Good morning,
Why are we surprised?
None of us who were genuine born again Christians, who started the year 2020, knew that we were going to be turning a sharp corner in God’s plan for His world. God wasn’t surprised, but we are. We must remember that Lord, you remain the same forever! Your throne continues from generation to generation.(Lam.4:19) Our God knows the complete timing, from start to finish, of the world He created. God knew all the life forms that he would create and that He would make people in His image starting with Adam and Eve and finishing the last born child at the end of time. After about 2,000 years, The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.(Gen.6:5) The Lord wiped out all of human life except Noah and his family and started from there again.(v.8) From that time on the Lord watched as people would trust and obey God’s love only to see the generations that followed move farther and farther away from God. The Old Testament of the Bible is a wonderful story of the men and women who loved and served and followed God’s guidelines and of the people who walked away from God and lived in hatred and rebellion against their creator. At one point Joshua told God’s people, If you abandon the LORD and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.”(Jos.24:20)
In the New Testament we have the love of God for His people and how He sent His Son, Jesus, to live with us and die for us even though he never sinned in any way. As an adult Jesus loved the people around him, he healed them, he fed them, he taught them, and he even brought a number of people back from the dead. He was often found with large numbers of people who were hoping he would be the Messiah who would rescue them from their enemies. He was also hounded by the Bible experts of his day who hated him and finally succeeded in having him crucified. What they didn’t know was that Jesus died to pay for all of our sins. He told his followers that he would come back again to be the King of the earth. Jesus told them, "All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn't love me will not obey me.(Jo.14:23,24) He also told them, "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day.(Lk.17:26)Then he also said, "When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.(Mar.13:9)
Then Jesus added something that I believe is very important to us today. He said, For the Good News must first be preached to all nations.(Mar.13:10) For those of us who have been around for the last many years, we have had the special joy of seeing what Jesus mentioned, happening all around the world as missionaries, as new and seasoned believers have spread out over the whole world sharing the reality of God’s love and salvation. The Lord has allowed his truth and love to reach out through so many ways of telling, showing, teaching and encouraging people in even the most remote nations the telling and living of God’s truth. Could it be that this Covid-19 and the hatred of God’s standards and of God’s people all over the world at the same time be a warning and a joyful occurrence that is about ready to take place?
Mark 13:10 For the Good News must first be preached to all nations.
Roy Wisner
