{{2009_10_09_t1.jpg}} {{2009_10_09_t2.jpg}} {{2009_10_09_t3.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2009_10_09|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_i|| Topics Collection i ]] ======History 5 - the Future ...====== Friday, Oct 9, 2009. History will lead us into the future. What is the future? People have tried to look into the future ever since. We would like to know what will happen. We would like to anticipate the events. Some of us would use it to make money out of the future. Others want to prevent damage. Others again would use the knowledge for various goals and purposes. Knowing the future is the old dream. Do I know the future? There will always be many things which I do not know. Surprises are bound to come, for everyone, people of faith and people which oppose faith. We do not know exactly what will happen tomorrow. We might think that this or that is likely. But it could happen that we are hit by some car or just a bicycle and suddenly die. Or we are hurt seriously. We might discover that we have some illness - perhaps cancer? There are many fears about the future. Everything can happen tomorrow! {{2009_10_09.jpg }} People have tried to influence the future ever since. When we look back into the history of mankind, we find different types of magic or science, which our ancestors tried to work out to obtain a good fate. Many parts of what we call "religious" is concerned with influencing the future. There are so many features of various cultures which try to control or influence what will happen. People wanted the Gods to act in a favourable way! Science is on a similar track. We try to explore the laws of nature, such that we can influence things. We want to be in the drivers seat to conduct our life and our society into the future. For Christian faith the future is very important. God is the same in the past, the presence and the future. He is the reliable one, he is trustworthy. We do not need to be afraid. Christian faith is not trying to control the future due to some fear of what might happen. Christians are not trying to make money out of any prophetic knowledge. We are not looking into our own advantage! The role of the future is completely different for Christian faith! The future is God's future. It is bound to come. God has announced his future many times. He has promised his love, his truth, his power, his reign, his kingdom, his mercy. God will be the Lord in the future - as he is today. But he will be a visible Lord for everyone, not a hidden Lord for many. The apostle John writes in the middle of persecution: "the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining." (1. John 2) God is the future, what ever difficulties we face in our current situation. Imagine you can be relaxed about the future, since what ever happens, the most powerful being in the universe is trustworthy and full of truth and love! That would be truly "good news". Imagine that you know that "his kingdom comes" - where "he" is the most sincere and trustworthy person you ever met ... The future will be fantastic. If we only hope for this world, we are the poorest of all creatures. But if we hope for him, we are immediately so extremely rich, that it is difficult to fully realise what we see, what we have found, what we are ...! It is good to think about the past and the future, since he was there yesterday, and he is there tomorrow! [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu] {{ 2009_10_09_2.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/doku.php/topics_collection_i|... more texts]]