Refresh Their Memory

"All the ends of the earth will remember and turn back to Hashem; all the families of the nations will bow before you. For the kingship belongs to Hashem and he rules the nations. Psalm 22:28-29 Tanach (Jewish Old Testament).

I heard a speaker highlight this verse recently, emphasizing that the earth and the nations would remember God, not discover Him for the first time. Contrary to our sometimes limited perspective, God actively engages with people all around the world and instills the truth of His existence into their belief systems and traditions. Don Richardson's classic book Peace Child describes one such instance.

Missionaries to Irian Jaya, the Richardson's lived among warring tribes who considered deceit, trickery and betrayal to be admirable qualities. In their culture Judas was the hero and Jesus was the patsy.

Constant fighting prompted the Richardson's to decide to leave. When the locals discovered their plans, extraordinary measures were taken to dissuade the couple. In a solemn act of good faith, the tribe's chief offered his son, the Peace Child, to his adversary. Refusal of this gift was unthinkable. The rival chief and his tribe were compelled to accept the offer and to insure the child's safety for the rest of his life at all costs. Now one of them, the bond of peace was established between former enemies.

Don Richardson found the key - Jesus was God's Peace Child. In light of this new understanding the people readily received Christ as Savior. It would have been insulting to not accept such a generous offer. This event not only facilitated the preaching of the Gospel but also brought lasting peace among the warring factions.

Buddha was born almost 500 years before Christ and most of those who follow his teaching have no idea that he prophesied of a Holy One who was still to come.

"The then old Braham priest asked, ' What will be the characteristics of the Holy One be like?'

The Buddha answered, 'The Holy One who will keep the world in the future will be like this: in the palm of his hands and in the flat of his feet will be the design of a disk, in his side will be a stab wound; and his forehead will have many marks like scars.

The Holy One will be the golden boat who will carry you over the cycles of rebirths all the way to the highest heaven (Nirvana). Do not look for salvation in the old way; there is no salvation in it for sure. Quit the old way, and there will be a new spirit like the light of a lightning bug which will come down from the sky above to live in all your hearts and you will be victorious over all you enemies. Nobody will be able to destroy you. If you die, you will not come back to be born in this world again. You will go to the highest heaven (Nirvana).'"*

Perhaps one way to share Christ with others is to engage them and learn what they believe. We will probably find that God has already planted the truth into their beliefs and they just need to be reminded of them. Could a friendly, investigative dialog produce better results than heated debates? The truth is there just waiting to be remembered. Help them find it.

*www.bibleprobe.com/buddhatoldofjesus.htm

Permission was granted to copy these Buddhist Scriptures from Wat Phra Sing in Chiang Mai Province. The person who gave permission was Phra Sriwisutthiwong in Bangkok. It is guaranteed that this copy is accurate according to the original, that there is no error in transmission, which is the book of the district headman, the Religious Encyclopedia Volume 23, book 29. This inquiry was made on October 13, 1954 A.D. (Buddhist year 2497).