Trust in the Lord

IN CONSIDERING OUR lesson, we quote the following, which precedes our Key Verse. “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.” (Prov. 3:1-4) This was, in particular, a promise to Israel under the terms of the Law Covenant. None, however, gained everlasting life because as sinners, they could not meet the divine standard of perfection.

Those who accept Christ and keep his commandment to love one another as he loved them, upon the basis of faith, will actually receive the abundant, immortal life in the resurrection. (Rom. 2:7) First, however, these are required to lay down their human lives in sacrifice, even as Jesus did. Along these lines, Paul wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1) They follow in his steps, suffering and dying with him in order that they might live and reign with him. Our Key Verse, therefore, in the strictest sense of the word, applies to the Gospel Age saints.

Patiently and zealously, these seek to know the right way, and to walk in it. They have learned that it is a “narrow way,” a way of sacrifice. (Matt. 7:14) They have learned, also, that this way ends only when they have been faithful even unto death. However, they are encouraged to press forward in this “right way” by the promise that if they are faithful to the end, they will receive the reward of a “crown of life.”—Rev. 2:10

The Scriptures differentiate between the promises to the church and those for the rest of mankind. Those having “an ear to hear” during the present Gospel Age, are being dealt with by God now, whereas the world’s hope is in the future earthly kingdom. (Matt. 11:15; 6:10) At the present time, those who have heard, responded, and laid hold upon God’s grace in Christ, are referred to individually as a New Creature. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”—II Cor. 5:17

God’s people as a whole throughout all the ages have exemplified trust in the Lord. Such is true even though little light comparatively was given, for example, to righteous Abel and Enoch in the world before the Flood. According to God’s word, the “seed” of the woman was to bruise the serpent’s head, but they did not understand very clearly what that meant.—Gen. 3:15

After the Flood, it was revealed that this same “seed,” as the seed of Abraham, was to bless all the families of the earth. (Gen. 12:3; 22:18) The light pertaining to that “seed” has continued to increase until now we see its near fulfillment in the establishment of the Messianic kingdom, through which all nations will have an opportunity to enjoy peace and to receive everlasting life.

How blessed we are that our eyes have been opened to see and understand the import of our Heavenly Father’s eternal purposes. (Matt. 3:16) May our lives be a fulfillment of our Key Verse, that we trust the Lord with all our heart in all of life’s experiences.