One Tree of Life
Praise God; He keeps revealing to us through various ways that our church should be one tree of life.
During the retreat of our curator staff last Tuesday and Wednesday, we read as the main church did, that Bezalel made all the holy vessels of the tabernacle: “He also made the lampstand of pure gold; of hammered work he made the lampstand. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and its flowers were of the same piece. And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, were of the same. …Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof.” (Exodus 37:17,24) The candlestick represents the presence of Holy Spirit, it is hammered and made of a talent (about 34 kg) of pure gold.
Today, when a church is called to be a tree of life, surely it is the work of the Holy Spirit. The way the tree of life church should be “of one”. It is an integral body in operation. This is especially so when applied to full-time Levites. Various members are of one tree of life, belonging to one body and are inseparable. Only in this way can a church become the gateway of the salvation of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, impact everyone and every family, and transform this generation.
The trend of this generation is going downwards, and its values are getting further and further away from the truth. Last year in Taiwan, more than 7 million voters rejected legalizing same-sex marriages in a series of referendums. However, the government ignored the public opinion and forcefully passed the law, resulting in division of the society. We are perplexed by this. Is the government merely pandering for more votes, or is it vying to be the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in Asia?
Hong Kong is also approaching a dilemma of binary opposition. From the disputes on “Occupy Central” to those on “Fugitive Offenders Ordinance”, people’s discussions are becoming binary: either for or against. Their opinions are born of great fear and distrust, and lacking mutual respect and acceptance. Facing this impasse, we need the thoughts and acts arising from the truth of the tree of life.
Not only that our church should be of one, our discipleship on families and education should also be of one. Today, we are putting effort in the establishment of the Tree of Life Primary School. We see that church and school founding must be integrated to become one, before impacting and transforming this generation. Problems on same-sex marriage are also problems on families and marital relationships. The deadlocks on different social relationships can be traced back to the destruction of family values and the deterioration of lives from one generation to the next. The key to the way out is to plant trees of life that are of real vitality.
Dear brothers and sisters, we truly believe in our heavenly Father and that He reigns regardless of the chaos of this world. God said unto Abraham, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be perfect.” To be perfect does not mean without weaknesses, rather, it means that our lives should reflect that our God is the Almighty God. God promised to give Abraham and his seed all the land of Canaan. God called him to return to Canaan and he responded in faith. In this way, God’s promise was fully actualized. Today, we should also keep on following God in faith and live out the tree of life together. The promise of planting trees everywhere in 52 trees will surely be actualized by Him. • [2019.06.02]