Happy Easter 2020
COVID-19
The message of the gospel never grows old. It’s always fresh, vibrant and alive just as the Word of God is as living, alive and powerful as it has always been. In the beginning was the Word; and without the Word made flesh, who came and dwelt among us, namely Jesus Christ, was nothing made. All of creation was made through Jesus who is Love. And because He so loved us—compelled by love—He came to save us.
Yes, we need saving. We live in a fallen creation. Why does everything proceed from newness to decay, from life to death? Why are there wars and terrorist atrocities and disasters and murders and accidents and pandemics? Why do we envy and fight? He never intended us to live this way. He meant for us to live in eternal peace, harmony and love with Him and with each other.
But man chose independence—and independent of God, man is lost. Man is not the arbiter of what is moral and righteous and pure. That is obvious as we slide deeper into abortions and infanticides and same-sex and transgender issues and genderless pronouns.
Jesus Christ came to save us and make a way back for us into eternal relationship with Him. “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.” (John 3:16 Amplified, Classic Edition)
We need not delve into the complexities of God as a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit just now. We just need to grasp the fact that in Love, as Love, God came and lived as a man in our midst. He said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life,” but because that messed with the world’s status quo and our messed-up thinking, and it still does, we rejected Him and killed Him. We crucified Him. We thought that was the end of Him.
But it isn’t. He rose from the dead three days later, appeared to his disciples and many others, and ascended back to heaven from whence He came. He LIVES!
He empowered his disciples to go out and preach His message and try to change the world. And still the world rejects Him and kills His followers. Yet despite, statistically, Christianity being the most persecuted faith in the world, both now and for two thousand years after Him, Christianity is still here. Persecution only makes Christianity grow in strength and numbers.
We are still left with a choice—to believe in, trust in, cling to and rely on Him or not. ‘Not’ leaves you lost and separated from Him forever and in eternal torment. Dare you risk it?
Jesus paid for our entrance into heaven by dying on the cross for us. His Love compelled Him. He came to earth to do so. He knew His mission and purpose and carried it out. Only He could do it. The Bible says God looked for someone but none was found worthy to pay that price, because all of mankind has shortcomings. Christians are not perfect human beings but we believe in, and trust in and rely on the One who was, and is, and we try to emulate Him, failing miserably many times. Yet He has paid for our ticket to heaven and yours. Will you take it and use it? It is His gift.
Because He is Justice as well as Love, He is not going to tolerate earth’s shenanigans indefinitely. The Bible says He is coming back as Judge. He came as Savior. He is returning as Judge. He is coming back soon. All who have accepted Him will not be judged but all who have rejected Him will be judged and cast into “outer darkness” forever. Pause and think on that. The coronavirus pandemic has given us all both time and reason to pause and think on that.