Pastor's Corner by Larry Tong
March 2007
Chinese are blessed! We have two New Year to celebrate. Two months after we celebrated New Year on January 1st, we once again celebrated Lunar New Year earlier last month. This is the Year of the Boar. I don’t know enough of the history behind the twelve chosen Live Stocks to represent the cyclical Lunar Calendar. The significance of the Year of the Boar is beyond my understanding, but behind the rich Chinese culture is a yearning—blessings bestow from Heaven.
Blessings! Who doesn’t want to be blessed? I believe every culture intrinsically is looking for blessings from above. But then, who can provide the blessings that we need? I had a chance to visit Mexico City during this Lunar New Year for a Short Term Missions trip. For sight-seeing, we visited two pyramids, which stand a few hundred yards apart from each other. The courageous and physically fit members of the team climbed a few hundred steps to the top of the taller pyramid. It wasn’t too bad, even for an old man like me who was able to reach the top. The view was great! The top isn’t pointed as the Egyptian Pyramids we often seen, but it is flat. The natives built these two pyramids long ago to worship the Sun-god and the Moon-god.
As I stood on the top looking afar, I thought of what the Apostle Paul told the people in Rome. He said, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” It is so true that when we open our eyes to see the creation, we have no choice but to admit that there is a Creator, and that the Creator has eternal power and divine nature far beyond our understanding and ability to match His power. If I wanted to be blessed, I would like to receive it from the Creator. Unfortunately, every civilization worshipped the created (Sun, Moon, Stars, Rivers and so on) rather than the Creator. Long time ago, Chinese worshipped the “Heaven Above.” It was only after the emperors made themselves “Sons of Heaven” that we see people started to worship men and other created things. What a pity! We abandoned worshipping God for lesser idols. How nice it would be for Chinese to return worshipping the Creator rather than the created!
The Bible tells us that the Creator desires people to be connected with Him so that He can pour His blessings to those who believe. We see God through nature. We know God through the Bible. Jesus Christ is the bridge that connects the chiasm between God and men. Without Jesus as the bridge, no one can cross the chiasm to reach the Almighty God no matter how hard he tries.
Before I sign off, I wish all of you a belated Happy and Healthy Lunar New Year. God does want to bless you from above. He wishes you to accept His free gift of Salvation so that you may enjoy an eternal dwelling in Heaven with Him.
Pastor Larry
