Calvin Synod Herald, 1980 (80. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1980-05-01 / 5-6. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 5 frustration. As a result, masses turn to the unreal, the occult, alcohol and other drugs for escape. Admittedly this is a “generation going nowhere”... We can go on, but I think the point has been made: we need a new world; the old is worn out .... 2. The church is in no better condition! Christian forces are in disarray, thoughts are confused, and mission is uncertain. Although belief in God has remained nearly the same during the last 30 years in America (94$), 61 million Americans are not members of any church. According to the Gallup poll “need for leadership, hopelessness, unhappiness, gullibility, and spiritual emptiness were thought to be the primary reasons why people join cults.”. . . The church is no longer the success story as it was. A minister observed: “What is now lacking in American Christianity is depth of theological conviction and awareness of a biblical outlook. All to rare is any clear sense of who God is or what God is doing in human history.. . Increasingly, even in the church, it seems difficult to think or speak about God. The Bible is seldom read and its contents are virtually unknown. Theology and doctrines are little discussed and very rarely understood or even recognized.” Can we refute this statement '1 Social involvements created disillusionment and despair precisely because whenever our efforts in society are undertaken without a sober caution which emerges from theological-biblical sources, we pay the price of disillusionment and despair. Whenever we turn to our task without a sense of God’s serious call to responsible involvement, we end up being frivolous . .. Again, you can add your own analysis, but I think the point is clear: we need a new heaven; the old is worn out... 3. In this double “frying pan looking forward to the fire,” we are not hopeless! For the Good News is that THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH ARE COMING! (In that order!) This fact shouts out for attention on every page of the Bible. As a matter of fact, this new heaven and new earth have already broken in, overtaken us 2,000 years ago: Jesus Christ’s entrance to Planet Earth shattered the old world. The cross and resurrection of our Lord ushered in the new world. This is the crucial issue for both the world and the church! The Scripture clearly speaks about a gigantic struggle which started in heaven, when Lucifer-Satan rebelled against God and His government. The Great Obstructor, the Devil accused God that He was a tyrant, a despot; His laws were cruel and His rules unjust. He accused the Lord that He could not love: He was able to rule, but unable to serve; able to give orders, but unable to obey; able to demand respect, but unable to humble Himself; able to hate and destroy those who disobey Him, but unable to forgive His enemies... By this wicked accusation, the “prince of the power of the air” tried to create disharmony, spiritual crisis in the universe which would alienate the creation from its Creator! Satan wanted the inhabitants of Planet Earth on his side, and — as you know — he succeeded in that... When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, God could do three things: (a) destroy the world of disobedience, justifying Satan’s contention; (b) suspend His laws which would create anarchy to the satisfaction of Satan; (c) give a chance to sinful man to live, but taking the penalty of sin upon Himself! ... As you know He took the third option: as God He could not die, He had to become Man (Heb. 2:14-15) ; emptying himself. He took the form of a SERVANT, being born in the likeness of man; and being found in human form HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, and became OBEDIENT, UNTO DEATH, even death on a CROSS (Phil. 2:5-8). This was the death blow to Satan who wanted to prevent our Lord from this course in every possible way: directly and indirectly, through friends and foes, in life and death. But all in vain: CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS FOR SINNERS, FOR GOD’S ENEMIES, FOR THE REBELLIOUS WORLD, AND THUS HE DESTROYED THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL (I. John 3:8). Before the whole creation He proved that God loves, gives, forgives, suffers hell. .. This is the new heaven: the revelation of the Redeeming God! This is the truth, but the Great Deceiver and Liar and Murderer still tries to hide and confuse this fact! Although “the last bell of the boxing match has sounded on the cross, the enemy still flings his fists.” Although the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central fact of history, Satan claims it is a deception, and it is proclaimed, the “god of this world” makes this Gospel veiled, and disguises himself as an angel of light. This is why we are warned to test the spirits and withstand false prophets, false teachers, false Christs. False religion is a particularly effective weapon of Satan here in America. In totalitarian systems the government determines (rightly or wrongly) what is true and what is false religion. In a free society like ours, the law protects the cults; here it is our duty to learn how to distinguish between true and false religion. Presently we have about 4-500 cults in America, which may create a “pluralism shock” in the 80’s. Are we preparing our people how to test them? “False theology about God and man is more dangerous than the intemperate use of alcohol. The latter affects only the body; the former affects the spirit.” Doctrine and moral belong together: false doctrines create false life, sound doctrines create sound life. This is why “gentle Jesus” spoke so strongly against false teachers! This is why Peter’s description of false teachers (greed, sexual immorality, contempt for truth) is crucial for us today! The new earth does not come with smooth evolution, but in crises. And more important than wars and earthquakes is the crisis created by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ is already in motion: the One who died now lives and we are the witnesses of H>s resurrection! Nothing can change this fact! 4. John saw this work of God in exile! He paid the price for it! But on the island called Patmos, he saw the activity of God and caught up with Him. (This is what “Reformed” really means.) ... Do you see the new heaven and the new earth as the first heaven and first earth had passed away? If you do, two practical imperatives will emerge: (a) Recapture the significance of the pulpit! Yes, we live in an era in which self-styled preachers have done great harm and damage to the cause of Christ. There are preachers who proclaim false and bizarre teachings. But despite the unsavory reputation, recapture the biblical insight of preaching. There is no greater thing in the world than to be a preacher of the Gospel! Beware of “ministerial malpractice!” “What we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2. Cor. 4:5) (b) Recapture the Church as the Body of Christ! It is in times like these that the church can be truly powerful — to serve, to demonstrate the love of God, to be crucified and risen with the Lord. If people do not find Christ in us, they
