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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/stephen-vance/the-bible-and-the-chinese-language-they-are-related/
Well, it's a privilege to talk to you tonight, and I thought I would take up a subject that I hope will be of help to many here tonight. You know, over the last number of days, those of you that have been here will know the chart there at the back called the wonders of God.
And we've been talking about many wonderful things that God has done. Specifically, we talked about some things He's created. Some animals and nature. And then we also talked about some parts of our bodies that the Bible says are fearfully and wonderfully made.
We noticed in all these things the great wisdom of God to design something very carefully. We saw that it's a wonderful thing, a wonder of God. If we want to know that God exists, we can look at nature.
We can look at our bodies and just see how God has made these physical systems so amazingly. But you know, there are other wonders of God. We'll come back to the human body and to animals again, but for a few nights now, we want to talk about another wonder of God.
And this wonder of God is the Bible. It's not wonderful because of the paper it's written on. It's just newsprint. It's not special ink. Some Bibles are written on very nice paper with gold ink, but that's not why the Bible is a wonder of God.
This is just a common book, but on its pages are written the words of God. And what I want to try and show you tonight is that this book is a wonder of God. It's an amazing, amazing book. We're going to do this in a few ways over some nights together, but tonight, considering that many in the audience are Chinese, I thought I would start by talking about something that is very intriguing.
You see, the Bible, if you just turn to page one, please. Page one in your Bible that's been given to you, the book of Genesis, is the first book in the Bible. And that word Genesis actually means that.
It means beginning. Beginning. So this Bible starts by describing how the world began. How everything got started. And just so that we can be clear, the Bible teaches that the world, it got started and the human race got started and we have all come from one common human family.
That means that you are my cousin. Way back, you know, like we're not real close cousins maybe, but we are all related in the human family. We have a common genetic. We are one human family. The Bible says in Acts 17 that God made from one blood all people to live on the earth.
That's what the Bible teaches. That we're one family. We started at the beginning with two people. Adam and Eve. But you know, some people say, well, it's okay to read the stories here, and we're going to talk a little bit about that tonight, about how things began, but that's just the Bible.
It's just in the Bible. Those stories about creation and about Adam and about Eve and about how they took that fruit that God told them not to take and they disobeyed. Someone says, that stuff's just in the Bible.
So I don't believe that. I don't believe the Bible. What I want to show you is that the stories of the Bible are not just in the Bible. In fact, the stories of creation and of the flood and of sin coming into the world are found in many cultures throughout the world.
Many societies have the story of a six day creation and of a great flood of water that destroyed society. Many, many societies have those stories. It might be just a little hint that the stories are real.
The reason everybody has them around the world is that, well, they happened at the beginning. And so they were passed down in different societies and people wrote them down. But I can see all my Chinese friends here tonight saying, you don't know anything about us because we don't have these stories much in our culture.
What I want to show you is that actually the stories of the Bible are hidden in your culture. Let's take a look. Let's take a look. Let's start by reading in Genesis chapter one. And we're going to read at verse one.
It says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. What we're going to look at very quickly here tonight is 11 Chinese words. And for those of you that are not Chinese, maybe you don't know this, but Chinese words are pictures, little pictures.
For example, here's one very simple one that you should be able to figure out. This one, that's no good. This one here is the word, as I recall, coal, coal. And it's a square. Do you know what it means?
It means a person. Do you know why it's a person? Well, every person has one mouth. And your mouth looks like, well, kind of like that. I mean, there's no circles in Chinese language, so they made them squares, but the opening of the mouth, coal.
It's a person, right? That's a picture. And that word is included in many other Chinese words. So Chinese language has these different pictures and they build them together to build more and more complex words.
And these words, let me tell you, are very, very interesting. I'm going to write some of them on the board, but they're all on your sheet. For example, the word for create that we have read in Genesis 1 and 1 is the word, cao, cao.
But this word is very interesting. I'm not going to spend much time on this. But if you look, the word, cao, actually has two parts. Well, maybe I should try and do this right here. My Chinese friends will forgive me because my writing is absolutely horrible.
And I know I'm doing it in the wrong order. I know that. Don't tell me afterwards. I know. I promise to learn better for next time. Something like this. That is cao, to create. I think I am, no, that's right.
I've got it. But you see, what's very interesting about this word is this. It is made up of two other words because this little part right here is cao, to talk. And this part over here on the left-hand side is a small part of the word to walk, zou, right?
And so the word for create in Chinese has these two ideas, a person who talks and a person who walks. Well, that makes sense. That's what people do. But what is really, really interesting is this one right here.
This one called gao. Because this one, gao, has a number of parts. It has the familiar co, a person. It has the one right here that means dust, to dust. And then it has this little apostrophe that just means it's part of another word, pierre, pierre.
And it means living or moving, right? But what's really interesting about this business of creating is, watching, this one right here. Why is dust involved with creating? Why? What reason would there be as the Chinese people designed their language to put dust into the word for creating?
It don't make sense, except that maybe people that walk and talk were made from dust. And that's what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches in Genesis 2 that God took the dust of the ground and formed a man.
It was from dust that people were created. My Chinese friends, have you ever wondered why dust is in that word? Maybe. Just maybe. It's because that's the way it happened. And in the beginning, people that walk and talk were created from dust.
You know, another one that's very interesting, I think this one is fascinating, is the second one. Second one on the sheet is the word for first. This one's a little easier to write, at least here I need, yeah, that's the right one.
The one for first is kind of interesting. It goes like this, sort of like that. Not quite, that's a little too long, isn't it? First, it's the word xian, right? Xian. But this one, again, has the same little thing.
It's got the word for ar, sun, and it's got the word pie, but then it's got this thing right here, again. Dust, tu. So why would it be that the first thing, the first person is a living sun, dust? Those three things together, living, sun, dust.
You see, my friends, it's because God made the first person from dust. I mean, why first? What does first have to do with living person, dust? Except that our first father was made from that. Makes no sense, except that the story is actually true.
But let's come to another one. I think the third one is quite interesting. The third one is a very, very interesting Chinese word. It's the word for happiness. It's the word fu, fu, happiness. You see, let's just read about this.
In Genesis chapter two and verse eight, just read with me on page one, second column. Genesis two and verse eight. It says, the Lord God planted a garden, Easter word, in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
And out of the ground, the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
So you see, according to the Bible, when God made man, He put him in a garden. And it was a beautiful garden, the Bible says, because God had made it. In chapter one and verse 31, it says that God looked on everything He had made and it was very good.
God made those things and they were beautiful. The garden produced all kinds of beautiful fruit. It was a wonderful, wonderful garden where Adam and Eve, they could live together in happiness. Happiness, fu.
But take a look at this word, happiness. Yes, let me try and write this one like this. I don't think I've got this, but anyway, this one's easier, there we are. I like those ones, they're easy. Fu, right?
Is it fu? Yeah, okay. And of course, this is really easy for all of my Chinese friends here, because here you've got something that has four parts. Fu, and what do they mean? Well, this one here is tian, right?
A field, a garden. This one here is ko, means a person. And this one here is yi, one. So get a look at this, one person garden. And then this one here, I am told, is an ancient character that is related or part of the character for God.
God, shang. So look at this, happiness. Happiness in the Chinese language is God with one person in a garden. God with one person in a garden. Why is that happiness? Because it's describing the Garden of Eden, where God was with one man in a garden.
That's what we've read here in Genesis 2. But we need to come farther in this story. And let's come down to verse 16 at the bottom of column two. God has created a world, and it is beautiful. God has created people, these first people, and they are happy.
But that's very different from us today, isn't it? Our world, even though it has some beautiful things, isn't totally beautiful. And our hearts sometimes have happiness, but sometimes we have sadness and loneliness and pain.
And so what has changed since the beginning that the Bible tells us about? What has changed? Well, the story starts to unfold in verse 16. Because the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat.
For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. So you've got this, right? We've got a garden, we've got a field. And inside the garden, right in the center, what do we have? We have two trees.
Those things are lin, lin, right? Two trees in the garden. This is one tree, if I'm right. This is one tree right here, mu, one tree. Two trees, lin. And so this is going to be a very important graphic as we're talking about this tonight.
Two trees, lin, can also mean a forest, I know that, but it's actually two trees in a garden. Well, what can we learn about this? Well, we read in this little story that God told Adam and Eve, you can eat all the fruit of all the trees except, except for one.
This tree was the tree of life. This tree was the tree of knowledge. And God said you can eat all the trees. You can have life. You can have peaches. You can have pears. You can have apples. You can have baked apples.
You can have everything. But God said you cannot have this fruit here, the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Why did God not want them to have that? Well, it was because it was knowledge of good and evil.
God didn't want people to know about good and evil. He still doesn't. God calls sin, sin, and He tells us to stay away from it. It's wrong. Those commandments that Mr. Goff has been telling us about tell us about sins that we have done.
Lying and stealing and cheating. Being angry with no cause. Worshipping things other than God. Those are things that are wrong. And God says don't do them. They are sins. And God didn't want Adam and Eve to experience evil.
So He said those two trees. He said you can eat life and you can eat the other trees, but do not eat that tree. And so we might say that God forbade them to eat that tree. It was forbidden like that. You know that word, right?
It's on your page. Jin. Jin. Forbidden. That tree was forbidden. But did you ever wonder? Did you ever wonder why it was? I mean, easy to understand this one here, right? That one there, as it says on your page, is shi.
It's a command. But why, for forbidden, are these two things in there? Why is the Chinese word for forbidden a command about two trees? Why? Why? I mean, of all the things that people could decide when they're writing a language with pictures, forbidden, forbidden, forbidden.
Of all the things you choose to choose as a commandment, two trees? You see, it's too coincidental. Those two trees. Could it not be that those two trees are the trees of the Bible? The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
See, on that day, God was giving human beings a choice. He had made them good. And He had given them a garden. But He gave them a command so they would choose what to do. And just like them, you and I have choices every day.
And sometimes we make the right choices. But very often, we make the wrong choices. We're like Adam and Eve. We do what God forbids. People blame Adam and Eve and they say, we're in a big mess because of what they did.
But I do the same thing. I know what's right and I don't do it. Hands up if you're like that. Hands up if you know what's right and sometimes you don't do it. Hands up. I'm not going to ask any questions personally, but I'm sure everybody's hand should be up.
We all sometimes know something that we should do and we don't do it. You know what the Bible says? When we know something good that we should do and we don't do it, it's sin. It is sin. It's a big problem.
But there was another problem in this garden and it's highlighted in the next word, number six. Because there was an individual called Satan. He's God's enemy. He's sometimes called the devil. He was a good angel, but he rebelled against God and he became a very, very evil spirit.
But the word that I'm thinking about, oh, and I just saw there's a spelling error on here. Very bad. Sorry, all my Chinese friends. The word for tempter is not mua. It's wa, M-O, right? Wa, M-O. And here it is.
If I can just draw it over here. It starts with that, doesn't it? And that there is a covering. And then it goes on. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do this because this is a very hard one to write.
I'm going to ask you just to look at the page. I don't think I can write that one. I practiced before I came here, but I just don't think I can do it. But you see, for mua, for that word, tempter, someone who tempts, there is a guang.
And underneath the guang, there is a lin, two trees. And then there is also a guay, part of a guay. If you look at this word, mua, it has these three characters in it. A spirit beside two trees, under the cover of those two trees.
Let's read about this. Go to chapter three and verse one. See, this is the story from the Bible. But what I'm trying to show you is that this is the story in the Chinese language. It's built in. The pictures are there.
It's like a picture book. And look at verse one. It says, now the serpent, who is Satan, was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
You see, Satan. Satan was being very sneaky. I wrote that down at the bottom there. At the bottom of the outline. Sin is sneaky. And Satan was being sneaky on this occasion. He was telling the woman, he was saying, did God really tell you don't eat from that tree?
Look what she says. The woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat it nor shall you touch it lest you die.
She knew what God said. Satan says in verse 4 to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
And so Satan speaks to Eve and says, God is not telling the truth. And God is keeping some good knowledge from you. Eat. Eat. Eat from that tree and it will be good. That's what the tempter did. He went up under the cover, Guang, of the two trees, Lin, and that evil spirit, Gui, tempted.
Tempted. Eve. See, the story's starting to go wrong now. It's a big problem. And what's going to happen? How is Eve going to respond to this? Well, just watch this. The Moor is beside the two trees, but watch these two trees here.
Because we have the two trees, Lin, and beside the two trees is the lady. And what do you get in the Chinese language when you have a lady beside two trees, Lin? What do you get? Greed. Greed. That's what it is.
You'll see it on number seven. Lan. Greedy. Now let me ask you again, and I hate to be so repetitive, but I want to make my point tonight. If you don't believe in God and in the Bible, because you say it's all new, and it's not in my culture, I want to show you that there is a connection between Chinese culture and this book.
Peoples of the world. For other peoples, the Babylonians, they had it written on a tablet. But for the Chinese people, they drew it in their pictures. It's there. Tell me, why? Why is a woman beside two trees greedy?
I mean, I could see a woman in a jewelry shop or a woman in a clothing store maybe. I'm going to get in big trouble tonight. Yeah. I can see that being maybe greedy. My wife would never be like that, but maybe some ladies might be like that.
Greedy. But a woman beside two trees? Why is that greed? Have you ever thought it might be that the woman is Eve? And the two trees are in the Garden of Eden. And it was because it was the first instance of greed.
That's why it happened. And so listen to what happens in verse 6. The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eyes. A tree desirable to make one wise. And she took the fruit and ate.
She also gave to her husband and he ate. There's two points I want to make here. The first point is the second one at the bottom. I've written those words. Sin is sneaky. You see, Satan was sneaky on this day to get Eve to disobey God.
But Satan has not changed. He's sneaky. We were talking just today, weren't we, about the Grand Canyon. And for many years, evolutionists said, the Grand Canyon, it must have been there because of millions of years and the erosion.
Some people still believe that. But you know what happened out at Mount St. Helens when the volcano erupted? Mr. Goff was telling us today that a great canyon was made in a day. Similar, not in size, but similar in shape to the Grand Canyon.
And it happened in one day. Not millions of years. And yet people still think the Grand Canyon, oh, it must have took millions of years to make. But it's not true. See, Satan is sneaky. He likes to feed people lies.
Things that aren't true, to turn them away from God. But sin is not just sneaky. It is serious. Serious. I remember reading a story once about an English lady. And she had above her fireplace a little trinket, a little nice little round thing.
She used to let her grandchildren play with it. It was a small little thing. Black. And she didn't know what it was, but they had lots of fun playing with it. Until one day, somebody told her that it was a grenade.
They had lived through the war and it just happened to be left lying on the ground. And they brought it into their living room and put it there like a little toy. And they didn't know it. But that was a serious problem.
If the pin was pulled, if some kid, it would have blown everybody up. And she didn't know that it was serious. But you know, a lot of people don't realize that in our lives and in our hearts, there is a serious problem.
And it's called sin. A lot of people, when they hear about sin, they say, well, I'm not a criminal. And I know for our friends from China, those words, zui ren, criminal. You say, well, I'm not a criminal.
You see, a criminal is somebody who does something against society. And you may not be a criminal, but when the Bible talks about sin, it's talking about doing something against God. You may be good in society, but you may have done things against God.
Crimes against God. And friends, those crimes are serious. Serious. Well, let me just finish these up because the time is gone. Number 8. We could read about it in chapter 3. After they ate this fruit, down in verse 8, they went and hid.
They went and hid. And if you know the word for hiding in Chinese, duo, duo, it's made up of three words. I'm not going to write them for sake of time. But the words are shun, body, nai, is, mu, tree.
And you can read it right in the story here. After Adam and Eve sinned, they ran and they hid behind a tree. Their bodies were behind a tree. And they were hiding from God. Hiding is a body behind the tree.
But not only did they hide, but it says in verse 7 that they knew that they were naked. For the first time, they recognized that they had no clothes. And they wanted to make clothes. You know, the word for being naked in Chinese is very interesting.
Luo. Luo. It has part of the word for clothing, bu. But what's really interesting is that it has the word gua, fruit. Why is nakedness associated with fruit? Well, it was because Adam and Eve were naked and knew it after they had eaten the forbidden fruit.
You know, one last one. The number 10 that I've written on this little outline is the word for sorrow. And it's interesting too. Ku. Ku. And ku has the word for ancient, gu. But it also has part of the word for weeds.
Cao. And later in this chapter, we can't take time to read it. But after Adam and Eve sinned, God came down and punished them. And one of the punishments was that the ground started to produce weeds. And God said to Adam, you will be sorrowful for the rest of your life and you'll have to work hard getting rid of these weeds.
You look it over. Take the time. There's actually other ones. I didn't have time to talk about all of these. There's other ones I didn't even put on the page. My little point tonight is is that the Bible stands and it is verified by other stories, even by the Chinese language.
It's amazing. It's really, really quite incredible. You can believe this book. It's a wonder of God that He's given it to us. And I hope that you will trust it. There's one last thing that we should read.
And I'll be done. It's down in verse 21. Human beings had sinned against God. And the result of sin is death. They were separated from God and God told them that they would die. It was over for them. But God still cared about them.
And He gave them clothing of protection and to make it, He took an animal and He killed the animal and He made those clothes. And I want to tell you tonight that even though like Adam and Eve we have sinned against God and wandered away from Him, He's still looking for us.
He still loves us. And He sent Jesus, His Son, to die for our sins at the cross. And He's inviting people tonight to come to Jesus and He will give you salvation. Spiritual salvation. He will give you peace in your heart and true happiness.
You could become right with God tonight if you just accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.