SUNDAY, July 5, 2009                                                       READ: Malachi 4: 5, 6; Mark 9: 9 - 13                                                                                                        

GOD’S PROMISE TO TURN THE HEARTS

MEMORIZE: “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”         Malachi 4: 6

God is very concerned about the breakdown in the relationship between fathers and their children. We have failed to recognize how seriously Adam’s sin has affected the human family. God used the book, Fathering, (McGraw Hill, 1976), written by British sociologist, Maureen Green to help to understand what I was sensing. I sensed that she had more courage and a greater grasp of the reality, than most of the preachers to whom I was listening. She said, “No one is taking any notice of father … The father role has reached a crisis point… fatherhood must not be allowed to dwindle away without discussion or awareness of what is happening. We must attempt to assess the case for father.” The devil, the enemy of our souls, scored big when he got Adam to sin against God. Adam’s sin has affected every human being, men, husbands and fathers in particular. Several years ago, we had the organization, Promise Keepers, reaching men and encouraging them to assume their roles and fulfill them. It was vibrant and effective among men. A lot of people felt threatened by its effectiveness. Where is Promise Keepers today? Today, there is an awesome need for that kind of outreach to men, for God’s glory.

We are able to see God’s heart and desire in our text for today’s reading, Malachi 4: 5, 6 and Mark 9: 9 – 13. Quite sovereignly, God ended the Old Testament with a statement of His wish and desire for the human family and the world. God brought family into being. God intended that the human family should be the means and basis from which offspring would come. God desires “… godly offspring” (cf. Malachi 2: 15). It was and is God’s intention that parents, father and mother, would live and order their lives in conformity to the divine will, so that their examples would be emulated by their offspring, who then would live godly lives. Sin has disrupted life as God intended it. God has remedied the situation and is working to restore the flow of the acknowledgement, devotion and honor to Him from His creatures (cf. Ephesians 2: 7). In Genesis 3: 15, God promised to send a Redeemer for Adam’s descendants. Throughout the ages covered by the Old Testament, God kept using types and shadows to get people to expect and desire Him. Wherever individuals caught a picture of Him, and bought into what God was doing, they were saved. When the testament ended, God was promising to send the Promised, Coming One. People, God’s people, Israel, were busy doing their own thing. God’s program was still on track. God was using the law and the prophets, to establish His standards and to call attention to the Coming One. According to Malachi 4: 5, God was getting ready to send Him. There would be a herald sent forth to announce His coming and to prepare the way for Him. God promised to “… send you Elijah, the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” God’s servant would be responsible to call God’s people to repentance and to conform their lives according to the standard demanded by the Law. In Mark 9: 9-13, we are able to see that when Jesus, the Messiah, came, His disciples asked Him about the promise made by God in Malachi 4: 5. They wanted to know why it had not been fulfilled. He indicated to them, that God fulfilled His promise when He sent John the Baptist. In v. 6, we see, then, that the herald was responsible to turn the hearts of the fathers back to care for their children, and the turning of the hearts of the children so that they would begin to have a proper regard for their fathers. There is to be a societal repentance so that complete destruction might be averted. That did not take place with Jesus’ first coming, so, we can look for it to take place for His second coming (cf. Matthew 25: 31-46; Revelation 7: 9 – 17; 20: 4 – 6). God’s plan is to reverse the curse and restore the earth to Edenic wonder for the Messianic rule. God still has it in mind to restore what Adam surrendered when he sinned against His will. Are you in touch with that?

PRAY:LORD, God Almighty, thank You for not abandoning Your redemptive plan. Help me to join You in what you are doing and to work as Your fellow laborer, in Jesus’ strong name. Amen.