Key Thought: Our great hope is the return of Jesus to bring an end of evil, to heal injustice, and create a new world. This hope gives ourage to our service for others as we await His return.

September 14, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Luke 18:1-8.

1.  Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is Jesus saying here about His response to the repeated prayers of His people to act for them?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever prayed earnestly for God to act or intervene and it seemed like He wasn’t listening or answering you? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “I am a pastor’s daughter, but I couldn’t work in another country in the former USSR because I was Ukranian. I couldn’t even attend church because the members didn’t approve of where I came from. Why is all this happening to me? I am a pastor’s daughter.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read I Corinthians 15:12-19.

1.  Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. Why is the truth of the resurrection so crucial to the Christian hope?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever prayer that the Lord would come soon to end the death, misery, crime, hatred, and evil in this world? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why help the wicked and those who aren’t Christian anyway? They are going to be destroyed when He comes. We might be helping them to be stronger, live longer, and have more children of the devil that will eventually harm other people.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Ecclessiastes 12:13,14.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What does this tell us about how important all that we do here is?
3. Personal Application: What does it mean to you that one day justice will finally come? What does justice mean to you? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “What about the people who do all kinds of bad things, hurt others financially, physically, and mentally? If they repent and are converted; their sins are forgiven. Where is the justice to those they did harm to?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Revelation 21:1-5.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. Is it difficult to imagine life without sin, death, pain, and tears?
3. Personal Application: What should we be doing now to prepare ourselves and others for the new heavens and earth? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

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Many of us in the church still struggle with sin and addictive behavior. We may find it hard to believe that Jesus can give us total freedom from those addictions here on earth. I find much comfort knowing that, when I look at my own weaknesses and past failures, God can still fill me with the fullness of His character. (See Ephesians 3:19) I find it encouraging that, even though I can’t picture myself as a complete overcomer, Jesus can still do more for my spiritual growth than I can presently picture or even try to imagine. (See Ephesians 3:20) With God all things are possible! Nothing is too hard for the Lord. (See Matthew 19:26 and Genesis 18:14)

When we fall and get discouraged and ask Jesus for forgiveness for the umpteenth time, we find it hard to believe we will ever have total victory this side of heaven. We sigh and think it will be like this as long as we live here on earth. It’s not that we want a “cheap grace” that will allow us to freely sin. We don’t. We just can’t imagine life any other way. God says He would rather that we obey than sacrifice. I believe millions of us agree with God. We would prefer to obey rather than to crucify Jesus. We are sick and tired of breaking God’s heart and the hearts of those we love. 

A few years ago I went to my regular Bible study with a young man who had overcome a sinful addiction. He was very upset because after several good months he had a relapse. He was beyond discouraged, thinking he had out sinned God’s grace. I shared with him how Psalm 51:17 tells us God will never despise a broken and contrite heart. The number of times that heart has been broken or contrite before does not matter. God will never despise a broken and contrite heart, no matter how many times sin has broken that heart before. That is good news. I have more good news! 

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Grace saves us from sinful living.

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.  And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. Titus 2:11-14 NLT 

One day I was walking in a nearby park that had a path for those fighting cancer. Every few feet there was a marker with an inspirational quote on how to cope with cancer. I remember one marker had a quote that simply read, “There are people who have survived every form of cancer.” Those simple words give hope to everyone who has been diagnosed with any type of cancer. There are people who have survived the most deadly cancers. Titus 2:14 reads, “He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin.” You may be struggling with an addiction that is overwhelmingly embarrassing to you. Don’t despair. Jesus has freed people from every kind of sin. 

Grace produces obedience. 

Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience….Romans 1:5 NKJV

A preacher from the General Conference office (sorry I forget his name) was preaching years ago at an Oklahoma camp meeting. He told the story about how he was going to a breakfast diner before work one morning and saw an empty parking space close to the restaurant. He also saw a car coming from the other direction towards the same space. His first reaction was to step on the gas and get the space before the other car could. However, he explained that He had submitted himself to Jesus that morning. Thus he eased off the gas instead and let the other car take the space as he parked much farther away. When he entered the restaurant the man who got the closer space was waiting to be seated. He thanked the preacher for letting him have the closer parking space. The preacher told him, “That wasn’t me.”  The man inquired, “Then who was it?” The preacher replied, “It was Jesus. I would have taken the closer parking space!”  Galatians 2:20 tells us it is Jesus who lives in us and does all the good things. It is not us.  Salvation by grace is a practical salvation, giving us real and practical obedience. 

Grace gives us good works. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT 

In the  90’s I watched a documentary by Oprah Winfrey on child abuse. Abuse victims gave their testimonies. In many cases their abuser had been abused as a child. In several cases the abuser was a “pillar” in the church. I observed that this epidemic was handed down from generation to generation even in the church. Around this time I had seen bumper stickers reading, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” I wondered if that alone was really good news. If Christians are only forgiven, that means the child abuse epidemic is doomed to continue from generation to generation in the church.

But God’s grace can free us from the cycle of abuse. It does not have to continue from generation to generation in the church. I have met more than one person who was abused by their parents, but by God’s grace took good care of their parents in their old age. More than that they created a wonderful loving home environment for their own children. They did this by following the pattern Jesus gave of crying out ‘Father forgive them” instead of retaliating or passing on the abuse epidemic to the next generation.  I have met grown children of alcoholics who have never drank a single drop of alcohol because they saw what it did to their family growing up, and by God’s grace they refused to allow alcoholism to destroy the family they married into.  This can only be accomplished by God’s grace, but by God’s grace the victories are practical and real. By grace Christians are more than just forgiven. By grace we are saved from sinful addictive behavior. By grace Jesus lives His obedient life of Good works through us. 

Amen!(2)

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The Christian hope in the second coming of Jesus is not just about looking forward to a bright future. For the early Christians, the bodily resurrection of Jesus gave the promise of His return a solid reality. If He could come back from the dead—which they had witnessed for themselves—He would surely come back to complete the project of removing sin and its effects and renewing the world (see 1 Cor. 15:22-23).

Resurrection

For the apostle Paul, the resurrection was the key element of the Advent hope. He was prepared to stake the credibility of everything he preached on this crowning miracle in the story of Jesus: “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Cor. 15:17, NIV). Think about his words here and how important the resurrection of Christ is to all that we hope for.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. How would you explain to an interested nonbeliever why the truth of the resurrection is so pivotal to Christian hope?

Witnessing the resurrected Jesus transformed the first disciples. As we have seen, Jesus had previously sent them out to announce and enact the kingdom of God (see Matt. 10:5-8), but Jesus’ death shattered their courage and smashed their hopes. Their later commission (see Matt. 28:18-20), given by the resurrected Jesus and powered by the coming of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-4), set them on the path of changing the world and living out the kingdom that Jesus had established.

Freed from the power and fear of death, the early believers lived and shared courageously in the name of Jesus (see, for example, 1 Cor. 15:30-31). The evil that brings death is the same evil that brings suffering, injustice, poverty, and oppression in all their forms. Yet, because of Jesus and His victory over death, all of this will one day end. “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26, NIV).

Amen!(0)

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Religion has often been criticized for a tendency to draw believers away from life here and now toward some better afterlife. The criticism is that the focus on another realm becomes a form of sanctified escapism and renders the believer of less benefit to the world and to society. At times, believers have left themselves open to such criticism, sometimes even cultivating, preaching, and practicing these kinds of attitudes.

Hope

And, too, we have terrible examples of those in power telling the poor and oppressed to just accept their sad lot now because, when Jesus returns, all will be made right.

Yes, our world is a fallen, broken, and tragic place—and there is nothing wrong or misplaced in longing for the time when God will set the world right; when He will bring an end to injustice, pain, and sorrow; and when He will replace the current disorder with His glorious and righteous kingdom. After all, without that hope, without that promise, we really have no hope at all.

In His sermon on the end of the world (see Matthew chapters 24 and 25), Jesus spent the first half of His discourse detailing the need for escape, even getting to the point of saying that “if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive” (Matt. 24:22, NIV). But this is more an introduction to His explanation of the significance of these promises of God. To focus solely—or even primarily—on the “escape” aspect of the Christian hope for the future is to miss some of the deeper points Jesus was making.

Read Matt. 24:1-25:46, NIV, (Matthew 24 and 25). What are the most important points from your reading of this sermon of Jesus? How would you summarize Jesus’ instructions for how we are to live as we wait for His return?

What we believe about the future has important implications for how we live now. A healthy reliance on the promises of God about His future for our world should be the catalyst for energetic engagement, the spark for a life that is rich and deep and makes a difference to others.

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Throughout the Bible’s story, there is a repeated call from God’s people—particularly those experiencing slavery, exile, oppression, poverty, or other injustice or tragedy—for God to intervene. The slaves in Egypt, the Israelites in Babylon, and many others called out to God to see and hear their suffering and to right these wrongs. And the Bible offers significant examples of God’s actions to rescue and restore His people, at times even taking revenge on their oppressors and enemies.

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But these rescues were usually short-lived, and the various prophets continued to point forward to a final intervention, when God would put an end to evil and lift up the downtrodden. At the same time, these prophets continued the cry, “How long, O LORD?” For example, the angel of the LORD asked about the exile of the Israelites, “LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy”? (Zech. 1:12, NIV).

The psalms are full of laments about the apparent prosperity and good fortune of the wicked while the righteous are abused, exploited, and poor. The psalmist repeatedly calls on God to intervene, trusting that the world is not presently ordered in the way God created it or desires it, and taking up the cry of the prophets and oppressed. “How long, O LORD?” (see, for example, Ps. 94:3-7).

In a sense, injustice is more difficult to endure among those who believe in a just God who desires justice for all His people. The people of God will always have a sense of impatience about evil in the world—and God’s seeming inaction is another source of impatience. Thus, the sometimes harsh questions of the prophets: “How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save?” (Hab. 1:2, NIV).

A similar cry is taken up in the New Testament, where even creation itself is portrayed as groaning for God to rescue and re-create (see Rom. 8:19-22). In Revelation 6:10, this cry—“How long, O LORD?”—is taken up on behalf of those who have been martyred for their faith in God. But it is the same cry, calling on God to intervene on behalf of His oppressed and persecuted people.

Amen!(0)

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