Alva Review-Courier -

Having recently passed through a presidential election, everyone is aware of the fact that a change of administration is underway, and we understand what it means: a new leader with new policies and new ways of dealing with old problems. While these political changes in our government may seem important to us at the moment, they are trivial in comparison to the infinitely more significant spiritual change of administration that took place 2000 years ago.

Jesus announced this change of administration in clear, unmistakable terms: “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it.” Before the coming of Christ (heralded, as Jesus said, by John the Baptist), God dealt with humanity through the administration of the “the law and the prophets.” But the Old Testament Law, with its commandments, threats and curses, was of limited duration, and Jesus made clear that a change of administration was underway.

The clearest way to see this change of administration is to look first at God’s dealings with man in II Kings chapter one, when, at the request of Elijah, God sent down fire from heaven and consumed the soldiers sent by the king in Samaria. Under the administration of the Old Testament Law, this was not an isolated occurrence. In fact, when describing the very giving of the Law, the writer to the Hebrews says, “so terrible was the sight, that even Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.” So it was not at all unexpected that, under the former administration of this fear-inducing law, God would send down fire from heaven and burn to death the soldiers in the service of the king in Samaria.

By comparison, look at the story recorded in chapter nine of Luke’s gospel. Jesus and his disciples were passing through Samaria, and the Samaritans refused to receive him. The infuriated disciples of Jesus said to him, “Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?” The disciples, knowing the scriptures, only sought to apply the biblical precedent to their situation. However, they did not understand that a change of administration had already taken place. God no longer was (and no longer is today) sending down fiery judgment from heaven. Jesus replied, “You know not what manner of spirit you are of, for the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

Today we must realize that we are not living under the administration of the law and the prophets and that God is no longer destroying men’s lives through fires, earthquakes, tsunamis or with sickness and disease for that matter. Today, God seeks to save men’s lives, not to destroy them. All hostilities between man and God have ceased, and through the cross of Christ, God has reconciled mankind to himself.

In this Christmas season, let us remember that the birth of Christ marked a change of administration in God’s dealings with mankind. As the angels announced on the night of Christ’s birth: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”