Adventist Christians
Who are Seventh-day Adventists? What do they do? What do they believe? We would like to respond to these questions. We hope you will become better acquainted with us.
Who we are
The seventh-day Adventists Church was officially organized in 1863 in Battle Creek Michigan. However, our roots go back a number of years before that. In 1818, a man by the name of William Miller became convinced from his study of the prophecies of Daniel that Jesus would come sometime in 1843 or 1844. In 1832, Miller felt a strong conviction that he should share this startling news with the world, and for the next 12 years, he kept up a heavy preaching schedule. By 1844, his preaching had raised up a following of some 100,000 people. In terms of America’s population today, that’s equivalent to 1.5 million people. Several groups evolved out of Miller’s movement, three of four of which still exist today. The largest of these is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The name Seventh-day Adventist means two things. Seventh-day means we keep the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week, and Adventist means we believe in the nearness of Christ’s second coming.
In addition to establishing local congregations around the world, the Adventist Church has been involved almost from the beginning of our history in publishing, health, education, and missions. Today we operate one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations: the Adventist Development and Relief Agency ADRA. At the beginning of the new millennium, we had a worldwide membership of more than 10 million.
What we believe
Jesus and His plan to save human beings from sin is the foundational teaching of Seventh-day Adventists. We believe that a cosmic struggle between the forces of good and evil has gripped the entire universe for several thousand years. Jesus, the fully divine Son of God, heads the forces of good, while Satan leads the forces of evil. About six thousand years ago, according to biblical chronology, Satan managed to persuade Adam and Eve, the founding parents of the human race, to join him in his rebellion against God. Ever since, planet Earth has been the local point of this universal conflict.
About two thousand years ago, Jesus entered the struggle on our planet. By His life, death, and resurrection, He defeated Satan and assured the eventual supremacy of good over evil. In the near future, He will return to this earth, destroy all of its evil posers and institutions, and establish His own eternal kingdom.
This conflict between good and evil, sometimes called the great controversy, is the theme that underlies Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. Several other major teachings are:
- Salvation, eternal life in God’s kingdom, is by grace alone through faith in Jesus. Obedience is the Christian’s joyful response to all that God has done for us.
- Eventually He will re-create this earth, restoring the beautiful world He originally made.
- The Ten Commandments are still God’s standard of life. However, obedience to the law is the result, not the basis, of our salvation.
- The seventh day of the week, the biblical Sabbath, commemorates the creation of our world several thousand years ago. God wants His people to keep the Sabbath as an acknowledgment of His rulership over their lives.
- Death is an enemy that Christ conquered when He resurrected from the dead. He will conquer death for His followers at His second coming by resurrecting them from the dead and granting them immortal life. Until then, death is a sleep, a state of unconsciousness.
- A healthy body is the foundation of a healthy spiritual life. Therefore, healthful practices such as exercise, rest, and good nutrition are important to maximizing spiritual growth.
What we do
Seventh-day Adventists operate a global missionary work that has as its primary goal preparing men and women to meet Jesus when He comes. The magazine Signs of the Times is one of the important ways we fulfill this mission in North America. We share the good news of Jesus’ coming also through the It is Written, Lifestyle Magazine, and Breath of Life telecasts and The Voice of Prophecy radio broadcast.
In addition to pastoral and evangelistic work, Seventh-day Adventists operate some 5,500 schools around the globe, from kindergarten through university, more than 450 hospitals and clinics, and 55 publishing houses.
Seventh-day Adventists do not accept the idea that belief in Jesus’ soon coming should cause us to shirk our responsibility to this world. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency, ADRA, is one of the major entities that provide relief around the world following disasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. ADRA also carries on extensive work in third-world countries, helping with disease prevention, developing clean sources of drinking water, and teaching better methods of farming.
For more detailed information see Who are the Seventh-day Adventists.
How You can be Saved
One of the greatest passions of Seventh-day Adventists is introducing people to Jesus and the hope of salvation that He offers.
So what does salvation mean? To be saved means two things.
First, it means that God accepts you right where you are, with all your imperfections. To gain that acceptance, all you have to do is ask Him to forgive you of the wrong things you have done that you feel guilty about. He will do it immediately. And there is another huge benefit to God’s acceptance of you: He also promises you eternal life.
Second, to be saved means that God transforms your mind and emotions so that you no longer want to do the wrong things for which you felt so guilty. Christians call this the new birth. Again, you receive this new birth by asking God to give it to you.
The Bible calls this salvation by faith. You receive it by believing it. Of all the Adventist teachings, the salvation that God offers through faith in Jesus is the most important.