God makes it rain. He saves Noah and his family through the ark. And at the end He makes a promise. This was the basis of a divine service with the Chief Apostle, which focussed on gratitude for a very particular God-given promise.

For a divine service on 1 October 2023 in Augsburg, Germany, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider used Genesis 8: 22 as a basis, although he was aware of the controversies that the story of the Flood could trigger: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” Some take the great Flood literally, others see it as a metaphor, and still others maintain that the story is an old legend that has been adopted. The mission of the Apostle ministry is to convey the message contained therein, the Chief Apostle clarified. “What is God trying to tell me?”

The message still applies today

God wants to convey an unmistakable message with the story of the great flood.

• “Watch out, sin leads to death. Sin separates from God.”
• The Chief Apostle said that God loves human beings and wants to save them, “and He will save the righteous”. Righteous are those who believe God’s word and live it.
• The third point is the promise that God has given to humankind, which the Chief Apostle chose as Bible text for this service.

God’s covenant with Noah

This promise still applies today, and the Bible text emphasises that

• God is caring: “He is the giver of all things. Human beings cannot do that on their own. They need God and they can only get these things from God.”
• God is merciful: “God shows us His grace. He knows exactly: human beings are sinners and will always sin. But, as it says in the New Testament, ‘He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’”
• God is faithful. “There will never come a day when God says, ‘I’ve had enough, this is going to stop now. People should have nothing more now.’ God will make sure that we can live until the end. He preserves His creation and cares for it.”

This realisation makes us grateful. “We thank the Creator for His creation, for His care, and for His faithfulness. The Chief Apostle went on to explain how gratitude is best expressed.

• By acknowledging His benefits: “We acknowledge the giver and are aware that we have God to thank for all we have.”
• Through giving and sacrifice: “This is a very concrete way of thanking God. Of course, He is not interested in money. He does not have a bank account. He does not need one. But through our willingness to make sacrifices, we are simply expressing that we trust the giver: “What He gives me is enough.”
• By responsible use of the gifts He has given us: “How we treat the environment, how we treat our own lives, how we treat our families is also an expression of our gratitude.”
• By sharing: “Let’s share, let’s help one another.”
• By the fact that our love for God is not dependent on His gifts: “God gives whether we are good or evil. We express gratitude when we build a relationship with Him that is totally independent of our well-being and prosperity. No matter how much we have, no matter how we are doing, our relationship with God remains the same.”

The new covenant

Through Jesus Christ, God has made a new covenant with us. “Sinners are separated from God, and God wants to make sure ensure that they are delivered from sin,” the Chief Apostle said. “In the new covenant, God will save those who believe in Jesus and follow Him. Just as God spoke to Noah then, God speaks to us through Jesus Christ.” The Chief Apostle went on to draw parallels between the flood and the new covenant. “In the New Testament, the flood is presented as a model for baptism. That means, sin is overcome and a new person comes into being who is then saved, just as Noah and his family were saved. And the ark is a symbol of the church of Christ: given by God, established by Jesus Christ. But people have to participate in it, otherwise it won’t work.”

God also shows His care, grace, and faithfulness in the new covenant.

• Salvation is a gift from God. We cannot earn it. No one can create his or her salvation. That is the gift of caring for us.”
• “He gives His grace and salvation to all unconditionally. He does not look to see whether we are bad sinners or devout people. He offers salvation to all. Everyone can be saved, even the worst sinner, because God’s love is unconditional.”
• “His salvation will also be there in the kingdom of peace. The offer of salvation exists until the end. This is the faithfulness of God to the end.”

We can prove our gratitude to Jesus for all this by

• remaining humble: “He is the giver. He saves us. We don’t deserve this.”
• being prepared to do without certain things: “Let us give up what is not pleasing to God.”
• appreciating His gifts: “Let’s be careful how we handle grace.”
• supporting one another: “It is becoming increasingly important in our time that we comfort and help one another, support one another in our faith, and make it easier for our neighbour to follow Jesus Christ.”
• waiting patiently until He fulfils His promise, until He does what He has foretold. We know God is the truth, and He is faithful. God does what he says He will do.”

Author: Katrin Löwen

https://nac.today/en/158033/1235965￫

nac.today: New Apostolic Church International

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