Context:

It is interesting to note that such a profound scripture as that above is given by the apostle Paul almost as an aside, and yet when you look at the context in which it is found, it's in the framework of what this physical life is all about. Paul ends the preceding chapter with an equally profound observation in that what we can currently see is merely temporary, whereas what is eternal cannot – at this present time – be seen. He then goes on to expand on this point; how individually we have at the very least the blueprints of our new spirit body currently being prepared – on high – ready for the resurrection. And it is in this context that we daily must walk in faith – not merely by what we witness or experience at the present time.

God Still Creating:

How many times did we hear Mr. Armstrong declare of God the Father and the Logos "they were creators"? And in the same vein, how many times did we hear him describe mankind as "His supreme masterpiece" of creation? For the fact is that God the Father and Jesus Christ are at this precise moment STILL creating! They haven't changed their basic nature ... creating is what they do, creators are what they are – and it is what we as human beings are destined to become.

For us to fulfil this role we must quite literally be born again – born of the spirit, with a spirit body as described in I Corinthians 15 – the same kind of spirit body Jesus Christ Himself has, following His resurrection, and described in Philippians.

Needless to say, what God must also create as the true complement to this new power-filled 'tabernacle from above', is a spirit-born MIND, having the same calibre, of the same quality as Christ's. So our walk of faith is not just how we conduct ourselves daily in the light of the body we are destined to be given, but also in the creative power of God and Christ to literally create within us the same kind of mind as they possess. Fortunately we have been given an astounding example to reinforce our perception of the creative genius of the One with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:13). That example is the way in which a baby grows within the womb, from two microscopic half-cells into the myriad of complex systems the human body contains. I recently read the following amazing recognition of this process. How many babies are born each minute of every day – each one is a miracle in itself, but something we rarely give adequate recognition to is the complexity of the preceding gestation process. As the following two paragraphs attempt to convey:

Faith by Hearing:

It is within this breathtaking context that we currently must conduct our present walk of faith – firmly trusting that a Creator God who could design and bring into reality such a system – and tailored as a unique individual through the DNA – can also be clearly trusted to do the same with us spiritually. We are thus given this confidence ... "that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1:6)

When we were an embryo within our mother's womb all those years ago, we didn't question this incredible creative process, but accepted all the changes and various stages of growth as laid down by the Master Designer. And shouldn't we have the same approach and trust today – as He conducts His supreme masterpiece of creation with each one of us? That is the faith by which we must walk day in and day out. God doesn't have to explain to us everything that is going on ... the whys and wherefores of our daily trials, for instance. He is in overall control, just as much as He was when we were being "curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth" (Psalm 139:15)

And how does that all-encompassing faith develop? The bottom line is that it is based not on something that we see but rather on something we have heard or read, that originally proceeded from the mouth of God Himself. This is why Paul declares in Romans: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17).

When Christ was asked what is the greatest commandment in the Law, He quoted a section of scripture which is known as the "Shama" ... called such as it begins with "Shama" or "Hear", O Israel;

However, the word "shama" implies much more than passively hearing the words uttered, but additionally it implies to both listen carefully to and to obey. "To hear with attention or interest" might be a better translation. In a similar way, faith doesn't come merely by passively listening to the word of God, it comes when we make it our own. It takes more than just having God's words physically registering on our brain – but as also brought out in chapter 10 of Romans – obedience to the word of God is vital if we are to understand His mind, His way, and develop in faith, and it takes a spirit-led mind to comprehend it, as this kind of faith is very much a spiritual quality – part of the fruit of the spirit itself.

This is why the example given in the Old Testament for kings back then – and, by extension, for future kings now in training for the world tomorrow – involves not only reading daily in the Law of God, but as is pointed out in verse 19 of Deuteronomy 17 ... "to do them" ... ie. to faithfully WALK in them.

Faithfully walking in the ways of God is also what Christ instructed Abraham, at the time his name was changed: "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Genesis 17:1)

Patience is Needed:

Along with Abraham, Moses was able to speak to Christ – the Word of God – face to face, but we don't have that privilege – yet. But what we can do, and are very much encouraged to do, is to delve into the word of God and learn from the experiences of those that have gone before, who God was dealing with: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."(Romans 15:4)

That patience, as part of our walk with God, is illustrated over and over again in the examples of faith and patience recorded within scripture. Take Abraham, as a supreme example: Christ made the comment "... Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do; ..." (Genesis 18:17) when He decided to do something about the degradation within Sodom, but that approach did not manifest itself in every aspect of Abraham's personal life, as he waited for the heir that God had promised. Over and over again the promise was repeated and amplified – but with the crucial ingredient of 'when' deliberately missing. He simply had to continue patiently walking in faith – believing the promises that had been given – regardless of the physical circumstances of advancing age for him and his wife.

Similarly, Christ could have easily stepped in to halt the mistaken perception that led to Ishmael's birth, but He didn't. Instead, He chose to have Abraham patiently continue his walk of faith for another fourteen years (Genesis 17) In like manner, Jacob was deliberately kept in the dark by Christ when he was led to believe Joseph had died – as reported by his other sons. (Genesis 37) Years earlier, Christ could have intervened – but chose not to – when He allowed Jacob to suffer the loss of his beloved wife Rachel – dying in childbirth with Benjamin (Genesis 35:18). And of course, with Joseph himself – to whom God could have revealed something of the timing of his dreams – but didn't. Instead he simply had to patiently keep on keeping on, based on what God had previously revealed to him, leaving the rest in God's hands entirely – trusting Him in spite of the exceedingly negative circumstances in which he found himself. (Genesis 39-41)

Through Paul, Jesus Christ emphasised this patient walk of faith that would remain necessary for all of us, and that He is cognisant of the day-in and day-out struggles we have:

And Christ not only is fully aware of the challenges we face, but desires to help us cope with them, as He mentions in Matthew 11:28-31.

Walking the Walk:

As we see within the example of Abraham – the father of the faithful – even though Christ made the comment "... Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do; ..." (Genesis 18:17) only certain things were revealed, and other aspects – particularly the timings – were withheld, deliberately, encouraging him to simply walk the walk of faith, regardless. Should we therefore wonder if something similar happens at this time also? We quote passages such as; "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7) and yet fail to recognise how so often in the past the mere outline of events was revealed, God expecting His servants to trust Him implicitly in regard to the details, the prophet Daniel being one example:

And so often we too have to "go our way" ... and keep putting one foot in front of the other – in faith – trusting God to guide and direct our paths, in the same way as did our forefathers. We are currently witnessing unprecedented chaos in the world in all sorts of areas, but this is simply not our world. Deep involvement in worldly politics/pandemics has no place in our present walk with God, as the apostle Paul brings out:

In all cases the walk of faith involves focusing on the spiritual future that we cannot see as yet, placing greater emphasis on that future Zion – promised by God – than on the physical circumstances we happen to be facing at the time, or witnessing around us. It is where we focus our mind that is all important. The way we think – be that future spiritual or present carnal – will very much govern the way we'll subsequently walk.

It is interesting to note that the above passage comes straight after what we read in Romans 7, of the personal battles that Paul himself had. How much more should we apply the same principle to the problems and difficulties we face? It's very easy to get disheartened at times, wondering if God even realises what battles we're facing, but the antidote is to focus on the rock-solid promise God has given to never leave us or forsake us ... and take the next step forward – one foot in front of the other – trusting Him with the timing of our rescue.

God Does the Impossible:

And back to Abraham once more ... becoming a father at one hundred years old, because ; "Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." (Genesis 18:14). Amazing 'impossibilities' are recorded in Genesis and Exodus for us to read and ponder ... The crossing of the Red Sea, the daily provision of manna, quail, water from a rock etc. But sometimes these stunning miracles lose their impact as we have heard them so often. What can help us keep going when the going gets tough, is to remember God's previous intervention in OUR lives, the times when He seemed to do the impossible for US, individually, personally. These personal stories may not be on the scale of the Red Sea but the chances are we saw God's hand in certain situations that brought about the best result and in a way we would never have thought, or could have manipulated ourselves. And also, that although God does want to see us develop patience and perseverance, once He acts everything quickly falls into place.

Israel forgot these incredible interventions by God on their behalf (Psalm 78:10,11). They lost sight of the fact that God does indeed do the impossible – as they had personally witnessed repeatedly. For it requires faith through the action and focus of God's spirit to truly appreciate His hand in our lives ... something that is so vitally important for us today, as Christ brings out in the book of Hebrews:

Conclusion:

Like Abraham, Daniel and the prophets, we have an outline of future events that is sure – that we 'can take to the bank'. But the timing and the details are not crystal clear as we do indeed see through a glass darkly. During the dark days just ahead of us, it would be helpful to keep in mind the lesson of the apostle Peter, recorded for us in Matthew 14:

If we focus on the present physical circumstances ... "the wind boisterous" ... we may well sink. We need to keep our eyes firmly focused on the goal ahead, remembering Who is working with us, and Who has already created each one of us once – individually – from those two minute half-cells:

What lies ahead for 2021? A very brief look back at 2020 might give us a clue. A recent article in TIME magazine gives an overview:

A UNITED EUROPE

A warning from God’s end time Apostle

What the immediate future holds will completely overshadow 2020! Major changes are coming, and one of those major changes will be the formation of the final United Europe – the Beast power of Bible prophecy.

…A nuclear attack on London and the USA? When Mr Armstrong wrote this back in 1979, a nuclear attack looked like the only way to destroy whole cities. But we live in a totally different world today.

ALL our cities would be destroyed!

The American people have never been so divided at any time in their collective memory.

In economic warfare, enemies use financial markets as weapons to attack national interests.

An enemy could use computers to attack the US grid, stopping electricity, food distribution and water supplies. Thus destroying cities.

The Revival Of The Medieval “Holy Roman Empire”

If we are close to the end of this age – and near to the return of Jesus Christ when He wil replace ALL of this world's governmenets, then we should be seeing signs of this upcoming dramatic event in today’s news.

• For a dictator to arise in Europe, then the present European set up must be at a point of collapse.
• The final Europe will be controlled by the Roman Catholic Church, are there any signs that this could happen?
• For the resurrected Europe to become the dominant power in the world, then the USA and Britain must be greatly weakened – how?

Let’s see what is happening on the world scene!

Is Europe About To Collapse?

Nigel Farage warns ‘beginning of the end for EU’

EU mayhem: Yanis Varoufakis tipped Germany as FIRST country to leave eurozone

Eurosceptics round on Brussels

EU crisis: Germany admitted ‘we can’t rule out demise of bloc’

German Eurosceptics have the power to destroy the EU…

Across Europe, people want their countries back

Europe - Controlled By The Roman Catholic Church?

This is not a new idea. As Mr Armstrong witnessed the forming of the United Nations back in 1945, the writing was on the wall. The UN was doomed to failure!

Europe Runs To Rome!

Interesting to note that the then British Prime Minister, Mrs May, did not attend.

27 leaders of the EU go to Rome for guidance because the EU is in danger of falling apart! They are looking to the Pope to “provide leadership that politicians miss” as he is the only leader that “has the skills and the vision to say things that transcend the obvious…”

Pope: “Europe Lacks Vision”

Catholic “Vision”

This is not a new message. Speaking in 2005, Pope Benedict was harking back to the Middle Ages when the Roman Catholic Church ruled Europe with an iron fist.

Tens of millions lost their lives in the inquisitions.

The Roman Catholic Church had the State exterminate anyone who did not agree with it!

This is how the Holy Roman Empire operates!

This is their vision for Europe.

Think about this speech by Pope Benedict, in which he quoted his predecessor, Pope John Paul II:

The World Was Warned!

Back in 1962, the warning went out:

In 1968, the warning repeated:

1980 - Yet again, the same warning!

1985, Yet again, the warning is unchanged!

Then on March 24th 2017 - Politicians looked to the Pope for leadership!

The leaders of Europe went to the Vatican to seek guidance from the Pope. It looks like the ‘woman’ - the great false church - is beginning to ‘ride’ - to control – the Beast!

The USA And Britain Must Be Greatly Weakened – HOW?

There are many conspiracy theories regarding the coronavirus situation, but one fact is obvious. Both Britain and the USA are paying out vast sums of borrowed money to support those who cannot work. This cannot go on for ever, and when this support ends, the situation could be disastrous, as the following article points out:

German Economist Says ‘Great Reset Will Cause a Crash Worse than 1930s’

Here is what Mr Armstrong was inspired to write:

Note this point: “…when the financial structure breaks down, all civilization is going to break down.” Keep in mind that at the end – the nations “give their power to the Beast” (Revelation 17:13). Right now, many nations in Europe want to leave the EU. So why do they give their power to the beast?

Do they have to do this just to survive the financial disaster which many see as inevitable?

A New Nazi Germany!

We were warned – way back in 1963 - to watch developments in Europe!

The WHOLE WORLD Is Now ON FIRE!

What follows is the conclusion of the Pastor General’s Report, 20th November, 1979. Mr Armstrong was writing while looking at the THEN current world situation.

Forty years on, while situations have changed, the warning still stands.

I have updated, in red, names and events to bring it up to date. But while we are 40 years on, THAT MESSAGE STILL STANDS!