Shame on me, but I don't pay much attention to the news. Two stories, however, have violently captured my attention: Harold Camping, and the ongoing saga of natural disasters, Joplin, MO., in particular. I'm not going to bother joining my voice to the throngs of people quoting Mark 13:32 because, we get it. That's why we didn't buy into the hype in the first place. I'm writing today because after hearing of 89+ people dying just 40 miles from my in-law's house, I'm glad that Harold was right about one thing - Jesus is coming back. Romans 8:18-25 is one of Paul's more convoluted paragraphs. It doesn't matter what translation you read it in - it is confusing. But if you take the time to mine it out three big ideas emerge, quite pertinent for today.
1. The entire planet is rotting like the left-over corn casserole from Easter that's still on the bottom shelf of your fridge. Go look for it, it's there, behind the pizza box. You don't have to look for the planetary decay, you just have to turn on the tube. Japan, Southern U.S., Burma, Joplin, Clear Creek in Buffalo, WY (you won't find that one in the news) and don't forget, we're fighting a war on 5 or so fronts. Not to mention rampant disease, domestic violence, and the depression you are now experiencing for having read this. (Hold on, point three is REALLY good news!)
2. The cause of this rot is sin. Not just Adam and Eve's original sin, but your sin and mine. Sin throws the cosmos into chaos. God wrote the laws of nature to function in harmony with His own character. Mankind simply cannot continue doing things his own way and expect things to work. We've been trying for a very long time and it's not working out so well. Did Joplin get cut in half by a tornado because God is judging them for sin? I have no idea. But I do know that "creation was subjected to futility" and is in "bondage to decay" because our race is sinful.
3. Jesus is coming back. We don't know when it will happen, but we know the result - creation will be "set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God!" Who are God's children? Those who "have the firstfruits of the Spirit" - those who through repentance have placed their faith and hope in the Jesus who is returning. Repentance and faith won't instantaneously fix what is wrong with the world. Repentance and faith won't tell us the date of Christ's return. Repentance and faith will give us a certainty of future redemption. It will allow our response to Joplin, et al., to be an echo of Paul's victorious opening sentence, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us!"
What do we do with this? First, embrace and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Take hope in it and present that hope to others. Then, live the conclusion of that Gospel now. One day redemption will settle every storm and Jesus will end every conflict. Justice and mercy will be the restored atmosphere of creation. Live as though it is true now by actively supplying mercy to a broken world. It is true in you, so let it be true around you. Gospel. Love. This is the Christian life.
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