Early in my Christian faith, I faced this challenge from an intelligent undergraduate, “Show me Jesus, and I will believe.” That question wasa profound one. It was not “Show me God, and I will believe.” No one can see God and live! It was “Show me Jesus, and I will believe.” Many saw Jesus while He was on earth but did not believe. This challenge is for all of us. Show Jesus in our lives and others will believe.
People want to see Jesusbefore they would believe. Thomas demanded to see the risen Christ.Unbelievers set high demands for Christians before they would believe. “Unless I see ….I will not believe.” Jesus blessed all who will believe in Him by faith (Jn 20:29). John Wesley empathised with our frustrations in the life of faith with this song, “Let Me see Thy Face.” In the refrain, he writes, “I cannot see Thy Face, and live, then let me see Thy Face and die!”
Martyrs died for their faith in Jesus
The early Christians died as witnesses for Christ. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” (Tertullian, 197 A.D.). Today, “witnesses” of Christ in many parts of the world are persecuted for their faith. They became “martyrs” when they die for their faith.
In Singapore, Christians do not die as witnesses of Jesus. You would not die when you talk about Jesus. When was the last time you talk about Jesus to someone who is not a believer?
Show Jesus, and others will know that He lives
The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news to wretched sinners who repent. But God’s wrath will come upon men who refused to believe in the gospel. Without Jesus they will die eternally. We read of the dead standing at the Great White Throne Judgment scene. They will be judged by Christ according to all that they have done in the books and be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:11)
We are a letter from Christ
Corporately, we are a letter from Christ to be seen and read by men (2 Cor 3:2-3). Have you seen Christlikeness in transformed lives of former cheats, ex-convicts, former liars, ex-drunkards? Are you yourselves changed by God’s Spirit? Avoid imposing your standard of Christlikeness on another. God is the potter. We are all unfinished products of clay in the hands of the Potter. How the Potter makes another person is none of your business. Accept others as Christ accepts you. God is able to make everyone stand. “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom 14:4).
Are you praying for others? Or are you busy making money and chasing your own dreams? The antidote is to keep yourselves in God’s love. Reach out to the perishing within your social circles. Start by praying for them. Then reach to them with the love and strength of the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20-23). By God’s grace and mercy, some of them might see Jesus and be saved.
Elder Yoong Yuen Soo
