

Besides the fact that he was completely sinless, he was completely human, like you and I. That is the mystery: How can a person be both God and human? The most satisfactory answer should be “We do not know.” The most acceptable reaction should be humility and acceptance.

Only when we accept that Jesus Christ was both God and human can we see the effectiveness of his blood on the cross. Human beings are sinful and therefore must die. If God wants to die for us, he must become human; otherwise people would have to die for their own sins. But to die for other people, the sacrificing person has to be completely sinless. Otherwise he could only die for himself. For this reason, Jesus must be God.

In other words, God had to cut his relationship with people because they sinned. Therefore, a “mediator” was required to reconcile the two sides. The mediator had to be God, to show humans that He loves them and He wants them to come back to Him. This mediator also had to be human and represent humanity before God, offering the sacrifice to God. This sacrifice came from humanity, but it was perfect because it was the blood of God.

From the perspective of God, Jesus Christ was human. From the perspective of humanity, he was God. This way, salvation is both meaningful and effective.

I need to make it clear that Jesus was God first and then became a man, not a human being enlightened by God. We human beings can never become God. Desires to become God only reduce the glory of God and make us proud.

Since he was God first, Jesus Christ can easily be both God and a human being. Just imagine that you are living in a two-dimensional space and each of us is a circle in a plane. Imagine if Jesus Christ lived in a three-dimensional space as a sphere. If the Sphere Jesus comes to the plane Earth, then the Sphere would intersect with the plane as a circle like us. But the sphere is still a sphere. In reality, while we live in a three-dimensional space, God’s space has infinite dimensions. He can become man yet remains God.

[Soldier4Christ]

The Bible said, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”196 and

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death--

even death on a cross!197

Believers wholeheartedly accept this revelation, remembering what is taught in the Bible: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”198

Are we looking for worldly wisdom, or a God that became man to save you and me?

AFTERWORD

Before I knew Jesus Christ, I only looked for the worldly wisdom.

I was born in a family that knew nothing about Christianity. During high school, sometimes I said that I was a Buddhist. But this only meant that I visited the pagoda on Buddha’s birthday. Sometimes I said that I worshipped my ancestors, but this simply meant that I paid respect to my ancestors during their death anniversaries to please my parents.

After high school, I was awarded a scholarship to study in Australia in 1968. In Australia, far away from the religious activities of my family, I lived a life of an atheist. Actually, I had faith but that faith was only in my own abilities. I had a goal for my life, but it was for a high social status in Vietnam after my graduation.

I was rather involved in community activities. When I was elected the president of the Union of the Vietnamese Students in Australia, I felt very proud of myself.

In 1975, Vietnam fell to the Communist. This event forced me to become an official representative of all the Vietnamese in Australia, who were comprised mainly of students. We were unable to sit still after what happened in Vietnam. In the beginning, we tried to raise funds to help refugees who had moved southward in Vietnam. But then when we were sure that Saigon would also fall, we tried to lobby the Australian government to help bring people out of Vietnam.

During this period, I had many opportunities to meet with many Australians. There were two types of people that made a strong impression on me. The first were the politicians. I do not want to generalize and say that all politicians are the same, but I will say that most politicians that I met during that period were not entirely sincere. When I wanted to see them alone, they coldly refused. But when I came with a TV reporter, they greeted me warmly so that they could have their faces on TV. They said that they loved the Vietnamese, but what they meant were some millions of people living vaguely somewhere on the face of the earth.

The second type of people that made a strong impression on me were the Christians. They sincerely tried to help us. They knew each of us personally. They cried along with the young students who suddenly had become stateless. They didn’t hesitate to try to provide a home away from home for those whose families were suddenly unaccounted for. In the midst of the hustle and the confusion of that time, I found myself asking how these believers could love others with such an unselfish love.

At the end of April 1975, we organized a hunger strike in Hyde Park, Sydney, to pressure the Australian government to help bring the Vietnamese to Australia. After about one day, Saigon fell. At that point we had to discontinue our strike. But not wanting to stop quietly, someone suggested to me that we have a prayer meeting before ending our strike. This was the first time that the word “prayer” came to me, and I agreed.

On the evening of April 30, about 50 students and a number of their friends sat in a park with candles in their hands, praying under the leadership of a university chaplain. This was the first time that I truly recognized my inability. Seeing my younger fellow students crying under the light of the candles, I felt as if my two hands were tied. For too long, I thought that I could be a great man and do great things and bring revolution to the world. That night, I realized that I was only a grain of sand, tossed around by the waves of life. I suddenly found myself saying within, “Dear God, help me because I cannot do anything.”

I returned to studying, finished the majority of my Ph.D. program at the end of 1975, and decided to leave Sydney to write my dissertation. Three months later, on the road back to Sydney, it was raining lightly outside. I was feeling proud of myself because inside my car, I had my dissertation ready for final submission. When I pressed down the gas pedal, the car made a turn. I was unable to control the car, and it it skided off the road. After spinning around a few times, the car stopped. When I stepped out of the car, I found that the wheels were badly damaged. I realized that I could have been killed.

This accident forced me to think about the meaning of life. I was reaching the zenith of a student career when I realize that I could have easily lost all degree, status and money. But more than that, I could have lost my very life. I shuddered to think that I could have been wasting so much of my life chasing fragile things. I told myself that I had to search for things higher than materialism and more lasting than this life on earth.

Now, I believe that God lets us find him if we genuinely search for him. The main condition is that we have to discard our preconceptions. When I look back, I recall that I did not search for the Christian God alone, but also for the god of other religions. That night, after reading a small book explaining the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I prayed to Him, asking him to be the Lord of my life.

In the foreword, I said that believing is like renewing a love affair that was once broken. Now you understand that this love is the love between God and people and that Jesus Christ is the bridge that reconciles the two sides.

Ever since I first believed, I have had a peace that I could not understand before. My life is full of the “despite-love” that comes from God and will never fade. A feeling of powerlessness led me to the all-powerful; a near-death experience led me to a hope in an everlasting life in the nail-pierced hands of Jesus Christ.

My limited ability does not allow me to fully express all the blessings that I, and all other believers of Jesus Christ, have received, even in this world. Yet, unable to keep silent, I wrote this book, asking you to “let me share what I believe.”

Hopefully, after reading this book, at least you can tell yourself Jesus Christ is living and his plan of salvation makes sense. So will you come to him and taste the medicine that has changed the lives of billions of people in this world? Will you believe in Christ and step out of this human bondage? Why not?

[nChrist]

Thanks Pastor Roger!

I had some time this evening and wanted to read this. I really appreciate you sharing it with us. It's refreshing and shows an excitement in CHRIST. The writing style is also different and interesting. Again, thanks!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 139:9-10 NASB  If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.