It’s Pearl Harbor day today, the 71st anniversary of the attack that landed the US square in the middle of World War II. In a way it was a wake-up call. Studiously minding our own business, we had ignored the inhumanities being perpetrated across the waters. Just because we stuck our heads in the sand, didn't make the evil around us go away.
Evil exists. That fact is a stumbling block for some; people who say they just can’t believe in a God who allows such horrible things to happen. Yet, we can see through recorded history that God can use every evil planned against His people to further His own purposes. The dispersion of the Christians from Jerusalem in the first century came with much suffering and hardship. Yet the dispersion of the Christians from Jerusalem spread Christianity across the map. God used even this.
Way back in the Old Testament, we see this principle time and time again. Joseph, tormented by his brothers and sold into slavery as a result of their jealousy, winds up near the pinnacle of power in Egypt. Having only a human perspective, we question these events as cruel suffering. God, however, used Joseph’s time in Egypt to remove the Children of Israel from the abominations occurring in Canaan. The sons of Jacob were better off being separated from the people in Canaan, and Egypt was the perfect place. The Egyptians wouldn’t have anything to do with the Jews, which helped them remain God-fearing until their return to the Promised Land.
Evil exists. This world is fallen and saturated in sin. Why are we surprised by the evil men do? Sin is in our nature, and only when we become a new creation in Christ are we able to live victoriously through Him, triumphing over that which had enslaved us.
We know that one of the names of Christ is “Light of the World” – yet too often we don’t stop to truly understand the need this old world has for the Light. Education is a great thing, but it won’t light the world. Helping the hungry, clothing the homeless, bringing medical care to the hurting – all of these are fine propositions, helpful to those in need and showing love and care in Jesus’ name. Yet you can’t push the dark out of a room by bringing in dinner. You cannot illumine a cave with medical care, or education.
The only way to get the dark out of a room is by turning on the light. Just so, the only way to illumine this old world, to cure her spiritual ills, is by Jesus. He is the Light of the World, and without Him, people still stumble through this world in the dark. Praise God that He left behind the perfection of heaven to be born as a baby, live as a man in this old world, die for our sins, and be raised – conquering death and sin in the process. Praise the Name of Jesus!
“His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’” Genesis 50:18-20
Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." —John 8:12
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Blessings this season to you and yours,
Cara and Patti
Classic Christianity
Evil exists. That fact is a stumbling block for some; people who say they just can’t believe in a God who allows such horrible things to happen. Yet, we can see through recorded history that God can use every evil planned against His people to further His own purposes. The dispersion of the Christians from Jerusalem in the first century came with much suffering and hardship. Yet the dispersion of the Christians from Jerusalem spread Christianity across the map. God used even this.
Way back in the Old Testament, we see this principle time and time again. Joseph, tormented by his brothers and sold into slavery as a result of their jealousy, winds up near the pinnacle of power in Egypt. Having only a human perspective, we question these events as cruel suffering. God, however, used Joseph’s time in Egypt to remove the Children of Israel from the abominations occurring in Canaan. The sons of Jacob were better off being separated from the people in Canaan, and Egypt was the perfect place. The Egyptians wouldn’t have anything to do with the Jews, which helped them remain God-fearing until their return to the Promised Land.
Evil exists. This world is fallen and saturated in sin. Why are we surprised by the evil men do? Sin is in our nature, and only when we become a new creation in Christ are we able to live victoriously through Him, triumphing over that which had enslaved us.
We know that one of the names of Christ is “Light of the World” – yet too often we don’t stop to truly understand the need this old world has for the Light. Education is a great thing, but it won’t light the world. Helping the hungry, clothing the homeless, bringing medical care to the hurting – all of these are fine propositions, helpful to those in need and showing love and care in Jesus’ name. Yet you can’t push the dark out of a room by bringing in dinner. You cannot illumine a cave with medical care, or education.
The only way to get the dark out of a room is by turning on the light. Just so, the only way to illumine this old world, to cure her spiritual ills, is by Jesus. He is the Light of the World, and without Him, people still stumble through this world in the dark. Praise God that He left behind the perfection of heaven to be born as a baby, live as a man in this old world, die for our sins, and be raised – conquering death and sin in the process. Praise the Name of Jesus!
“His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’” Genesis 50:18-20
Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." —John 8:12
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Blessings this season to you and yours,
Cara and Patti
Classic Christianity
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