We have just passed the threshold again of an old year passing and a new one ushered in. What will the new year hold?
A major event this New Year's is the memorial of Bishop Tutu. What a great man he was who lived by the words of Jesus to forgive those who were behind apartheid. He was a great unifier!
Asif is gloomy about the new year. He has already heard several reports of major violence in the region of the world he came from. He is bracing himself for more.
On the other hand, with political changes happening around the world, some wonder if this is signaling the end of the world. Many of my Muslim friends are frightened.
I've been blessed by the message in 'The Book of Mysteries', that in God's economy the end ushers in a new beginning--"I am doing a new thing..."
"...Tabernacles is the last feast of the sacred year. It's the greatest celebration and it comes at the end...In the world...the greatest things come at the beginning. Everything starts out young, and then gets older and older...But the Feast of Tabernacles reveals the kingdom of God, it's the opposite. The greatest celebration comes at the end. So if you live in God's power, you don't move from life to death, but from death to life." from 'The Book of Mysteries'
We were reminded this morning that 'Immanuel'--one of the names of the Messiah is composed of 3 Hebrew words. 'Eem' means 'with'. And the word for 'us' is 'anu'. The word for God in Hebrew is 'El'. So now we have 'Eem-anu-El'-'with us is God'. From this we have Immanuel. Isn't that wonderful?
So Immanuel is with us in 2022. Immanuel(God with us) in good times. Immanuel in hard times. Asif has reason to be gloomy about the end of the world. He doesn't have any assurance that things will end well. His Shia friends talk about the Mahdi will come out of the shadows and make things right in the world while his Sunni friends talk about Jesus returning and destroying pigs and all crosses and forcing everyone to become Muslims. Many hope for the 'Golden era of Islam' to return. When will this happen? No-one knows.
The assurance the Injeel gives to the world is the message of 'Immanuel'. Asif doesn't yet have the assurance that 'God is with us". When Immanuel is here, all will be fine. Eem-anu-El(God is with us) in the storm.
Partners in the Gospel, let's move into 2022 with confidence. God is at work in the hearts of Muslims around the world. In 2021 we personally saw God draw Muslims to himself. What a privilege to be there to welcome them into God's kingdom!
The best is yet to come! Happy New Year.Lord Jesus, Thank-you for giving us this past year to reflect you in this world. Help me to be even more effective in communicating with Muslim friends and new believers about you. Amen.
