Chinese Food For Thought

We had a number of people join us for outreach this past Friday, at least five new people, which was so encouraging. After a great time of fellowship in the cafe we headed out to our new spot near China Town. There was roughly twenty of us and so we were in for a great night!

I preached for a good 30 minutes. This is quite long and the reason was largely due to the hecklers in the crowd. One gentleman in particular, which you will be able to see in the video above, had a number of questions and charges to lay against Christianity and Jesus Christ. One of his questions centred around the life of Christ before he entered his ministry. He asked, “What did Jesus do for the thirty years undocumented in the Bible?” I asked him to elaborate and he said, “The part between the two years before his death and his birth, what was he doing? The Son of God surely should have been doing good things.” I responded by saying, “He was growing up.” He then responded by saying, “Oh, the Son of God had to grow up did he?” I recognise that I could have done a better job in answering his question, however it allowed me to emphasise something very important. Jesus became a man so that we could relate to Him (He subjected Himself to human existence. He slept, ate, walked, etc, even though He was God) and also, more importantly, He became a human being so that He would be the perfect representative for mankind. Man has sinned, which means man is culpable. The only hope for humanity is a substitute willing to take our place. But what kind of substitute? The Bible tells the only acceptable substitute is one who is both fully God and fully man. Why is this? The Heidelberg Catechism of 1619 A.D. explains it so well:

Qu. Can any mere creature pay for us?

A. No. In the first place, God will not punish another creature for the sin which man has committed.[1] Furthermore, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God's eternal wrath against sin and deliver others from it.[2]

[1] Ezek. 18:4, 20; Heb. 2:14-18. [2] Ps. 130:3; Nah. 1:6.

Qu. What kind of mediator and deliverer must we seek?

A. One who is a true[1] and righteous[2] man, and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is at the same time true God.[3]

[1] I Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:17. [2] Is. 53:9; II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7:26. [3] Is. 7:14; 9:6; Jer. 23:6; John 1:1; Rom. 8:3, 4.

Qu. Why must He be a true and righteous man?

A. He must be a true man because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned should pay for sin.[1] He must be a righteous man because one who himself is a sinner cannot pay for others.[2]

[1] Rom: 5:12, 15; I Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:14-16. [2] Heb. 7:26, 27; I Pet. 3:18.

Qu. Why must He at the same time be true God?

A. He must be true God so that by the power of His divine nature[1] He might bear in His human nature the burden of God's wrath,[2] and might obtain for us and restore to us righteousness and life.[3]

[1] Is. 9:5. [2] Deut. 4:24; Nah. 1:6; Ps. 130:3. [3] Is. 53:5, 11; John 3:16; II Cor. 5:21.

Qu. But who is that Mediator who at the same time is true God and a true and righteous man?

A. Our Lord Jesus Christ,[1] whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption (I Corinthians 1:30).

[1] Matt. 1:21-23; Luke 2:11; I Tim. 2:5; 3:16.

Turning back to the objections from my heckler, it is important to note a few things. Firstly, the time between Jesus’ birth and the commencement of His ministry is documented in Scripture. See Luke 2:41-52. At the age of twelve He was aware of who He was and that it was necessary for Him to spend time in His “Father’s house” (the Temple). Secondly, the Bible is not obligated to give us a detailed account of his entire childhood and early adulthood. We know that as He grew up He “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Clearly He lived a life that was set apart from the rest of humanity. However it was not until He reached the age of thirty that He entered into His ministry in a far more significant way. There is no problem with this, for it makes sense that He would be of a mature age with adequate life experience when the time eventually came.

We all got into conversation with people after I had finished preaching. I spoke with a young girl who seemed certain that God is not the Creator of the universe and that there is another explanation, although “we don’t know what it is.” I reasoned with her logically and offered to her three hypothesis for our existence:

1. The universe created itself.
2. The universe has always existed.
3. The universe was created by a supreme being.

I explained that option 1 is impossible, since for something to create itself it would mean that it existed before it existed. This of course is absurd. Option 2 has been accepted almost universally by the scientific community as false since the laws of thermodynamics show us that the universe must have had a beginning. This leaves option 3 as the only rationale explanation for our existence. She didn’t like this but it was obvious she saw the logic to what I was saying. I reasoned with her some more and explained that there truly is a God before whom we must one day stand and give an account.

Although the spot we have chosen is great for open-air preaching, it is tricky with regard to one-to-one witnessing, as the road we are in is opened for traffic at roughly 10:00pm. It became quite difficult and so we decided to move back down to Leicester Square. Arriving back at the Square we continued to witness to people and hand out tracts. It was a great time and I was so encouraged to join with so many brothers and sisters in making Christ’s name known. Lord may you open the hearts of the people to hear and respond to your Word. Grant repentance and faith Lord to the lost people of London!

Soli Deo Gloria!