Hope in Times of Hopelessness预览

Our Hope for the Future

In the first three verses of Mal. 4, the Lord declares that a day is coming when He will intervene in the affairs of men and women, bringing victory to those who obey Him and judgment to those who disobey Him.

In Mal. 4:4-6, Malachi concludes his message by referring to Moses, who represents the Law, and Elijah, who represents the Prophets. Malachi reminds the people that they must take seriously their covenant relationship with God embodied in the Law of Moses that defined their Old Covenant relationship with God. He also announces to them that a great day is coming when a new Elijah will appear to herald the coming of the Messiah.

In Matt. 17 and Mark 9, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appear with Christ, and the voice of God from heaven instructs us to listen to Christ, thus reminding us that the Old Testament, comprising of the Law and the Prophets, were pointing to Christ, who had now come. Here in this Malachi passage, we see a clear example of this, as the day of Christ described in Mal. 4:2 as the Son of Righteousness that will come with healing in its wings.

We receive the spiritual healing of God’s salvation when we place our faith in what Christ did for us on the cross to make the gospel experiential in our lives. This means God’s promise in this passage to bring His salvation to His people was fulfilled through the First Coming of Christ.

That reminds us that God’s promise in this passage concerning the Second Coming of Christ will equally be fulfilled. That promise is in Mal. 4:2 tells us a day is coming when the people of God will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.

This will happen because, at the Second Coming of Christ, as we read in Rev. 21:1, there will be a new heaven and a new earth in which there will be no more sin, no more suffering, and no more death.

At that time, we shall finally experience our longed-for dream of a life of perfect love, justice, and peace in a renewed world in which all our hardships and hopelessness are ended forever.

In our New Covenant relationship with God that was enacted for us by the costly grace of Christ, this is our blessed hope for the future that is announced to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ.