This has added more carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, which in turn has caused global average temperatures to have risen to around 1C above the 19th Century average, and they are projected to rise at least a further 1-2C by the end of this century unless worldwide action is taken.

The purpose of this blog post isn’t to go into great detail on the science of climate change (some general details can be found here) or indeed on the tricky political situation of trying to get hundreds of nations to all agree to measures which may well not be popular in the short term.

Let’s just say for now that without a coordinated and concerted global effort to dramatically cut CO2 output, there is a real threat of catastrophic changes happening to our established way of life.

We’ve already seen in the past decade an increase in extreme weather events across the world such as extreme temperatures, droughts and wildfires on one hand, and then severe storms, flooding and crop destruction as a result of that on the other hand.

Whilst to a certain extent, these sorts of events have been happening throughout history, the evidence points to this happening a lot more regularly in the past 20 years, threatening the eventual loss of some low-lying places to rising sea levels, as well as the loss of entire ecosystems.

Christian principles about the home we all share

The most important thing to say is that Christadelphians are all agreed in our belief that the future of mankind is on this planet. God’s plan and purpose is fixed on what happens here, and we all have a part to play, however small, in filling the earth with God’s glory. Clearly, this is primarily a spiritual act, but the physical acts we do also have a bearing on how much the world in its current state glorifies the creator.

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Isaiah 72 v 18-19

Right from the origin story of both humanity and the planet itself in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we read that God intended mankind to look after their home. We also get a warning in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, that God doesn’t look kindly on those who cause destruction to the world.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Genesis 2 v 15

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was…for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Revelation 11 v 17-18

Many Christians believe that God’s ultimate plan for mankind is centred in heaven rather than on earth. Some actually expect God to destroy the earth at some future time!

It could therefore be easy to lessen just how much our world actually matters.

It’s important to state that I’m sure most Christians wouldn’t want to deliberately mistreat the world purely as a result of that belief, but there is an inherent danger of perhaps taking less care of something if we don’t think it necessarily has much of a long term future in God’s eyes anyway.

Christadelphians believe that Jesus will one day return to earth from heaven, and that the resurrection of humans will be on earth, not in heaven. Planet Earth, therefore, is the focus of God’s plan.

“…why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Acts 1 v 11

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Daniel 12 v 2

Furthermore, the promise at this time is that eventually the hardships of mortal life will be done away with.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21 v 3-4

Essentially, whilst we may expect many difficulties to come on earth both now and in the future, we don’t believe that God will allow Earth to become uninhabitable, he will intervene when the time is right to bring about a restoration likened to the Garden of Eden, and this is a sure hope for those who look forward to return of Jesus.

That’s all well and good, but what about now?

This promised future time promised to those who respond to God’s call for salvation is both exciting and reassuring, it gives us hope as we see so much destruction, suffering and hopelessness all around us. That is especially the case as so often we see worldwide political efforts to make the world a better place fall very far short of being a success.

Yet, as much as it feels like the time for Jesus to return is getting close, we cannot just abandon all efforts to be good custodians of the world we live in. As individuals, we might feel like what we do in the here and now can’t make any noticeable difference, and yet those of us who have a faith in God to restore the world in the future, also have a responsibility to at least try to treat our home now with the respect deserved.

Small things we can do include reducing the amount we throw away and ensuring we make an effort to recycle more.

• Can we buy more local goods to avoid so much shipping around the world?
• Can we travel less, especially by plane?
• Can we do more of our local travel using less polluting forms of transport such as cycling, walking and public transport?
• Can we change our car to a smaller and less polluting model?
• Can we get more energy efficient devices at home, or install solar panels to generate more of our own clean energy?
• Can we consider eating less meat? Even if we all pledged to eat 1 less meat meal per week, then this would collectively have a big impact on the climate.
• Can we plant more trees in our gardens?

We will all have things we can do well, as well as things we will struggle with, for all sorts of reasons.

And the purpose of this blog isn’t to make anyone feel guilty.

But if we can all make a few small changes then collectively this makes a significant difference.

Finally, just as Christians encourage each other to be better people through prayer and setting an example for others to follow, we likewise should aim to live our lives in a way that shows that we do care for this planet and want to ensure that it will still be a good home for future generations yet to be born.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13 v 34-35

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The purpose of this post is to consider how we might be able to cope with living a life that’s so different to how things were, (in the UK at least) one month ago; and crucially, how to find hope in the midst of trouble.

Unshakeable promise

You have probably noticed images of the rainbow appearing in people’s windows since we’ve been in lock-down. This is something that started in Italy, a country which continues to suffer appallingly at the hands of this virus.

We can read of this symbol in Genesis 9, and understand what makes it a symbol of hope.

For Christians, the rainbow has come to be a sign of God’s faithfulness, that we can trust Him to keep His promises. Let’s look at the rainbow a bit more in its Biblical context.

In Genesis chapters 6 – 9, we read about a man called Noah and his family, who found their lives turned upside down, and were required to live a very different kind of life. Under God’s instruction, Noah built a huge vessel, to go on water and house a small band of humans, and a vast array of animals. They would live on board for over a year (Genesis 7:24, 8:3-12).

A family in lockdown

40 days and nights of rain, followed by months of isolation, waiting for the water to regress. Noah and his family were confined. They didn’t have a window, balcony or garden, and there was certainly no internet, no devices, no Netflix, YouTube or Facebook.

Imagine how they spent their time – floating on possibly stormy and certainly uncertain waters. They could probably hear the relentless rain. They were occupied in their care of the animals on board with them, and each other.

This time – where life was lived out in a very small space – must have put this family under great strain; spending all that time under the one roof, not being able to enjoy the independence they once did, not to mention anxiety at their entire way of life and nearly everything they had known being altered so drastically.

Where does my hope come from?

I find reading the Psalms to be really comforting when I’m going through tough times:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.”

Psalm 46:1-3

Finding peace in the storm

Comfort in troubles comes when we focus on Jesus. His disciples came to learn this through the time they spent with him. In the gospel of Mark, we read of Jesus and his disciples setting out on the sea of Galilee, and facing a literal storm which had experienced fishermen fearing for their lives:

“A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?””

Mark 4:37-38

Jesus demonstrated awesome power in halting this life-threatening storm. He challenged his disciples to have faith, not to be afraid and not to doubt. This was hard for them and is no different for us, seeing beyond a storm to the other side of it isn’t something that comes naturally to us.

We are endeavouring to cope in the middle of the storm we find ourselves in. We don’t know how long we’ll have to wait for the trials to pass, but we can cling onto Jesus, who has made it possible for us to live in a very different kind of world.

In Him, we can find peace right now, in the midst of trouble.

“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Ultimately, there is eternal hope which we can grasp hold of – a kingdom of peace, justice and righteousness – this is what we look forward to in the long run.

It a great unknown as to when this will be established, but once Jesus returns to our troubled world, we will understand better how our hope rests in Jesus.

We can read of it in many places within the Bible, and this is one of my favourites:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more…And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.””

Revelation 21:1,3-4

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Think of the world’s greatest philosophers and you might have the same mental picture as I do – an old guy with a long grey beard sitting on a boulder in a wood with a quill and some parchment, pondering the Meaning of Life.  It’s a question that the human race has been fascinated with for a long time, because the more you look at the world, the less it seems to make sense. Unlike animals, this lack of obvious purpose bothers humans.

What is the point in life if it ends up just being a cycle of non-existence, followed by complete dependence on our parents, then adulthood, dependence again when we are old, and finally death?  What did we actually achieve, and will it last beyond our death anyway?

The Answers

It’s questions like these that the Bible had already posed and answered long ago.  The whole book of Ecclesiastes was written by someone observing the way life runs and thinking “it’s just emptiness and grasping after the wind” (paraphrasing Ecclesiastes 1:14).  The book works through several different scenarios explored in order to find happiness and purpose, and finds none except the conclusion of the whole matter: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Isaiah also weighs in on the discussion.  In his prophecy, God makes it very clear that He created the Earth, and that “He did not create it empty, He formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18).  God is declaring that there is a purpose to our existence, and the “earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

The World Makes Sense!

You see, a belief in a God explains things that don’t make sense about our world.  Once we put God and eternity into the picture, we can see a purpose beyond our otherwise short, pointless life cycles.  We can understand that this life isn’t ‘it’; it’s just our probationary time.

It’s our time to pick a path and try our best to serve God, so that we might be part of filling the world with God’s glory in the future.  Because of this hope, we can be comforted that even if our life doesn’t work out as we wish, there’s something greater worth hoping for.

Want to hear more on this topic? Listen to the podcast below.

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We have no control over many of the things that happen in our lives, but hope for the future helps us through difficult times. God has made some amazing promises. Psalm 146 says,

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God

Psalm 146v5

There is a lot of false hope in the world. Here is something that will not let us down.

Meal a Day

This summer we are supporting a very special cause, the Christadelphian Meal a Day Fund. Its mission is, as a practical witness to our faith, to share the blessings we receive from God to help those who are in real need in the less developed parts of the world.

The fund supports sustainable ‘down to earth’ projects that focus on supporting vulnerable children, the provision of clean water, agricultural skills, basic health care and education and a meal a day.

Our hope is that by touching the lives of our ‘neighbours’ in need we might by our actions help to also teach them something of the love of Jesus and the hope of everlasting life to be found by faith in him.

Visit our SearchForHope shop at 39 Gray Street, Broughty Ferry, Dundee, DD5 2BJ, between 28th July and 4th August (except Sunday). Open 10am-5pm

Hope Stones

While you’re in the area, keep an eye out for our special ‘Hope’ stones. We’ll be hiding these treasures along the front in between the castle and yacht club for those eagle eyed among you. Once you find them, pop in to the shop to collect your prize! #SFHscot

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When the Bible talks about hope, it is talking about this second definition, a genuine confidence rather than a vain hope. We believe that God has a plan and purpose with the earth, to set up a Kingdom with Jesus as King ruling over the whole earth. As part of that, we believe that all those who throughout the ages have put their trust in him will be resurrected to live for ever in a totally transformed world.

Hope from hopelessness

Despite the confidence which we’re told we can have in this wonderful future, things can so often seem hopeless right now. Around the world through the modern media we can readily hear about terrible wars, natural disasters & humanitarian crises.

Closer to home, we so often see the problems of inequality, violence & poor health. The governments and influential people of the world have varying successes in making people’s lives better, but ultimately the effects of human nature affect us all in the end.

It is from desperate circumstances that we often find our eyes drawn more towards heaven as human solutions falter. It was from such a hopeless situation that the writer of the Old Testament book of Lamentations acted. He documented a time in Israel’s history when they had been taken from the land promised to them by God and were instead left in captivity in Babylon.

The vast majority of the 5 chapters of the book are very depressing, and I don’t want to spend any time here dealing with it now other than to say that I suppose the writing and reading of it would have been an act of catharsis for the Jews at that time, and indeed can be for us too.

When we go to the middle of the book, however, we find a very different message. We can read some beautiful words which were intended to help lift them (and by extension, also us) from the depths of despair.

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3.19-26

Be part of this hope

To be in such dire straits and still acknowledge that God constantly shows us mercy is not an easy thing, yet developing a faith in his plan and purpose enables us to do just this. Being a part of a community of believers enables us to share both the burdens of suffering and the good times we are blessed with as well. A true community of Christian believers is in effect as close as we can currently get to being in the Kingdom of God.

We can represent this hope to someone in a hopeless situation. It is to this community that God still calls people to discover him and his saviour son Jesus.

The Bible invites everyone to search for this hope, not just because of the hope of something better beyond our current life, but to experience his love right now as part of a community of faithful believers.

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Biblical examples

There are plenty of examples in the Bible of people needing God at different points in their life.

Abraham needed God to show him the way in a time of great upheaval (Genesis 12v1-9). He didn’t know where he was going or necessarily why. He could have consulted with family or farmers as to where would be the best place to take his large family and many flocks. It may have been in his best interests to have mapped out a route, still doing what God asked and leaving, but not really trusting. Instead he chose to trust. We see this trust again when he and Sarah are told they will have a son at a mighty age (Genesis 18v10). I would imagine that the aged couple would call on God many more times during their first foray into parenthood together!

Job needed God in the lowest point of his life, when everything was taken from him. See – well, the whole book of Job really! He was challenging God during this time when he wanted to know why he had been dealt such a harsh blow, but he didn’t give up on his rhetoric with God, he didn’t start to rely on his own strength to see himself through his hardship. Job 1v21 shows us his incredible response to the initial loss he endured.

Public response?

Ask Joe Bloggs out on the street if he has ever spoken to God. I would think, if people admitted it, it would only be at a point of desperation in their life – a loved one was in mortal danger, their house was at risk after unemployment, the fear of those in charge of the country allowing war to happen. People bargain with God that if he allows X or Y to happen, they promise they’ll start going to church. They promise they’ll stop smoking if they get the job interview they want. Times of need are not the only times God wants to hear from us though!

Moses and the Israelites had so much joy to thank God with in Exodus 15. They had been saved from both the Egyptians and the waters of the Red Sea and they turned to God in song.

On a more basic level, one of the 10 lepers Jesus healed turned back on his way and praised God (Luke 17v15) We teach our children simple manners such as please and thank you – why is it so easy to forget to thank God when things work out for us?

Future focus

It’s sad that we forget that God is there for us through ALL our trials and tribulation, joys and celebration. We can come to him with out hearts in pieces and he will heal, we can fall on him when broken and he will make us new. We can try and hide, but he relentlessly pursues us , wanting to cover us and take our failings away. He is the God of ALL our days.

(Inspired by the song ‘God of all my days’ by Casting Crowns – look them up and have a listen!)

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The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

Peter tells us that God is patient, He doesn’t want anyone to perish but to turn to Him in the right spirit. The Bible though makes it very plain that there are only two options available to us: believe in God and His son Jesus or reject them. We all have freewill to decide which option we want to take. Jesus himself spoke these words recorded in John’s gospel.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:16-18

Such is the love of God that He caused His son to be born on this earth 2,000 years ago to show us how to live as God wants us to do and also to preach the wonderful good news about this coming kingdom.

God wants us to read all about this gospel in the Bible. We then have a choice as to whether we truly believe it and we wish to make a life changing decision to follow the example of Jesus in the way we live now. After the resurrection of Jesus, just before he ascended into heaven, he gave his disciples a clear message about the work he wished them to do. This demonstrates this clear choice and also the work that we must do if in we believe in this wonderful hope for the future.

And he [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Mark 16:15-16

God wants you and me to be saved and have a place in this wonderful coming kingdom.

Further reading on this and other topics is available on the website of the Christadelphian Office:

Hope for a Hopeless World

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