(Translated from Chinese by ChatGPT and edited by Mijiale)
Since returning to my childhood country, I’ve met friends who are sometimes curious about my faith. I tell them there’s a website where I’ve written many articles about faith. However, these articles might be too profound for the average person, and I hope to provide some introductory explanations in the future.
First, I want to introduce who I believe in. I believe in the Creator described in the Bible. Because not only did He bring all things into existence, but He also governs their development and changes, making Him the ‘Master of Creation.’ (In the Chinese Bible, His name is translated as ‘Yehowah,’ which likely carries the meaning of ‘Master of Creation’ in its original text.) Let’s see how the Bible describes Him.
This week, while reading the Bible, I came across Deuteronomy chapter 26. It talks about how the ancient Israelites were once slaves in Egypt, and after returning to their homeland, they received the land that the Creator had promised them four hundred years earlier. They cultivated the land and harvested its produce, offering the firstfruits to the Creator in a basket, to be given to the priests working in the Creator’s temple. They were also instructed to remember the bitterness of their past slavery, thank the Creator for rescuing them, giving them this good land, and let this land produce fruits and grains in this basket, including barley, wheat, grapes, figs, olives, pomegranates, and dates.
From here, the Bible teaches us what the Creator governs.
First aspect: He is the Lord of nature, overseeing the growth and harvest of various plants, along with everything related: sunlight, rain, photosynthesis, the health of farmers, the oxygen they breathe…
Second aspect: He is the Lord of history, the master of destiny, the one who bestows good harvests. He granted freedom to a nation that had been slaves for centuries, giving them their own land and bountiful yields.
Third aspect: He is the Lord who communicates with people, a living Lord beyond natural laws. If you consider only the first two aspects, you might say He’s like the ‘objective laws’ of Marxist philosophy that govern the development of the natural world and human society. However, the Creator depicted in the Bible promised the ancestors of the Israelites the land four hundred years in advance. He led them out of Egypt, performed miraculous deeds beyond ordinary natural laws, guided them through the Red Sea, the wilderness, and the Jordan River, bringing them to the promised land. Through the Bible, He commanded them to offer the firstfruits as a gesture of thanksgiving. The Creator communicates in certain ways—encouraging, warning, reproving—and sets requirements for how people should live. He also listens to what people say to Him, whether it’s prayers or expressions of gratitude.
This third aspect, a personalized God who provides guidance on how to live, is precisely what Marxist philosophy lacks, but it’s present in ancient Chinese culture. The three instances of ‘God speaks to King Wen’ in the Book of Odes (Dàyǎ Huáng xī) reflect the belief of ancient Chinese that God communicates with humans, making demands about how to live. [Link to the text on baike.baidu.com]https://baike.baidu.com/item/大雅·皇矣/2134135
Modern people value freedom and are averse to moral constraints imposed by a Supernatural Power. Therefore, they’re most opposed to this third aspect because they don’t want a personalized God who speaks to them, telling them what to do and what not to do. But logically, this is flawed thinking. Consider this: living isn’t a simple matter. The Ultimate Cause that enables us to live would logically have requirements about how we should live.
So, I believe in the Creator revealed in the Bible. He is the Lord of all, the living Lord. He is the One who keeps me alive and gives me a purpose, telling me how to live.