As I was sitting in a prayer service at my local church recently, I was pondering the scripture in which Jesus says he has not come to condemn the world, for it is already condemned, but to save it. As Christians we can get so angry with the "sinful" choices of the world and with our spiritual eyes having been opened, it can seem absurd when laws are passed that are in direct opposition to "common sense" in our view. I however, am beginning, by God's kindness, to see the WHY behind the mess. Condemnation. Jesus told us the world was already condemned...it is like a huge red demolition sign has been posted on this earth and on every inhabitant since the garden of Eden and the fall of man. In Genesis we learn that due to sin, the whole Earth is cursed. The entire world groans for it's release from the bondage of sin. This is the WHY. Humans inherently "know" that they are condemned and under this curse. God makes it no secret. We can see it in nature, we can see it in the brokenness of man. We all see the pain of the world and think, "This is not right...this should not be". No one is happy with the curse and so they seek ways to get around the big red sign that marks them as soon to be destroyed. They do this in several ways...but the reason is always the same. Deny, deny, deny. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Cover, cover, cover. Hide, hide, hide. Nothing has changed since the garden. Adam sinned and hid. Eve covered herself and her husband with leaves....both trying to deny and avoid that big red sign. The ultimate problem with our worldly efforts to avoid being condemned is that NONE of them work and sooner or later, we need to add more leaves and hide in deeper and darker places. This is why we are seeing the legalization of the murder of our unborn...legalization and normalization of homosexual marriage....normalization and acceptance of divorce...normalization and acceptance of extramarital or premarital sexual relationships...legalization of drugs and the push for the legalization of marijuana...the normalization of pornography, the glorification of lying,cheating, backbiting, gossip (has anyone seen the "Real Housewives" series?)the list goes on and on....The world is trying to escape the curse the only way their darkened spiritual eyes can figure. Make what causes us to feel condemned NORMAL or LEGAL or FASHIONABLE. Our methods do not work as we are seeing evidenced across humankind. As we hide further and further from the truth about our fate, we simply heap sin upon sin, leaf upon leaf, and retreat further into the forest to hide from God. That is like ignoring a sunburn, putting on more tanning oil and sitting back out in the sun. God gives us warning signs for a reason! To warn us and to turn us back to the truth!
Notice how in the Garden, after Eve and Adam had hidden themselves and fashioned their new wardrobe, God came looking for them? He still comes looking for cursed man today, offering us a new covering that HE makes for us. He covers us with a sacrifice that HE determines worthy of redeeming us. His Son. Those who accept this offering can finally be free from condemnation. It is as if God takes that big red sign off of us and marks us with a new sign, TO BE SAVED! No one demolishes a building without first going through it and removing all the valuables and treasures it holds. They must be marked and removed before destruction begins. Every corner of the building gets looked over for anything that is precious or anyone hiding out inside. God gives us the opportunity to be marked for him, but we can choose to stay in our ramshackle surroundings and try to duct tape over the cracks, hide in the closets, and hold up the falling ceiling with our feeble hands.
I choose to run to him yelling "SAVE ME" and I look forward to what he will build in place of this cracked and broken world...in place of this cracked and broken me!
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!
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