羊羊得義 Bag O' Blessings
羊羊得義 MANDARIN ORANGE BAGS, CREATOR
It was the Year of the Goat in 2015, and it was the perfect opportunity to create Lunar New Year collaterals that reflected the nature of God.
Since Christian ang baos (red packets) were increasingly commonplace, I thought, how about mandarin orange bags?
Playing on the Chinese saying 洋洋得意 (which, loosely translated, means “triumphant“), I set about designing bags around 羊羊得義 , which means “sheep receive righteousness”.
(On top of hand-painting 50+ bags that CNY, I also spent countless hours on photography. The easiest part was probably coming up with a silly jingle for the giveaway. Ah, youthful idealism!)
義 ＝ 羊 ＋ 我
「義」有两个部分，分为上端的 「羊」和下端的「我」。今天，当我信靠耶稣，把「我」放在羔「羊」耶稣红红的圣血之下，我所有的罪孽就藉著羔羊耶稣的宝血得著赦免；我因耶稣的牺牲得称为「義」人，因祂而蒙福。
「羊羊」 —— 我们身为牧者耶稣的羊羊，
「得義」 —— 能得称为義，
「✞」 —— 只因为祂在十字架上成为了我们的代罪羔羊，
「红色」 —— 红红的宝血为我们而流，
「福袋」 —— 从此蒙福。过年过节时，我们最喜欢听到贺词，收到红包，吃肉干。今年，不如做点不一样的 —— 除了送小点和口头上的贺词来祝福亲戚朋友，也送给亲戚朋友们世上最大的祝福：耶稣。无论你用福袋来装橘子或红包，我们相信这包「羊羊得義」福袋可以助于你掀开话题，制造分享耶稣的机会。（我们也特指了一首短诗，相信也能帮助你！）
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義 ＝ 羊 ＋ 我The word "righteousness" (義) in Chinese is made up of two parts: the "lamb" (羊) above "I" (我). Because of Jesus's once-and-for-all sacrifice as the perfect Lamb of God, we who call Jesus the Lord over our lives today are judged righteous in God's eyes.
羊羊 ("sheep") — we as sheep before the Shepherd King
得義 ("receive righteousness") — who receive the gift of righteousness
✞ — because Jesus was our sacrificial Lamb
Red — Whose blood has made us eternally clean
福袋 ("bag of blessings") — that we may be blessedAs Chinese, we're big on blessing with our words and actions during Chinese New Year. This year, let's go beyond bak kwa and pineapple tarts, and bless our friends and relatives with the greatest Blessing of all—Jesus.
This 羊羊得義 bag o' blessings makes a great conversation starter, whether you use it as a red packet bag or as a statement piece holding your gams. (We've even included a little Chinese poem to help you get started!)
