NEW WORLD ORDER
God, the Creator of the universe, has a plan for a new world order to rebuild and refresh the world that man has ruined. This is the main theme of the gospel, which is the `good news concerning the Kingdom of God' and the name of Jesus Christ. (Acts 8:12)
This is the very plan that was revealed in outline 4,000 years ago to Abraham, the forefather of the Jewish people. God promised this faithful man:- a) a personal promise `I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.' (Gen.12:2) b) the promise of a family, when he had no child. `I will make you a great nation.' This was a promise about the Jewish people, whose true greatness is yet to come (Gen.12:2) c) the promise of a land for him and his family for ever. `I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which are a stranger.' (Gen.17:8) d) the promise of bringing a world-wide blessing: `In your seed (Jesus Christ) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.' (Gen.22:18; Galatians 3:8,16).
The True Gospel these divine promises constituted `the gospel' which was preached to Abraham (Gal.3:8) and this is the very hope of a King (Jesus) reigning for God which the apostle Paul called `the hope of Israel.' (Acts 28:20) For God's eternal purpose, in spite of man's folly, has always been as he declared to Moses, that `as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.' (Numbers 14:21). Abraham did not live to see God's precious promises come to pass, but he looked forward in faith to the time when he would see them all fulfilled (Heb.11:13). Mary, the mother of Jesus, anticipated her son's part in fulfilling God's promises to Abraham when she said that `He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.' (Luke 1:54,55.)
Jesus, descended from Abraham, was fully aware of the implications of God's promises to his ancestor. His message of good news the gospel was to urge his hearers to prepare for the time when God's promises to Abraham will be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.
Bro. Ernest Lavuna, (Givungi, Kenya.)
