We are in the midst of a hotly contested presidential campaign. People in the world are anxious about the future. They have little or no hope. They want change. They want to know each candidate’s vision for the future. One of the candidates proposes a “new covenant.” Frustration with the two major parties led to a grassroots movement entirely outside the traditional political power structure. The members of that movement, as well as those in the two major parties, are searching for a new and better way.
At times like these, we should be especially thankful that we are Christadelphians. We have a real hope. We expect and look forward to real changes. We participate in the real new covenant each week. And God has given us a clear vision of what the future will be like.
We should be sharing our hope, the changes God has promised, the new covenant that Christ’s sacrifice established, and the vision of the soon-coming kingdom. Our preaching efforts should address these issues because God has prepared people to receive His message. We should mount a Bible campaign based on True Campaign Promises.
Our hope
Our hope is “the hope and resurrection of the dead,” “the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers,” “the hope of Israel,” “the hope of (God’s) calling,” “the hope of the gospel,” “the hope of salvation,” “the hope of eternal life” (Acts 23:6, 26:6, 28:20; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:23; I Thess. 5:8; Tit. 3:7). “(We) are called in one hope of (our) calling” (Eph. 4:4). Our hope is a “good hope,” a “blessed hope,” “a better hope,” “a living hope” (II Thess. 2:16; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 7:19; I Pet. 1:3 RV).
Notice that hope is associated with rebirth: the rebirth of the resurrected dead unto salvation and eternal life; and the rebirth of Israel restored as the kingdom of God on earth. Together these two themes make up the gospel that God promises to those who respond to His calling. Following Christ’s command to the apostles, we must preach this good news to those around us, and those who believe will be saved.
Change
True change is coming soon. Christ will return to establish the kingdom of God on the earth. Are we ready and eager to leave behind our present lives?
Will we follow the examples of faithful men and women who willingly left behind an old life in response to God’s call to a new life? “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went…These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that…they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city” (Heb. 11:7-8, 13-16).
Or will we be like Lot’s wife, who, because she was so attached to her way of life, died with it? “(The angels) brought (Lot and his family) forth, and set him without the city (Sodom). And…(the angel) said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee…But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt” (Gen. 19:16-17, 24-26).
Jesus tells us that we will be faced with the same sort of decision when he returns. “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, (i.e. they lived their lives as usual, ignoring God’s warning through Noah that change was coming soon) until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk. 17:26-32).
Let us not become complacent, but let us watch and be ready for the summons that will come when Christ returns.
The new covenant
The Lord prophesied through Jeremiah, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah…this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:31-34; cp. Heb. 6:7-13; 10:14-18).
At the last supper, Jesus “took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many unto remission of sins” (Mt. 26:27-28 RVm). His sacrifice established the new covenant. We remember that our sins are forgiven through faith in him each time we eat the bread representing his flesh and drink the wine representing his blood.
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a great priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water: let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised: and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works” (Heb. 10:19-24 RV).
Let us share this new and living way with those around us who are seeking. Let us encourage them to share the faith, hope, and love that comes from knowing the true Christ, our Lord and Savior.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One