VANCOUVER, CANADA - Continuing on with the second night of the gospel rally in greater-Vancouver, Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong, a world-renown evangelist who has globe-trotted in preaching the gospel, explicated yet another graceful message on “Who is Jesus?”
Tong said that the difference between Christianity and all philosophies in the world is found in the quality, for the essence of Jesus Christ is completely different. “The three essential differences are that no one has every spoken the words that He said, no one has ever lived a life like Him, and He resurrected three days after His death.”
Everyone in this world makes mistake, even Confucius and Muhammad are the same. Although the Pharisees tried to find Jesus’ fault, Jesus, standing besides the disciples who are closest to him, was able to say, “Who can point out my sins?” No one in history has ever said the same thing like him.
Who exactly is Jesus? This is a very deep question, said the Chinese-Indonesian evangelist, we must find out the difference in quality. God is absolutely pure, Jesus Christ is the revelation of God in flesh, Word becoming flesh dwelling among us; He died for us upon the cross, becoming the mediator between God and man, forgiving our sins. Apostle John also testified, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”
Tong said that Confucius said, “What you don’t want, do not give it to others”, but Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you”, meaning if you want others to respect you, care about you, treat you politely, then first you must do that. Therefore, Jesus taught an active ethics, while Confucius’ ethics are passive.
Today, the ethics of Jesus have influenced the world, and Christianity has become an influential faith. Lastly, Tong hoped that everyone can think about several questions, “Who am I?”, “What can I know?”, “What should I do?”, and “What is my hope?” He said that all the answers are found in Jesus Christ just as it says in John 8:12, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."”
That night, the gathering concluded with Tong leading the newly devoted in prayers of grace.
