Is it the End of the
World as We Know it?
In some sense I would say, "Yes." But let me
explain. In light of the seeming endless cycle of news stories about terrorism,
same-sex marriage, racism, and the growing hostility against Christianity, this
may be a legitimate question to ask. Things are changing for the worse at a
mind-boggling pace. And certainly America is not the same country it was 100 or
50 years ago, or even when I was a child. This does not mean, however, that I
have fallen victim to a "gloom and doom" mentality. No, I do not
believe the sky is falling or the end is coming. Nevertheless, things have gone
south quickly and many Christians are shaking their heads, wondering what has
happened to their country. Yes, America has lost its way. Yes, the government
has failed. Yes, morality has plummeted to an all-time low. Evil is called good
and good is called evil. Everything is upside-down. In fact, I do not even
recognize this nation anymore and for the first time in my life, I cannot say
I'm proud to be an American. I am a citizen of another country (Phil. 3:20).
Many factors have contributed to this downward spiral, but I
am not going to address that here. My purpose is to attempt to offer hope in
the midst of troubled times. I will say this, however, and perhaps this is a
topic for another post, but a nation who slaughters their own children by the
millions and not only condones, but delights in egregious immorality, and whose
highest courts have the audacity to redefine the God-ordained institution of
marriage, cannot avoid His judgement. I do not claim to be a prophet, but my
own personal conviction for America’s moral collapse is because it is under the
wrath of God; people have been given over to a depraved mind (Rom. 1:18-28).
So what's the answer? Well, despite popular opinion, there
is no political leader that can fix the insanity around us. There is no
political party that has all the answers. No amount of right-wing
conservativism is going to get the job done. So what should we do? We should
look to Jesus. Christians need to stop looking to politics for solutions and
look to Christ. He is not confused or scratching His head, wondering what to do
next. He is in control and has promised to build His church (Matt 16:18). The
true Church will be triumphant because Christ is the head of the church and He
will not fail. We cannot look at the circumstances around us through the eyes
of the media and expect to be encouraged. We must look to Jesus. We must look
at the world through the lens of the gospel. What color are your glasses?
Gospel-Colored
Glasses
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of
God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. (Rom. 1:16)
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God
through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save
those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those
who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God. (1 Cor. 1:21-24)
There is no hope for this nation outside of the gospel. For
it alone has the power to change hearts and minds. Christ crucified is the only
answer. The person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ can transform the darkest
of hearts; and when hearts change, behavior changes. This is our only hope. If
you are looking to anything but Christ as the answer to your problems or the
problems of the world around you, you are looking in the wrong direction.
How can we make sense of our surroundings, when it seems
like the whole world is in upheaval? We do so by continually going back to the
foundation. God is sovereign, He is still on the throne, and Jesus saves
sinners like you and me. The way to steel ourselves against the coming tide of
darkness is by diving into the Word and prayer. There is no magic formula. We
must immerse ourselves in the Word of God; know it, live it, and preach it.
What was the message of Jesus even when His own people rejected and hated Him?
The gospel. What was Paul's response to persecution, suffering, and
imprisonment? The gospel. What was the first century church's answer to Rome's
radical depravity, and the threat of martyrdom? The gospel. So what should we
do in the midst of a wicked and godless nation? Preach the gospel!
Peace in Persecution
For many of us who have grown up in a very different
America, it is difficult to believe Christians could be persecuted for their
faith, yet we have already seen the beginnings of this. Whether or not it will
increase to the level seen by the early church or to what we are now witnessing
in the Middle East, I am not going to speculate; God knows. However, we should
not be surprised that the world hates us. In fact, we should expect this. After
all, what has light to do with darkness? What has evil to do with good? Isn't
this exactly what Jesus said we would face?
And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one
who endures to the end will be saved. (Matt. 10:22)
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world,
and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were
evil. (John 3:19)
Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude
you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
(Luke 6:22)
This should be no surprise to us. Persecution is exactly
what we should expect. We haven't really faced persecution in the West so some
of us are shocked when we see it. For the most part, we have lived in relative
ease, but those days are over.
Too many so-called Christians today want the world to like
us; approve of us; share our values, but this cannot be. This is misguided
thinking. This is not the teaching of Scripture. Friendship with the world is
enmity with God (James 4:4). We cannot expect unbelievers to love God or the
things of God because their minds have not been renewed and their hearts are
hard. They love darkness rather than light.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)
This is the true test isn't it? Loving the things of this
world proves that you are not a lover of God. When persecution comes, those who
claim to love Christ, but are really friends of the world will be weeded out
like tares among wheat. But those who are true disciples of Christ will endure
because we have a hope that the world cannot overcome.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome
the world. (John 16:33)
We have a certain hope that suffering cannot take away.
Jesus didn't promise that there wouldn't be tribulation, in fact He said,
"You will have tribulation," but He did promise that He would be with
us. We can have peace in the midst of suffering and persecution because of
Jesus Christ the victor, who has conquered sin and the grave by His death and
resurrection! No
matter what we may face, whether hardship or death, we
shall prevail because God is for us! So be encouraged and remember Paul's words
in Romans chapter 8:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us,
who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us
all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall
bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to
condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is
at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are
regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:31-39)
No comments:
Post a Comment