ORLANDO CHINESE CHURCH MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
JUNE, 2001

Dear Dad

Dad:

Aunt Yeh told me that you fell down on your way home from the hospital. A lot a bleeding and a few stitches for the cut above your eyebrow, too! I was greatly saddened by the news. I thought of how much you labored all your life for your children. Is this all there is about life?

Dad! In recent years, your heart seemed always burdened, and you looked troubled and sad. You never told me what was bothering you, (though we used to be able to talk about everything!). Dad! It hurts when I think of your situation. I worry for you and have been praying for you daily that God may give you an open mind and a humble heart. Only God can provide for us in life and give us peace and joy. Dad, all the material things only last briefly. Our physical body is temporal and will pass away. Only our soul is eternal. Dad, have you ever wondered where our soul might go when this physical body is no more.

I thank God for such a wonderful father who has made many sacrifices to raise us up. You have reasons to be proud of yourself. However, since I have been in the U.S. and have had more contact with people, I have seen and painfully experienced the hurt from man's selfishness, pride, greed and deceitfulness. I have come to realize that only God's love is perfect. God's love is a selfless love much like parental love. During the first year or two in the U.S., I was going through a difficult time, and even my loving father was not able to offer me comfort, just as I cannot help you with your troubles and burdens. During that time, I could only turn to the one and only true God. The only way to come to know this true God was through Jesus Christ. With tearful prayers I told Jesus the burdens (in the areas of relationship and family) of my heart. What I can say is that God helped me and guided me through my problems. God showed me that many of my problems were the result of my self-centeredness, selfishness and pride. Dad! All of mankind's problems---family, society, even the world, are rooted in the sin of man. Once you mentioned that the world was evil. Indeed, the devil had brought sin into the world.

You also know that my little sister had gone through a lot. When she phoned me to tell me she was going back to Taiwan, I told her that marriage was instituted by God. What God has put together, no one should cause it to come apart. By turning away from God, our hearts are hardened by sin and act against God's will. I advised them to go to church and seek guidance from God's Word. Thank God that they humbled themselves and were willing to seek guidance from God's Word. They came to realize their sinfulness and acknowledged that Christ was crucified on the cross for their sins. Now they have a good church life, enjoy reading the Bible and pray. As a result, their home is blessed and harmonious since they have the life of love with Christ in them. Because Christ reigns in their hearts, they are no longer self-centered as before.

Having studied the Bible during these years in the U.S., I find that the Bible is not like a book of philosophy which gives knowledge but is lifeless, rather the very Word of God capable of changing life. My heart has gradually been renewed through prayers and has become more like what God had intended when He made me. I now have true peace and joy in my heart beyond wealth or pleasure could bring. Since as a family we seek God's guidance, my husband and I seldom argue and are much closer to each other now.

Sin separates us from God. When man turns away from God, he tries to follow his own will as if he were God. This is the greatest sin and the root of all sins. When man turns from the true and all righteous God, he subjects himself to the dominion of evil, and lives a sinful life, being it an inward thought or an outward act. This is directly opposite to God's original purpose in His creation of man. Therefore, the Bible tells us: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin is as a train derails or an arrow misses the bull's eye. It means not meeting certain standard, and not attaining the goal. Who can claim that he is without sin measured by God's standard and completeness? When man is separated from God, the wellspring of life, his only destiny is death. God made man and gave him the breath of life. Dad! Have you thought about the origin of man? When science becomes more advanced, there are more and more compelling evidence to believe in creation. Even Darwin was finally compelled to accept the creation theory, deeply regret what damage his evolution theory had caused.

Concerning death, we often think of just the physical death. But when man turned away from God, man's spirit was cut off from God, no longer in communion with God. Though the body is still alive, it is no different from a tree that has been severed from its roots. It may look green or luscious still, but it is just as dead because it has been separated from its roots. We all face the prospect that our physical death one day, but the Bible talks about the "eternal death". It refers to God's judgment we face after death. Who is able to stand the judgment before a holy and righteousness God who judges our heart as well as our actions? Who can boast that he could satisfy God's standard? No one will escape God's judgment and the penalty of sins. The Bible says: "The wages of sins is death." This death is not only spiritual and physical, but it is also eternal. It is eternal separation from God's presence and glory. This is described as hell, which is full of filthiness and darkness. Many religions originated from man's desire to seek God, but the gospel of Jesus is about God seeking man. Clearly, man has an awareness of God, yet he cannot commune with God because of his spiritual deadness. How does man return to God? Who can revive man from this spiritual deadness? Today man has much accomplishment, but with all the knowledge man is still powerless to revive his spiritual deadness. Man's effort is like pouring water over a tree that has been cut down. Such efforts may delay the withering, but will never prevent its certain death.

The God of creation is a God of love and righteousness. He does not want man to follow the path of "eternal death"; He proclaims the good news to us so that we can receive "eternal life" through Jesus.

  1. Who is this Jesus?
    1. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to the world to seek out the lost souls.
    2. Jesus Christ became flesh to be a man. Because He is a man, he fully understands our sorrows, pains, and loneliness.
    3. Jesus and God are one. He is the almighty God who can answer all our problems of life.
  2. Jesus says: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
    1. The way: Jesus proclaims that He is the only way to God.
    2. The truth: In the world everything is relative and nothing is absolute. Relative truths will provide only temporary or partial answers. Only Jesus is the only truth that transcends time and space.
    3. The life: Jesus does not teach ethics, rules, and conducts as human teachers do (which are just doctrines but lifeless). Jesus offers a new life that is reconciled to God.
  3. What has Jesus done?
    1. He loved us and died on the cross for our sins, and was raised from the dead. (If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile).
    2. Knowing man's limitation of not able to fully know Him, God became flesh in the Son to bear the punishment of eternal death resulted from man's sins. Jesus said: "I have come to seek those who are lost in their sins so that I can bring them back to the Father."
    3. In ancient China, the emperor made offering to the heaven as an atonement of sin. To whom was the offering made? It was to God. But our ancestors did not pass on to us God's commands. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was an offering made once and for all for the atonement of our sins. By shedding His blood, Jesus washed away all our sins. Since Jesus took up the punishment of our sins, we will not face judgment for our sins, if we repent and receive Jesus as our Savior. Jesus will become the Lord of our life. He helps us to a better knowledge of God and a closer relationship with Him to enjoy the richness of life.
Dad! You study medicine to find cures, but what you can cure is only physical sickness. Many sicknesses have no cure. Jesus came to heal all the sinners of the world. Through Him we have healing spiritually. When His grace is operative in our lives, our spirit will be revived and we will have eternal life. Christ enables us to be present together in eternity and enjoy the glory of heaven. Dad! You are a frugal person. Even if you can earn the whole world, what do you profit if you lose the eternal life? Dad! Please consider this matter earnestly, so that you may receive the blessing of Christ Jesus.

Your daughter, W.U. 4/10/98

P.S. My late father was a hard working self-achiever, but at the end he understood the limitation of man and the importance of eternal life. He received Jesus as his Savior three days before he was taken and was baptized on the morning of his death. He passed away on February 6,1999 at 6:07PM. May all the glory be unto Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.