(Just started, still under construction)
Just before He left earth, Jesus gave us a commission to share the gospel with everyone on earth, the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). Throughout the Bible God, said there are many ways to persuade people of God’s truth. Two of the most crucial are:
A) Boldly claiming that “God is love” 1 John 4:8, God’s laws are based on love for God and people (Matt. 22:37-40, John 14:15) and demonstrating this in the life of the church that when genuine can turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6).
B) Equally important to bold faith is confidently claiming and showing that belief in God is based on proof as God, Jesus, the prophets and apostles repeatedly claimed (Isaiah 41-44 esp. Isaiah 41:1, 21-24, 26-9, 44:6-7), John 4:24-5, John 10:24-45, Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1-4, Acts 9:22, 17:31, 1 Cor. 15:1-19, and many other verses.). Peter told us to always be ready to give logical reasons for our faith (1 Peter 3:15).
God, Jesus, apostles and many scholars have claimed and demonstrated that Jesus’ resurrection is one of the most solidly proven facts of history.
http://blog.truth-is-life.org/god/resurrection/
Based on this, the gospel has traveled around the world over the past 2,000 years. There have been major exceptions, but it has largely traveled from Israel in a western direction, first to Asia Minor, Africa and Europe, then to North and South America, then to Australia. From there it has won millions of converts in much of western Asia. Western Asia and the Middle East are the last major regions of the world that we still need to conquer for the gospel. China is one of the most crucial countries to complete this circle of the gospel around the world, both because it one of the 2 largest countries in the world and also because there are many Muslims and Arabs in western China who will be key in taking the gospel through the Middle East and “Back to Jerusalem”.
“Back to Jerusalem” is a slogan of many Chinese Christians illustrating their goal to complete God’s Great Commission by evangelizing western China, the Middle East and taking the gospel back to it’s origin in Israel. You can read and watch documentaries about their incredible efforts, at links below, by both Chinese Christians, western missionaries and major reporters.
My site here has a basic overview of some reasons why this is so important for us to focus on now.
THE CHINA VISIONS: FINISHING THE COMMISSION (TAKING THE GOSPEL THROUGH THE 10/40 WINDOW) GENERAL VERSION:
blog.truth-is-life.org/missions/china-vision/
SDA VERSION http://blog.truth-is-life.org/missions/china-vision/china-sdas/
There is much evidence of God in Asia and it is arguable that some of it predates Israel or even the writing of the Bible. Here are a few things.
1) The Heavenly King, who is He! (a short documentary summarizing a little of China’s amazing history and how Chinese characters are made and then showing how the story of salvation is woven through these characters.
The Heavenly King of The Chinese: 上帝 Shang Di. Who is He? (English version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV5_qS0SwiE
Chinese version (similar to the above but adding some research from archaeology in China related to Christianity at the beginning.)
华人与犹太人共同的根源。
https://v.qq.com/x/page/a0326hyuek3.html
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDUzNzQ1Nzc2MA==
2) A Singaporean Chinese pastor, pastor Kong Hee, insightfully gives more details showing how Chinese characters going way back over 4,000 years in history convey the same message about creation, the flood, Babel and the spread of languages and migration and most importantly, the plan of salvation in their symbols that the Bible does.
Interestingly, some of the Chinese character symbols don’t really make sense unless we understand the history of the Bible. When we do, they fit together almost like puzzle pieces in a harmonious account of the history of our world. Since news sources like the BBC even today consider two independent sources to be good verification that something is true, this also is one very solid evidence for the truths of the Bible. There are quite a few books and talks on this (Discovery of Genesis by C.H. Kang and Ethel Nelson is a good one), but this is one of the best sermons on this.
God in Ancient China 古代中國人的神 – Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA-AkJzpKmg
God in Ancient China 古代中國人的神 – Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kkxUyMAMXQ
2) China’s Confession 神州忏悔录 (Chinese audio, English subtitles, abridged)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOBtqPd2gi8
The Bible says “Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Proverbs 14:34
公义能叫邦国兴盛， 罪恶是人民的耻辱。箴言 14:34
This documentary is a summary of 5,000 years of history that proves that fact.
While trying to learn some about China’s more ancient history, I came across an amazing documentary about the 5,000 year history of the Chinese and their relation to the God of creation and the Bible. It talks about how the ancient Chinese were familiar with Shangdi, the Chinese term for the supreme deity. If you read the Chinese classics, the descriptions of Shangdi are beautiful and amazing in how they consistently parallel the descriptions of God in the Bible. It’s like reading the prophets or apostles many times, but with a little different cultural flavor.
The very important thing is that history and science show that those who love God treat other people much more equally. That makes nations much richer, happier, smarter, peaceful, more stable, stronger, etc. But when people don’t believe in God, it causes a lot more conflict/fighting, and a few people get very wealthy, but many others get in debt or poor. That always happens. So for China to be peaceful, successful and strong, it needs many people to follow God well. That’s what this video shows from 5,000 years of Chinese history. It’s not a Hollywood movie and it’s a little old, but it teaches some very powerful and very important truths for China, and for every country.
3) The Cross — Jesus in China 十字架 — 耶稣在中国 (the history of how Christianity thrived in China despite persecution)
(English audio version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta8rL9hsw3Q
This is a brilliant documentary on the history of Christianity in China in the 1900s and how God worked many miracles and convicted hearts in ways that were very out of the ordinary during the oppression of Christianity that happened in the mid 1900s. Many thought that Christianity would die in China when the Chinese government threw out foreigners. It almost did at first and there was a terrible persecution by communist/atheist government authorities. But the Chinese Christians learned to rely on God directly, not the experience or funds of foreign Christians. This documentary has many helpful lessons for Christians in other countries who are going through difficult times or will have them in the future.
CHINESE AUDIO VERSIONS
First hour: “The Spring of Life” reports the real life and internal world of the contemporary Chinese Christians of all walks of life: including farmers, students, officials, orphans, gangsters, actors, scholars, writers, scientists and enterpreneuers.
《十字架 耶稣在中国》第一集：生命泉（The Cross – The Spring of Life) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa0tQCFuf3E
Second hour: “The Seed of Blood” shows from the Ching Dynasty till the past fifty years, the Chinese Christians of the 20th century including Wang Ming Dao, John Song, Watchman Nee, Yuan Xiang Chen, Samuel Lin, Xie Mo Shan etc.
《十字架─耶稣在中国》第二集：血种 (The Cross – Seeds of Blood) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXKIJAA4nJ0
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3FHj6-SMR4
Third hour: “The Bitter Cup” presents many touching testimonies of many young Christians dedicated to the ministries after the Cultural Revolution. They stood firm in the Lord even under persecution, and that caused a great revival in China.
《十字架─耶稣在中国》第三集：苦杯 (The Cross: The Bitter Cup) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5B1-e3qxWo
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VynnYATUVcY
Fourth hour: “The Canaan Hymns” Features the music and the amazing story of a farm girl Xiao Ming, a high school dropout with no musical training. Under the touch of the Holy Spirit has sung almost a thousand beautiful hymns sung by Chinese Churches both overseas and in China.
《十字架─耶稣在中国》专题篇：迦南歌声 (The Cross: The Canaan Hymns) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST51RS7OW-E
David Aiman, NY Times Bureau chief in Beijing for many years, wrote about how Chinese Christians thrived and spread Christianity while enduring some of the most terrible persecution in history in his book
“Jesus in Beijing”
https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Beijing-Christianity-Transforming-Changing/dp/1596980257
A short review is here:
https://leejaredgarcia.com/2018/08/15/book-review-jesus-in-beijing-by-david-aikman/
4) EVIDENCE FOR JESUS LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION FROM CHINA.
Chinese scholars from the time of Jesus also were given evidence that Jesus was born, died and rose again as a perfect sacrifice to bring pardon for man’s sin and a whole new era of human history?
Pastor Kong Hee from Singapore found some of this evidence and spoke about it. The evidence dates back to the very time that Jesus was living, but it is evidence from China. I found links to the original Chinese documents with help from a couple Chinese friends and a couple more intriguing facts from China that also are evidence of Jesus life on earth while I was in China.
blog.truth-is-life.org/missions/china-vision/chinese-evidence-for-jesus/
We already have evidence and proof for Jesus’ resurrection way beyond reasonable about according to many scholars. Even non-Christian scholars like Bart Ehrman and others agree that the evidence for the resurrection is better than the evidence for miracles in any other religion. But this evidence from China is unique because it comes from cosmological sources which are beyond any human control and also ancient Chinese classics which have been verified by the atheist Chinese government as reliable history. It is also from a country far distant from Israel and from the same time Jesus lived. So this makes the proof for Jesus even stronger and is from Asia and so may be valuable in mission work in Asia!
I’d like to close with a challenge that God challenged a Chinese pastor named Mark Ma with:
On the morning of May 23 as I fasted and prayed [and] the Lord revealed the verse of Scripture to my heart, “This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then the end shall come.” Matthew 24:14.
I said, “O Lord what does this mean?” “It is this, I not only want the Chinese Church to assume responsibility for taking the Gospel to Xinjiang but I want you to bring to completion the commission to preach the Gospel to all the world.” I asked, “O Lord, has not the Gospel already been preached to all the world?”
The Lord said, “Since the beginning at Pentecost, the Pathway of the Gospel has spread, for the greater part, in a westward direction; from Jerusalem to Antioch to all Europe; from Europe to America and then to the East; from the Southeast of China to the Northwest; until today from Gansu on Westward it can be said there is no firmly established Church. You may go Westward from Gansu, preaching the Gospel all the way back to Jerusalem, causing the light of the Gospel to complete the circle around this dark world.” I said, “O Lord, who are we that we can carry such a great responsibility?” The Lord answered, “I want to manifest My power through those who of themselves have no power.”
I said, “That section of territory is under the power of Islam and the Muslims are the hardest of all peoples to reach with the Gospel.”
The Lord replied, “The most rebellious people are the Israelites, the hardest field of labor is my own people the Jews.” …. The Lord continued speaking, “Even you Chinese, yourself included, are hard enough but you have been conquered by the Gospel.”
I asked, “O Lord, if it is not that their hearts are especially hard, why is it that missionaries from Europe and America have established so many churches in China but are still unable to open the door to Western Asia?”
The Lord answered me, “It is not that their hearts are especially hard, but I have kept for the Chinese Church a portion of inheritance, otherwise, when I return will you not be so poor?
When I heard the Lord say He had kept for us a portion of inheritance, my heart overflowed with Thanksgiving and my mouth uttered many Hallelujahs! I stopped arguing with the Lord.
=====
The Bible tells you just like God told that Chinese pastor:
“Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.” 1 John 2:8.
So many people need God now and God has all the most important truths for humanity in the Bible. God has raised the SDA church to understand the most crucial truths of the Bible to bring the most people to salvation. If God’s people focus their minds and time on Jesus and on gathering and sharing as much truth as you can, we can change the world as the early Christians did.
Every generation has its task from God. Our task now is to join the work and complete God’s great Commission. Will you partner with God’s work, at home and esp. helping the work in China and the Middle East, either from home or as a missionary? Pray about God’s will for you!