Living Theology
in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Volume 6, Number 3
Christmas 2001
Copyright
(c) 2001, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Used
by Permission
Theodore
W. “Ted” Schroeder
“Making Christ Known” has been the ongoing theme of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for several years. It
expresses in just a few words the overall mission and purpose of this church.
Certainly, the proclamation, sharing, telling, communicating of the Good News
about Jesus Christ is the very heart of what we as a church are called to do.
Under the overarching theme have been annual themes that have focused on
aspects of the call to make Christ known.
In 2002, the focus of that making known of Christ is
expressed in the words “Promise for a New Day.”
Though
the phrase does not appear in the Bible, the words pick up several important
elements of God’s relationship with people and help us remember the hope that
God’s saving acts among God’s people brings.
Promise is a powerful word in the Holy Scripture. In fact,
God might indeed be called a “promising God.”
Much of the revelation about God in Scripture tells of God’s promises,
God’s intention to keep God’s promises, and God’s fulfillment of those
promises.
The biblical record sees a promise as something
fundamental to God’s action toward and on behalf of people (Psalm 126:2). In
the Old Testament, a promise is never casual, always relational, always future
or forward looking (1 Corinthians 1:20), and always of benefit to the receiver
of the promise (Psalm 18:30). In addition, because the promises of God are
dependable (2 Samuel 22:3: Joshua 23:14; 1 Kings 8:20; 1 Peter 2:9;
Hebrews 10:23), they form the basis of hope (Jeremiah 29:10‑11).
Scripture reveals God promising many things:
·
Blessing
(Deuteronomy 15:6)
·
Care
and protection (2 Samuel 22:31)
·
Presence
and peace (1 Kings 8:6)
·
The
land as an inheritance (1 Chronicles 16:14)
·
Salvation
(Psalm 119:4)
·
Redemption
and life (Psalm 119:154)
·
Return
from exile (Jeremiah 29:10)
·
A
future with hope (Jeremiah 29:11)
And
many more.
Many of God’s
promises were given to or through individuals:
·
Noah
received God’s promise to the world that there would not be another great flood
(Genesis 5:21).
·
Abraham
heard a promise that his descendants would be great (Genesis 17:6‑7) and that
he would have a son, even in old age (Genesis18:14).
·
Jacob
was told he would receive God’s protection (Genesis 28:13‑15).
·
Solomon
asked for and received wisdom (1 Kings 3:1‑9).
·
David
was promised greatness (2 Samuel 7:21‑29).
·
Isaiah
was promised forgiveness (Isaiah 6:7).
·
God’s
presence and deliverance came to Moses as he prepared to lead the people out of
Egypt (Exodus 23:12) and to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:8) as he was called to be a
prophet.
Many of the biblical promises were more like
agreements. They were formal promises called covenants. Though some covenants
were between people (e.g., the covenant
between David and Jonathan [1 Samuel 18:3], the marriage covenant
[Genesis 2:24]) a covenant usually had these characteristics:
1.
It
was offered by God to a person or a people (Genesis 17:2; Exodus 6:4).
2.
It
was for the benefit of those who received the covenant. It guaranteed their
future by binding God to blessing and protection through the promise (Luke
1:54).
3.
It
anticipated a response of obedience and faithfulness on the part of those who
received the promise (1 Kings 8:6).
4.
It
often was sealed with a sacrifice (Deuteronomy 26:1‑4).
God offered the divine covenant, the covenant that
established the very identity of the people of Israel, to Abraham and to his
descendants: “I will make of you a
great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will
be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I
will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis
12:2‑3).
The covenant at Sinai formalized the agreement and
bound the people of Israel into a special relationship to God (Exodus 20‑24;
Deuteronomy 4:13). Reminding God’s people of that covenant became a principal
message of the prophets, who constantly called upon a wayward people to
“remember the covenant” that God had made with them (Isaiah 24:5; Hosea 6:7).
The promise that God would “remember” the covenant
became an important foundation for the hope of God’s people, especially as they
looked forward to release from the exile (Jeremiah 29:10‑14) and of the
coming Messiah (Jeremiah 33:14‑15).
The New Testament sees the principal promise in the
Old Testament as the promise of a Messiah—a Savior who would fulfill all of
God’s promises and bring all of the blessings that God had promised in the
first covenant. The Messiah would be the one who would be able to keep the
covenant and guarantee the promised salvation for God’s people (Psalm 2:2; 45:2;
110; 119:41; Isaiah 40; Jeremiah 23:5; Micah 5:2; and many others).
For this reason, Jesus calls his promise of the
“kingdom”—of salvation, of God’s blessings (a promise sealed by his own death
and resurrection)—a “new covenant” (Matthew 26:28; 2 Corinthians 3:6).
This new covenant has some of the characteristics of
the old (i.e., it is relational, dependable, given by God, for the benefit of
those who receive), but it is no longer a covenant that depends upon the
obedience of those who receive the covenant. The obedience already has been
completed (Hebrews 8:8; Jeremiah 31:31‑35). The covenant already has been
established forever by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:10).
The blessings are secured (Acts 2:39).
We who receive that covenant live in the grace and
forgiveness it brings. We are made into a “new creation” in Christ (2
Corinthians 5:17). We live in the promise and hope that Jesus offers (Ephesians
2:12‑20). Because we are now the ones who are loved and redeemed (John
3:16), we are those who live a new life in Christ (Colossians 4:17‑32).
A principal feature of that new life is our ability
to look to the future in hope (Romans 5:1‑5).
OF
A NEW DAY
One way to express that hope based on promise is
that it looks forward to a “new day.”
Though the words do not occur together in the Bible, “newness” is an
important feature of what Jesus has won for us in his death and resurrection.
The Old Testament promises look forward to the newness that the Messiah will
bring. Jeremiah looks for the day of the “new covenant” that will feature the
law of God written in the hearts of God’s people as they receive the gift of
forgiveness (Jeremiah 31:31‑43). Ezekiel sees the Messiah bringing unity
and a “new spirit” (Ezekiel 11:19‑20).
In line with those Old Testament expectations, Jesus
promises us many things. In fact, he promises that God will supply us with
whatever we need (Matthew 7:7‑10). But, principally he promises his
eternal presence with us and an eternal purpose for our lives (Matthews 28:18‑20).
Because of Jesus’ promise we look forward to the
coming of the Spirit (the Advocate or Comforter) who will “teach us all things”
(John 14:26). We depend upon the promise of the gift of eternal life (John
3:16) and we anticipate the coming of a “new heaven and a new earth” (2 Peter
3:12).
We enjoy a forward–looking anticipation that God
will keep God’s promises to us (2 Peter 1:3‑4) because we know that all
of God’s promises in Christ are a “yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Interestingly, the “day of the Lord” often is
described in scripture as a day of judgment, a day to be feared (Malachi 4:1
and 5; Zephaniah 1:14; Romans 2:5; Revelation 6:17). But Jesus transformed
God’s day. Now the day of the Lord is a day of hope (1 Peter 1:3‑7). We
look forward to a completion of the newness that we can see only dimly now
(1 Corinthians 13:12).
We look forward to the fulfillment of the promise to
make “all things new” (Revelation 21:5), a time when there will be a “new
heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).
Standing confident in that promise, we look toward
the future in hope. In spite of the gloom that the world often spreads over the
future, in spite of the fear that surrounds us, in spite of the words of doom
that fill the media, we face the future with faces lifted up, with hearts open,
with hands at the ready to do the work we are called to do.
We face the future eager to get on with the task to
“make Christ known,” because in him we have received that sure promise that
offers hope for a new day—this day and every day into God’s future.
And
the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”
Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he
said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the
end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of
life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and
they will be my children (Revelation 21:5‑7).
O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all
the earth.
Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his
salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous
works among all the peoples.
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he
is to be revered above all gods.
Psalm
96:1‑4
Theodore W. “Ted” Schroeder
Director for Resource
Development
Division for Congregational
Ministries
Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America