Psalm 71:19
“Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You Who have done great things; O God, who is like You?”
1 John 2:1
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.“
God is always righteous and just. No trace of impurity has or ever will be present in Him. Indeed, He defines what is righteous, and human sin is essentially transgressing what He has declared to be right.
In stark contrast, we are not inherently righteous. Isaiah 64:6 states that our righteousness is as filthy rags. If we are ever to know and fellowship with the supremely righteous God, that problem must be fixed. But how?
The traditional Chinese character for “righteousness” is a beautiful picture that illustrates the Bible’s answer to this dilemma. It is the character for “lamb” over the character for “I/me.” (There are actually several Chinese characters for key concepts that contain the character for “lamb”, highlighting the intersection of ancient Chinese culture with the Truth. See this article for more info: https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/the-lamb-of-god-hidden-in-chinese-characters/ ) As John 1:29 declares, “… Behold! The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!”
1. Jesus said in John 16 that one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs would be to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray for a student in Xidajiao who is studying traditional Chinese characters to ponder the meaning of the character for “righteous,” and to pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s conviction in her heart. Pray for the Lord to provide that student with the complete gospel message of how to obtain personal righteousness through faith in the Lamb of God.
2. In the foreground of the picture above is an observation deck which provides expansive views of the area. Pray for an individual in Xidajiao to obtain and read a copy of the Scripture, that he may view his own level of righteousness from the observation deck of God’s Word. Pray for him to also read how to make the greatest trade of all time, as described in 2 Corinthians 5:21.
3. Pray for Christians in Xidajiao to more fully understand, appreciate, and apply the implications for daily living of the truth that they have been declared righteous by the Father.
