Further Thought: 

Read Ellen G. White, “Called to Reach a Higher Standard”, pages 309-322, in The Acts of the Apostles; “Desolation of the Earth”, pages 653-661, in The Great Controversy.

“When the voice of God turns the captivity of His people, there is a terrible awakening of those who have lost all in the great conflict of life. While probation continued they were blinded by Satan’s deceptions, and they justified their course of sin.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

The rich prided themselves upon their superiority to those who were less favored; but they had obtained their riches by violation of the law of God. They had neglected to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to deal justly, and to love mercy … They have sold their souls for earthly riches and enjoyments, and have not sought to become rich toward God. The result is, their lives are a failure; their pleasures are now turned to gall, their treasures to corruption”. – Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 654.

“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love”. – Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 678.

Discussion Questions:

Summary: 

Our God will not allow evil to continue forever. The Bible’s great hope is the return of Jesus to bring an end to evil, to heal injustice and create a new world as it was meant to be. Built on the resurrection of Jesus, this hope transforms today and gives courage to our service for God and others as we wait for His return.

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Read Revelation 21:1-5, Revelation 22:1-5 and spend some time trying to imagine what life will be like as described here. Why is it difficult to imagine life without sin, death, pain, and tears?

The Bible’s descriptions of our life after sin are unquestionably wonderful and glorious and no doubt barely represent what is awaiting us. Even in these verses, the descriptions are almost as much about what won’t be there as what will be.

No More Pain

When this world is all we have known, it can be hard to imagine life without pain and suffering, death and fear, injustice and poverty.

Not only is there no more of these things, but this description adds a personal touch: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4, NIV). In the context of those who have been saved, God’s compassion for those who have suffered throughout human history reaches a climax in this single sentence. Not only does He bring an end to their suffering, but He personally wipes away their tears.

Battered and scarred by a life of sin and a world of injustice and tragedy, we can see in the book of Revelation hints at a process of healing for all of us who have been victims of sin in many different ways. Describing the tree of life, John explains that “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2, NIV). Again, God shows His understanding of, and compassion for, what it has meant to be human, to feel, experience, witness, and even participate in the evil of this world. His plan for re-creating our world includes restoring and healing each of us.

Until then, we seek to be all that we can in Christ, doing our part, as faltering and small as our parts might be, to minister to those around us who need what we have to offer. Whatever it is—kind words, a warm meal, medical help, dental work, clothing, counseling—whatever we can do we should be doing with the kind self-abnegating, self-denying, self-sacrificing love that Jesus manifested when He was here.

Of course, the world is still going to get worse and worse, despite our best efforts. Jesus knew that; yet, this truth didn’t stop Him from ministering to others, and it shouldn’t stop us, either.

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Read Ecclesiastes 8:14. In what ways do you see the stark and powerful reality of what is written here?

While suffering, oppression, and tragedy are hard enough to bear in their own right, the injury or insult is harder still if it appears to be meaningless or unnoticed. The possible meaninglessness of sorrow is heavier than its initial burden.

Judgement Hope

A world without record or final justice is the ultimate in cruel absurdity. No wonder atheist writers in the twentieth century lamented about what they believed was the “absurdity” of the human condition. With no hope of justice, no hope of judgment, no hope of things being made right, ours would indeed be an absurd world.

But the cry of Ecclesiastes 8:14 is not the end of the story. At the end of his protests, Solomon takes a sudden turn. In the midst of his laments about meaninglessness, he says, essentially: Hold on a minute, God is going to judge, so everything is not meaningless; in fact, now everything and everyone matters.

Read Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. What does this tell us about just how important all that we do here is?

The hope of judgment comes down to what one believes about the core nature of God, life, and the world in which we live. As we have seen, the Bible insists that we live in a world that God created and loves, but a world that has gone wrong and in which God is working toward His plan for re-creation, all through the life and death of Jesus. God’s judgment is a key part of His setting our world right. For those on the receiving end of so many of the world’s wrongs—those who have been marginalized, brutalized, oppressed, and exploited—the promise of judgment is surely good news.

Amen!(0)

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You can view an in-depth discussion of “Living the Advent Hope” in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. You may download an MP4 video file, and audio file or a PDF lesson outline from the HopeSS site.

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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As I turned the page to look at the Sabbath afternoon lesson study, looking at the new title, the first hymn that sprang to mind was
Hymn 214, “We Have This Hope”. The memory verse is in
Hymn 375, “Work, for the Night Is Coming”.

Sunday’s title of “How Long, O Lord?” is sung in
Hymn 207, “It May Be at Morn”.

On reading Matthew chapters 24 and 25 we know that
“Jesus Is Coming Again”, Hymn 213, but,
“We Know Not the Hour”, Hymn 604 with inspiration given to
“Hold Fast Till I Come”, Hymn 600.

Monday gives us a certain hope in:
Hymn 5, “All My Hope on God Is Founded”,
Hymn 174, “Star of Our Hope”,
Hymn 214, “We Have This Hope”,
Hymn 440, “How Cheering Is the Christian’s Hope”, and
Hymn 522, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less”.

“Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise”, Hymn 176 sings of the Resurrection Hope that we have as Seventh-day Adventists as does
Hymn 166, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”.

As we begin thinking of the Judgment Hope,
Hymn 416, “The Judgement Has Set”, asks questions for Wednesday’s study.
Hymn 418, “Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders!” ends with ‘You forever shall My love and glory know’. What a glorious promise!

“Gleams of the Golden Morning”, Hymn 205, sees all our tears wiped away (Thursday). Grief and pain are banished in
Hymn 206, “Face to Face”. Thursday finishes with the words ‘until then………….’ and we may finish our singing today with
Hymn 632, “Until Then”.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(0)

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