‘And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.’ - Exodus 2:24
There was a moment in our 130 anniversary dinner that has stuck with me since that day. It was a small statement shared to us by Elder Andrew Lu saying, ‘CPC is ever-changing, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.’. God’s gospel work in our community has never changed, however our people have been. Changing generations, changing policies in Australia and even the changing seasons of faithfulness and conflict our community has faced.
As we continue in our teaching series on the first half of Exodus, we have been given an opportunity to explore God’s character across the generations of His people as well! God’s people were in Egypt, they were numerous and no longer one family, many had even forgotten God’s covenant with their forefathers; yet God remembered His people all the same! God saved His people all the same! We see scripture pointing towards a wonderful reality of the gospel that we are assured of God’s promise of salvation and justification in His church forever, not by our name and will, but by His sovereignty and character.
I cannot help but be encouraged when I still my heart and reflect on our assurance in Christ. That, despite our many seasons of dysfunction, our many fights with each other and against God and the valleys that every community of Christ must endure, there is something that will always provide hope for us. That God’s plans do not rest upon our ability to hold onto our Holy Father, but upon His ability to grasp us tightly in His will. If we are His people, we are assured that although He may discipline us, He will never abandon us. We may change but He remains eternally perfect.
This week if you are anxious or insecure, be encouraged by our assurance in Christ. Your future is set in Him. Hold fast. Let the peace of God rule in our hearts.
Amen.
「神聽見他們的哀聲; 神顧念祂和亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的約。」出埃及記2:24
在教會130週年紀念晚宴上有一刻一直停在我思緒中，就是呂岳鴻長老所分享中的一句簡短的話:「雪梨華人長老會一直在不斷變化，不要讓任何人告知你這不是事實!」神福音的工作在我們群體中從不改變，然而我們當中(參與)的人卻在變改；一代接一代的轉換，在澳大利亞政策的更改，甚至在我們群體中都面對著忠誠與衝突的變更。
當我們繼續出埃及記前半部分的教導系列時，我們有機會去探索神世世代代在祂的子民中所彰顯的屬性！神的子民在埃及，他們人數眾多，不再是一個家庭，當中許多的人甚至已忘記了神與他們的列祖所立的約；然而神仍然貫徹始終地顧念祂的子民，神還是信守拯救衪子民。我們看到聖經指向福音的一個奇妙事實，那就是我們可確信肯定神應許了在教會中永遠賜下拯救和稱義之恩，不是奉我們自身的名字和意願，乃是全憑祂的主權和屬性。
當我靜下心來反思我們在基督裡的確據時，我不禁感到鼓舞。儘管我們遇到許多有問題的情況，彼此之間有許多的爭競，對神叛逆不從，以及要忍受每個屬基督的群體都必需經歷的幽谷，但總有為我們預備的盼望。這就是神的計劃，不是倚靠我們的能力去抓住我們的聖天父，乃是仗於祂按自己的旨意緊緊地抓住我們的能力。如果我們是祂的子民，我們就可以確信，雖然祂可能會管教我們，但衪永遠不會撇下丟棄我們。我們可能會失信變改，但祂是永遠完全的。
在今週如果你感到焦慮或不安，讓我們因在基督裡所肯定的確據而被激勵。你的將來前路在祂裡面已確立了。堅定地信靠吧。讓神的平安掌管我們的心。
阿們
