Do you get who you are and know where you’re going? These are very important questions and many of us think we know the answer. However, knowing the answer and getting the full picture on life is a very different thing. If we truly get what these questions are asking, our whole life would revolve around them and it would determine the direction of our lives.
Taking this call very seriously, a young church, Christ Evangelical Reformed Church (CERC) from Bandar Sunway and Seksyen U5 Shah Alam has started an initiative known as Geddit. Geddit’s aim is to help non-Christians get the full picture of what Christianity is all about. Their core vision and belief is that trusting in Jesus’ work on the cross brings forgiveness of sins. Geddit does this by involving the whole church in the conversations that bring about understanding.
The Geddit Sessions
The CERC is a youthful and vibrant church full of young people who are not just passionate about the Lord but also very purposeful about their faith and relationship with Christ. What sets Geddit apart from many evangelical projects is that it has a two-prong approach.
The sessions are down-to-earth, not aimed as a top-down preaching meeting. Rather, it is where Christians get to invite non-believers to come for a casual get-together over dinner. The members of CERC are regular people who simply love the Lord and want to share with the world the hope and important message of the Gospel.
However, the Geddit sessions are also where extremely important issues of life can be discussed in an authentic manner without any sham about it, not so that non-believers can be aimed at in a pedantic manner, but rather so that they get to understand what Christianity and Christians are all about. Geddit sessions for 2015 go through the Book of Luke.
On 3 April the central question conversed about was ‘Who will forgive our sins?’. It took Jesus’ healing of the paralytic man (Luke 5:17-26) as the discussion point, and answered questions that may baffle non-believers about this episode in Jesus’ earthly life. The session opened with an interview with a doctor explaining some of the issues and concerns surrounding paralysis, such as the different causes and the chances of a complete recovery from it.
Pastor Robin Gan’s Message
Pastor Robin Gan opened his sharing by giving the context of the account. In this incident, Jesus demonstrates that the number one problem with men is not our physical condition or any other problems but our rebellion against God and need for forgiveness by Him.
A lack of understanding of this occurrence, especially if we were there at that time, would raise questions like ‘Is He crazy?’, ‘Is He like the moral police who has no mercy?’, ‘Who is He to forgive sins; is He a blaspheming liar who pretends He is God?’. Understanding the answers to these questions would help to make the account real to us.
How Jesus Views It and How We Might See It
This account is one of the clearest examples of the different way Jesus and we might often view an incident. What we would see with our natural eyes is a crippled man coming to Jesus for healing and expects Jesus to do just that. What Jesus sees is the real crisis of the man.
“Jesus sees sin for what it is and Jesus sees us for what we are. In the Bible sin is the denial in thought, word and deed of God’s Rule in all of life” says Pastor Robin.
Pastor Robin communicated that Jesus is like a good doctor who treats the real sickness, which is sin, instead of camouflaging it. He tells us what makes us better. He fixes problems where they actually are. He sees the truth and leads us to rectify and overcome them. Like the best doctors, He is serious about His mission, always recognizes the truth, and never camouflages it.
How do we know that Jesus is not crazy or being legalistic? It is by the extraordinary transformation that He brings into people’s lives no matter where He goes. Jesus led a remarkable live that was visible to the people around Him. He had a focus and calmness about Him, and many times He amazed people by showing them things that they were never able to see before. He sees everything as it is and sees it truly. In conversations such as with the Samaritan woman, He revealed things that astonished them (John 4:16-19).
In so many instances, Jesus clearly showed that He cared for the sick. He healed the sick both individually and in mass healing events, raised the dead, released people from demonic bondages. He exhibited mercy so many times in contrast to the Pharisees. Far from being a moral police or being blind to people’s problems, He in fact understands issues theologically and objectively.
Jesus Sees Sin for What It Is
If Jesus is not crazy or being legalistic, was He being presumptuous in the way He healed the paralytic? The Pharisees understood that sin is foremost a denial of God’s perspectives and plans for our lives. It is presumption and disrespect for the One who created us. If there’s anyone with any right for anger or justified in meting out punishment to men, it is God.
The Pharisees also understood that sin is not a mere matter of feeling. It is an objective fact that has to be accounted for. It needs to be dealt with, either through punishment, or through forgiveness conferred on the repentant. And only God has the right to do so, for only He is above all authority. So the Pharisees were in fact, in their understanding, rightly offended.
By comprehending this context, we can understand why Jesus healed the paralytic in the strange way He did. Pastor Robin communicated that Jesus is doing what He is doing because He is on a mission from God. Jesus was laying His cards on the table! There was a purpose in Jesus forgiving the paralytic of his sins and not in the first instance healing him. When he did heal him, it was to make clear his authority and therefore that genuine forgiveness had been given.
Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecies. Even before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, prophets had foretold of His coming as the Messiah. He was meant to lead us out of darkness by the authority of God given unto Him. Jesus did not die on Good Friday because He was helpless; He died because of His mission to put sin to death! This is the true meaning of Good Friday and Easter, and the resurrection has a meaning! It was a demonstration of Jesus’ authority as the Son of God.
Who Will Forgive Our Sins?
Pastor Robin conveyed that sin is a real and serious problem but there is hope in Christ. The paralytic man was blessed with friends who were men of action. They recognized the need to deal with their friend’s predicament, and they looked for solutions. They were determined people. As a people we ought to take inspiration from them.
Jesus was and still is at the center of God’s plans. Just as He restored the spine of the paralytic man, He also has the authority and power to restore broken lives. Jesus has been given authority to forgive our sins. We need to get on God’s programme, because the plan of God’s grace is our only hope.
NOTE: Christ Evangelical Reformed Church (CERC) meet at Bandar Sunway every Sundays at 4.45pm and Subang Bestari at 10am. Visit them at their website on http://www.cerc.com.my/.
The next Geddit session will be held tomorrow with further upcoming sessions in the months ahead. To find out more about upcoming Geddit sessions, including how you can be a part of it, visit their page at http://geddit.my/. All pictures from the April 3 Geddit session kindly contributed by CERC.
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