Sharing the Good News

Our actions should reflect the purpose of our heavenly Father, whose will is that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

There is no doubt; the world has lost its way. The many atrocities we see happening in every corner of God’s green earth have become an overwhelming burden to the human mind, and humankind is desperately seeking a way of escape.

Using their wisdom and knowledge, people continue to explore the limits of their own minds to devise solutions to these desperate times, but sadly, all measures implemented and realized have proved futile, resulting in a society that is moving further away from the principles of Biblical truth. Every thought and imagination of his heart grows more and more evil each day.

The writings of the prophet Jeremiah highlight that the state of our world today comes as no surprise because of our very nature inherited from the Adamic man whom God first created. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Adam was the very foundation of God’s creation, but he chose to follow his own path, rather than that which Yahweh, his heavenly Father, had designed for him.

Additionally, the writer of the Book of Proverbs wrote: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12).

The way of death was chosen by Adam, the very first man God had created. All humans, therefore, born after Adam have projected similar thoughts of selfishness and self-centeredness. Every generation since has grown more and more wicked right up to this day.

In fact, it was only a few generations after the creation of man, the Scriptures tell us, that “GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6).

This passage tells us it was the heart of man that strayed; and subsequently, the many actions that followed, and all the evil things happening around us daily are a direct result of a heart estranged from God.

The Hebrew word for heart is leb, which is translated as “inner man; or mind; or understanding.” In other words, Jeremiah is telling us that humans’ inner mind, better known as their heart, conscience, or understanding, is deceptive, disingenuous, and untruthful. It is self-centered and self-pleasing, seeking pleasure and engaging itself only in those things that satisfy its lusts.

This is the mindset of over 8 billion people on earth today, so is it difficult then to comprehend why our world has lost its way from God? Certainly not.

Therefore, a reconciliatory journey back to God, the creator and sustainer of our lives, and from whom we strayed at the very beginning of his creation, is the only pathway to a new day, a new dawn, a new life. We must not despair. Our heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, has offered mortals a way back. He has provided to every person who seeks Him out in spirit and in truth, a blueprint in His Word of truth as the only guide through which reconciliation can be accomplished. That blueprint is that reconciliation can only come through his only begotten son, Jesus Christ.

We, brothers and sisters, as those who have the privilege of sharing in this journey that leads to reconciliation in God’s kingdom, must strive to extend this gospel message to men and women everywhere because the power of this message reshapes hearts, renews minds, and is an absolute necessity for human beings everywhere.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave this urgent message to the men and women of his day, and subsequently to us living in these very difficult times where the works of the flesh are so evident, and the Adamic man so present. Jesus said: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark. 16:15–16).

Either salvation or damnation are direct consequences of belief, or disbelief in the gospel message (which are the things concerning the Kingdom of God, and of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ). These fates demonstrate an overwhelming truth, and as Christians and Christadelphians, we have a God-given responsibility to share this message. But how do we do that? Surely by wise instruction, but more importantly, by our very actions. Our actions should reflect the purpose of our heavenly Father, whose will is that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9).

Life can be exhausting, arduous and stressful, even for believers. Like everyone else, we can be overcome by the brutal circumstances of daily events—events and trials that sometimes leave us beaten in our bodies and distressed in our spirits. There are times when we can hardly see one step ahead along the pathway that leads back to God’s divine Kingdom. Our faith, conviction and trust in our God must be the force we courageously embrace daily as we fight the good fight that enables us to overcome.

We cannot, and must not feel sufficient in ourselves, having the Truth, and thus be content to live out that truth only for ourselves; but instead we must extend God’s truth to others, in our thoughts, in our words and our actions, in the hope we might impact others in this lost and dying world—that they too might have an opportunity to be a part of God’s divine Kingdom.

We must become ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) of God’s divine message. His saving truth must manifest itself in everything we do, so that His divine plan and purpose for which He created the world from the very foundations thereof, might be seen.

We cannot allow Adam’s failure to overcome us and govern our actions and attitudes. Neither can we allow the wisdom of men to impact our behavior towards God, for this will surely jeopardize our own salvation, and that of the many others we meet (1 Timothy 1:18–19; 2 Timothy 2:18–19).

We are reminded by the Apostle Paul: “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men.” (1 Corinthians 3: 19–21).

God’s intent for this world was clear from the very beginning of His creation. He wanted to establish His Kingdom on this earth.

Let us not, therefore, allow the adversary, the character of this world which is at enmity with God, to manifest itself in us, for we have been bought with a price much more precious than that of silver and gold.

We have been bought with the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave his life for a ransom to this world, even while we were undeserving of it, so we might have life, and more abundantly. By this, we, who have chosen to follow him, can come before God’s presence with a sense of boldness (Hebrews 4:15–16) knowing we certainly have no righteousness of our own. Knowing that had it not been for Christ, all humanity would also be lost. We must count this opportunity to know God and Christ in a personal way, a true privilege.

The Apostle Paul wrote: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8).

Like those around us, we were once alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and were in bondage, slaves to sin and death; we were without God and Christ. We were unholy, unthankful, unworthy, but Christ laid down his life for us so now we can build a right and proper relationship with him and his father. Through him we can know the Almighty Creator, the only true God, who resides in the highest of heavens. Furthermore, we can share in the glorious hope of eternal life and enjoy the beauty the world was meant to have, from the very foundations thereof.

When the enemies of despair, apathy, depression, and doubt surround us, let us remember ours is a long-term investment in spiritual things, not the carnal and sensual things that are transitory and temporary. The writer to the Hebrews put it this way: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Hebrews 12:2–3).

So, what about those who continue to live in this lost and dying world? Should we feel any better than them, and thereby be content to live our own lives in Christ, without any care for them?

What if Christ, or the person we met, and through whom we are privileged today to know God and His son, did not share God’s saving truth with us? We would no doubt be in the same class as the many people of the world that the apostle Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, “others which have no hope.” Paul described us as once this way:

At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; strangers from the covenant of promise; having no hope, and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:12-13).

By the grace of God, we have come to know that there is no purpose without Christ in this life. Like the rest of the world, we would have daily cravings that couldn’t be quenched. Social circles would become small, friends shallow, life would become frivolous and when we died, that would be our last conscious moment. We would return to the dust and eventually be forgotten as though we never existed. That fate could have been ours were it not for the man Christ Jesus. As Peter writes: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3).

Let us therefore come boldly before his throne of grace, with a true heart, and in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from evil consciences, and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. And let us encourage those around us, that the living hope in Christ Jesus, which we have embraced, is being offered to them as well, because the Father’s will is that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. “Fear not,” Jesus tells all those who will listen, “it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32).

Nigel Small,
Marlton Ecclesia, NJ