THE EXPECTATION OF THE NATIONS

I would like to introduce here that Jesus is the fulfilment of what is known as "THE EXPECTATION OF THE NATIONS". The idea that from the beginning, from the time of the "fall of Adam and Eve", all nations were awaiting the arrival of a "Redeemer God" coming in human form Who would teach the whole truth in order to obliterate evil, bring peace, make brothers of all nations, and bring the kingdom of heaven to the earth. This promise was an anchor of hope throughout the centuries. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Jews, Chinese, Indians, Persians, Arabs, even the inhabitants of the New World; all had stories, myths, prophecies foreshadowing a God-Man appearing to deliver the world from evil, from the great serpent. Confucius, Plutarch, Zoroaster, Socrates, Maurikios, Pascal, and many wise people spoke of this tradition of the nations.

The Holy Scriptures declare, "When the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ"(Gal. 4:4-7). God's Son, the Light of Light, broke into the darkness of this fallen world at the very perfect moment in human history. Jesus is this very "Truth" that all the nations were expecting.

Therefore, "THE CHRISTIAN FAITH is not a "religion" (except in the conventional everyday use of the word). It is the fulfillment of all religions in their search for divine truth and human meaning as inspired by God's law written on human hearts. In this understanding, God's Gospel in Jesus is the end of all religions as human constructions, however good and inevitable they are in their desire to deal with life's mysteries and to comprehend the ways of God (or the gods) and creatures in a demon-riddled, death-bound world." (Thomas Hopko).