MOSES and JESUS

A very wise Jewish Rabbi once said that in America, morality is falling, values in school system is shaking, the society itself is failing and families become disfunctional. Even though America is founded by Christian faith and all the basic principals, laws and regulations are based on Christian values, currently any topic regarding Christianity and Christ almost becomes a topic that nobody is allowed to talk about(i.e., topik yang tabu). Christians are perceived as extremist,fundamentalist, unloving, unrespectful, full of judegement and intolerance to others. This wise Rabbi said that the reason why christians are being mocked and laughed at this age is NOT due to the unbelievers, but it is DUE to the fact that CHRISTIANS HAVE LOST THEIR CAPABILITY to reach out to the world, to share their love and principles to the world.

Why have we LOST our capability to share our love, God's love and to show how to have a joyful, peaceful and meaningful life? Are we also loosing our capability to share God's love, commandments and forgiveness to our children? Remember that our children are the first generation of this millenium. Some newspapers called them the millenium kids or the millenium first generation.

Study shows that christians are loosing their capability to influence the world, because:
1. Christians do not know how to discern right teaching/values fromwrong teachings/values. Let's look at this example. At this age, many people DO NOT BELIEVE in the Ten Commandments. Another group of peoplehave chosen to take Ted Turner's view, "Well, the Ten Commandments validonce upon a time, it was created long ... long time ago, but right now it is OBSELETE." It is created for the culture and environment as of 3000 years ago. Obviously, the Ten Commandments is obselete now.

If we are faced with such an argument, how will we react? Do we understand the right answer, and can we explain it to other people? Is this one of the reason why Christians are loosing their effectiveness?By all means, Ted Turner is wrong. The Ten Commandments are not OBSELETE, according to the Bible, they are ABSOLUTE. Worst yet, he isnot the only one that believes that. Many other people including christians do believe that.

2. Christians have become illiterate of the teachings of the Bible.One of the main reason for christians to have difficulties in discerning right teachings from wrong teachings are because christians have become ILLITERATE about the teachings of the Bible. We are living in the age of illiteracy of the Bible.

In the University of Boston, a test was conducted. In the test, the students were asked to list the Ten Commandments. This test was conducted in all of the classes. Do you know what the result are? Not even one student in that university can list the Ten Commandments. Not even one! Some of the students are Christians, but sadly enough they are not literate enough about the Bible. How about us? What do we know about the Ten Commandments?

How can we as Christians influence the world, including our children, on christian faith and values, if we ourselves are not literate about the teaching of the Bible? Even if the test is open book, do we know where we can find the Ten Commandments? Shouldn't we know about this? After all, the Ten Commandments are not only one of the highlight of Moses'life, but it is also one of the highlight of the Old Testament and the whole Bible.

Day 2: Yesterday, we talk a little bit about the Ten Commandments as an ABSOLUTE. Today we are going to look at ABSOLUTE truth vs. RELATIVE truth. So, what is absolute and what is relative. Let us look at this illustration. I can give you a cup of water. You can dip your hand into the water and say that the water is cold. Another person can dip their hand into the water and say that the water is warm or even hot. It is the same water, with the same temperature, but RELATIVE to the various people that measure it, the water can be believed to be cold, warm or hot. Person number one may compare the water to a boiling water, therefore, the water is believed to be cold. The next person may compare the water to a freezing water, therefore, the water is believed to be hot. Therefore, the water is cold or hot is dependent on the RELATIVE standard that is used. Now, if we use a Celcius temperature to measure the same water in the cup above. The Celcius temperature gives an ABSOLUTE standard that boiling water is marked as 100 degree, the frozen water is marked as 0 degree. Another definition is given, that is: water shall be considered to be cold if it is between 0-40, warm between 40-70 and hot between 70-100. Now, the water in the cup is measured and its temperature is 50 degree. No matter how many people measure the water in the cup, the result is consistent. All of them will consistently agree that the water is warm. This is because the water is compared to an ABSOLUTE standard. This is what the Lord means about ABSOLUTE truth. The Bible is the ABSOLUTE truth and christians shall use the Bible as the ABSOLUTE standard in discerning right and wrong. The Bible is just like the Celcius temperature in the illustration above. Every other value is measured against the Bible. This is the only way to discern right and wrong. In addition, measuring values against an absolute standard is easier and simpler than measuring values against a moving standard (i.e., relative standard). We are living in an age of RELATIVE truth. Something is considered to be the truth, relative to what it is compared to. Committing a murder may not be wrong, it depends on how a person justifies his action. Committing an adultery may not be wrong, again, it depends on how a person justifies his action. This is the age that we are living in. This generation and our children's generation are in an age where it is so hard to discern what is right and what is wrong, anyway we have come to a point where there is NO LINE between right and wrong anymore. If christians start loosing their capability to discern right from wrong, then we start loosing our function as parents, as members of a society and as citizens of a country. How often have we heard the following phrases based on relative truth-ism: * After all, there is no standard of truth, there is only personal opinion. * I believe my truth and you believe your truth. Let's just leave it like that and we can live peacefully. * I respect your truth and I expect you to respect my truth as well. * "Judge not". Yes, so many people take this verse of the Bible (Mat 7:1) out of its context. In the Bible, over and over again, we are told to DISCERN false teachings from true teachings (i.e., measure and evaluate the teachings). In fact, in Matthew 5-7, in the context of the verse, Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees of their false teachings. This verse in its context means "CONDEMN not" (i.e., jangan mengutuk orang. Nilailah ajarannya, tapi janganlah mengutuk orangnya). Have we fallen into relative truth-ism? If we have, it is time to learn absolute truth-ism. Tomorrow we will see how to evaluate teachings based on ABSOLUTE truth. If we can not discern right and wrong, what are we teaching our kids as they enter into the millenium age.

Day 3: Yesterday we look at ABSOLUTE and RELATIVE truth. Today, we are going to see a summary of the absolute truth, that is the Ten Commandments. There are many other truths (all truths in the Bible are absolute), but we only have the time to study the Ten Commandments today. Let us look at the Ten Commandments briefly. It is stated in Exodus 20. The first four commandments are about "Loving God" and the last six commandments are about "Loving people". Exodus 20 begins with an introduction on who gave the Ten Commandment. (vs 1) "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Isn't that beautiful? He is the Lord that has brought us out of bondage, out of SLAVERY from the world (i.e., "Egypt), He is the one that gives these standards of truth, so that we can discern right and wrong, so that we can exercise our FREEDOM wisely. How to "LOVE GOD": * (vs 3) You shall not have no other gods before me * (vs 4) You shall not make for yourself an idol ... * (vs 7) You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God * (vs 8) Remember the Sabbath day How to "LOVE PEOPLE": * (vs 12) Honor your father and your mother * (vs 13) You shall not murder * (vs 14) You shall not commit adultery * (vs 15) You shall not steal * (vs 16) You shall not give false testimony * (vs 17) You shall not covet (i.e., iri hati dengan intention yang buruk) Now, let us examine the values that are being taught in the news media, entertainment media, in the school system (for our children), and even in some churches. Year by year, day by day, second by second, we are bombarded with false values and false messages via those media above. Let us look at one example from each category above. "Tolerance, yes tolerance. Let people choose their own gods." How does this teaching stand against the first and second commandments. Really, if we take the time to think about it, are there many gods and are there many heavens? The gods in Hindu is different than the gods in Buddhism and they are different than the god in Islamic and they are different than the god in Christianity. Each one of them teaches different ways to get to heaven. Hindus keep being reincarnated, Buddhism by good works, Muslim by weighing good works from bad works, and Christians by having Christ paid for the penalty of sin. If religions are just simply options and one option is just as good as others, then do we have many gods and many heavens? If christians believe in the Bible, then they shall believe in "There shall be NO OTHER GODS". Some other examples: how much do kids these days understand about honor your father and mother? How much do our kids be taught about: "You can have sex, as long as it is a safe sex. Just don't get any disease or get pregnant"? "Well, even if you get pregnant, abortion is there as one of your choice." Does do these values stand against "do not commit adultery (i.e., sexual relationship outside of marriage)", against "do not commit murder (i.e., those 12 weeks old fetus is a living human being)." The TV, the school system, the entertainment system are teaching these values, how can we start teaching our kids about the TRUE values? It has to start from us, we need to know right and wrong first, before we can teach our kids how to discern right and wrong.

Day 4: Today and tomorrow we are going to see how Moses leads us to Jesus. What is the relationship between Moses in the old testament with the Ten Commandments and Jesus in the new testament with the redemption plan. Let us examine ourselves. Are we good people? Are we good enough that we deserve to go to heaven? Are we good enough that God will let us enter His Kingdom? Well, we can evaluate ourselves. If we compare ourselves to a serial killer, definitely we are very good people. If we compare ourselves to our friends and families, well, maybe we can still be considered to be good people. If we compare ourselves to somebody like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa, well, then most probably we are not as good as them. But what did we discuss yesterday? God does not measure us with a relative standard. God measure our goodness with an ABSOLUTE standard. Yes, every person is not measured against their neighbor, or even Billy Graham (i.e., relative standard), but every person is measured against the ABSOLUTE standard. Every person is not also measured with the following formula: if (good deeds - bad deeds) greater than 0, then you = good person. Now, let us examine ourselves against the Ten Commandments. Law #1 and #2, you shall not have any other gods and you shall have no idols. What is the most important thing in your life? Is loving God and serving God the most important thing in our life? Yes, we can have the time to study the stock market, yet do we have enough time to study the Bible? Law #3, you shall not misuse the name of the Lord. Have we ever say, "Jesus!" as a curse word? Law #4, Remember the Sabbath day. How do we observe the Sabbath day? Do we worship God together with the body of Christ (in a church) or do we use our Sundays to play golf and read the newspaper? Law #5, have we ever dishonor and disrespect our parents. Law #6, You shall not murder. A murder does not have to be physical, we can also kill someone's soul and spirit. Law #7, You shall not commit adultery. Matthew 5:28 said, "But I tell you that anyone who LOOKS at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." How much influence does the R-rated movies impact us? Adultery does not have to be physical, it can be in our minds or our hearts. Law #8, you shall not steal. How about stealing from tax money? Law #9, you shall not give false testimony. How about gossiping and making a story a little bit more juicy? Law #10, you shall not covet. How about being jealous to our brother's success, to our uncle's richness. Did we fall short of the measurement? Yes, I know I do. In fact, Romans 3:10 said, "There is no one righteous, not even one" and Romans 3:23 said, "for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The main reason for God to give the Ten Commandments is so that we can measure ourselves against the ABSOLUTE standard, and it will make us realize that we ALL have sinned and we are not righteous enough. Romans 3:20 said, "No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become CONSCIOUS of sin." This is the standard that God uses to determine whether a person can enter heaven. By this standard, nobody can enter the kingdom of God. (to be continued) Additional note: Friends, do you realize how beautiful the Bible is? Look at the paragraph above again. The bible verse quote from Romans 3:10, 3:20 and 3:23. If we just want to put the time to study the Bible systematically, diligently and prayerfully, we'll realize how meaningful and practical it is. Tomorrow we'll see some more verses from Romans.

Day 5: Now, let us look at this illustration. I give you a cup of nice, fresh, clean spring water. Then, I take a little bit of dirt from the backyard and sprinkle it into the cup. The dirt is so little that it does not even show. The water in the cup still looks very clean. I can even stir it a little bit, so that the dirt is evenly disolved into the water. Now, let me ask you the question, "Will you drink from this water? The nice, fresh spring water with just a little bit of dirt." We don't want to drink the water, because even though it looks clean, we do know that it is not 100% clean. That is the same thing about heaven. God will not let any "dirt" enter into heaven. Even if we look clean, but we are not 100% clean, God will not let us enter into his heaven. Heaven is only for the PERFECTLY clean people, people that has never committed any sin. This is how Moses with the Ten Commandments, leads us to Jesus with his redemption plan. With law comes punishment. Those that break the law must be punished. Since we have break the law of God, we have committed sin, we shall be punished. Romans 6:23, "for the wages of sin is death." Yes, it is death in hell. But our loving God said in Romans 3: 24, "We are JUSTIFIED freely by his grace through the REDEMPTION that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of ATONEMENT through faith in his blood." What does this big words means? Let us look at this illustration. There is a very wise and loving judge in a little town. One day the mass of people bring to him a small boy. The small boy had just stolen a chicken. Well, the punishment for stealing a chicken is to pay 10 times of the price of a chicken. The small boy was crying because he comes from a very poor family and he does not have any money. This loving judge feel very sorry about him, he would like to let the small boy go unpunished, but that means that he does not exercise justice. So, after thinking hard about it he said, "Young boy, you have to be punished and you have to pay the penalty." After the verdict was given, the judge approaches the small boy and said, "Stop crying. My son will give you the money to pay for the penalty. You can go free now." This is what redemption means. Redemption means "it has been paid in full." Sin can not go unpunished. "God did this to demonstrate his justice" (Romans 3:25). But this just and loving God, do not want to see us pay the penalty of sin which is death. Therefore, He sent his only begotten Son, to pay for the penalty of sin. Jesus died (put to death) on the cross to pay for the penalty of sin. He has redeemed us. Yes, the wages of sin has been paid in full by the sacrifice that Jesus did, by His own blood he has paid for our sins. This redemption is available to those who believe. Those who believe will be JUSTIFIED to be righteous. Romans 3:22 "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who BELIEVE." With this redemption, we are made to be righteous. We that are unclean are made to be clean. The blood of Jesus purifies us, so that we are white as snow. Just like the unclean water in the cup (in the illustration above), if this unclean water is run through a purification process, it will be clean again and we will be willing to drink it. The blood of Jesus provides the purification. If you have not believe in Christ, then pray about it and talk to other christians about it. If you have believed in Christ, we sure hope that this EBS material has encouraged all of us with deeper understanding about our faith. We have to be able to communicate our faith to other people in the world and to our children. There are many many people out there and within our family that need to hear this good news.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer
This material is a summary of the message that was preached by Pastor
Jack Graham at Prestonwood Baptist Church.  The writer of this EBS
(Electronic Bible Study) made some changes and added some personal notes
that is necessary to customize this material into an electronic media, a
daily reading material and to better fit the audience.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++