An unshakeable alliance

October Magazine Leader

If you had to sum up the last year in one word, what would it be? Suffering? Isolated? Lonely? Exhausting? Depressing? Infuriating? Shaken? Everything seems so much less certain. We want to return to what is familiar and normal, but we’re not there by a long shot.

Many sectors appear to be wobbly. The jobs we hold; the organisations we are part of; the way society operates; retail trends; travel restrictions; money and energy supplies have all become variable. We have had to learn to be more flexible. Institutions providing justice, health care and education have had to adapt simply to continue. The switch to all being ‘online’ has yet to revert to pre-pandemic style of personal contact. Even the nations on the world stage seem less certain. The new security deal between the AUKUS (Australia, UK and USA) is to maintain regional peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

We are encouraged by the Bible to consider what is truly stable and continuous. The New Testament contrasts earth and heaven: “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens”. The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain’ (Heb 12v26b-27). The world is limited in what it can offer, because it is fallen and will one day pass away. One day in the future God will give everything a big shake up to establish the future reality of His eternal Kingdom: ‘Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for “Our God is a consuming fire” ‘(Heb 12v28-29). God is holy and just: he determines the future reality. Gratitude and worship are due in the light of the salvation He alone gives.

In our morning services we are exploring together Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom. Do join us as we discover more about what will last forever and so how we then should live.

Paul Kingman