It's Not The End

A reflection on the "terrifying", all round love and perpetual mercy of God.

 

Hate moday? Hate life? Hate that gossiper? We have so many reasons and we'll never run out of objects to lash our frustrations on and judging from personal experience, this is no exclusion to the people of faith.

I admire the fact that the Hebrew word, קורבן "qorban" (which amazingly has very proximate prononciation and meaning with the word "korban" in Bahasa)  has much deeper and wonderful meaning than simply mean rituals of slaying animals, but way deeper. I hope this reflection would inspire and provoke us to rethink and to revise our definitions and pursuits of what matters in life.

But before we continue, just so there won't be accusation that I'm forcing the "shoresh" שׁוֹרֵשׁ (root word) קרב (qof resh bet) for a wild spin 😂, I've also shown parallel view of KJV & HRNT of Ephesians 2:13-17 (above pic). I've also included a search for variants that stem from קרב here.

My ancestral belief systems are popularly known for circling around the "jinxing" attempt or to avoid misfortunes (fengshui, zodiac, etc),  afterall, being intoduced as a knowledge of universal balance, we're known for adopting and applying things because they are dealing with areas of our interests and concerns (Matt 6:21). Judaism, on the other hand, has it in their traditions and writings all along (most striking in Isaiah 53). They say that המשיח The Messiah is a king yet also a suffering servant. This is clearly seen when you consider a קורבן "qorban" as a victim. And minding who and what Jesus Christ has been, isn't he a "qorban"? A קורבן "qorban" hit by the worst disaster & misfortune anyone could ever have, God incarnated, living humby, died miserably, a kind of victory so subversive it isn't easily digested. But in this "qorban" we find a way to be קרוב "qarov" (close, "karib" in Bahasa), even become God's adopted and family/relatives with one another. 

Judging happenings (others' and ours) as "luck" or "misfortunes" are simply an egoistic  and divinely disconnected way of relating and making sense of life and of projecting that ignorant mislead expectation to God Who's in fact consistently "khesed" חֶסֶד, abundant in selfless and faithful love, mercy, and compassion.

He's a father who runs to meet and hug the lost prodigal son, even when that son is still meditating what was actually a defective, sad kind of remorse and "repentence" mostly because he's starving (Luke 15:11-24). He decided to teach a prophet from his chosen people a lesson just because the proud fellow won't go preach to a savage powerful "enemy" whom so he taught was also God's enemy.. so he taught (Jonah 4:9-11). God always initiate the search no matter how lost we are.

Celebration and reflection to such liberating truth is what our new lives are all about, in Christ, what we once avoid (sacrifice, prioritizing peace, service to others) are what's now our source of joy and  sustenance, just as Jesus, our food is now doing God's will. This new celebrative and continuous thanksgiving is what's know (theologically and etimologically) as Eucharistic.

He is coming בקרוב "beqarov" soon, The One who has given all to be "qarov" close to us is drawing nearer everyday, and on that day, we'll be inseparable! ❤️❤️❤️

PS:

*Don't bother, jinxing isn't Chinese, it's from the root "jinx" 😅

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Grown Ups Kind of Love

Understanding that part of Christian life where maturity means not messing up.

There's an expression in Bahasa, "tahu diri", meaning: don't be arrogant, knowing our place, don't get cocky, take nothing for granted, be thankful.

We had a "sobering" reading , sharing and discussion on Exodus 34 yesterday evening in our online prayer fellowship. It showed two sides of the coin in which we can always put our hopes and trust in God. 

Firstly, יהוה Yahweh, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is just. He's all for righteousness and justice. God has no confusion regarding moral compasses, He's the way, truth and life. So whatever kind of injustice, wrongdoings, mistreatment, or malpractices we've experienced in this life, especially when the perpetrator seemingly got away with it, while you're left hopeless and powerless, and even when nobody would stood for your cause, God is and He will. At the very end of all things justice will be served. As we ponder and rest our souls in this, let's consider the next truth.

Secondly, God is feared even more because of his mercy and his faithfulness in keeping that covenant of redemption. That is even truer because He has no confusion between His rooting for either justice or mercy. Regardless of our admittance & acknowledgment, it's us who desperately need the live-giving grace of God.

Now, Khesed חֶסֶד (mercy/lovingkindness) as mentioned in Exodus 34:7 is never a sign of weakness. Just as it is mentioned in Lamentations 3:23, God's Emunah אֱמוּנָה  (faithfulness, which by the way shares the same "root" as Amen אמן) is something we, the prodigals can go home to, to be rest assured of.

The fact of us being saved from sin presents us with a much needed tension rather than a naivety of wanting to cling to our limited understanding on "salvation by grace". Being human & instinctively manipulative as we are, knowing God's justice is better for health. Our limited understanding would conclude that salvation can be lost just because we hear a passage to "work" on our salvation with fear and trembling, so be it, may our flesh be crucified so we can rise with Christ rather than to cling to false sense of salvation "by grace" and live carelessly.

God's said to מֹשֶׁה Moses, "I will make a covenant before all your people". Observe closely, the word translated as "before" in this passage was not לפני "lefnei" nor לפניך "lefanekha" (a common word to be translated into "before or in front of you"), but rather נגד "neged" (against you), still in front in position but with the opposite spiritual atmosphere.

While לפני "lefnei" suggests a neutral or friendly mood, נֶגֶד "neged" is something one would use when he/she is dealing with an unknown entity, showing neither trust nor support. Have you noticed already, "your people" (not My people), addressing the Israelites in a "neged" negative manner, all these are just like making a legal agreement to prevent breach.

However, there's a duality through which we can read neged נֶגֶד. In Gen 2:18, there's another form, כְּנֶגְדֹּו kenegdo which can mean placing something against someone at extreme proximity so that the person is embraced/covered thus he's protected.*

Neged and Kenegdo, The commandment of love is fulfilling the demands of the previous testament. Mercy and lovingkindness which often translated as "kasih setia" in Bahasa, meaning "a faithful consistent love", is never weak, permisive nor baseless, instead it is firm and infallible, established on the purest, most sacred thing there is, God himself who is (pure) love, binding Himself with humanity, turning sinners into saints, outcasts into beloved.

God has been clarifying time and again His unprecedented unparalleled mercy. We're untrustworthy yet He's decided to love and save us. Christ's coming and sacrifice are clarifying our sinfullness that is a breach against Himself, that sin won't have a getaway, and -at the same time- the cross is clarifying His decision to safely embrace us by letting death engulf Him, Jesus, The Word incarnate. There's this continuous mysterious entanglement between God's gracious gesture and the intercession of those graced with hearts that are drawn to Him, creating two way streams of intercession and redemption throughout the course of mankind's history.

Therefore, Christians who've become too familiar with God's grace upto the point risking to take it for granted and becoming careless with their wonderous gift, risking in becoming not so "tahu diri", they need to know that IF it wasn't because of God's mercy, הוא נגדנו "Hu negdanu" He was (and would still be) against us, as He is with the rest of this rebellious humanity. The covenant (renewed through המשיח Christ) is what makes us (who once far) near, who were not God's people because of sin, now becoming His own inheritance. Remembering what we once were NOT gives us more appreciation and thanksgiving of who we are now in Christ. "Tahu diri" is probably a great expression for us to respond and reflect on our salvation as we present ourselves daily so that our wonderous experience would become others' as well.

Blessings & love from your fellow coming of age Christian :)

* Reflections on "kenegdo", "khesed" and "emunah" was inspired and enriched through the sharing of my dear pastor friends, Rev. Florian Simatupang (IES CTK) & Rev. Decky Pendowo (GBI Khayyalim), also shared perspective by Ptr. Dr. Timothy Athanasios N. ❤️🙏

Thanks to the faithful relentless  ministry of Ptr. Tommy C. Pacatang (IES NW & IES PIK) who's been hosting our heartwarming daily prayer fellowship ever since the wake of COVID19 pandemic. May this reflection resounds and resonate the passion of "Love God, Love others and Reach The World".

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