Dear Readers,
Once a year we have a sense of moving forward, leaving something behind and getting into something new – it’s the time of Christmas and New Year and it is here now.
For us as Seventh-day Adventists the passing of time has always been significant. As we are now about to enter a new year, we realise we are getting closer to the time of God’s mighty intervention in our history in order to accomplish his purpose with his creation, things that are so beautifully worded in Revelation 21:1-5: “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’
He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'” And this fills us with joy, because we are longing for the Lord.
But let us bear in mind that the Lord is not only going to come. But he has come and accomplished his victory over death and evil through his death and resurrection, and he is coming to us through the Holy Spirit. It is this latter coming of the Lord that I wish will be your experience during the end of this year and the start of the new – a fulfilment of the promise that our Lord will be with us always until the end of time and especially where two or three are gathered in his name.
May the Christmas and New Year Season be filled with joy and light from the Lord and may we all sense his presence in a powerful and inspiring way as we move forward to a new year.
May God bless and fill you with His abundant joy,
Dr Bertil Wiklander, President
Trans-European Division
