TuesdayJuly 19: The Church: A Source of Life

TuesdayJuly 19

The Church: A Source of Life

“Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish . . .; where the river flows everything will live”(Ezek. 47:9, NIV).
Ezekiel’s prophecy illustrates that where the river that comes from God’s church flows, there is life. Ezekiel 47:10 adds to the amazement of it all. What a strange sight that would be: a body of water known as being without fish because nothing can live there suddenly becomes a place where fishermen will be casting their nets and catching many fish.
The whole point is that through the power of God working in His people, life can exist where before there was none.
“Where God is at work there is no hopeless situation, no group of people who are beyond redemption, no heritage from an unhappy past which need condemn us to a future delivered over to despair.”-The Interpreter’s Bible, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1956), vol. 6, p. 328.
God’s amazing grace does amazing things-for anyone who will accept it. Here again, we have the message of the gospel. God, through us, can give hope to those who are discouraged, despondent, dry, and dying, both spiritually and physically.
Compare Ezekiel 47:12 with Revelation 22:1-2. What do these two passages tell you about the ultimate destiny of those who are healed and made alive by Jesus through His church?

Someday God’s people-including community members God has healed and made alive through the selflessness of church members-will be in the new earth, where there is another river, one flowing from the throne of God. There will be no deserts, dryness, or death there.
In the meantime-while we wait for that blessed reality-God wants His churches to be places from which flow healing and abundant life to the community. He wants to work through us to revitalize and transform the deserts, depressions, and Dead Seas in our territory, bringing them abundant life in Jesus (John 10:10), which is the wholistic Adventist message in a nutshell.
The prophet Amos presents a similar picture to Ezekiel 47:1-23. Read Amos 5:24. How does this picture compare with the role of your church in your community? In what tangible ways is your church a healing river there?



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