“Why I Am a Christian”
Dr.Timothy
Sng
Preface
A Fine Line
First - My Belief in God
Second - Reflecting on God’s
Creation
Third, - God is a Being
Fourth, - God is Alive!
Fifth, - God is a Master & Provider
Sixth, - Men Can Call out to God
Seventh, - The Key is the Messiah
Eighth – Jesus is Savior
of the World
Preface
Ever since Bertrand
Russell wrote and published his book titled - “Why I am not a Christian”, I have
always wanted to write this book.
Compared to Russell, who
is a famous author, I am just an ordinary person. I am a `nobody’, who has
become somebody, because of Jesus.
At the age of thirty, I
began on a journey, asking questions and seeking answers until I found it. These
were all questions related to life, creation and the existence of a Creator, followed
by a search for the Creator.
It has been more than
three decades now since I became a firm believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior, and I have not had a single day of doubt about my faith and belief
since then.
I share now on “Why I am
a Christian”.
This title is different
from the other testimony of mine, which is “How I became a Christian”.
May this booklet or essay
trigger the reader to search for the Living God, and find Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior.
Timothy Sng
A Fine Line
A fine line separates
one who believes from another who does not. It is very subtle, probably unseen,
but indeed a very fine line between the two groups of people.
You may then ask, “Why
make it such a big fuss?”
The answer lies in the
big difference between a `Yes’ and a `No’.
A `Yes’ is a `Yes’ and a
`No’ is a `No’.
Man has to choose and
make a decision. One needs to invite and welcome a person or a spirit into our
life, as we have been made in the image of God.
We are indeed special.
What we say is important. What we declare is crucial.
When we say `I do’ at
the church matrimonial ceremony, it is accepted and recorded and binding.
We have to tick “I
agree” with regards to terms above any document, before we can proceed.
It is a fine line, but
it is still a line, that makes the separation.
Do we cross over or not?
Can we sit back and watch and wait and pause for the right timing before we
cross over?
We knock on a door, and
it opens and the one who opens enquires and we ask for permission to enter.
The one at the door
decides, - if he says a `Yes’, we enter, but if it is a `No’, then we may not
enter.
First - My Belief in God
Belief in God is the
central and vital principle before one can proceed.
If one does not really
believe in an Almighty God, then it can be difficult to proceed.
We must begin with a
firm belief in God. God is central to any faith of mankind.
So, “Why do I believe in
God?”
When I look at nature
and all of `creation’, i.e. all living things, the birds in the air, the fishes
in the sea, the creatures and animals on land, and I look at the mountains and
the skies, the stars and the planets, and I have only one conclusion:
“There is an Almighty God,
who is the Maker of the Heavens and the Earth.”
When I look at the human
body, the complexity and amazing systems and organs that make up man or woman,
and I am stunned at the perfection and detailed organization of the human
being. I arrive at the conclusion that God Almighty made man and woman.
Every complex thing that
functions must have a maker. It may be as simple as a pen, a watch or a lap
top.
The botanist,
ornithologist, zoologist or doctor will all testify to the amazing coordinated
and structured complexity of life.
A tall skyscraper with
all its intricacies was conceived and created by man.
How then can man and
life exist by chance?
The human DNA gene
comprises 1 billion paired nucleotides. It involves the pairing of
Cytosine-Guanidine and Adenosine-Thymidine, linked together.
Just calculating the
probability of the pairs matching the human gene, even if the substrates of C-G
and A-T are already available (though inexplicably so), and through a random
process operating as fast as 1000 possible random switches a second, it would
still take a trillion years to make a correct sequence of just 30 pairs of correct
nucleotide sequence to form the human genome. To complete the one billion pairs
in perfect sequence would be a complete improbability, like this last paragraph
being strung together by a blind illiterate moron.
The above paragraph
would take a probability of 52x52x52x52x52x52x52 (X-times, where X is the
number of letters used), being the alphabet for capital and non-capitals to
make a simple paragraph.
Even the nine planets
including earth, with its moons, circulating with such precision around the
sun, just by the pulling centripetal force of the sun cannot be explained
without an Almighty. And how does the whole solar system remain in suspension in
its place in the Milky Way.
I am compelled by reason
to believe that there is a much bigger force or person above it all and I call
him – GOD ALMIGTHY.
If Mr. Chance or Mr.
Evolution were to complete with Mr. GOD in creating the whole Universe or just
the human genes, Mr. GOD wins hands down.
The human body is more
than just a Rubik cube!
How can we fool
ourselves to say that we evolved over a long, long time to become a human race!?
Second
- Reflecting on God’s Creation
We know that the Universe is vast
and beyond our imagination and scope of understanding even to the smartest
astrophysicist, scientist or astronomer. There are trillions of galaxies and
each has trillions of stars.
Thus, let us not think beyond the
earth, as to what other life exists in other galaxies. Let us just reflect on
the planet earth.
From the trillions of microbes, to
the billions of insects, to the billions of birds, fishes, creatures and
animals, we have seven billion human beings on earth roaming on planet earth.
And that does not include the trillions of plant life, plankton, fungi and
seeds on earth.
That is the magnitude of life and
activity on planet earth.
All these, as I believe were made by
God Almighty.
Why and for what purpose?
One thing is certain, man is the
pinnacle of all creation and man is superior and way above all life. We are not
as big as the elephant or the whale, but we are superior and rule over them. We
may not run as fast as the cheetah or as strong as the lion or the bull, but we
reign supreme. We may not be able to traverse the oceans like the fishes, the
dolphins and the giant whale and squid, but we have dominion over them. We may
not even be able to fly like the birds and the majestic eagles, but we are
supreme over all the creatures that fly.
Man rules over land, the sea and the
skies. We are the rightful rulers and `owners’ of earth, as earth was dedicated
to us by the Creator to rule and have dominion over all the species of life on
earth.
Man is amazing and man’s
intelligence is way beyond and above all the other creatures. Man has discover
so much from the forces of magnetism, radio waves, nuclear energy and man has
invented all amazing machines from the airplane to the atomic bomb, from
computers to the smart phone, and man’s building have reached out to the skies.
The advances of medical science is
as amazing and stunning as the advances of technology, engineering and
aerospace, satellite technology, nanotechnology, power resources and
biotechnology.
All this is possible because man is
made in the image of God Almighty.
From the very first principle and
doctrine of belief in God, I am now amazed that man is so special, created by
God with such amazing intelligence that I now turn around to seek my Maker.
That means that when we reflect on
mankind and realize how awesome man is as a being, we need to go back to the
Maker and seek Him.
Third
- God is a Being
As we reflect back at our Maker, we
realize that God is a being, a spirit being, a PERSON, and has attributes of
feelings and love and concern.
God is not abstract or distant. God
is not a spirit that we cannot reach out to, or a machine that responds
automatically like an answering machine.
Yes, nature seems to run a natural
course, supplying us with air, oxygen, atmosphere, running water and the ever
present sunlight, heat and energy from the sun.
God is a person and God can be
personal and God can be referred to as a `He’, even arguably `She’, though God
as a Spirit Being is sexless, unlike living creatures.
The more I realize that God is a
Person, the more I realize that I can get close to God, draw close to God and
have a meaningful relationship with God.
I can begin to talk to God, hear
from God, feel God’s Presence, `touch’ God and even see `God’.
The more I realize that God is a
person, the more I realize that God is actually reaching out to us, His
Creation, and He has indeed provided a way for us to reach out to Him.
Fourth
- God is Alive!
So, we come to this crucial
realization that God is a person and that God is alive!!!
God is alive and can be contactable
and is longing too to contact us!
God is alive and He speaks. God is
not dumb.
God is alive and He can hear and
listen to us. God is not deaf.
God is alive and God cares. He is
not distant, unapproachable and does not pick up his cell phone!!
God is alive and He will act.
This God, whom we know – this God
who made mankind, is a God who loves, who is merciful, who is compassionate and
who is forgiving and slow to anger.
This God, whom we know made us, is
no small being.
God is awesome!!
God is powerful. He is Omnipotent.
God knows everything. He is Omniscient.
God is everywhere. He is Omnipresent.
He rules and reigns over everything.
But, where is God?
Where can we find God?
How can we find God?
Fifth
- God is a Master & Provider
Over the ages, from the beginning of
time, God is a Master Provider. His little experiment called Earth is all
contained within itself. On this blue planet, there is life, and with it, all
the necessary resources to sustain life.
There is always sufficient water to
sustain all life, even in the deep deserts of Sahara and Gobi.
There is always enough food for
everyone, from the deserts to the cold and freezing north and south poles. The
seas and oceans are teeming with life, all fed and sufficient.
There is always even oxygen in every
corner of the earth, even within the houses and chambers are sometimes nearly
air tight. No nation or city has ever perished from lack of oxygen on planet
earth.
There are always the forces of
gravity and wind that sustains the earth and the people and life on it.
There is always sunshine, light and
the atmosphere for mankind and life. We would perish if there are pockets of
vacuum or if the sun fails to rise up for a day or two. Even in a brief moment
of total eclipse, we feel the coolness of air, within seconds.
God is a Master Provider. He is not
Mother Nature. He is Father God.
Sixth
- Men Can Call out to God
Men who know that there is a God
begin to call out to God. Men begin to call upon the Name of God. In whatever
language, there is a Name which refers to God.
It may be Jehovah or Yahweh in
Jewish language, Kadavule in Tamil, Siong Tai in Hokkien, Shangti in Mandarin,
Jenang in Orang Asli Semai language, Bhagwan in Hindi, or Allah in Arabic, it
means God in English, and God knows that He is being called, that His Name is
being mentioned, that His people is looking for Him.
This is very powerful, like the
cries of children or babies for their father.
God hears and God has a plan for
mankind. His plan is to gather all His people back to Him.
God had heard the cries of men and
women from the beginning of time and God from the beginning of time has been speaking
to men, communicating with His people through His servants, His mouthpieces,
people we call Prophets and Seers, people who spend time with God, waiting upon
God and hearing God’s voice.
Yes, there are true and false
prophets. True prophets hear from God, and false prophets `intercepts’ messages
and receives `false messages’ which are not from God.
Over time, over the ages, these men
of God begin to speak of a very special time, a very special messenger from
God, a Messiah, who will save the people from perishing, from their
wrongdoings, from their state of despair and being lost, and bring them back to
God.
This is a special Messiah, a special
prophet, a very special messenger, much awaited over the ages by men and women,
a light that was to shine over the whole earth.
The people of Israel, from their
forefather Abraham begin to look forward to this Messiah.
Abraham was perhaps the first true
prophet after the time of Noah, who was the first of the surviving generations
of mankind.
Being a prophet, as God referred to
him as saying, “This man is a prophet”, he was special.
He was anointed or has special
powers. For example, if he prayed for the King, the household would be healed
and safe. He could go to war with a small platoon and win. He appeared to be
fearless. Above all, he heard the voice of God and recognized God, and saw God
and entertained God to a meal.
He was the first among men who could
and dared to negotiate with God for the people.
God considered him as `righteous’
and hence, he was the father of Faith, and blessings flow through Abraham, even
until this day.
After Abraham, there has been many
or numerous prophet including his children, his grand children and his great
grandchild by the name of Joseph, who became the powerful governor of Egypt.
Thus, prophet after prophet pointed
to the promise of God, to Messiah’s coming to set the people of God free.
The Jewish people continue to wait
for their Messiah.
But has he arrived? Has he not
brought to the earth the `Good News’ in his own bodily form?
Is he not the son of David, the son
of a carpenter Joseph and his wife, Mary? Is not his name Jesus?
Seventh
- The Key is the Messiah
Therefore, the key is the coming of
the Messiah, the special prophet of God.
Firstly, one has to believe in God.
Unless one believes in God and totally accepts that God Almighty exists, one
cannot proceed to know God.
Secondly, one looks at the evidence
around us, i.e. the facts and the science before us; the complexity of man, of
life around us, of the Universe must surely establish in our hearts that it is
Creation rather than randomness leading to floating objects in the skies, all
sustained without intelligence or purpose, and with its precision in orbit and
movement.
Likewise the human body with its
amazing systems operating within us, the series of organs working in perfect
coordination, the chemistry, the dynamic DNA, the perfect control of
temperature, acidity, oxygenation, and metabolism, and of course the awesome
power and potential of reproduction all point to a scientifically engineered
life that has reached a level of perfection.
Chance in trillions of trillions of
years cannot do it.
Thirdly, I come to realize and
understand over my three decades of belief that God is a Person, a Being with
feelings, emotions which include Love, Compassion, and Mercy – even though God
is a Spirit Being, while men exists in a body of flesh, with a powerful mind,
mixed with emotions too.
Fourthly, God is alive. God has to
be alive. More than just being alive, God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and
Omniscience.
So God knows us, hears us, listens
to us, and God will act and intervene even on a minute, personal level for me
and for you.
God also speaks and talks to man,
which includes everyone. God has been speaking to mankind from the beginning of
time, through his angels and prophets and seers.
God shows signs and the times. Even
the stars and the moon and the sun define his signs and the times, used by
astronomers, and astrologers and soothsayers.
Finally, God has a purpose, a plan,
a program which God predestined from the beginning to the end and everything to
date has moved according to God’s Master plan.
God is not blur, not stupid, not
foolish, not haphazard, not confused, not deluded, not uncaring, not deaf, not
dumb, and not unaware of what is going around us.
He knows and He acts, as He has done
so in the history of the world.
He provides everything from
sunlight, oxygen, water, food and everything else necessary for the sustenance
of life.
Hence, the key or the final missing
link is the coming of the Messiah – the One that puts in all together.
The Jewish people, who are believers
of Judaism, are still waiting for the Messiah, as are some other faiths too.
Where is the Messiah? Is he not the
one who will save the sinners of the world?
Has he come or do we wait for
another?
Eighth
– Jesus Christ, Savior of the World
Every major faith in the world has a
founder, someone who was enlightened and inspired to begin a set of teachings.
One of them was an earthly prince,
who lived in the palace of Egypt and who was called out to lead a whole race
out of Egypt. He went up to the mountain and saw God face to face. The basis of
the faith was the Law and the Ten Commandments.
His name is Moses, and Judaism was
born.
Next in terms of earliest was
another prince, who left his palace and saw the suffering of the people and he
went and meditated under a tree for forty days and nights, and revelation came
to him and in his enlightenment, he found the teachings which is basis of
Buddhism today.
Likewise, the other faiths were
founded by individual men inspired spiritually to write out the scriptures,
which became the basis of the religions founded by them, including Taoism,
Confucianism, Bahai faith, Sikhism and one other prominent major faith in the
world today.
Christianity too has a man, a
founder and teacher in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
As a Christian, I believe that I
have found the Messiah in the Person of Jesus Christ, Son of God, - Jesus of
Nazareth.
Jesus of Nazareth was born of Joseph
and Mary.
Unlike all the other founders of their
respective faiths, Jesus is the only One who claims to be divine. All are human
beings with a divine or spiritual experience.
Jesus is the only One who claims to
be Divine.
He claims and acknowledges that He
is the Son of God.
He asserts that the `Father and He’
are One, provoking the teachers of the laws to charge Him for blasphemy, to
state that He is equal to God.
He states that He is the Alpha and
the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End i.e. He is
ageless, and was even before Father Abraham, the first forefather of the Jewish
Faith or Judaism.
He doesn’t stop there. He says that
anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father in Heaven or Almighty God, and He
further states that no one can see the Father!
He ends by saying that all authority
on Heaven and on the Earth has been passed down to Him by the Father.
The Scriptures further declare that
all things are made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was
made. In other words, everything that is made on earth was made through Jesus
Christ.
The Scriptures also declare that
Jesus Christ is the same, today, yesterday and tomorrow.
The list of claims continues from His
own very lips, as Jesus declares:
“I am the Way, the Truth and the
Life, and No one comes to the Father but through Me.”
“I am the Resurrection and the Life”
“I am the Bread of Life”
“I am the Living Water”
(And whoever eats and drink from me
will never thirst)
“I am the Door”, describing the
sheep entering by the gate.
Many more claims and assertions are
made about Jesus Christ, including the statement that His Name is above all
Names, and is the sweetest Name of all.
With all that, there can be only one
conclusion in that either, He is a fraudster, crook or cheat or He is the
Truth.
History acknowledges Jesus Christ as
a Teacher and a good man.
Many faiths have His Name as a
Prophet and Teacher, with even one other major religion even acknowledging Him
as One born by virgin birth, and the One who will return on earth on the last
day of Armageddon to battle against the evil one.
I made the decision over three
decades ago, in my inner soul to believe and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior of my soul.
I believe He is a divine Messenger
or Messiah, sent by God as His Only Son to come down on earth to declare the
Good News that He is the Savior of the World. When Jesus was here, through His
Powerful Hand and Prayer, the blind could see, the lame could walk, the
demonized were delivered and even the dead were resurrected.
He then went to the Cross of Calvary
to bear the sins of the world, and through His Sacrificial Death on the Cross,
all the sins of mankind has been paid and settled by His Blood and the Life He
laid down on Calvary.
Now, forever more until His return
again in this period of Grace and
Amnesty, men and women can call upon His Name, the Name of Jesus, accept
and acknowledge Him as Savior and ensure our place in the Book of Life and gain
entry into the gate of Heavens.
By declaring that I believe in Jesus
Christ as Savior and welcoming Him into my life, repenting and asking for
forgiveness of sins, I and billions of others can now call God our Father, or
Abba Father, and can enter His Presence and seek God face to face.
What took the priests a year of
waiting and only one could enter the Holy of Holies, is now freely available
for you and me to enter.
We have been washed by the Blood of
the Lamb, the Blood of Jesus.
Jesus is the PASSWORD to Heaven,
amazingly the Passover Lamb and the Word of God. Jesus is our Passport to
Heaven.
Jesus has paid the price for the
sins of mankind and made our entry possible and free.
Jesus Christ, will be on the
Judgment Seat as our Judge on the final day, or on our demise and we have to be
justified before we can enter.
He is the Chief Immigration Officer
in the gates to Heaven. He is the DOOR, not the door keeper.
Either we enter with a Passport,
chopped “Saved by Jesus”, with a mark on our foreheads, stamped, “Spirit of
Christ”, or we need to go through the whole immigration process, to be checked
thoroughly.
Why take the chances or the risks to
have your life on earth examined thoroughly, your deeds, your words, your
thoughts from birth to death?
Who can qualify?
I can’t be sure, if on my works, my
deeds, or on my own merit, for the Word of God says, that “the wages of sin is
death”. The penalty is death, and that we cannot reach the righteousness of God
to qualify.
Even one great teacher with hundreds
of millions of followers, one whose teachings include rebirths, state that part
of judgment is being reborn to suffer a difficult life. This particular teacher
himself claim that the process of enlightenment took several hundred thousand
rebirths to arrive at that state, and it further claims that for every one era
or millennium, there can be only one such soul with that sort of enlightenment.
In other words, it is extremely
difficult to make it to Heaven, even impossible, by those standards, and the
soul needs to be resent back through rebirth until that person reaches
enlightenment.
The teachings of Christianity do not
talk about rebirth, except that when we believe in Jesus we are reborn again
spirituality, born by the spirit of God, not by the womb of woman.
I am today born again by the Blood
of Jesus, stamped on my forehead “Spirit of Christ”, and saved by the Grace of
God, through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, where all my sins
and the sins of mankind has been forgiven.
I know that if my life ends today,
at this very moment, I will be with Jesus in Heaven, for He is my Creator, my
Master, my Teacher, my Savior and my God.
At the Gates of Heaven, where He is
seated on the Throne, I can enter by the fast `GREEN LANE’ through the DOOR
marked “Through Jesus Christ” and there is only ONE DOOR – JESUS.
This is my assurance, my knowledge,
my belief, my inner conviction.
If you were to ask I or any born
again Christian this question:
“Are you sure that you will enter
Heaven when you die?”
Our answer is a very clear and
definite “Yes, I am sure!”
That’s why I am a Christian, and
have been so for over three decades, and I know my Savior is true, because I
have walked with Him for three decades over.
If you search God with all your
heart and all your mind and all your soul, you will find Him, or you will be
found by Him.
Timothy
SNG