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Christ’s Finished Work: New Creation

15 February 2023 blogpastor Leave a comment

Most Christians would have heard of the term “new creation”. They will first encounter it in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old have passed away; behold the new has come” (ESV).

When people decide to follow Christ, they will experience a spiritual transformation. Once dead in sins and trespasses (Ephesians 2:1), they will be made alive towards God. Their hearts of stone will become hearts of flesh. Their conscience will be cleansed, and renewed to a new sensitivity. This immediate and supernatural transformation is the work of the Spirit of God.

The old life of guilt, alienation from God and others have passed away and the new creation has come. They have entered into intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and this relationship is so deep and profound, it is termed “union”. They will realise that they have actually begun a life-long journey of transformation towards the likeness of Christ.

This renewal is not merely individual, God is interested in forming a vast community of made-new people of all ethnicity, race and languages – a new society or humanity that has broken all barriers of race, gender and status, and that spans time and space. It is the church universal that is God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works so that the unbelieving world would see the grace and majesty and wisdom of God displayed in the church. A new creation indeed!

God’s new creation came to us in power through Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension. Whereas Adam failed by disobedience and his descendants suffered all the consequences, Christ the last Adam, the ideal Adam, succeeded by his perfect obedience to God, and became the first of a new humanity that will live under the abundant blessings of his finished work. But there is still more. This humanity that will live in union with God forever will inhabit a new earth and heaven.

God also intends to redeem and renew the whole world he created, which has been “subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8: 20- 22)”. This earth was not as God created and intended it to be. It has been corrupted and polluted by the curse and by sin. This subjection of the earth to degradation is described as a groaning in pain like in the pains of childbirth. This wait will end at the “revealing of the sons of God” (verse 19), when the kingdom of God is finally birthed or consummated, at the glorious return of Christ.

I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighbourhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate”(Revelation 21:1-5 The Message).

New creation is one of the blessings of Christ’s finished work and it gives us a wonderful hope to look forward to. Besides that it gives us a glimpse of God’s heart of love and his incredible intention for an eternal intimacy with us. This vision of hope will certainly strengthen us to weather the storms of life whether hardships, persecution, suffering, or death.

This is part of a planned series of writings on the topic, “The A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work”. I am writing it alphabet by alphabet. Thus far the others that I have written can be found HERE.

Taiwan Visit (21st -29th January 2023)

6 February 2023 blogpastor 2 Comments

I have always wanted to visit Taiwan. This desire increased after I watched the Taiwanese drama “A Thousand Goodnights” during the pandemic. The beautiful and slow-moving story showcased Taiwan’s natural beauty and its interesting culture captured my attention.

I was happy to say yes when my god-daughter Adelene and Yip, her husband, invited and gifted my wife and I with a vacation in Taiwan. We were very moved and felt blessed by the Lord, who knew my heart’s desires. My wife had been there before for her sister’s wedding but this was my first time to Taiwan.

I was excited as the day of the red-eye flight drew near. We landed in Taipei in the early Saturday morning of 21^st of January 2023, Lunar New Year’s Eve, and Mr Huang, the driver-guide was there at the airport with his Volkswagon MPV, and our tour began immediately.

We would visit cities and places near Taipei, then down along the western part of Taiwan: Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and be driven all the way back to Taipei. We had a lovely, pleasant, enjoyable vacation with delicious food, good hotels, interesting places and things to do, and great and easygoing company.

Let me summarise some of the highlights of this trip:

Most Meaningful Activity

We picked strawberries, visited a museum and two art and cultural centers, and rode on the Old Mountain Line Railbike in Miaoli county (north of Taichung).

But for me the most meaningful activity was the release of lighted lanterns to the sky. Shifen is in the mountainous Pingxi area east of Taipei. It is a railway station and on both sides of the tracks are lanes and alleys, homes and food and souvenir shops, and there are those selling the experience of writing your wishes on huge lanterns and releasing them into the sky. We wrote wishes and verses onto the lantern before lighting and releasing the lantern into the sky.

Most Delicious Meal

Several of our dinners were night market snacks and food that were bought, shared, and eaten while standing or walking. The idea was to try many types but share the food so each of us gets to try a great variety – usually seven choices each night.

However, my favorite meal was the Hakka set meal at Meinong Hakka Folk Village. The dishes served were deliciously simple and simply delicious!

Most Interesting Place

The Jingzaijiao Tile-paved salt Fields of Tainan was for me the most interesting place. Too much salt is bad for the body but is good for tourism. Thankfully it was not overcrowded and I loved walking around the salt fields taking photos and walking by the windy shore. It was so relaxing and refreshing.

Best Hotel and Scenery

All the hotels we stayed in were very good but the best of the lot was the five-star Grand Li Lai Hotel in Kaohsiung. They gave us an upgrade and the view of the pier, harbour and Kaohsiung Music Centre was simply gorgeous at sunrise, sunset and at night. In the lobby of the hotel was a section which boasted the photographs of famous people who stayed in the hotel including the late Michael Jackson.

Most Instagramable Place

One is the MRT station (I forgot the name) at Kaohsiung. Although the art piece takes up a comparatively small area in the station, it makes such a big online footprint and impression.

However, the Flower Home, a lovely and sprawling botanical flower garden in Miaoli County, where we stayed a night is a great place to capture portraits with exquisitely designed and manicured flower gardens in the background. For me this colorful place takes the prize for being Instagram worthy.

Best Memorial Sites

We went to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall at Liberty Square but all the buildings and museums were closed because of the Lunar New Year. All we could do was walk around the huge square and take photos. What I preferred was the National Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, where we managed to witness the impressive change of guard hourly routines and learn more about this hero admired by countries on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Best Night Activity

Without a doubt, visiting the various night markets in all the cities we were in was a treat. It’s about more of the same thing but I somehow did not get tired of “night markets”. Maybe it’s the food, or the festive feeling or family vibes. I tried my hand at night photography handheld and found it challenging but fun anyway. Always learning new things about photography. By the way, photos in this post are not all mine but also Adelene’s.

Most Horrible Experience

We were brought to the Taiwan Glass Temple and Glass Gallery in an industrial area in Changhua county, near Taichung. We saw some pictures of this place on the internet and it looked impressive. But those were pictures taken at night. In daytime the Mazu Temple looked awful, an ugly and badly maintained glass paneled structure that had seen better days. I walked out as quickly as I walked in. A big disappointment. I did not even want to take pictures of it.

Final Thoughts

Of all the countries I would not mind visiting again, Taiwan would certainly be up there together with Japan. Taiwan is forty times bigger than Singapore and I love the space and can now understand why Stephanie Sun and JJ Lin can live and work there for many years without complaints. The people are gentle and polite and very helpful. My only regret is that I do not know Mandarin and wish I had a reasonable command of the language. I would have loved Taiwan much more. Nevertheless, God willing, I will be back for another visit.

What is Spiritual Direction?

15 January 2023 blogpastor 2 Comments

This beautiful image with a magnet for the refrigerator was given by Teresa Hogan, a friend from the faith sharing group I am in. She bought it from the famous Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, Korea. When I beheld the 4cm square print of a painting (see above), it straightaway struck me as a beautiful image of what spiritual direction is all about.

Spiritual direction is about accompanying someone on a journey. Although the picture is actually one of a couple on a journey, it can be anyone. I liked the idea of the spiritual director carrying a staff with a cross at the top, a symbol of our dependence on Christ’s finished work during our spiritual journey. The small sail boat at the harbour reminds us that the journey we take away from the safety of home, may be marked by strong winds and massive waves at some point, and having a companion on this journey of life is vital. Most blessed of all is to have the nurturing and caring Spirit watching with love over our going out and coming in (Psalm 121) and this is pictured in the white overarching cloud in the picture.

I decided not to stick this to the fridge. I will keep it and place it at my desk to remind me what this ministry is all about. But what exactly is Spiritual Direction? Let me give you some of the descriptions that was given to us during one of the lessons in the Spiritual Direction Formation Program I am attending.

“An interpersonal relationship in which one person assists others to reflect on their own experience in the light of what they are called to become in fidelity to the Gospel” (Carroll & Dyckman).

“Spiritual direction, as we understand it then, is directly concerned with a person’s actual experiences of his relationship with God …. religious experience is to spiritual direction what foodstuff is to cooking. Without religious experience there can be no spiritual direction.

We define spiritual direction, then, as help given by one Christian to another which enables that person to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship. The focus of this type of spiritual direction is on experience, not ideas, and specifically on religious experience, that is, any experience of the mysterious Other whom we call God. Moreover this experience is viewed, not as an isolated event, but as an expression of the ongoing personal relationship God has established with each one of us”. (Barry & Connolly S.J.)

A spiritual director made this observation in one supervisory session: ‘Spiritual direction is like panning for gold. A directee comes and together we dip into the stream of their life and pull up all kinds of things. Rocks of all sizes – I can never guess what is coming next – all kinds of conflicts and problems, then all of a sudden some fleck or nugget of pure gold emerges into view in the bottom of the pan as we swirl the water around, emptying out the rocks.’ This is a powerful and captivating metaphor of the process of spiritual direction. Together, the director and directee look at everything – whatever is in the water and the pan – during their session. The director receives the directee’s life and everything in that life, helping the directee contemplate the gold among all the conflicts and block and stuck places. A skillful, graced director gives that gold reverence, time, interest, and attention until the directee realizes how much more valuable and significant are the flecks of gold – the experiences of grace and the Spirit – then are all the stuck or problematic areas of his or her life.” (Ruffing RSM)

“Spiritual direction seeks primarily to enable the seeker to achieve a deep relationship or grounding in God and thus to live a life of total freedom, individuality and deep love. This is an awesome and complex process which entails ridding oneself of past psychological injuries and traumas, false ways of thinking and acting, and undue attachment to any person, possession, or spiritual practice. At the same time it encourages and fosters a practice of deep prayer so that one can discover ones’ deepest self, and thereby find the will of God in one’s life.” (Alice McDowell)

If you are looking for spiritual direction, Life Direction Singapore , an ecumenical group that has a list of available trained spiritual directors of Catholic or Protestant backgrounds.