Through His Crucifixion, Jesus Christ made the people of the world worship Him and believe in Him. For He died for the love of his fellow citizens and for love of all the people in the world, because He wanted to save them from the power of darkness and the clutches of the Archdevil. It was for this purpose that He sacrificed Himself. He shed His blood and died for the salvation of mankind from evil so that man could attain a greater life.
Though death looks horrifying to ordinary people, a Christian will accept death without fear, if he can die for the right cause, for his religion, for the truth, for the salvation of people and the world. Under such circumstances, he will not hesitate to die. In fact he will be glad to do so.
We all know that Jesus lived at a time when there were evil, intrigues, rumor-mongering, lying, cruelty, scheming, and hypocrisy. The influence of Satan was like what was said in the Bible: "A roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."
While Jesus was being taken away, His disciples all ran away because of fear, though Peter followed at a distance. When he was recognized as one of Jesus' followers he thrice denied having known God until the cock crew. Then he suddenly realized his mistake. And he went out, and wept bitterly. It was only after this bitter cry that he was re-united with the other disciples and organized the first mission to preach the doctrine of the Kingdom of God so that Jesus' believers were not scattered about, as wheat is sifted through a sieve, to give Satan an opportunity to kill them one by one. On the contrary, they emerged triumphant from despotism and the destruction, persecution, slaughter of brute force, and grew and spread over the surface of the earth.
Jesus' disciples recorded this sad lesson in great detail to show us that Satan's power does not lie in his using brute force to threaten our life and security, to intimidate us, and to make us yield. What Satan does is to instill in us a momentary fear, a momentary circumspection, or a momentary hesitation, which will give him a chance to enter our heart and control our actions. He has no need for us to betray Jesus like Judas, rebel against truth and righteousness, or come under his banner. What he wants is for us to entertain in our heart the least bit of fear, circumspection, or hesitation. If we should even only for a single moment or under a certain condition forsake truth and righteousness, we shall give Satan an opportunity to infiltrate among us and cause us to fight among ourselves and give him the chance to gobble us up one by one till everyone perishes.
Truth is everlasting, and justice is indestructible. They always exist in the hearts of everyone of us. When Peter, dominated by the influence of Satan, showed fear, circumspection or hesitation, the crowing of a cock woke him up from his dreams, restored his courage and confidence, and enabled him to rally his fellow-believers in a life-and-death struggle against the devil. Similarly, when a nation is being subjected to the control of Satan, there are always people who, refusing to surrender to the devil, stand up and fight for national independence and freedom. Their search for truth and their cry for justice sound the alarm for the nation and the entire human race to wake up and be saved.
There are three questions in life which we should thoroughly understand. What is the universal truth? What is the meaning of life? What is the path for life? If we want to solve these questions, we have to seek the answers in religion-Christianity.
Firstly, Jesus is truth. For truth is everlasting, and Jesus is the source of truth. As He has said: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." His chief duty in coming to this world was to make men free. He thinks that only by knowing truth can we find freedom in the true sense of the word without yielding to the deception of sins. The gospel He brings to the human race is "to preach deliverance to the captives" and "to set at liberty them that are bruised." Christians who have thus been delivered and set at liberty should be determined to bring others the same freedom. Therefore, I cannot forget the millions of my fellow-countrymen and fellow Christians on the mainland who are suffering from the hellish life under communism, a life in which there is neither truth nor freedom. While we can freely worship or preach here in Taiwan and enjoy the grace of God and the liberty given us by Him, we must have faith in our projected counterattack against the mainland, so that our fellow-countrymen there may all once again have freedom and enjoy a new life.
Secondly, Jesus is life. By this we mean not only the individual human life, but also the omnipresent life of God as represented by the spirit of Christ. As He has said unto us: "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take ·up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." This is indeed the most thorough and most concrete teaching about the meaning of life. We all know that Jesus sacrificed His life put has saved the lives of thousands. Thus our individual lives are dependent upon the existence of His life. It is, therefore, our duty and our only precious privilege to sacrifice our lives for the greater life.
Thirdly, the religion of Christ is the path for life. It is a path leading to a distant and great goal. The right path is not far from us, and it does not leave us. Truth is always with us provided that we have faith in it. St. Paul has said:
"But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Aiming at this goal of saving men and the world, He forgets life and death and stands up through the insufferable ordeals. Christians of today should have the same thought in their heart when they walk on this meaningful path which demands sacrifice and struggle. The anti-Communist path we are walking now is the only path leading not only toward deliverance of our fellow countrymen on the mainland and toward ensuring our nation of continued existence, but also toward saving peace and human freedom for the world. To accomplish this task, we should be "for getting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before" and "press toward the mark." We should have "patience, experience and hope" and vow to gain our final victory.
So that His disciples may carry out His will and redeem all sins and save mankind, He has said before His Crucifixion: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Let all Christians in this country remember this great teaching of Jesus Christ, be always ready to sacrifice himself for the good of others, contribute his strength toward saving the nation and the world, and spread the teachings of Christ, so that everyone of us will be worthy of the name of a true Christian.