Pastoral Letters

What Would be Your Future Like?

August 18, 2019 Author:Elder Liu Kerh Li
Humans have wild imaginations about their future, some are worrisome while others could be full of aspirations.  Who knows? Maybe in the next 10 years, robots and various automations could be part of our daily lives that we would not do without.  Robots could greatly improve the quality of lives for the physically disabled; but the widespread use of artificial intelligence reduces human interactions, resulting in increased loneliness in people. Our speculation of our future was not a result of pure curiosity but rather, a desire to be prepared for the unknown.  Businesses would also speculate or predict its market demand for the next 1 to 2, or even 10 years, in order for them to target the most lucrative investments.  Countries would keep an eye upon each other’s fashion and trends, all for the sake of future planning, hoping to have a steady and sustainable development thus, provides its people with a stable livelihood.  But, no matter how well we are prepared and speculate about the future, it is nevertheless not within our control.  Come to think of it, we do not need to know the future in order to live in peace in the present do we?  God had already given the answers to what we needed to know in the Bible.  “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29) What we needed to do would be to follow what the word of God says, after we had known it.  

With regards to the future, God had indeed prophesised to us through various revelations via the Bible. Recently during the adult Sunday school, we were taught on the aspects of revelations from the Bible.  According the division of systematic theology, this form of study comes under the purview of Eschatology.  Pastor shared in class on topics like millennialism, seven years of tribulation, believers being raptured, judgement of believers, lamb’s marriage and banquet, antichrist and many more different viewpoints and interpretations regarding Eschatology; combining them with bible studies, so as to let our members of the understands the church’s stand on these issues.

We could see how the prophecies in the Bible on the end days came true one at a time.  “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these days he spoken to us by his Son….” (Hebrews 1:1-2)  The last days that was mentioned in the Bible had started 2000 years ago when Jesus came to earth.  With regards to the prophecies of the last days, they were seen to be mentioned in both the old and new testimony.  Believers in the early days would felt perplexed when they read the prophecies.  But this is not the case in present 2019, we were able to take reference from events in history including, the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, revival of the country of Israel, Babylon’s civilisation,  the kingdom of Medina, ancient Greek civilisation, the rise and fall of the Roman empire etc. Even though some things seem to be impossible to the human eye, these events are still being fulfilled according to the Bible.  The fulfilment of the prophecies has shown us the faithfulness in God’s word.  The promises He has given us would surely come true.  We give thanks to God for giving us a reliable Bible, thus all the more we are to obey its teachings in living our daily lives.  Fulfillment of the prophecies has proven that God is in control of the history as well as the future.  Although we do not know what tomorrow brings, but with the knowledge that all things are well within the control of God, we could face the future with courage.  The Bible had shown us that the last days would not have a “better tomorrow”, but a “worse tomorrow”.  All these are presented through the turbulent global situation, the worsening of natural disasters, the toppling of social and ethical norms, and degradation of our physical health as we age etc.  As things turn for the worse, Christians have a bright and shining hope to look forward to.  Whether it be a new resurrected body, the lamb’s wedding, to rule with God during the millennium, or a new heaven and earth, how exciting are God’s promises to us!  “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:10-11)