Signs and Signboards (9 Jun 2019)

We thank God for the recently completed Celebration Of Hope at our National Stadium, where testimonies and gospel songs and messages were rolled over 3 consecutive days and nights. Thousands attended the events and by the grace of God, hundreds came to the response of the good news of salvation that is promised through Jesus, the Savior of the world. And thousands were seen re-dedicating their lives to their Savior too! It was a GREAT EVENT for our nation and in such a scale! Praise the Lord!!

It was such a wonderful sight to see people responding and walking down the stadium’s steps to the counsellors on standby. To learn more about the good news of salvation and making a decision to receive the HOPE and SALVATION that Jesus promised in the Bible.

Since ancient time, many have asked for signs so that they can know and believe in God. We recall how the Pharisees asked Jesus in Matthew 12:38-39. And Jesus response was “A wicked and adulterous generation ask for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah”. And we all know that God used the episode of Jonah and the city of Nineveh, to show the people of Israel of God’s great compassion to the Gentile world, in the OT and NT times.

Jesus consistently pointed to himself as a sign “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, So also will the Son of Man be to this generation (Luke 11:30). And Jesus reiterated in Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”. Jesus’ death and resurrection, repeatedly predicted by Him, was indeed the greatest sign that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world.

As we share the good news of our Savior and His love for us, we continue to acknowledge that Jesus continues to be the sign for every generation. The apostle John noted that Jesus performed many other signs but not recorded in his writing. But for those that he has recorded, it was a key recording that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing we may have life eternally (John 20:31).

Many of us may have heard of our local listed eatery chain “NO SIGN BOARD”, dishing out the famous chilli crabs. We are too signboards for our Jesus Christ. The big difference is that we all bear the sign of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is the sign for the world, then we are His signboards, so that He will be seen and recognised in our lives.

If so, are we being His reliable signboards? Are we pointing to Him at home, neighbourhood, among your friends and relatives?

 

Elder Andrew Lim