College Chaplain

We are God's project and the project of God for others

“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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”. - Ephesians 2:10

Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, reminds us that we are the workmanship of God. He stressed the significance of Christ's death on the Cross as part of our incorporation into the divine project of our salvation. Paul himself speaks of his personal experience of the inner deliverance which Jesus obtained for humanity from the sinful world. The encounter (personal experience of the Risen Lord from the dead) radically transformed Saul into Paul. It gave him the inner strength and courage to proclaim Jesus Crucified as the saviour and redeemer. Paul then shared his experience with his fellow Christians, who realized that they are the project of God for others as Christians. The Christian communities in the time of Paul prayed for the conversion of Saul, who became Paul; it was from that moment that they saw Paul and his conversion as God's project.

We are invited to experience the freedom that Jesus has brought to the world through his death on the Cross. For us Christians, this is the ultimate project of God for the entire humanity. Like Paul, we should be able to say that we are the workmanship of God created for good works; therefore, "God loves me beyond all telling". This experience of love is God's ultimate purpose and project for man. God is committed to it. Jesus' death proves this on the Cross, designed under the eternal project of God. People are invited to experience this freedom in love at every age and generation. The Christian community also must proclaim it to every generation in all corners of the world.

The knowledge that Jesus died for our sins should be personalized and help us shun the allurements of the sinful world. As we discover the love of the Father lying behind the death of Jesus on the Cross and Jesus' love to represent or substitute us for our sins should inspire us to come out of slavery to corruption and its entanglements. Jesus' death is thus not a sad event of the past to be regretted and lamented or cried over, but it is to be rather an impetus to overcome our tendencies toward evil. The death of Jesus always leads us to victory over sin and conquest of death. We are called to live a life of resurrection.

This is an invitation to live your life primarily and essentially for the Lord, to become God's project and project for others. God calls us to be His instrument in the world, which has practical implications. To embrace this call of becoming God's project, we must first acknowledge God’s ownership of our life and our total dependence on God. For he is the reason we want to live our life.

In the light of being God's project for others, we begin to see a need and to hear God's voice and call to do something about it. We begin to see opportunities beckoning us to realize our project or mission. Offering ourselves to benefit others primarily unites us and makes one with Christ, who offered up Himself for our salvation.

To conclude, the death of Jesus on the Cross as self-immolation for others should invite us to imitate Jesus. Our life receives fullness and realization when we, following the mentality of Christ, offer our lives for the sake of others. In all spheres of life, men and women are called to self-surrender to the will of the Father and self-sacrifice for the welfare of their brethren. No one can gain his/her life unless he/she loses it for others. The most secure and sure way to liberate ourselves from all entanglements of the present evil world is to seek the good of others. Jesus’ love in giving His life for us must be the ultimate stimulant for us to live and die for others.