Isaiah 22

Samuel Teo

Jesus, The Door of Life

Oil on canvas

48"x 60"

Scripture reference:

Isaiah 22:22

John 14:6

Revelation 3:7, 20

Fu - this Chinese character is made up of 4 characters meaning "one man in the garden with God" . Fu means "blessing". Adam and Eve had the blessing of being close to the presence of God, rubbing shoulders with Him. Then Satan came and sold them the lie. They ate the forbidden fruit believing that they would be the wiser knowing good&evil. Instead of trusting & obeying God, the now guilty pair surrendered their God-given authority over His creation to the devil. (Sin is when man chooses to live independent of God; to be in charge of his own destiny.) The devil took over the world and man was doomed to die.

Nevertheless, God is greater than Satan who thought it can outwit God. The all-knowing God had already conceived before the Creation for Jesus to die and shed His blood to redeem man who was given the free-will to obey or sin. (1Pet1:19-20, Rev13:8) .

Yi - is also made up of 4 characters. It means "righteousness".  Chinese believes that one's uprightness is based on one's effort to do good. However,, the 4 characters in Yi denote "lamb over me" ie "wah" which consists of "a hand that holds a spear". How did this Chinese pictorial character derived the Biblical truth that Jesus, the Passover Lamb of God had a spear pierced into His side when He was hanging precariously on the cross to suffer for our sins to justify us righteous before God and to bring salvation to all men back to Himself?

God 's redemptive plan to save man was through the blood of the sinless Son of God to atone for man's sin. Hence the red of the door which speaks of Jesus, the Door of life.

The cross at the centre of the painting is the centrality of God's wisdom to save man. Though foolish, weak and scandalous to man, it was

God's power to put an end to man's ego-driven, ego-centric spiritualism, boasting, self-life, self-reliance and promotion independent of God when every breathe and heartbeat comes from Him. (1Cor1:18-31) The cross was the power of God's love when He gave His Son, Jesus, while we were yet sinners, to die for us (Romans5:8). 

The 2 bouquets of roses on both panels of the door depict His unconditional love of no variation, ceaseless, limitless, evergiving & forgiving.

As the character of Yi signifies, Christ laid down His own life to be the once for all sacrificial Lamb. He incarnated as man, though He was God, to be crucified on the cross with outstretched arms to  bear and suffer the shame and weight of human sins upon Himself. His blood poured out, He died and was buried. But the grave could not hold Him captive. On the third day He rose from the tomb declaring victory over death. Sin lost its sting forever and no longer can condemn us.(Rom8:1, 1Cor15:56). All sins judged "PAID!"

Christ had risen to justify us. He holds the Key to our eternal destiny. He is the Door of Life we all need to walk through. No amount of self effort can earn us God's approval to heaven. In Christ alone hangs our righteousness (2Cor5:21). He has made freely available for everyone to take hold of Him, The Key of Life, to open the door to Him.

Jesus had laid down His own life as the perfect LAMB (see the door knock) to redeem us to be His own. He promises to come back for us as the LION(again see the door knock) of Judah, the King Almighty to reunite us to Himself into His Heavenly Kingdom where there will be no more pain, shame, tears and suffering but eternal joy in the blessed holy presence of God where "FU" awaits.