to be fulfilled. All of the pre-incarnat- ed appearances of Christ were to the Jews and, as we shall see later, it was not until His death at Calvary that He became the world’s Saviour. Strauss says, “Now when one is ‘without Christ’ he has ‘no hope.’ Even as the Gentiles were without hope before Christ came, so is every man today who has not trusted in Christ. There is no hope for the world or for the individual apart from Christ, but in Him God has given ‘everlasting consolation a n d good hope’ (2 Thess. 2:16). The “blessed hope’ of the believer is the appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). He is Israel’s hope and the only hope of the world.” Paul pictures the Gentiles finally as being “without God in the world” (2:12). While they had “gods many and lords many” (I Cor. 8:5), they were in a true sense of the word athe ists, since they were alienated from any contact with God. No sadder plight can befall a man than that of being in the world without God. Again divine intervention marks a transition in verse 13. When Paul pointed out the sad past of both Jew and Gentile, he contrasted the bright side of the picture by using thé con junction “but” — “But God . . .” (2:4). Here the contrast between the unsaved Gentile and the saved Gen tile is. marked with the connecting words, “But now . . .” (2:13). From the distressing scene of what the Gen- tileà had been, Paul turns in vivid phrases to show what had been ac complished for them in Christ. They were “far off . . . but now . . . made nigh.” Once distance had separated them from Christ; now they are en joying blessed union irith Christ. In antithesis to the Gentile being an alien from the commonwealth of Israel and a stranger from the cove nants of promise, he is created a new unity with the believing Jew. Christ became peace, having made both Jew and Gentile one by breaking down the middle wall of partition (2:14) (continued on page 32) 31
LETTER FROM AFAR
Dear Sirs: We enjoy listening to your broad cast over KGO. The reception is very good about six months out of the year — September to March. You probably won’t find Lousana on your map as we are only a hamlet of 60 people. We are east of Red Deer, Alberta and approximately 400 miles north of Great Falls, Montana. I am a rural pastor preaching, pres ently, in 4 different churches. Often 10:00 P.M. finds me on my way home from a meeting. Your broadcast is a wonderful companion in my car. May the Lord bless you. A. Daniel Smith, Lousana, Alberta, Canada The sun sets early for those who live always in the valley. * * * You don't need to furnish refer ences when you borrow trouble. A dedicated young Christian, considering foreign missions, was asked by his board to open up a neiv field in a remote area of A fri ca. He hesitated by saying, “I t ’s hard to bring yourself to going out there all alone for the first time.” The missionary leader wisely re sponded, “Well, would you like to go with a man like David Living stone?" Earnestly the Christian responded, “Yes of course. I ’d be glad to.” Whereupon he was re minded of the fact, “Then, why not go with Jesus Christ?” The prom ise of Scripture is given, “When thou goest out to battle and meet a people more than thou, be not afraid for the Lord Thy God is with thee.” This is the promise which our hundreds of Christ-dedi cated Biola students are claiming as they go out to serve the Lord Jesus Christ; to make Him known where He is unknoivh. * * "LO, I AM WITH YOU" *
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker