Christ’s Finished Work

Category: Christ’s Finished Work

Interesting Developments with my Book

1 April 2025 blogpastor Leave a comment

It has been my sincere wish and prayer that my book, “The 26 Gifts of Christ’s Finished Work”, would be used to help Third World country preachers, pastors and church planters. I was pleased when Pastor Thomas mentioned that a Myanmar pastor who runs a Bible School in Yangon can translate, and would check whether he would be willing to translate my book. I was glad to hear that. If this works out, it has to be God at work to further the work of the gospel.

My book gives a better understanding of the gospel, which is what Christ has done for us through his death and resurrection. I always remembered that John Stott said, “The greatest need of the church is to have an enlarged vision of Jesus Christ”. I pray that God will enlarge vision, strengthen faith, deepen love and establish hope for all readers and hearers. With the scarcity of understandable writings about the vastness of salvation, such a book, I pray, will bless the believers as well as the workers in the harvest field.

I praise God that surprising people have asked if they could help me sell my books. I met one last Sunday. Her name is Suzanne. She helps organize the Academy of Prophets for Prophet Amos Jayaratnam. She offered to help me promote my book to her WhatsApp chat group, and I was surprised at her kindness.

A secondary school classmate ordered a book, which I posted to him. He, too, offered to pass a copy of my book to someone in church linked to a Christian bookstore. I felt so encouraged that the Lord is opening doors for me, and I pray this book will bless many.

I have to pray because many books are bought and not read. I have many books on my bookshelf that I have yet to read. Therefore, “Lord, I pray that those whom you move to buy will also be moved to read, and that you will strengthen and enlighten them as they do so. Amen.”

On Sunday, I preached about the history of Pentecostalism as requested by the church staff. It included an account of how the Revival of 1972 had impacted the Singapore church and resulted in the formation of World Revival Prayer Fellowship. The older members were enthralled and enjoyed recalling their personal experiences and filling in missing pieces in the story. A few of them suggested I write another book about that revival. What did I feel? I felt how a new mother would feel after she had just given birth and somebody asked her, “How about having another baby?”

Watchman Nee’s influence on me

1 February 2025 blogpastor Leave a comment

I have been influenced early in my Christian life by spiritual giants from China and India. These were Watchman Nee, John Sung, Pastor Hsi from China, Sadhu Sundar Singh, Bakht Singh and Zac Poonen from India.

I would think the books of Watchman Nee have influenced me the most since he has written scores of books about spirituality. His influence on me can be seen in my posture reflected in my book, “The 26 Gifts of Christ’s Finished Work”. I hope this book will be published by the end of February. Here are some quotes about Christ’s finished work from a few of Watchman Nee’s well-known books:

From his classic book “The Normal Christian Life”:

“God makes it quite clear in his word that he has done all that is necessary on his side. Now he is waiting for us to take an attitude that will bring us into the experience of what he has done.”

“The normal Christian life must begin with a very definite ‘knowing’, which is not just knowing something about the truth nor understanding some important doctrine. It is not intellectual knowledge at all, but an opening of the eyes of the heart to see what we have in Christ.”

“Our old history ends with the Cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.”

“The blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my ‘old man’. It needs the cross to crucify me. The sinner needs forgiveness, but the sinner also needs to be delivered from the power of sin.”

“Outside of Christ, I am only a sinner, but in Christ, I am saved. Outside of Christ, I am empty; in Christ, I am full. Outside of Christ, I am weak; in Christ, I am strong. Outside of Christ, I cannot; in Christ, I am more than able. Outside of Christ, I have been defeated; in Christ, I am already victorious.”

From his classic book “Sit, Walk, Stand”:

“Christian life does not begin with walking; it begins with sitting. We begin our spiritual life by resting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian era began with the ascension of the Lord Jesus, not with his crucifixion. He sat down at the right hand of the Father, and that is where we begin – we are seated with him in the heavenly places.”

“If we merely try to imitate Christ’s life, we will be exhausted. The secret of the Christian life is not imitation but participation. Christ has already done everything; we simply step into the reality of what he has accomplished.”

From the less-read work “The Spiritual Man”:

“The Christian life is not about trying to live for God but allowing Christ to live through us. It is not self-effort, but Christ’s power working in us.”

“Many try to crucify themselves, but we cannot crucify ourselves. God has already crucified us with Christ; we must simply reckon it so.”

From his book, “The Overcoming Life”:

“Victory is not something we work for; it is something we receive. It is not our victory – it is Christ’s victory, which he has freely given to us.”

“To overcome means to rest in Christ’s victory, to reckon upon what he has done, and to allow him to live out his overcoming life in us.”

Christ’s Finished Work: Zion

8 February 2024 blogpastor 1 Comment

This final portion of an e-book that I am writing has been a long time coming. With this final deposit, I have completed the first draft of my e-book titled: “A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work”. I will need to edit and refine and knit them all together before publishing the book.

Z could easily be “zest” or better still “zeal” both of which are certainly fruits of the finished work of Jesus Christ. However, what appeals to me more is “Zion”.

No, we do not mean “Zionism” which is defined by Collins English Dictionary as “a political movement for the establishment and support of a national homeland for Jews in Palestine, now concerned chiefly with the development of the modern state of Israel”.

I am talking about Zion, a geographical location, an emotive symbol and spiritually significant motif. In the Old Testament, we first hear of Zion as the fortress of the Jebusites that David conquered and made into his capital, Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:6-7). Zion came to be synonymous with the city of Jerusalem, and and its inhabitants. Later, through its association with the Temple it took on spiritual significance as God’s dwelling place on earth with his people. During Israel’s captivity in Babylon, it became the pivot of their hope. Isaiah 65:17-19 states: “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress”.

There will be a new Jerusalem at the heart the new creation at the end of this age. This is confirmed in Revelation 21: 1-3 where Isaiah’s vision will be finally fulfilled. “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God”. This end of the age fulfilment could not have come apart from Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead. This is the final purpose and ultimate vision of the Holy Trinity: to dwell with his beloved children in new Jerusalem, in eternal Zion.

The writer of Hebrews talks about Zion as “the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). It is the eternal city “for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come”(Heb 13:14). The writer sees Zion as a city in the afterlife, a physical reality, and part of the new heaven and new earth that God will create.

Interestingly the writer also refers to Mount Zion as a existing spiritual reality too. His purpose was to dissuade Jewish converts to Christ from backsliding into Judaism because of the persecution and pressure they encountered. So in Hebrews 12:18-24 he compared the old and new covenant, the Mount Sinai and Mount Zion experience. On Mount Sinai what they experienced were tangible, terrifying and threatening so much so that even Moses feared for his life.

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Heb 12:22-24)

The new covenant Mount Zion experience would be totally different because of the mediator Jesus Christ. Note that “you have come” is in present perfect tense, which refers to a past action that has continued into the present. While Revelations sees Mount Zion as a future hope, the writer of Hebrews present another dimension, the here and now, which followers of Christ have entered into.

Through Christ’s blood which speaks the better word of forgiveness rather than the blood of Abel crying out for revenge, we who are followers of Christ, have come to Mount Zion where God dwells. We are in fellowship with God the Judge, and Jesus the Mediator, and with angels though we do not see them, and with the universal church (including past Old Testament believers that are described as “the spirits of the righteous made perfect”). The writer of Hebrews is saying that under the new covenant, all followers of Christ are experiencing a foretaste of the new Jerusalem of Revelations 21. This is Mount Zion. There is much mystery here in this spiritual reality that we cannot fully grasp this side of eternity. But thankful we should be. Made possible by Christ’s finished work.

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.