Alex Tang
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Medical Students /Paediatric notes
A Light In the Darkness
Dr Alex Tang
15 years old Tee Hui Yee made headlines last year when she received two heart transplants within a week. Prior to that, in 2006, she was on a mechanical heart for one year in IJN (Institute Jantung Negara), making a record for the longest period anyone is on a mechanical heart. Her own heart was too weak to work. It would not have been comfortable as the mechanic heart need a battery that weighs 9 kilograms.
In October 2007, she received a suitable donor heart from a man in Perak. Unfortunately, her body rejected the donor heart within one week. On 3 October, a 20 year old mechanic was killed in an accident in Johor. The parents agreed to donate their son’s heart and Hui Yee received a second heart transplant. This time, her body accepted the new heart and she was able to be discharged in time for Christmas last year.
Finding a suitable heart for transplantation is very difficult because the heart must match our bodies. If it does not match, our bodies will reject the foreign organ. This is like kidney transplant. For Hui Yee to find and receive 2 hearts within a week is nothing short of a miracle. The down side is that for a heart transplant to occur, someone has to die. No one can give away their heart and yet live.
Now what if like Hui Yee, your doctor tells you that you have a heart problem. Your heart is not working properly and you need a heart transplant. If not you will die soon. However there is a man whose heart is suitable for your heart transplant. Your doctor has done all the tests and only one man on the whole earth has a heart suitable for you. The man is alive. To donate the heart, he has to die. Do you think that will happen? What if that man is willing to donate his heart for you? How will you feel? I have never heard of any man who is willing to donate his heart. Kidney maybe, we have two. Donors want to live too.
However, I have heard of a man named Jesus Christ. Jesus said some interesting things which are found in the Bible.
Jesus claims that
1. the world is sick
2. the world is dying
3. that he is the cure
4. he has to die for the cure to work
5. that he will come back from the dead
1. the world is sick
Jesus said the world is sick. The world is broken. This is not what it is supposed to be. If you look around, I am sure you are aware that there is something wrong with this world
• The crime rate is Johor Bharu is very high. You are afraid to go out. Snatch thieves not only snatch your bag but may injure you first. Want to take, take lah. No need to use a knife.
• There are more wars in the twentieth century than in the whole of human history
• There are more people starving now than in the whole of human history. It is not that there is not enough food. It is that the rich nations eat more than 80% of the world’s food. There is not enough for poor nations
• Many people in Africa are dying of AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa had 30 million people living with HIV/AIDS by early 2003. 2.4 million Africans died in 2002. Ten million young people (aged 15–24) and almost 3 million children under 15 are living with HIV.
• In some countries, parents are selling their young children, sons and daughters to be prostitute for money. There is something wrong with the world. This is not how it is supposed to be. The world is supposed to be a good place. The Bible tells us that in the beginning the world is paradise. It is called the Garden of Eden.
2. the world is dying
Recently, a friend of mine went to Cambodia. In Phnom Penh, he visited a museum where prisoners were tortured and killed. The skulls of the victims were still there in the museum. Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge may have killed 750,000 to 1.7 millions of his own people. During the Second World War, Hitler may have killed 6 millions Jews. How can human beings be so evil? How can we do such horrible things? The Bible tells us that in the Garden of Eden, something terrible happened. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Because of the disobedience, our human nature changed, become evil. That made God very angry. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden. To make this world we live in today. There are many things our eyes can not see. This does not mean that it does not exist. We do not see the electricity, but we know it exist. Try putting your hand in an electric socket. There are angels, demons and devil at work in this world. The world is dying. God is still angry and one day he will destroy the world. He will send everyone to hell. Hell is a place of eternal fire.
3. that Jesus is the cure
God though angry still loves us. That is why he created Adam and Eve is the first place. He loves us as a parent loves their sons and daughters. No matter how bad our children are, as parents we still love them. So God wants to save us from his judgment. The world is dying and need a cure. The cure is his son, Jesus Christ.
4. that Jesus has to die for the cure to work
For the cure to work, Jesus has to suffer and die. Jesus has to bear all our wrong doings, our evil and suffer judgment for us. He even has to go to hell for us. By doing that, our slate is wiped clean. Punished completed. The summon has been paid. The sentence of death has been carried out. This is like Hui Yee. To get a new heart, someone must die. Because of a young man’s accident death, she is alive today. His heart is beating in her. A sentence of death has been imposed upon us. Jesus has gone out and died in our place 2000 years ago. Sentence has been carried out. We are free.
5. that Jesus will come back from the dead
When Jesus’ work was finished, he rose from the dead. How many people have you met that come have come back from the dead? Even before he died, Jesus has told his followers that he will come back from the dead. Even his followers did not believe him. According to the Bible record, he was crucified and died on Friday. He was laid in a tomb which is a like a small cave and a heavy stone was placed over the entrance. That’s the way they buried the dead in Jerusalem. The governor also placed some Romans soldiers to guard the tomb. They were afraid that someone will come and remove Jesus’ body. On early Sunday morning, some of Jesus’ female followers went to the tomb to clean up his body. When they arrived, they found the heavy stone rolled way and the tomb was empty. Jesus then appeared to them.
All in all, Jesus appeared to 500 of his followers including his own brother, James who did not believe in his teaching. Then Jesus went up to heaven, promising that he will come again. When he comes back, it will be to carry out God’s judgment on earth. This is an important point. If anyone who can prove that Jesus did not come back from the dead will show that Christianity is wrong. That all that the Christians believe in are fairy tales. My friends, after more than 2000 years nobody was able to disprove that Jesus rose from the death. That is not for lack of trying. Thousands of people, from scholars, lawyers, CSI experts have tried. Not one can came up with any proof that Jesus did not rise from the dead. What does that tell you?
If someone who claims that he will die and then come back to life again tells me something, I will listen to him.
• He died a horrible death, tortured and crucified on the cross
• He was dead, otherwise they would not have entombed him
• He rose from the dead as he said he will I will believe all his claims Jesus claims that 1. the world is sick 2. the world is dying 3. that he is the cure 4. he has to die for the cure to work Believing is one thing, but acting upon your belief is another.
If Hui Yee were told that a second heart was available to her after her first heart transplant and her body was rejecting the first heart, do you think she will believe it?
• It is so hard to get a heart in the first place, now another heart within a week. She has been waiting for the first heart for so many years and was even on a mechanical heart for a year.
• So easy She may think that the doctors may be bluffing her, trying to console her and make her feel better.
What if she did not believe them? What if she refused the second heart transplant? She would be dead now. She will not be able to celebrate Christmas at home and eat Yee Sang during Chinese New year at the home of her heart donor’s family.
What if Jesus is correct? Jesus claims that 1. the world is sick 2. the world is dying 3. that he is the cure 4. he has to die for the cure to work 5. that he will come back from the dead That he will take your punishment and give you a second chance. No going to hell. Will you believe him? Can you afford not to take the chance?
All you have to do is to believe him and accept his death for you. Then Jesus is the light in the darkness.
There is a simple prayer you can make:
Dear God, I believe that you have sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins and I accept his death on the cross for me. Please help me to understand this more. Amen.
Approach any members of this church and they will help you to know more about Jesus.
soli deo gloria
|posted 22 march 2008|
