{"id":10501,"date":"2022-03-31T09:30:50","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T09:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/?p=10501"},"modified":"2022-03-31T20:45:34","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T20:45:34","slug":"from-permacrisis-to-jesus-the-permasolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/from-permacrisis-to-jesus-the-permasolution\/","title":{"rendered":"From \u2018Permacrisis\u2019 to Jesus, the \u2018Permasolution\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

31 March 2022 | St Albans, UK [David Neal]<\/p>\n

In his February 27 Sunday Times<\/em> article, \u201cWill the Permacrisis Ever End?\u201d,<\/em> Washington Bureau Chief John Glancy describes our current collective reality as, \u201cAn age of permanent crisis; stumbling blindly from one calamity to the next, scrolling anxiously through phone alerts and Twitter threads, trying to make sense of the latest Very Bad News.\u201d Glancy continues, \u201cIt feels as though the armbands have come off and we\u2019ve been cast once more into the whirlpool of history, with events swirling rapidly in a way that none of us can predict or make sense of.\u201d Reflecting on these words, I can\u2019t help but be driven back to Hebrews, the focus of our Sabbath School Bible studies for the last three months.<\/p>\n

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Does Hebrews speak to the \u2018Permacrisis\u2019? You bet it does!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I love Hebrews! I love the enthusiasm of its author for Jesus. I love his conviction about who Jesus is, how He is supreme – the One who provides the gift of unlimited access into the presence of God! I note and take seriously the warning not to \u201cfall back,\u201d but to keep my eyes fixed on Him! I am reassured to keep going when life chucks its unpredictable rubbish my way. But does Hebrews speak to the \u2018Permacrisis\u2019 we\u2019re in?<\/p>\n

Hebrews was written to group of first-century Christians who were in danger of giving up. Former Jews were walking targets – persecuted, publicly ridiculed, physically assaulted, homes burgled, and thrown into prison, all because of their absolute trust in Christ. \u201cSafer to stick with Abraham and Moses,\u201d many Jews who\u2019d joined the church may have said. And Gentile converts were struggling too. \u201cThis Kingdom stuff \u2013 \u2018can\u2019t do it anymore. With all that is going on around us, it\u2019s just to challenging. So, we\u2019ll chill and go with the flow.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I read the letter again, I try to imagine how the AD 60 listener reacts. \u201cIs it true?\u201d someone asks. \u201cIs Jesus worth it?\u201d another wonders. \u201cJesus – superior to Moses? Really? And you\u2019re telling us that we no longer need the priest to offer the sacrifices for to God?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d says the author. Because of Jesus, \u201cWe do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are \u2013 yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God\u2019s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need\u201d (Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV).<\/p>\n

Does Hebrews speak to the \u2018Permacrisis\u2019? You bet it does! As Raymond Brown points out in his commentary on Hebrews, \u201cFirst as a matter of the utmost importance, he has turned their eyes, not to themselves, hoping for sufficient inward strength, nor to the agonizing troubles, nor to their persecuting contemporaries, but to Christ. No believer can cope with adversity unless Christ fills his horizons, sharpens his priorities, and dominates his experience.<\/strong>\u201d\u00b9<\/p>\n

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Are we playing with the wrapping paper?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But how do we do that? By developing an ever-growing, ever-deepening appreciation of the Gift.<\/p>\n

It was soon to be Mary\u2019s fourth birthday. Knowing every birthday to be very special for their young Mary, her parents carefully chose a present that would bring most joy \u2013 a doll.<\/p>\n

When the day arrived, the excited girl jumped up and down the house while asking, \u201cCan I have my present yet?\u201d At last, the moment arrives when Mary sees her present. Wrapped in the brightest rainbow coloured paper and with the words \u2018happy birthday\u2019 scrawled all over it.<\/p>\n

Dad is excited too, taking photo after photo of Mary, from every angle, as she unwraps the present. As the doll is removed from the box, Mary\u2019s face beams with joy. She gives mum and dad big hugs and repeats, \u201cthank you\u201d many times. Yet, after a few minutes of playing with the doll, something strange happens. Placing the doll on a chair, Mary turns to the wrapping paper and plays with it for a very long time, screwing it up into a ball, and throwing it across the room. \u201cLet\u2019s play catch mummy. Let\u2019s play catch daddy,\u201d she shouts. \u201cDon\u2019t you like your doll, Mary?\u201d, ask the confused parents. \u201cOh yes mummy,\u201d she says, but continues to play with the wrapping.<\/p>\n

For the last three months, Seventh-day Adventists around the world have been studying Hebrews. In our Sabbath School classes, we dig, discuss, debate, and wrestle in trying to understand the meaning of these ancient words. However, I wonder if in the process we play more with the wrapping paper than the gift. If Jesus really is supreme above everything else \u2013 and I mean everything, doesn\u2019t this mean we mature as we grow in Christ? With Jesus supreme in our lives, business as usual is over \u2013 both personally and collectively. Church life can never be the same again because Jesus means much more than before. We call it \u2018revival\u2019.<\/p>\n

If this doesn\u2019t happen, could it be that we\u2019re continuing to play with the wrapping paper?<\/p>\n

Sobering! Hebrews calls us to stop playing around with the wrapping paper and receive the Gift!<\/p>\n

We need Jesus.
\nEnd-time people need Jesus.
\nBecause He is the \u2018permasolution\u2019!<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep your eyes fixed on Jesus,\u201d who is past, present, and future (Hebrews 12:1).<\/p>\n

\n

\u00b9 Brown, R. (1982). The message of Hebrews (p. 12). Emphasis added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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