“.. being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
The church had its beginnings recorded in the book of Acts, but it didn’t end there. Christians ever since, became the continued pages of where the book of Acts left off. God began a good work in His church and in each of us individually, which continues until the return of Jesus.
In 1956, five young American Christian missionaries felt called by God to go to Ecuador and bring the good news of Christ to the natives in the jungle. They landed in a remote area of the jungle with high aspirations of sharing God’s love with natives.
A few days after they arrived, a wildly violent tribe attacked the missionaries and murdered all five of them. Their deaths sparked a passion among their relatives and church friends, and a new group assembled to go to Ecuador as a follow up mission trip.
They were prepared to share God’s love and forgiveness even if they died in the process. They met the particular men of the tribe who killed the five missionaries, and told them they forgave them as they shared the teachings of Jesus.
One of the men who killed the five missionaries confessed that he saw their souls floating upward to the heavens, from the ground where their bodies laid. The entire tribe wanted to learn more about God, Heaven, Jesus and His resurrection. The once violent tribe embraced the Christian faith as an entire group, and became baptized.
A seed of faith that was first planted by five martyrs, then watered by their blood, was brought to completion by God, through the Holy Spirit. Those who were once part of a violent tribal life, became gentle, loving people through faith in Christ, and it continued to all the following generations. God turned the hearts of the natives toward Him, and today, the population in Ecuador is 94% Christian.
God is doing a different thing today than He did in the 1950’s, or in the 80’s, 90’s or at the start of this millennium. Whether it is through spreading His truth to transform a nation or one single individual, we can be confident that He has good plans to complete, and is working behind the scenes, on behalf of all human souls.
It’s easy to forget this truth because all we see in the world is chaos, hatred and bloodshed, but God sees things from a spiritual perspective, in the realm of the spirit world, that we cannot see.
We can be sure that He also feels compassion for any lives that are lost, since He said in His word,
“For I have no pleasure in the death of any one, says the Lord God; so turn, and live.”
(Ezekiel 18:32)
Jesus is doing exactly what He said He would do. He is building His church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
(Matthew 16:18)
He is bringing good out of evil, eternal life from death, and turning hard hearts into tender hearts, by His Spirit. Good seeds of faith are being sown in people of every nation, and nothing is impossible with God, because He is not finished yet.
I don’t draw my hope from what is seen, but from what is written in God’s word, and by hearing the testimonies of people from other nations, on Christian cable news, telling how God is transforming the hearts of people in their own nation, as underground churches are thriving.
Lord, you are still in control, and every good work that you started, will be brought to completion. We trust in you. Amen
