Monday, January 12, 2009

Of Reaping and Sowing - Jan 12


It seems we love nothing more than blaming God for every stubbed toe and every single misfortune that befalls us. It's been a month since my permanent layoff and I'm still looking for work. Yet no cursing of God's name here. I wonder what would happen if we turned to Him for comfort and healing instead.

An Age Old Theological Question

If you're a Christian there's no doubt you've been confronted with this question: 'If God is as good and as powerful as you say, why all the suffering in this world?' My attempt at answering such a question falls along a rather a scientific approach. It has been said that nature abhors a vacuum. That is when something (or someone) is removed or pushed aside it will be replaced, usually sooner rather than later. Jesus said of Himself:

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Let's look at this statement of our Lord more thoroughly. If He is the only way, then all other ways are false. If He is truth made flesh, then by rejecting Him we end up hopelessly in error. If He is life, then our rejection of Him leads us to death.

See the inherent logic of my argument? When the light is removed or diminished, darkness naturally moves in:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
(John 3:19-20)

When morality and virtue are removed, wickedness is the result. I think that's the answer to the problem. Man is 100% fully committed to the lie that any restriction on their behavior is an obstacle to their godlike ascension. 'If only we could extricate ourselves from this Christ, then we would truly be free!' That's the worldly attitude towards morality. Never mind that these rules are given to prevent harm to ourselves and to others. No, the lie prevails and teaches Man that these moral laws are preventing us from reaching our manifest destiny. Pure Marxist nonsense.

A Point to Consider ...

If there's no right or wrong - or if the knowledge of right and wrong is said to be beyond our grasp - should we be surprised at the rise in violent personal crime? If we teach our youth that life has no real meaning, should we be surprised at the rise of teenage suicides? If we sow wickedness, wickedness will be our reward. If we sow righteousness, righteousness shall be our reward:

Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
(John 4:36)

Christ Our Cornerstone

Again, it's not so much that Jesus is sidelined. Rather, the Prince of Peace is chained up and abandoned in our dungeon of unbelief. The builders of this world have rejected the centerpiece and foundation of civilization which is Christ. It's no wonder the cracks are beginning to show. Patch it up as we might, there will no doubt as to the rapidly accelerating outcome.

Johnny Cash

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