EXPLORING THE FISH MARKET

I had a fun day exploring the fish market and taking photos. The fishes are caught and sold on the same day. There are a great variety of fishes, prawns and crabs sold at the market. The fishes are also cooked on the grill for hungry shoppers. I thank Minghan for his wonderful hospitality. He took me to many nice places to eat and sightseeing. I had a great holiday. (See photos)


IT IS FINISHED

With His last breathe on the cross; Jesus uttered these three words, “It is finished”. What was on His mind when He cried out “It is finished”? His death of the cross is not fully understood by many people in the world. Many people think Jesus was a good moral person, a carpenter, a Jewish teacher or a religious fanatic. Jesus’ death on the cross has little or no significance to many people for many reasons. Perhaps, people did not know why he died in the first place. Perhaps, people think it was just a historical event. Perhaps, people are misinformed about the purposes of Jesus’ death.

I would like to share what Jesus’ death means for us today.

Jesus’ death gave birth to new relationship

God is a holy God and not one could come near to God except the high priest in the Old Testament. The high priest could only come to the most holy place to offer animal sacrifices to God on behalf of the people once a year. If the high priest committed sin, he will be struck down by God and his sacrifices and prayers will be not accepted.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrew 4:14-16

Jesus became the great high priest for mankind. Jesus offered His body as a living sacrifice for the sin of the people because there were no sacrifices that can wipe away the sin of mankind. The curtain of the temple was torn after the death of Jesus to make a way to a new relationship with God. We now have direct access to God because Jesus died for our sins. We can come directly to God through Jesus to help us in time of need.

Jesus’ death gave birth to eternal life

No one likes to face the reality of death because there is a natural instinct to live. When God created Adam and Eve, death was not part of His plan. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and suffered the consequences of their sins. They were driven away from the tree of life.

The good new is that two thousand years ago, God sent Jesus into the world to save mankind from eternal punishment by dying for their sins on the cross.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

The Bible says that Jesus have risen from the death. He overcame death to give life to mankind.

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Romans 6:9-10

Jesus' death brings eternal life to all who receive His gift of salvation.