Tuesday: The Messianic Promise ~ Part 2
“To enjoy true happiness we must travel into a very far country, and even out of ourselves.” — Thomas Browne.
Look at that above quote, written in the 1600s. Do you agree or disagree? Read it in the context of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 and of Revelation 3:12.
Image © Pacific Press at Goodsalt.com
Augustine wrote of the human condition: “This life of ours — if a life so full of such great ills can properly be called a life — bears witness to the fact that, from its very start, the race of mortal men has been a race condemned. Think, first, of the dreadful abyss of ignorance from which all error flows and so engulfs the sons of Adam in a darksome pool that no one can escape without the toll of toils and tears and fears. Then, take our very love for all those things that prove so vain and poisonous and breed so many heartaches, troubles, griefs, and fears; such insane joys in discord, strife, and war; … such fraud and theft and robbery; such perfidy and pride, envy and ambition, homicide and murder, cruelty and savagery, lawlessness and lust; all the shameless passions of the impure — fornication and adultery, incest and unnatural sins, rape and countless other uncleannesses too nasty to be mentioned; the sins against religion — sacrilege and heresy, blasphemy and perjury; the iniquities against our neighbors — calumnies and cheating, lies and false witness, violence to persons and property; the injustices of the courts and the innumerable other miseries and maladies that fill the world, yet escape attention.” — Augustine of Hippo, The City of God, Gerald G. Walsh, S. J. trans. (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1958), book 22, chap. 22, p. 519.
Augustine’s quote could apply to most modern cities today; yet, he wrote it more than fifteen hundred years ago. Little about humanity has changed, which is why people want an escape.
Fortunately, however tough our situation now, the future is bright, but only because of what God did for us through the life, death, resurrection, and high-priestly ministry of Jesus Christ — the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant promise made to Abraham that, in his seed, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
| Look at the quote from Augustine. Write something in your own words to describe the sad situation in the world today. At the same time, look up whatever Bible texts you can find that talk about what God has promised us in Jesus Christ (for example, Isa: 25:8, 1 Cor: 2:9, Rev: 22:2-5). Dwell on those promises. Make them your own. Only then can you truly grasp what the covenant is all about. |
(25)
More than anything else, people typically want to think that life has a purpose and that we are not just a blip in the slime we call life. We like to think that we do something that is meaningful with our lives. For Christians we often think of that purpose as preparing for eternal life, but for others it often means contributing something in our present life. The issue is that most of us will be forgotten by the third or forth generation after us. I know that my Great-great grandfather was Thomas Ashton and that he is buried in a church yard in Long Rise, Yorkshire , England. I know that he was illiterate and could not sign his own name. Apart from that, I know very little bit about him. He is the great-great grandparent I know most about. And if time should last, I expect that my great-great grandchildren will know as little about me.
God has not promised to make us the father of nations but he has given us a present purpose of sharing our relationship with him to others.
I like Psalm 15:
Pretty ordinary stuff really, but with extraordinary consequences.
What Augustine wrote is just a mirror for each one of us to look into and reflect. Generally, we tend to attribute all evil deeds and actions to 3rd party- the world. However, we are the world, we all take part more or less in the sinfulness prevailing. I become more conscious about my real state when my relationship to our Lord intensifies. Yet, thanks be to God, grace is abundant and that‘s what we read in
Psalm 24: 3-10 (KJV)
„Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands , and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, righteousness from God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, o Jacob,
Lift up your heads, o ye gates and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in.“
The key word here is „seeking the Lord and his face“ deligently.
Ty Gibson of Lightbearers once suggested, if someone asks what is the difference between what you believe and what other Christians believe? Reply - what we believe about the Character of the LORD is different!
This was a lightbulb moment for me!!
This is why the LORD chose Abraham to reveal to the world the true nature of the LORD of the Universe.
Two examples out of the many to that stunning question:-
Abraham could reply: the LORD has promised - As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease. The LORD does not need you to sacrifice your children to Him to give rain. He will provide the ultimate substitutionary sacrifice to reconcile us to Him.
What could I reply: the LORD alone is naturally immortal, and only at His Second coming will He give those who believe in Him immortality.
Thought questions - how does what I believe reflect on the Character of the LORD? How does the true Character of the LORD help us understand difficult passages in His Word?
I've learned that travel does not bring greater happiness, but I was fortunate that I never lived where escape was necessary, including 3 years at boarding school. Our school had its own beach!
Happiness exists in our daily toil and ordinary accomplishments done well. It comes from fulfilling God's purpose in whatever duties He places on our path when we follow the Lamb wherever He leads(Rev 14:4), which includes every trial we must face which is given to refine our character and fit us for abode with the angels and the very presence of God.
Yes, the "exceeding great and precious promises of God are ours if we will receive them by faith.
Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. Ps 26:1
Author qu-“To enjoy true happiness we must travel into a very far country, and even out of ourselves. Do you agree or disagree?"
Many people if not all are looking for true happiness. Literally speaking people travel everyday for vacation or just looking for a permanent place to settle where they thought will bring them happiness. Some move from place to place looking for a 'nice, beautiful, exotics' earthly place to find happiness. I can attest to that because I had the opportunity to move from place to place to look for that place just to realized that, what I thought was not the reality.
Spiritually speaking, many humans are searching for true happiness but in the wrong place. Happiness is subjective. But looking at the fruit of the spirit, happiness is not a part but Joy. Joy is that thing in the Christian that situation does not change. Despite all that is going on around us, we are steadfast in our walk with our Jesus. Grievous sins are everywhere, but do we who claimed to know Jesus are contributing to the sin problems? I ask myself, do I contribute to the destruction of the earth by; wasting water, wasting electricity, littering the environment. Do I try to short cut the government? Can I stand and truly say I do not have any of the sins mentioned above? Do I hate my brother/sister because the don't look like me or speak like me, or dress like me?
Like the majority Jews we could miss out on God's promise of His Son as our Saviour. The opertunity is there to all those who choose to be saved.
Travel into a far country would for most of us be going up to God in prayer and supplication. A relationship with our Hevenly Father, through Christ.
The lesson writer invites us to “write something in our own words”; but instead of describing the “sad situation", I attempt to show that our Faith in the Father’s Light has provided the way for us to live, and so live again in happyness.
No need to focus an that which is left behind – doubt and unbelieve -. I suggest to place the focus firmly on this new faith-life – the new life now based on Christ’s gospel of peace and loving righteousness.
I disagree with Thomas Browne’s thought that, “To enjoy true happiness we must travel into a far country, even out of ourselves.” No greater peace, joy, and happyness than knowing the spirit of the living soul rests securely in the hands of the Father in Heaven, even as we are surrounded by uncertainty and death.
If traveling anywhere, we need to travel inward, into the hidden corners and recesses of our hearts, asking the Father to reveal to us the obstacles hindering us to surrender all that we are and trusting Him fully with our life and so increase our happyness.
As I see it, we already live in the 'glow' of this faraway country right here and now. We live in it by FAITH. Maybe we can call it the *Country of Faith*, another name for *Heavenly Kingdom*; Faith and Gratefulness are its two mighty pillars!
Speaking as a believer in the power of Faith, I think it is the strength of our faith which makes the difference in one's life. A life lived in the absence of Faith in the Will of God, is lived in spiritual darkness; the one lived in and by His Will is lived in spiritual Light.
Our world is trapped in this state of spiritual darkness/ignorance, but the Father in the Image of His Son became man, living with man to demonstrate and bring His Light into our darkend hearts and mind and so reveal to us this darkness.
I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Father came so that the living can be born again, accepting Him by faith; to open the doors of His heavenly kingdom here on earth; growing and maturing His Image in us as we yield our will to do His.
He invites everyone to join His *Family of Faith*, living in His heavenly kingdom and be His spiritual children who live their lives by Faith in His living Word! Mark4:30-32KJV; Matt.17:20KJV; Luke17:5-6; Matt.13:31-32KJV.
Paul looked at himself and within and cried - 'Oh, wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this vile body.' He accepted that salvation is outside himself and his mortal body and heart were full of sin. In God, we find perpetual pleasures. David says in your presence, there is fullness of joy. We cannot find that joy looking into ourselves. The One who has promised to replace this corruptible body and heart with an incorruptible body and a perfect heart is trust worthy.
In Genesis 3:15, the preincarnate Christ predicted the Messianic advent, which was to provide atonement for the human race; to prove to sinless realms that there was no excuse for Adam’s failure and to validate the immortal blending of the law and the gospel by means of Calvary. The Adamic fall produced in humankind a new paradigm of evil. Adam’s posterity became diseased with a natural mental proclivity to rebel against divine sovereignty. Hence, since sin cannot be mere wrongdoing, it should be described as a spiritual psychotic condition that rages against divine sovereignty. In Matthew 1:21, the promise was given of a coming Christ who would heal us from the disease of spiritual schizophrenia. Born outside of Christ, the human race is in a condition of spiritual psychopathology. Christ came that we might become healed through a “blood transfusion” on the basis of His death at Calvary. Thus, Christ became the Monogenes, or only begotten Son (John 3:16), in that Christ entered the cosmos as the only One of His kind, without any competition. In Nazareth, the Second Adam started His humble ministry in a fallen, corrupt world, in contrast to the perfection of Paradise, wherein the original Adam failed. This God-man, who was tempted in all things, successfully evaded the hellhounds of sin. (See Gen. 3:15; 1 Cor. 10:13; 15:21, 22; and and Heb. 4:15, 16.) Read Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, page 700.