Of Kings and Heirs

My sisters and I were mesmerised by the Korean drama Dong Yi for the last two months or so. Not content with the snail pace of the free-to-air TV screening, we took to watching the DVD of the drama. Cliff-hangers in episode after episode kept us glued to the drama for two to three hours at a stretch. We marvelled at the ingenuity of the script writers in weaving the plots and counter-plots in the web of palace intrigue.

The drama chronicled the ascent of a servant girl, Dong Yi, to one of the highest ranks as the king's consort. Perceived as a threat to the crown prince, Dong Yi's young son was caught in the politics of rival factions in the royal court and his life was nearly snuffed out. The court politics was such that only either the crown prince or Dong Yi's son may survive in order to secure the succession to the throne. Happily, the drama ended with both sons of the king being protected, with one succeeding the other as king.

In earthly kingdoms, it is often the king's first-born who is designated as the heir and crown successor. In the kingdom of God, all who are born-again in Christ are the children of God, and God's children are "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). As heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, what then is the inheritance that we can expect?

* We wait for the redemption (resurrection) of our bodies (Romans 8:23). What is this resurrection body like? It will be imperishable and raised in glory as a spiritual body (1 Cor 15:42-44) and we will bear the likeness of Christ (1 Cor 15:49, Phil 3:21).

* When God raises us up with Christ, he seats us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6). Just as the Laodiceans who are overcomers receive the right to sit with Christ on His throne (Rev 3: 21), we too may share in the glory with Christ.

* Being saved by Christ, we become heirs with the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).

Meanwhile, our earthly life is not necessarily a bed of roses, with prosperity assured. We share in the sufferings of Christ in order that we also share in His glory (Romans 8:17). But take heart - the Apostle Paul considers that "our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). Indeed, our troubles are "light and momentary" and the ensuing eternal glory far outweighs whatever troubles we may have (2 Cor 4:17).

In the words of Jesus:
"In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Just as Jesus has overcome the world, so will we.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Cor 4:18)

Prosperity Assured?

(Written in Jan 2003 for Ezra Resources http://www.ezraresources.com.sg/resources/index.html)

Deu 6:3 “Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.”

Heb 11:13 “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.”

A friend shared with me his belief that there is a purpose for prosperity, that God delights in the prosperity of His children. God blessed Christians, not just for ourselves but for the world to see so that God would be glorified. In his view, in the OT, it was already God's plan that His people should be prosperous. That was why He led them to the land flowing with milk and honey. Further, God had given the Israelites a set of commandments and statutes that would lead to a great social order and when followed would ensure that they walk in prosperity so that they would be the envy of the nations. He quoted Deuteronomy which stated that it is God who gives us the “ability to produce wealth”. (Deut 4:5-8, 8:6-18)

Indeed, God had promised many blessings to the Israelites in the days of old. In the OT, the blessings of God were in material terms (abundance of food, productive wombs, long life). They were conditional upon the Israelites' obedience to God. While Moses exhorted the Israelites to love the Lord, to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him, he also warned of the dire consequences of turning away from God. In the OT, blessings came with obedience and curses with disobedience (Deut 28). Scripture has ample records of the disaster and destruction that fell quickly upon the Israelites whenever they forgot the Lord and followed other gods.

In the NT, Jesus brought a different perspective to material success and wealth. Reward and retribution may no longer come in our earthly lives. In 2 Cor 11:23- 33, we see the Apostle Paul suffering hardships, imprisonment, floggings, danger, hunger, thirst, cold, sleeplessness. In Heb 11: 35-38, we read of the early Christians being tortured, jeered, flogged, stoned, sawed in two, executed, persecuted and mistreated, going about in sheepskins, living in caves and holes in the ground. "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." (Heb 11:39)

What, then, is the hope and promise that we have, if we may not receive material success or wealth in this life? Scripture assures us that God had planned something better for us (Heb 11:40). We await the blessed hope of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we look to the New Jerusalem where God Himself will be with us and live with us, where there will no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

Meanwhile, what do we do? I think it's not so much what we do, but the motivation behind what we do, our response to whatever comes along. Whatever we do, we do for the glory of God, whether in our personal and family life, in our pursuit of education and career, in our dealings with people, in good times or bad. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31) And our response when things don't go well or smoothly? We trust in the Lord, that He will see us through everything.

Finally, let me share a hymn inspired by the verses from Habakkuk 3:17-18:

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

William Cowper wrote:

Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord, Who rises with healing in His wings:
When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain.

In holy contemplation we sweetly then pursue
The theme of God's salvation, and find it ever new.
Set free from present sorrow, we cheerfully can say,
Let the unknown tomorrow bring with it what it may.

It can bring with it nothing but He will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing will clothe His people, too;
Beneath the spreading heavens, no creature but is fed;
And He Who feeds the sparrows will give His children bread.

Though vine nor fig tree neither their wonted fruit should bear,
Though all the field should wither, nor flocks nor herds be there;
Yet God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice,
For while in Him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.

My friend put my mind to rest, after reading what I wrote, with this comment: “When prosperity is absent, we can still hold on to love, hope and faith, which the Lord also offers to us.” Amen.

Good Luck, Bad Luck?

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." A speaker at my niece's commencement (graduation) ceremony last week quoted Thomas Jefferson (3rd US president), urging the graduates to work hard as they commence their working life.

I find the Thomas Jefferson quote somewhat tricky. On first hearing, he seemed to be talking about luck. I have to think hard before I conclude that hard work is advocated and not so much luck. First, you have to work hard; then, you may have the so-called "luck".

What's the context of Thomas Jefferson's quote, I wonder? I tried in vain to find from the web to have better understanding. Wikiquote (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson) alleges that the quote "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." is misattributed to Jefferson. So maybe Jefferson did not say this after all.

Anyhow, I found more quotes about luck on the web (http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/topics/luck_quotes.html). Some quotes (eg by Alfred Hitchcock, Donald Trump) stake everything on luck. Others (eg by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Voltaire) allude to the senselessness of luck, maintaining that nothing can exist without a cause. I like the quote attributed to Homer: " 'Tis man's to fight, but Heaven's to give success."

I'm a great believer in Heaven, in the guiding of God's invisible Hands. Sometimes, when Christian friends share with me about fortuitious happenings in their lives, I would respond that these are the blessings of God who, in His goodness and mercy, watches over us and brings us through the ups and downs of life.

The words of the Apostle Paul, in his address to an assembly of philosophers at Athens, have left a great impression on my mind:

"24 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17: 24-27)

With God determining the course of our lives, nothing happens by chance or accident, contrary to the belief in luck. But what about bad things that happen? Does God determine the bad things that happen to us?

The author Paul Little, in his book "Know Why We Believe", provides a Christian response on the age-old question "Why Does God Allow Suffering and Evil?" When my cell group discussed this difficult topic, we were comforted that even when bad things happen, God would somehow bring about good from the bad that He has allowed to happened.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. " (Romans 8:28)

Whether good or bad, we can trust in our Lord God. Whether good luck or bad luck, it's irrelevant.