"So the Gospel will be preached"

The annual Pink Dot event, advocating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender  (LGBT) rights in the name of the "freedom to love", took place at Hong Lim Park a few days ago on Saturday, 13 June 2015.
 

On that night, I asked God why Pink Dot and all this activism was happening. This was not the first time I asked Him such a question, and will probably not be the last.
 

He replied, "So the Gospel will be preached."
 

On Sunday, I read the report on Pink Dot in the papers, where it was published that they had a record turn out of 28,000.
 

It weighed heavily upon my heart. In the evening, I was gripped with such a strong burden that I broke down and wept, praying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
 

These were Jesus' words on the cross. It was His prayer of forgiveness for them even though they had turned on Him and His Word.
 

I knew that God was letting me have a sense of His love for all of us, including those who identify as LGBT and those who have voiced their disagreement by wearing white over the weekend.
 

Even in the midst of all these, God has opened doors for many amazing testimonies to be heard about those who have been set free from the bondage of sin. Many have delivered powerful messages about God's freedom and love. And the beauty of God's design for marriage and family have been declared in various places.
 

So, far from being alarmed or afraid, or shying away from addressing the issue, we ought to preach the Gospel faithfully in this time as in every other time, even if it is not politically-correct in this season.
 

God has allowed all this to happen, and will allow more in the days to come, "so the Gospel will be preached."

Church as Family: How Christians are truly related by flesh and blood

From the Old Testament sacrifices to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, many Biblical covenants are made in blood.

 

At the same time, we often hear people describing the church as a "family", drawing from passages such as Matthew 12:50 where Jesus said, "whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

 

Knowing that the Bible teaches that the natural family unit is established by marriage between a man and a woman and their children, a fellow brother-in-Christ once asked concerning the apparent dilemma between the two definitions of "family" in the Bible.

 

My answer to him back then was that the use of the word "family" in the context of the church is a metaphor, drawing from the understanding of the natural family unit.

 

This is not wrong, and might be an answer I would give to a non-Christian, but I soon came to realise that there is much more.

 

 

When we talk about the natural family, we are referring to flesh-and-blood relations. For example, if someone is my brother, he is related to me by flesh and blood. We would expect a DNA test to show that we are biologically related.

 

But Christians are truly related by flesh and blood too!

 

Christians are related by the shedding of the flesh and blood of Jesus, who died to redeem us all from our sins. In Holy Communion, we partake of Christ's flesh and blood. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

 

There is also another sense in which the church is related by flesh and blood with Jesus.

 

When God created woman, He put the man Adam into a deep sleep and formed the woman out of the man's rib. As a result, the man could say of the woman, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." (Genesis 2:23)

 

Jesus has been described as the Second Adam (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:45). In the same way, Jesus was put into a deep sleep in the grave and out of His sacrifice God formed the church. The church is the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33). It is truly bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh.

 

Therefore, in a very real sense, Christians are related by the flesh and blood of Jesus.

 

We are truly brothers- and sisters-in-Christ.