Tuesday, February 28, 2006
hello everybody =) just wanna share a quick lil story which my chinese teacher told us today durin one of the rare moments when i was awake. haha. it was expressed in chinese la so some parts ive edited on my own, but the essence remains the same.. so here goes..
There once was a painter who was going to paint the chronological life of Jesus on the walls of a cathedral. Starting with the birth of our Saviour, he went about in search of inspiration as to how he should paint the image of the Baby Jesus. He went from town to town searching for an inspiring baby, until he finally found a mother with her baby. The child had a pure, innocent, holy and sanctified look, and the painter immediately knew that this was what Jesus had to look like at His birth. Hence, the painter took a good look at the child before returning to the cathedral and painting the nativity scene. Everyone who saw this first painting were in awe of how the inner peace and tranquility and sinlessness of Jesus was captured in the painting of the baby.
Several years went by, and the painter was nearing the end of his paintings. He had reached the final scene of Jesus' life - His crucifixtion. At the point where he wanted to paint the image of the most cruel guard who completely destroyed and humiliated Jesus, the painter once again sought inspiration. He was looking for someone who looked evil, notorious, unfaithful and who indulges feverently in acts of sin. Thus, he set out again from town to town, heading to all the dungeons and prisons, looking for the one face that would epitomise sin, but to no avail, for no one looked bad enough for the inspiration. Just as he was about to give up, he saw a man stumbling across the road in a drunken state, his face scarred with the look of sin. Immediately the painter knew that this was the man he was looking for, and offering some money, he coaxed the man to follow him to the cathedral.
Upon entering the cathedral, the painter told the man to pose next to the scene of Jesus' death, so that he could paint his sinful face as that of the guard's. At that moment, the man suddenly broke down into tears, crying his heart out. He had seen the painting of the birth of Jesus, and in between sobs, said "my mother once told me that when i was little, a painter used me as inspiration for the image of the baby Jesus. now look at what i've become?" Indeed, the man who once was the image of the Baby Jesus was now corrupted into the image of sin.
kinda nice hurr? no fun typin out tho.. haha. anyway, i think can give a bit of sharing on this. Unlike Jesus, we arent born perfect.. we are born with original sin. but thru our baptism, we are cleansed of our sinfulness and invited to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. it is thru our baptism and our growin in faith and love that we are reminded that each and every one of us is made for perfection. just like the little baby, each of us are created by God the Father to reflect the image of Jesus. Always bear in mind that Adam and Eve were not made to sin.. they were made to enjoy eternity in the serenity of God's special sanctuary, with a strong and intimate relationship with Him. But they sinned and so these ideals were not fulfilled, but Jesus was sent by God to REMIND us what God has planned for us. This whole call to holiness thing. and we should not think that such a situation is restricted solely for Adam or Jesus, because as mentioned junnow, we are made in the perfect image of Jesus, and all we have to do is maintain purity in our lives. (easier said than done)
then of cos the story goes on to show how sin disfigures this image in us. it is good to note that it is not sin which destroys this image, but rather it is us who destroy Christ by turning into the evil guard. sin is only the medium for change, sin is not the change. we become sinful, but we do not become sin. and this is why we can repent, because love is also the medium for change, except that this change is for us to revert from our sinful image back into the perfect image of God. haha a bit cheem la.. but basically the idea is that while many of us have succumbed at different levels to the attraction of sin, it is NEVER too late to say 'im sorry', and reunite and reestablish our relationship with Christ, to what it was meant to be.
anw one common word ive used bountiful times is 'image'.. and mebbe all those who so free every nite come online and zuo bo can reflect on these few questions.
- what does it mean to say that we are created 'in the image of God'
- if it is a physical image, then does this mean that ppl who are deformed, or of different race or ethnic group, are not made in the image of God? if not, then what exactly is the meanin of 'image'?
haha very interesting rite? post comments then! =) or continue sharing.. ive been very touched by what many ppl hv shared.. (: that's it for now. God Bless!
-justin
hello everybody =) just wanna share a quick lil story which my chinese teacher told us today durin one of the rare moments when i was awake. haha. it was expressed in chinese la so some parts ive edited on my own, but the essence remains the same.. so here goes..
There once was a painter who was going to paint the chronological life of Jesus on the walls of a cathedral. Starting with the birth of our Saviour, he went about in search of inspiration as to how he should paint the image of the Baby Jesus. He went from town to town searching for an inspiring baby, until he finally found a mother with her baby. The child had a pure, innocent, holy and sanctified look, and the painter immediately knew that this was what Jesus had to look like at His birth. Hence, the painter took a good look at the child before returning to the cathedral and painting the nativity scene. Everyone who saw this first painting were in awe of how the inner peace and tranquility and sinlessness of Jesus was captured in the painting of the baby.
Several years went by, and the painter was nearing the end of his paintings. He had reached the final scene of Jesus' life - His crucifixtion. At the point where he wanted to paint the image of the most cruel guard who completely destroyed and humiliated Jesus, the painter once again sought inspiration. He was looking for someone who looked evil, notorious, unfaithful and who indulges feverently in acts of sin. Thus, he set out again from town to town, heading to all the dungeons and prisons, looking for the one face that would epitomise sin, but to no avail, for no one looked bad enough for the inspiration. Just as he was about to give up, he saw a man stumbling across the road in a drunken state, his face scarred with the look of sin. Immediately the painter knew that this was the man he was looking for, and offering some money, he coaxed the man to follow him to the cathedral.
Upon entering the cathedral, the painter told the man to pose next to the scene of Jesus' death, so that he could paint his sinful face as that of the guard's. At that moment, the man suddenly broke down into tears, crying his heart out. He had seen the painting of the birth of Jesus, and in between sobs, said "my mother once told me that when i was little, a painter used me as inspiration for the image of the baby Jesus. now look at what i've become?" Indeed, the man who once was the image of the Baby Jesus was now corrupted into the image of sin.
kinda nice hurr? no fun typin out tho.. haha. anyway, i think can give a bit of sharing on this. Unlike Jesus, we arent born perfect.. we are born with original sin. but thru our baptism, we are cleansed of our sinfulness and invited to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. it is thru our baptism and our growin in faith and love that we are reminded that each and every one of us is made for perfection. just like the little baby, each of us are created by God the Father to reflect the image of Jesus. Always bear in mind that Adam and Eve were not made to sin.. they were made to enjoy eternity in the serenity of God's special sanctuary, with a strong and intimate relationship with Him. But they sinned and so these ideals were not fulfilled, but Jesus was sent by God to REMIND us what God has planned for us. This whole call to holiness thing. and we should not think that such a situation is restricted solely for Adam or Jesus, because as mentioned junnow, we are made in the perfect image of Jesus, and all we have to do is maintain purity in our lives. (easier said than done)
then of cos the story goes on to show how sin disfigures this image in us. it is good to note that it is not sin which destroys this image, but rather it is us who destroy Christ by turning into the evil guard. sin is only the medium for change, sin is not the change. we become sinful, but we do not become sin. and this is why we can repent, because love is also the medium for change, except that this change is for us to revert from our sinful image back into the perfect image of God. haha a bit cheem la.. but basically the idea is that while many of us have succumbed at different levels to the attraction of sin, it is NEVER too late to say 'im sorry', and reunite and reestablish our relationship with Christ, to what it was meant to be.
anw one common word ive used bountiful times is 'image'.. and mebbe all those who so free every nite come online and zuo bo can reflect on these few questions.
- what does it mean to say that we are created 'in the image of God'
- if it is a physical image, then does this mean that ppl who are deformed, or of different race or ethnic group, are not made in the image of God? if not, then what exactly is the meanin of 'image'?
haha very interesting rite? post comments then! =) or continue sharing.. ive been very touched by what many ppl hv shared.. (: that's it for now. God Bless!
-justin