A Hope Big With Immortality

Of all the people immortalized over millennia upon the pages of history, Jesus of Nazareth had the shortest period of public labor. Only three and a half years.

But what a three and a half years they were!

Socrates taught for 40, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, Jesus for not even four. Yet the impact of Christ's short ministry infinitely exceeds that of the combined 130 years of those three Greek giants.

Someone once wrote that "the grandest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci are but a reflection of Jesus, the Light of the world. Haydn, Handel, Bach, and Mendelssohn gave to the world their best melodies in the symphonies and oratorios they wrote to glorify Jesus Christ. Art, culture, music, philosophy—all have been enriched by His teachings. But Christ offers far more than philosophy, art, and music. These cannot save. Jesus offers light and life and salvation to sinful men."

That statement, however eloquent, falls short of doing justice to the richness of Jesus, for that quote is in the context of the West only; Christ's appeal, in contrast, is universal, transcending all political, ethnic, and cultural borders.

"You should search the Bible," Ellen G. White writes, "for it tells you of Jesus. As you read the Bible, you will see the matchless charms of Jesus. You will fall in love with the Man of Calvary, and at every step you can say to the world, 'His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace.' You are to represent Christ to the world. You may show to the world that you have a hope big with immortality"—Life Sketches, p. 293.

With Jesus at its center, Christianity is also a historical religion, meaning that it revolves around a person whose life and work are amenable to historical study and analysis. Yet, at the same time, we cannot circumscribe Jesus Christ within the confines of history. For the reality of His person is suprahistorical (above history)—there's a point beyond which historical analysis cannot probe. History cannot take us into the mysteries of salvation, or into the wonders of what Christ's death offers the world. For all that history offers, it cannot begin to fathom what Ellen G. White called "a hope big with immortality."

This quarter centers on Jesus, on who He was, on what He taught, on what He did—and on what He is doing now. That last clause, "on what He is doing now", makes all the difference in the world. It is what might be called "the mystery of the present tense," a crucial element that distinguishes Jesus from every other historical figure, for what other historical figure, no matter how great, is doing anything for us now?

Who was this amazing Jesus? What was He like? What did He do while here? What is He, indeed, doing for us now? And finally, why should He be a concern for people in the twenty-first century?

The answers, as we will see, are far from academic. On the contrary, they affect the destiny of every human being.

Roy Adams, a native of the Caribbean, the author of this quarter's Bible study guide, is an associate editor of the Adventist Review, the international magazine of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He is married to Celia (nee Wilson), and they have two adult children, Dwayne and Kimberly.

Contents:  (all lessons may not be posted)

Giardina Sabbath School Study Helps

Jerry Giardina of Pecos, Texas, assisted by his wife, Cheryl, prepares a series of helps to accompany the Sabbath School lesson. He includes all related scripture and most EGW quotations. Jerry has chosen the "New King James Version" of the scriptures this quarter. It is used with permission.  The study helps are provided in three wordprocessing versions Wordperfect; Microsoft Word;  RTF for our MAC friends (this is now a zip file); and HTML (Web Pages).

Last updated on February 15, 2008

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