兩條問題
用無辜的性命來取代罪人的生命，怎可能是公平的？
用一條性命來取代衆多罪人的生命，怎可能是公義的？
四個聖經關于生命的原則
生命的意義超越有限的物質世界當中能夠看到的事情。
希伯來書 9:11 這個我們眼前的物質宇宙，並非就是一切
一個有限的、暫時的和物質主義的世界:越多越好，物以罕為貴
人生不如意事十常八九
超自然的宗教:還有下回分解的真相。
超凡練習曲
舊約牲畜獻祭的制度:超凡練習曲
生命的意義只有在永恒的屬靈領域中才能完全體驗。
希伯來書 9:12 屬靈的世界裏，不是追求越多越好，也不是物以罕為貴。而是要求完美。
完美意味著零失誤。
完美是屬于完美的主宰
哥林多前書 13:10-12 新天新地:整個樂譜都在我們面前
罪性: 就像樂譜是塗污破爛和支離破碎
罪的結果就是死亡
神怎樣去改變這個墮落了的世界呢？ 第一步怎樣做？首先是讓我們知道我們犯了什么罪？
紅筆在樂譜: 以動物性命贖取生命
這個只是一個耶穌基督來臨之前一個緩衝之計。
論到尊貴的等次，神的生命 >> 人的生命 >> 動物的生命。
問題 1：用無辜的性命來取代罪人的生命，怎可能是公義的？
次等的生命能夠用服侍高等的生命體驗最大的尊貴。
羅馬書 12:1
希伯來書 9:13-14
用一條性命來取代衆多罪人的生命，怎可能是公平的？
如果耶穌只是一個普通人。這個就不合理。但是如果耶穌是神。就尊貴和神聖而言，神的生命 >> 人的生命 ，他一條命的尊貴就比起世界上所有人的價值加起來還要多。
Two questions
How can it be fair to replace the life of a sinner with an innocent life?
How can it be just to replace the lives of so many sinners with one life?
Four biblical principles about life
The meaning of life goes beyond what can be seen in the finite material world.
Heb 9:11 — The physical universe before our eyes is not everything
A finite, temporary, and materialistic world: the more the merrier, and the rare is precious.
Life is hard more often than not.
Supernatural Religion: there is a reality beyond nature.
Transcendent etudes
The Old Covenant System of Livestock Sacrifices: a picture of the transcendent reality.
The meaning of life can only be fully experienced in the eternal spiritual realm.
Hebrews 9:12 — In the world of the spirit, the more is not the better, nor is the rare precious. It’s about asking for perfection.
Perfection means zero mistakes.
Perfection means belonging the master of perfection.
1 Corinthians 13:10-12 New Heavens and New Earth: The whole score is before us.
Sinful Nature: like the music sheet is defiled, smeared, and fragmented.
The result of sin is death
How does God change this fallen world? What is the first step? Let us know what sin we have committed.
Red pen in sheet music: Redeem life with animal life
This is just a buffer before Jesus Christ comes.
When it comes to the order of exaltation, the life of God >> the life of man >> the life of animals.
Question 1: How can it be righteous to replace the life of a sinner with an innocent life?
Inferior beings are able to experience the greatest dignity by serving higher beings.
Romans 12:1
Hebrews 9:13-14
How can it be fair to replace the lives of so many sinners with one life?
If Jesus were just an ordinary man. This doesn’t make sense. But if Jesus is God. In terms of honor and holiness, God’s life >> human life, and his life is more noble than all the people in the world combined.
English Manuscript
[Slide: 1 Title Life Redeeming Life]
Evangelism is the proclamation and explanation of the Gospel.
Many times people have never heard the gospel. They have not read the Bible. They have heard some rumors about Christianity, but they have not really heard the Gospel. And good news is not a phrase used by churches. Other businesses that will use the “good news” in their advertisements and even use the word “gospel”. So over time, when they hear Christians talk about the gospel, they think that it is just some free gifts to lure people into the church. These factual misunderstandings can be corrected by the preaching of the gospel. That’s why we encourage people to go beyond just attending a one-time evangelistic meeting if they want to understand Christianity in its entirety. You need to come to church. You need to come and study the Bible.
But there are many times when people have heard the gospel preached in its entirety more than once and they still don’t quite understand some of the most important logic and reasoning behind it. That’s why the gospel not only needs to be preached, it needs to be explained. This is why we have what we call Protestant Teaching. Its primary purpose is to help us understand the gospel of Jesus Christ through common sense.
[Slide: 2 Reason varies from person to person.]
Logic is universal, but reason varies from person to person.
This is because different people have different presuppositions when they think about things. And these presuppositions are influenced by culture and worldview. A person’s cultural understanding of law and justice can be an obstacle in hearing the truth of the gospel. Among the Chinese, we often hear people ask questions about sin. If you tell someone who has never been exposed to any religion that he is a sinner, his first reaction may be to deny it. People will deny that they are criminals. This requires an accurate statement of what the Bible defines as sin.
Explaining salvation requires a discussion of righteousness and an explanation of substitutionary atonement.
[Slide: 3 Life Redeeming Life: Two Questions]
Both Easterners and Westerners. There are two basic questions that may be asked about Jesus Christ as the atonement.
How is it fair to redeem the life of sinners with an innocent life?)
How is it just that one life can substitute for the lives of many sinners?
These are not easy questions to answer. Part of the reason is that the Bible views sin differently than secular culture. So, as mentioned earlier, we must first explain what the Bible says about sin and sinners. The concept of substitutionary atonement is not one that is prevalent in most justice systems.
But today, I want to highlight the fact that these questions are difficult to answer because the Bible has a very different understanding of life than modern secular culture.
What is the Bible’s different view of life? Today, through the study of Hebrews 9:11-14, we will point out four principles of life in the Bible.
[Slide: 4 Four Biblical Principles of Life]
There is more to life than we see in this finite physical world.
Life reveals its real full meaning only in the eternal spiritual realm.
In terms of intrinsic dignity, God’s life >> human life >> animal life.
When a life of a lower rank is used to serve the benefits of a life of higher rank, it realizes its fullest dignity.
Although the passage we read today does not directly state these principles, we need to understand these principles of life in order to understand the verses before us. We also need to understand these principles of life to understand the gospel.
You may encounter people who, because of their culture, do not agree with these four principles of life. For this reason, they will disagree with the Gospel. But by explaining these 4 principles to them, you will at least help them to understand the Gospel.
[Slide: 5 Four Biblical Principles of Life highlight 1]
The meaning of life transcends what can be seen in the finite material world {1/4}
[Slide: 6 Hebrews 9:11]
Hebrews 9:11:
But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation).
The Bible clearly explains that the material universe before us is not everything.
There was a popular television program called Cosmos. It was hosted by Carl Sagan, a famous physicist.
[Slide: 7 The Cosmos is…]
The Cosmos is all there is, all there was, all there will be. This is an expression of materialism. Materialism can also be called naturalism. Naturalism denies that there is anything supernatural. Naturalists deny that there is a loving and just creator of the universe. God does not exist. He is only a projection of our hopes. The universe is a machine, and we can only understand how it works, not what purpose it serves. The conclusions of natural science are all we can know. Any religious claims are just wishful thinking, speculations that cannot be tested.
[Slide: 8 Hebrews 9:11]
But the Bible says that there is a reality beyond the material universe. Although life has good things realized in this earthly world, we have a greater and more perfect eternal destination. It is not of this immediate world. Recognizing this gives us a very different perspective on the meaning of life.
If we confine our lives to a finite, temporary and materialistic world, where everything is governed by economics, how do we use which finite resources? If the immediate world, that is, the world of good things, we end up with the principle of “one life, one thing, one life”.
How can we live a good life?
[Slide: 9 Panera Bread]
How about by portion? The more the merrier. I recently passed Panera Bread saying, “We are in the more is more era.”
But what about quality? What is precious? Rare things are precious. This is the value of life in general.
[Slide: 10 things that are rare are precious]
Life is precious because it is rare.
Happiness is precious because it is rare.
Achievement brings happiness because it is rare.
Wealth is an achievement because it is rare.
[Slide: 11 Daughter’s graduation ceremony]
Last weekend, I attended my daughter’s graduation ceremony. If this is not your first time you hear me preach, you already know that I have nothing much to say in my illustrations except for my daughter. Well, my daughter got an award for achieving the highest GPA in her class at UC Santa Barbara. I am proud of her.
Irene is of course embarrassed by my bragging about my daughter. It is almost like I am trying to hard sell her. “Why do you still talk about your daughter? I’m so tired of hearing that.” Today, I assure you that this is the last time I’m going to brag about my daughter in this year’s sermon.
But how easy is it to be number one in a class of thousands of graduates? My smarter half, who has been at the top of her class since kindergarten, doesn’t seem to understand that. But I have never been number one, and Karis has never been number one either. This is very precious.
But if you think about it. If the meaning of life is to earn the world’s rarest treasures, most people’s lives are a bit sad.
[Slide: 12 Life is hard]
It is true that life is hard as a rule. In this limited, temporary, material universe, life is always full of setbacks. Many people’s lives have no happiness, no achievement, no wealth. Are their lives a failure? And the world seems so unfair. Some people are born with more. And even if you have temporary success, life is short and fleeting. When you leave this world, will anyone remember your accomplishments? What is life’s eternal value?
This is the problem of evil. If there is really a just and loving creator of this world, why would He make such an unfair and unhappy world? Therefore, materialists think it is easier to just say that there is no God in this world. They cannot explain how evil can exist if there is a good God.
[Slide: 13 Hebrews 9:11]
In contrary, all religions that believe in the supernatural realm. Life is more than what might be seen in this limited material world — just as Jesus Christ entered the greater and more complete tabernacle through His death on the cross. The tabernacle was the term used to speak to those who were wandering in the wilderness. Translated to the present day, it means a final spiritual home. That spiritual destination is beyond the natural world. It is a transcendent reality.
What do we mean by transcendent?
[Slide: 14 Piano]
Last Sunday, my daughter and her friend who graduated at the same time prepared a special graduation concert for the graduation family. Her friend is a pianist. He played Franz Liszt’s one of Transcendental Etudes for us.
[Slide: 15 Transcendental Etudes]
It’s called Transcendental Etudes because it’s true to its name, it really takes transcendental piano skill to play it. When I looked at the famous two measures of Etudes number 7, my first reaction was that it is like rolling down the hill! You know what I can think of:
[Slide: 16 SF]
It’s kind of like those steep street in San Francisco! Positively scary.
[Slide: 17 Transcendental]
But their piano professor had a slightly different understanding of Transcendental. He thought that Transcendental was not just a matter of technique, but of purpose. Liszt was attempting to use the piano to play something that can’t be played with the piano. It’s like trying to imitate the effect of a whole orchestra with a piano.
This is kind of how we need to look at the animal sacrifice system in the Old Testament. Sacrifice drew a picture, a model, for the Israelites. Help them to understand some of the transcendent spiritual realities that they could not see in this physical world. It is a transcendental exercise, which remind them that that:
[Slide: 18 Four Biblical Principles of Life highlight 2]
The meaning of life can only be fully experienced in the eternal spiritual realm. {2/4}
But this picture, this model, is best depicted in the person of Christ Jesus, who died on the cross.
[Slide: 19 9:12]
Hebrews 9:12 says this.
He entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12).
In an infinite, eternal, spiritual world, you measure life completely differently. Quantity is not an issue, so unlike the finite world, it’s not a matter of seeking more and more, or things being rare.
It’s about perfection.
[Slide: 20 What is perfection?]
What is perfection? Perfection means zero mistakes. Perfection is kind of like playing a piece of transcendental etude. Not playing a single note incorrectly is the basic requirement.
But the more important definition of perfection is to belong to the perfect master. When a life belongs completely to the perfect God, and serves God’s plan, life has a transcendent value.
If we think of God’s plan as a large musical score, all of life is a passage made up of notes. Each life is a series of notes. What is the most valuable? The most important things is that these notes belong to this musical score.
Whether or not you live the happiest life every day is really secondary. Whether life is a bright and triumphant passage of music or a dark and slow movement. They can both have their places in the music score.
It matters not what your accomplishments are, whether your notes are high or low. It does matter what your wealth is, whether the note belongs to you is a loud or a soft one. In God’s eyes, every single note is a piece of jewelry! Not one beat can be missing. The most important thing is to make no mistakes. Play the right notes.
Some people might contend that if the meaning of life is written in the music score that God has prepared, how can there be freedom in life?
Ask any musical performer: if they had the music in front of them, would they have the freedom to play? They will tell you, of course they do! They always have the freedom to play the notes right and beautifully.
That is the nature of moral choice. The fact that one has the freedom to make moral choices does not mean that there is no right or wrong, or that you can do whatever you want. If there is moral right and wrong, then to have freedom is to have the freedom to make the right choices, to play the right notes voluntarily.
Our lives are most fulfilling when we know exactly what notes to play on the sheet music in front of us. This is what we will always do in the New Heavens and New Earth. There, we will need to doubt what we need to do. The whole musical score is before us. We know it perfectly and we will freely choose to follow the score.
[Slide: 21 1 Corinthians 13:10-12]
… 10 And when that which is perfect is come, this finite shall pass away. … 12 Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. For what I know now in my finiteness, I shall know then in my entirety, even as the Lord knows me. (I Corinthians 13:10-12)
But why are our moral choices so ambiguous now?
Because of our sinful nature. Born into this fallen world, we really did not have the freedom to choose the right thing. Sin makes us unable to see right from wrong. It’s like our music scores have been smeared and torn and broken. We can’t see what notes to play.
When most of the people in an ensemble are playing their line wrong, even if you play the right note, it sounds wrong! Because the world today is corrupt. Right and wrong have been turned upside down.
God originally gave every human being a holy and honorable life, a most beautiful note. But when life does not go according to God’s design, things go wrong. Things that were good become distorted. It’s like a performer who has gone out of tune and keeps playing the wrong notes. This is essentially what the Bible calls sin.
The result of sin is death. Why?
[Slide: 22 Forbidden Fruit]
The Bible explains this to us at the beginning of the creation story. If Adam and Eve could have chosen to remain faithful to God’s command, they could have eaten from the Tree of Life. But they were tempted because they were not satisfied. They want to be equal with God. They were deceived into sinning and eating the forbidden fruit. Therefore, God drove them out of the Garden of Eden. They could no longer eat from the tree of life. The result is death.
This is like a piano player. He doesn’t feel like playing according to the notes on the music sheet. He wants to go ad lib. What’s the result? Falling out of tune! He’s off the score! Even if he thinks it sounds good, it’s wrong. Because the standard of goodness is not him, but the Creator who wrote the music.
Sin is like a wrong note that spoils God’s creation. If life is a series of notes, the result of the deviation is death! Because that life has left the music score of all life.
So how is God going to change this fallen world?
God’s ultimate plan is to sanctify life, to right the wrongs. What’s His first step? The first step is to let us know about the sin we have committed. Where did we go wrong?
[Slide: 23 red pen on music sheet]
How does a piano teacher remind a student that he has played a wrong note. One way is to mark the correct note with a red pen on the sheet music every time he plays a wrong note. This way the student will be more careful next time.
In a sense, the wrong note is replaced by a correction marked in red. It is a symbolic remedy. Of course, a wrong note is a wrong note, and if it is recorded, it will always be wrong. But writing it down in big red letters makes it memorable for the next time. If you’ve seen the piano scores from me as a kid, you will see that it’s full of red, like the famous Chinese song from Yue Fei. The Red River.
[Slide: 24 Life Redeeming Life]
Sacrificing animals is a way of redeeming life with life, and it has a similar corrective effect. When people do something wrong, God needs to mark the offense so that we know that death is the result. Therefore, God used bloody death as a sign. Blood is a symbol of life. Whenever the Bible speaks of “bloodshed,” it means loss of life. God used the blood of innocent animals to change the Israelites so that they would no longer sin unintentionally. It was life redeeming life.
Therefore, the sacrifice of animals was for educational purposes. In the society of that time, animals were the result of hard work, and animal sacrifice was costly. It was a picture to help people realize the seriousness of sin and the cost of desecrating life. When the law makes people pay for sin, it changes their habits.
But there are limits to this method of education through punishment. Psychology 101: Behavior change effected through negative reinforcement does not last forever. Therefore, animal sacrifices can only purify the human body, i.e., they can only change human behavior, not the human heart. This is why, year after year, the Israelites still had to keep various feasts. Every time they sinned, they had to make sacrifices to atone for their sins.
So, can the life of an animal really redeem the life of a human being? Of course not. This is just a temporary measure before the coming of Jesus Christ.
[Slide: 25 The Different Natures of God, Man, and Animal]
God, man and animals are different in nature. God is spiritual. Animals have physical bodies. Man has both. Man has both a physical body and a spiritual nature. Therefore, from another point of view, the life of an animal can at most redeem the body of a human being, but not the soul of a human being.
[Slide: 26 Four Biblical Principles of Life highlight 3]
Moreover, God, man, and animals are not the same as far as dignity and sanctity are concerned. God’s Life >> Man’s Life >> Animal’s Life {3/4}
In terms of value, no matter how many animal lives there are, they are worth more than one human life. Jesus said, “What good is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul? What good is that?”
It is a universal principle of God’s design of the world to use the lives of animals to help people have a better life. By extension. A lesser life can be used to fulfill a life of greater value than one’s own. Animal lives are more than just a part of our daily diet. Their sacrifices can also correct our faults.
[Slide: 27 Redeeming Life with Life: Two Questions highlight #1]
Therefore, answer to our question today 1: How is it fair to redeem the life of sinners with an innocent life?)
The answer is that the purpose of sacrificing innocent lives is not justice, but rather to give the greatest dignity to the lives sacrificed. There is a Chinese saying: Death can be lighter than a hair and heavier than Mount Tai. Every animal dies. However, the sacrifice of an innocent animal to redeem a human life makes the sacrifice sacred and dignified.
This is also true of human life. Even if a person’s life is full of misfortune, poverty, and lack of achievement, but is totally devoted to God to accomplish His will, his sacrifice is infinitely more holy and honorable.
[Slide: 28 Four Biblical Principles of Life highlight 4]
More generally, we can say this:
A lower rank life realizes its fullest dignity serving a higher rank life. {4/4}
Paul tells us in Romans 12:1.
[Slide: 29 Romans 12:1].
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship (Rom. 12:1)
Look at it the other way around. If the sacrifice of an animal can redeem a human life to a limited extent, surely the life of God can redeem the life of more than one person, or even the life of all the people of the world.
[Slide: 30 Hebrews 9:13-14]
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our[b] consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God? (Heb. 9:13-14)
[Slide: 31 Redeeming Life by Life: Two Questions highlight #2]
To answer our second question: How is it just that one life can substitute for the lives of many sinners?)
If Jesus was just an ordinary man. This would not make sense. But if Jesus is God, in terms of dignity and sanctity, God’s life >> man’s life. His one life is worth more than all the lives in the world combined.
Furthermore, what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross is more than just an external effect of behavioral change, like the sacrifice of an animal, which is limited to nudging wrongdoing.
Christ is able to revolutionize our spirit, and through the presence of the Holy Spirit, to loosen the cords that bind us to our sins. Restore our conscience so that we can do what we were originally designed to do. To live as we were originally designed to live.
Jesus’ words through the Bible can restore our conscience. It is like a music score that was smeared and torn is now restored so that you can see every note.
Moreover, there is the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is as if He is singing the right notes to your ear, with the confidence that you are not out of tune. You can be sure to play the notes that God has prepared for you to play. That is to say. Put away the deeds that lead to death and serve the living God.
[Slide: 32 BLANK]
[Slide: 33 Redeeming Life by Life: Two Questions]
[Slide: 34 The Four Biblical Principles of Life]