Spotlight 11/2021: A matter of conviction, election, and bearing burdens

True faith in the triune God works on two levels: it helps us in the present and points us into the future. Those who believe in God have a future. That is why the Chief Apostle gave us the motto he did for the year 2021: Christ, our future.

Although several months of the year have already passed, we don’t know what we will experience in the days, weeks, and months to come. For us, the future lies in the dark. This can certainly be a source of uncertainty and worry. How good then that the divine light shines on us—also in the future. We have an almighty, triune God:

• the loving Father
• the redeeming Saviour, and
• the Holy Spirit as comforter.

Faith in God without focusing on the future would not be genuine and not really Christian.

The conviction that Christ is our future will accompany us throughout the rest of the year 2021 and beyond. We are expecting the return of Jesus Christ, knowing full well that there is still a lot that needs to be done until then. Our waiting for the Lord is filled with an intensive preparation of our souls for that moment.

Jesus Christ has elected us, has called us into His church, and has given us a mission: He wants us to proclaim the good news of eternal life together with Him here and now, and then later in His kingdom of peace. We can either accept the Lord’s call or reject it. If we accept it and stick to it, Christ will be with us in the future without question.

Seeing that Christ is our future, we heed His words and strive to keep His commandments. In the sixth chapter of Galatians there is a beautiful exhortation: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6: 2). People who love each other occasionally use the phrase: “Your wish is my command!” We love Jesus Christ and it is our resolve to be with the Lord forever. We can therefore say, “Lord, Your wish is my command.” Viewed in this light, the expression “law of Christ” does not have a negative connotation for us. In fact, it is a pleasure and a joy for us to use it as a yardstick for our actions and conduct.

For Jesus Christ the sinfulness of human beings was no reason to deny them His good news. On the contrary, He turned to those who, by human standards, did not deserve it and went on to take the burdens of our sins upon Himself, in the true sense of the word.

It is not so easy bear the burdens of others. The strength for this comes from love: love to Christ and our neighbour. If we take this year’s motto seriously it will have a direct impact on us today: in our family, in the congregation, and in society. Let us inject the Chief Apostle’s motto with life, because this is how we can do something for our future.

Photo: Jens Lange