Gospel News — Sep-Dec 2013

When we see the universe and everything in it, we know and have faith that there is One who made it. So we have our understanding through the word of God, which is the Bible, that we need to have faith, so that the Word penetrates our minds and hearts, for faith to grow in us.

We learn from our father Abraham who left his birth-place to go to a place he didn't know, and by faith he went and by faith he lived his life. So faith produces hope and we become the children of God in Christ, when we also become `the seed of Abraham, and heirs according to the promise.' (Gal.3:26-29) Through our faith in God as the Bible says, by believing, God gave us power to become His children (John 1:12).

The writer of the Hebrews letter pleases me saying, `For yet a little while, and he who is going to come will come, and shall not delay further.' We as His righteous ones will live by faith. God has no pleasure in those who shrink back, but `we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.' (Heb.10:37-39)

NEW WORLD ORDER

Bro. Ernest Lavuna, (Givungi, Kenya.)

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

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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.

The Kingdom Of God On Earth

Bro. Samuel Wanga Watako, (Nakuru, Kenya.)

The Kingdom of God has been preached for ages here on earth. Even in the Lord's prayer