Underserved Grace From Iran
Underserved Grace from Iran
Let me give you good news report from Iran as reported by Sky News, April 17, 2014. Most times all we are fed by the media are the negative news from Middle East and especially the predominantly Muslim countries. Shocking: Christ loved them and died for the Middle East just as He did for us.
Imagine you had the ultimate chance for revenge, to inflict the worst pain you've ever felt in equal measure on the person who caused it. In Iran, this is part of the legal system: Qisas, the sharia law of retribution, can be applied literally in some cases. One family had the opportunity. Instead, they did something extraordinary.
Seven years ago, 18-year-old Abdollah Hosseinzadeh was fatally stabbed during a street brawl in Royan, a small town in the northern province of Mazandaran. His attacker, another young man known only as Balal, was sentenced to hanging by public execution. Hosseinzadeh's parents were allowed to participate by knocking out the chair that would support him.
When the moment finally came this week, Balal, who wore a black hood over his face, and the crowd that had gathered to watch waited for the drop. Hosseinzadeh's mother approached the gallows. She didn't kick. Instead, she slapped him. Hosseinzadeh's father then removed Balal's noose. Balal's family, who had been pleading at the gallows for mercy, broke down. Balal's mother hugged Hosseinzadeh's; both were weeping.
Talk about grace and mercy. We sure can learn from this Muslim family. It so happened that all this took place during the days just before Good Friday when our own Savior was hung and crucified on the cross. The difference is that this guy, Balal was guilty and convicted but our Jesus was without sin but still was crucified. This is the highest injustice - the just dying for without any offense but dying for the guilty. Can we comprehend for a moment what Jesus did for us? We are the guilty ones who should have died just like Balal.
It was reported that this mother was inspired by a dream where her slain son told her to forgive his killer. You and I do not need a dream to forgive. We are Mr. Balal who was as guilty can be and was saved by Jesus going in our place. We don’t need a dream because we are living in forgiveness already. We also have been instructed as follows:
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4: 31-32
How absurd it is that we cannot forgive a wife, husband or a family member because they are not meeting our unrealistic expectations. They have not even broken any of our children’s legs compared to slaying our son or daughter. We hold endless grudge and bitterness with malice and the cold wars in and out of the bedrooms. God please help us. How can we honestly say we have been forgiven and turn around and act like the servant whose master forgave $18 billion and we are choking a fellow servant for 8 cents he or she owes us?
Is the passage we are studying really true?
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2: 4-9
I am tired of reading and rehearsing scripture such as the above. I want to live out its implications in my life. How about you? Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to do a deep work of revelation and healing of our hearts and hurts so that we can live like our Jesus who on the cross said “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do”. It is possible that the one we are holding grudge on does not what he or she is doing. Our real enemy is Satan. We can give each other a pass in the love of Christ? We are not talking about condoning sin but the love of God covers a multitude of sins. We cannot love others with our own love but with the love God has already loved us. Since we are the bride of Christ, is He treating us the same way we treat our spouses in marriage and/or even friends and family members?
Whose “Hanging Noose” can you remove from his or her neck today?
Let us think about the weight of this: “7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”. There is more kindness to come to us and it cannot be exhausted. This is very humbling and God gives His grace to the humble who ask for it by faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, please help me and fill me with your grace to live daily and to give your grace to others and tell others about your grace to me. Amen. I solicit your prayers. Thank you. I thank God for His grace on me and you.
Lord, heal and comfort this mother from Iran (Mrs. Hosseinzadeh) and help her to know the forgiveness of Jesus for her own sins. Amen.
Happy Mother’s Day to all Our Mothers and Sisters!
Let me give you good news report from Iran as reported by Sky News, April 17, 2014. Most times all we are fed by the media are the negative news from Middle East and especially the predominantly Muslim countries. Shocking: Christ loved them and died for the Middle East just as He did for us.
Imagine you had the ultimate chance for revenge, to inflict the worst pain you've ever felt in equal measure on the person who caused it. In Iran, this is part of the legal system: Qisas, the sharia law of retribution, can be applied literally in some cases. One family had the opportunity. Instead, they did something extraordinary.
Seven years ago, 18-year-old Abdollah Hosseinzadeh was fatally stabbed during a street brawl in Royan, a small town in the northern province of Mazandaran. His attacker, another young man known only as Balal, was sentenced to hanging by public execution. Hosseinzadeh's parents were allowed to participate by knocking out the chair that would support him.
When the moment finally came this week, Balal, who wore a black hood over his face, and the crowd that had gathered to watch waited for the drop. Hosseinzadeh's mother approached the gallows. She didn't kick. Instead, she slapped him. Hosseinzadeh's father then removed Balal's noose. Balal's family, who had been pleading at the gallows for mercy, broke down. Balal's mother hugged Hosseinzadeh's; both were weeping.
Talk about grace and mercy. We sure can learn from this Muslim family. It so happened that all this took place during the days just before Good Friday when our own Savior was hung and crucified on the cross. The difference is that this guy, Balal was guilty and convicted but our Jesus was without sin but still was crucified. This is the highest injustice - the just dying for without any offense but dying for the guilty. Can we comprehend for a moment what Jesus did for us? We are the guilty ones who should have died just like Balal.
It was reported that this mother was inspired by a dream where her slain son told her to forgive his killer. You and I do not need a dream to forgive. We are Mr. Balal who was as guilty can be and was saved by Jesus going in our place. We don’t need a dream because we are living in forgiveness already. We also have been instructed as follows:
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4: 31-32
How absurd it is that we cannot forgive a wife, husband or a family member because they are not meeting our unrealistic expectations. They have not even broken any of our children’s legs compared to slaying our son or daughter. We hold endless grudge and bitterness with malice and the cold wars in and out of the bedrooms. God please help us. How can we honestly say we have been forgiven and turn around and act like the servant whose master forgave $18 billion and we are choking a fellow servant for 8 cents he or she owes us?
Is the passage we are studying really true?
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2: 4-9
I am tired of reading and rehearsing scripture such as the above. I want to live out its implications in my life. How about you? Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to do a deep work of revelation and healing of our hearts and hurts so that we can live like our Jesus who on the cross said “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do”. It is possible that the one we are holding grudge on does not what he or she is doing. Our real enemy is Satan. We can give each other a pass in the love of Christ? We are not talking about condoning sin but the love of God covers a multitude of sins. We cannot love others with our own love but with the love God has already loved us. Since we are the bride of Christ, is He treating us the same way we treat our spouses in marriage and/or even friends and family members?
Whose “Hanging Noose” can you remove from his or her neck today?
Let us think about the weight of this: “7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”. There is more kindness to come to us and it cannot be exhausted. This is very humbling and God gives His grace to the humble who ask for it by faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, please help me and fill me with your grace to live daily and to give your grace to others and tell others about your grace to me. Amen. I solicit your prayers. Thank you. I thank God for His grace on me and you.
Lord, heal and comfort this mother from Iran (Mrs. Hosseinzadeh) and help her to know the forgiveness of Jesus for her own sins. Amen.
Happy Mother’s Day to all Our Mothers and Sisters!
Comments