12 June 2013 by Natasha Kim CM-
Cornerstone Baptist Church recently had a service where Rev Soong Kok Kee preached. “If you are truly with God you cannot continue to sin and be happy. The unhappiest people in the world are Christians who sin because the Holy Spirit in them. Before becoming a Christian, you might cheat people and be happy but when you accept Christ the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside you.” shared Soong. Nobody gets 100% marks when we see God but we should be sinning less and less and become more like Christ.
To Know Him is to Love Him
“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 34-40)
This passage in the Bible speaks to everyone when it tells all to love God with your whole being. This is indeed the greatest of all the many commandments, for when you keep this commandment and love God, adhering to the rest of the commandments comes easily. “The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great Godwhom he calls his Father.” quoted Soong from a book titled “Knowing God, by J.I. Packer”.
What is God? He shared that the best definition made by mankind of God is “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”
God knows everything and is present everywhere, but He is also a jealous God. “There’s so many things that we need to know about God and even if we take a lifetime or ten lifetimes, I doubt any human would even be able to know a fraction of what God truly is” said Soong. A good example of this would be a married couple who has been married for more than 50 years, even man cannot fully understand or truly know another human being 100 % after being together for so long, what more God.
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”
(Philippians 3: 7 – 10)
In the Bible, Paul made it his lifelong dream to know God as observed in the verse above. How much do we really know God? After getting to know God, what do we intend to do with the knowledge of God? “We need to be careful for theological and biblical knowledge for own sake will only make one proud and conceited.
“…We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. (1 Corinthians 8:1)
Do you know any Christian who have gained a bit of Bible knowledge and are already making a lot of noise? “Empty vessels make the most noise. It is people who really know about God and understand God that do not boast. They just keep in their hearts. You do it to enjoy knowing God and to do what God asks to do” said Soong.
To really get to know God you need to get back to basics and have your quiet time with God and enjoy reading His book. “Everything that God wants us to know about Him or to do is already in the book, but it’s such an irony that so few people read the Bible” said Soong.
He urged everyone to read the Bible, “..because God speaks to us through the Word. Just listening to a pastor preaching for a little while every week isn’t enough because you need to dwell on the Word. You need to start somewhere.”
How close you are to God here on earth determines how close you are to Him in heaven. If you hardly know God while you’re on earth, you might just have a superficial relationship. “If there’s anything that obstructs your relationship with God, take it away!” said Soong. When you love someone you try your best even when it’s difficult you do all you can. God deserves the same love and much more because He’s always there; you just have to seek Him.
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