Category: Sin

What’s the Difference with the Damned?

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At the end of this world and the beginning of the next, we will all stand before our Creator. He will judge each one of us. Of that fact, there is no doubt. The question is, what’s the difference with the damned? Why will some be forever cast into what God has termed “the lake of fire”? For that matter, why will some be spared such condemnation? There exists near the end of the book of Revelation a short passage that brings the essence of the difference into sharp focus. Let’s read it first:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15, ESV)

Here we have a summary of the judgment of people who will be forever damned. We notice first that not even the earth or sky itself can stand in the presence of God’s holiness as He begins the final judgment. There is, therefore, no refuge for anyone to escape or to have eased the devastation of what is about to take place. Notice, secondly, that all of the dead – both the great and the small – must stand before the throne. Your soul’s destiny depends not on how influential or wealthy you were in this life, and your status of seeming insignificance or poverty does not excuse you from judgment; all must stand before the throne.

The key component on which we want to focus here is the books that are opened. First, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle John tells us in this passage that “books were opened.” Then he adds that “another book was opened, which is the book of life” (verse 12). We clearly understand, then, that this one book of life stands out from the other books. There is a group of books which are unnamed, and there is the book of life.

We are informed that the dead – the “spiritually dead” that is – are judged by what is written in the unspecified books. The contents of these books must be the sinful acts of the damned, because we are told simultaneously that these people were judged “according to what they had done” (verse 12). And no one escapes; the sea (the troubled and sinful world, as I understand it) and all of Death and Hades had to give up the dead in their possession. In other words, no matter when these people had died, no matter if their spirits and bodies had long been separated from God or only shortly, no matter if their bodies had been in the ground for thousands of years or just a few moments, no matter where they had died, and no matter from where they came, death had to yield to God its power over people so that God could make His final, sovereign, and irrevocable judgment.

Death obeys … and gives them up. The solemn words of verse thirteen demonstrate the complete power of almighty God, as Death and Hades give up the dead and “they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done” (verse 13). We observe here the repeating of the same phrase we saw in verse twelve. We read twice that the damned are judged by the things that they did. Their wrong, ungodly, and rebellious actions and words – their sins – are here resulting in an eternal destiny. On the basis of their own sins, they are forever damned to the lake of fire.

Verse fifteen adds one specific emphasis; those who end up in the lake of fire also did not have their names placed in the book of life. Not only do the condemned find themselves paying finally for their sinfulness, but their doom is doubly sealed, for their names are not recorded in the one book that stands alone – the book of life. Clearly, the one difference between the damned and the saved – between those who are put in the lake of fire and those who are not – is one factor. Is his or her name written in this book of life? If a name is not written in that one book, then all of his sins are heaped upon him at the end of time.

I want to make this point unequivocally plain: you will either be judged by your sins or judged by your inclusion in the book of life. You will either one day have the culmination of all the guilt and punishment for rebelling against God heaped on you as your sins are read from many books, or you will stand before the throne and hear only one thing called out to you – your name from the one book of life. All the sins that I have ever committed brought to me for damnation, or hearing God read my name from a book that ensures my safety and everlasting delight – those are the choices.

So how do we get our name in the book of life? We need to know the Owner of the book! We need to have a relationship with the Person to whom that book belongs! He is Jesus. Revelation 21:27 calls that one book “the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 13:8 labels it “the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” There is only one Lamb with a capital “L.” There is only one slain Lamb that ultimately matters when it comes to my sin and my destiny. John the Baptist said it best, as recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter one, verse 29, “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” The Apostle Peter corroborates John the Baptist’s statement in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

Jesus was the Lamb who was put to death for our sins. He spilled His own blood on the Cross of Calvary to pay for your sinfulness. When He gave up His life that day outside the gates of Jerusalem, He took your sin upon His own shoulders – IF you believe in Him. If you truly believe in the Jesus of the Cross, the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus who invaded earthly history to die and rise again, the Jesus who is coming back one day, the Jesus who is the ONLY ONE who can pay for your sin and put your name in the wonderful book of life – if you believe in Him, you are safe from eternal condemnation and the lake of fire. This belief in Him must be real and applied. You have to believe in Jesus to the point that it changes your reality. To truly believe in Him means to accept all of His Word as revealed in the Bible. It means to completely change your mind about your sin and know in the deepest place of your heart that you need His blood and His forgiveness. It means to live with Him and for Him each day. It is a relationship.

If your name is in the Lamb’s book of life, then never will your sins be brought up to condemn you at the end of time. While the sins of the damned are reiterated as the evidence of their rightful judgment, the only thing you will hear is your name – called lovingly from the Lamb’s book. Why will you not hear your sins proclaimed? Because your sins were judged on the Cross with Jesus when He suffered and died. Your sins have been paid for – never to condemn you before God!

Oh, Jesus, how we love You! Dear Jesus, how we thank You! As the Apostle Paul put it in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And we can joyfully add to this glorious statement the truth of the book of Revelation and know that there is no damnation and lake of fire for those whose names are written in Jesus’ book of life!

– Shelli S. Prindle

Isn’t Everyone a Child of God Since He Loves Everyone?

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What do you think of when you think of love? Do you think of wishy-washy feelings? Do you think of something conditional – based on right behavior? Do you think of something hopeful, but not really grounded on hard facts? Do you think of an emotion instead of an action? When it comes to actual love, here’s a phrase from the Bible for you: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev. 1:5).

The Apostle John is writing here about the love of Jesus Christ. By the inspiration of the Spirit of God, he tells us that Christ’s love for us is inextricably tied to Christ’s action for us; and that, my friends, is the crux of the matter. The love of God is given by the action of God – and not just any action. This is the most critical and paradoxical measure of which we can conceive. God moves to make spiritually dead people alive by shedding the blood of His altogether perfect Son. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

The love of God is not some feeble emotion that makes everyone feel that they are safe when, in fact, they are not. The love of God is not without activity – life or death activity. The love of God is not without immeasurable sacrifice. Most importantly, the love of God cannot be properly applied to a person’s life without also administering the blood of Jesus Christ. In all honesty, if you have not agreed to God’s covering of your sinful heart with the sacrifice of the blood of His Son, then you have not been made alive with the love of God. God loves you, but His love cannot save you or quicken you to real life until you apply the only thing that can free you from sin and death – the blood of Jesus.
All people are creations of God, but not all people are children of God. To be a child implies a relationship. A relationship with God can only happen when our sinfulness is covered and paid for by the blood of Jesus and God’s wrath against us satisfied by Christ’s suffering and death. We must believe in that sacrifice and apply it to our own life. Once our spiritually “dead” condition has been resolved, we are free to “live” as children of God. (Gal. 3:26, 4:4-5)

God’s love is massive and unconditional (no matter what you have done or where you have been), but it must be genuinely received in its reality and entirety in order to be effective for your salvation. Here is the reality: His love frees us from our sins by his blood. The greatest freedom that exists is the freedom from our sins and their guilt and penalty. Sin disrupts our relationship with God. It simply must be dealt with or we remain spiritually lost and outside of a relationship with our Creator.

Have you honestly received God’s love? It is expressed in the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus Christ. When you go to God by the way of Jesus, you can be saved by the love of God. You can be set free to be a child of God – in full relationship with Him!

– By Shelli S. Prindle

What About Suicide

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suicide

Suicide is both a delicate and a critical subject. It involves the taking of life, which is the most precious thing God has entrusted to humans. (Gen. 2:7) In fact, it was the life of God’s Son that had to be given to pay the price for our redemption and escape from eternal death. Life is invaluable, therefore murder is a sin (Ex. 20:13). Moreover, God has given us a way to a living hope – a substantive hope that never dies, despite the worst trials and temptations. (1 Pet. 1:3, 6-7). He does this through the resurrection of His Son over sin and death, the ultimate proof that life is the way of God.

When it comes to the ultimate outcome of someone committing suicide, the two options are the same as for any other person: eternal life or eternal damnation (John 3:36). Those are the only two existing categories for a person who leaves this temporary world and enters the next. When we try to contemplate how the sin of suicide plays into God’s judgment, we need to remember that all sin is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ for the one who truly believes in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Although the Bible does not explicitly spell out the eternal destiny of those who commit suicide, we know, indeed, that some among us who have committed murder are in Heaven. We need only to think of Moses and David (Ex. 2:12, 2 Sam. 11:15). Both these men of God murdered at one point, but neither of them made the pattern of murderous sin the way of their lives. The difference between a Christian who sins and an unsaved person who sins is that the true believer repents of his sin and hates it, while the unbeliever thinks not much of his sin and would do it again without any strain against her conscience toward Her Creator. Revelation 21:8 clearly explains of murderers that “their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” However, it is also there said of liars and idolaters, for example, that they will be in the same eternal fire. Every one of us has lied and put other people or things ahead of God (idolatry). We, nonetheless, do not conclude that our place will be in the lake of fire if we are trusting in Jesus Christ and hate what hurts Him and His kingdom rather than embracing such iniquity (1 Pet. 2:24). It is our salvation by Jesus that ensures our eternal destiny. (John 5:24)

The ultimate question here, then, is whether or not a follower of Jesus Christ can commit suicide. For, only followers of Jesus are safe in His presence subsequent to earthly death. This is an inquiry that cannot be unequivocally answered by mortals – even with full appeal to the Word of God. I think immediately of Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” How eloquently here does the Spirit express that there are things that only God can know, especially when it comes to issues of His judgment and mercy – as in the context of this verse. What we should point out, though, is that while some things are secret, the things that are revealed are to be known and obeyed. We have enough of God’s Word to understand that He gives to His people what is necessary to overcome in all predispositions, circumstances, and temptations. 1 Cor. 10:13 proclaims, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Also, 2 Pet. 2:9 declares that “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.” With these two verses alone, I am compelled to believe that I can have victory over sin and the most terrible of trials.

However, the Bible undeniably reveals a grace, a help, and a forgiveness that meets the Christian at his point of failure. “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). These words bring boundless comforts, because we know that Jesus is our Defense. He took the hit in His body and His death for all our sin. “Propitiation” means appeasement. Jesus appeases the wrath of God on behalf of all who sincerely are trusting in Christ as their Savior. Nowhere does the Bible say that the sin of suicide is excluded from the practical reaches of this Scripture. However, nowhere does the Bible say that suicide is excluded from the incontrovertible promise of God’s sustaining grace in trials and provision for victory over sin in the aforementioned verses. Therefore, it seems that the question of whether or not a heaven-bound Christian can commit suicide is ultimately one of the secrets of God, but general parameters for the topic have been made known. As Matthew Henry (1662-1714), the great Bible commentator said, “We are forbidden curiously to inquire into the secret counsels of God, and to determine concerning them. But we are directed and encouraged, diligently to seek into that which God has made known. He has kept back nothing that is profitable for us, but only that of which it is good for us to be ignorant. The end of all Divine revelation is, not to furnish curious subjects of speculation and discourse, but that we may do all the words of this law, and be blessed in our deed. This, the Bible plainly reveals; further than this, man cannot profitably go. By this light he may live and die comfortably, and be happy forever.”

When asked my humble opinion on the matter, I lean toward believing that I will meet a few people in Heaven who are now truly repentant after having committed the sin of self-murder. In the Lord’s presence, they now see clearly the purpose their pain could have served, and the sustaining grace the Lord could have shown them. But is not that true of all of us, for all our mistrust and sin? I would caution, however, that judgment for Christians is real. Though we make Heaven despite our sins because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can lose eternal reward. If one cuts short his life by committing suicide, one forfeits untold reward for the days not lived on earth that had a purpose in Jesus. So much pain will have been caused, so much confusion will have been disseminated, and so many of the good plans of God will have gone unfulfilled. We simply cannot deny 2 Cor. 5:10 or 1 Cor. 3:13-15, “Each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

Finally, we must treat this subject as we should carefully treat many others – with thoughtfulness and a heart full of mercy toward others and humility toward the Lord. This is a mysterious area on which we tread. Only God Himself sees through to the core of who we are. “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13). I think of the way the winsome C.S. Lewis put it, “We see only the results which a man’s choices make out of his raw material. But God does not judge him on the raw material at all, but on what he has done with it. Most of the man’s psychological makeup is probably due to his body: when his body dies all that will fall off him, and the real central man, the thing that chose, that made the best or worst out of this material, will stand naked. All sorts of nice things which we thought our own, but which were really due to a good digestion, will fall off some of us: all sorts of nasty things which were due to complexes or bad health will fall off others. We shall then, for the first time, see every one as he really was. There will be surprises.”

Here is the bottom line, “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). Until then, let us live according to what God has given us with every ounce of strength we have. And let us hold out all hope that the blood of Jesus Christ is fully sufficient for the sin we so awfully commit.

Are You Involved in Satanic Activity?

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When most of us think of Satanic activity, we may think of Ouija boards, poltergeists, sorcery, etc. But what about the subtler ways the devil operates – even through us? After all, he is by nature a master deceiver. Jesus said that he “has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him” and that “he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). What if, as Christians, we are neglecting to realize the very damaging and sly things that Satan is doing each day, because we are focused only on the obvious. The Apostle Paul highlighted this concept when he warned fellow believers about false apostles and deceitful workmen in the church itself. He tells us not to be surprised by this because “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Based on solid biblical truth, we have reason to be wary of Satan’s cunning modes of operation. He wants to catch us off guard.

Let me bring to your attention a reasonably well-known, but highly undervalued verse in the Bible. This Scripture makes obvious the hideous ways the devil works to damage God’s kingdom, and it is through God’s own people! The setting is that our Lord Jesus is explaining to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer, be killed, and then be raised to life. He is, in a nutshell, laying out the purpose for which He came to earth. Without this ultimate plan, none of us can be saved. But, as Jesus expounds the coming days of His death and resurrection, Peter pipes up with an incredible statement. The Bible specifically says, “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord!’ This shall never happen to you’ (Matthew 16:22).

In a crazy turn of events, Jesus then looks at His dear friend, His disciple, and declares to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23). Wow! Jesus looks at Peter and tells Satan what to do! What is going on here? We know that Peter is not possessed by Satan, for Peter clearly was a follower of Jesus Christ, even despite his failure. Why then is Jesus addressing Satan when he looks at Peter? Because the apostle in this moment is allowing the thoughts and ways of the devil to be his guide in attitude and behavior. Peter is allowing Satan to control him in this instance. He is giving the devil a strong foothold in his life and, by doing so, is moving to stop the most important plan of God. Peter becomes a momentary enemy to God with this declaration motivated by the ways of Satan (whose name, in fact, means “adversary”). No wonder the Apostle Paul instructs us in Ephesians 4:27, “give no opportunity to the devil.” So, is it possible that committed followers of Jesus Christ can be involved in Satanic activity? Absolutely! Let’s explore how and be on guard.

When Jesus accused Peter of acting in Satanic ways, He made clear the reason. Christ announced directly, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23). That’s it. Plain and simple. The activity that warranted Jesus to name it “satanic” is the deed of concentrating on things that are of man and not of God. I am sure, then, that I am guilty at times of devilish work. Any time that I decide to put the interest of my humanity above the interest of God and His plan, I am on Satan’s side. This is utterly convicting. How often we are tempted to believe that only unbelievers and “very lost” people are involved in Satanic activity, and how wrong we are! The devil is a most cunning creature, who uses whoever he can to defy the plan of God. As demonstrated in this precise moment with Peter, the main endeavor of God that the devil seeks to destroy is the salvation of humanity. That salvation required the infinite suffering of Jesus, His cruel death, and His miraculous resurrection. Peter had wanted none of it to happen – in Peter’s humanity that is. Poor Peter loved His Lord, and he did not want Him to suffer. Peter had given up his way of living to follow Christ, and he no doubt wanted to keep following, misunderstanding the long-term plan. Peter thought His Lord unworthy of suffering and death – and maybe part of the reason was selfishness – that Peter did not want to suffer and die. In any case, God’s plan was being thwarted.

I think of what would have happened if Peter would have gotten his way and Jesus would not have died. None of us would be forgiven. None of us would ever enter into the kingdom of God. None of us could have true relationship with God. None of us could ever walk in the New Heavens and New Earth. No wonder Jesus called this behavior satanic. The devil wants to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10); he wants none of those good things for you.

We understand that what seems like a harsh reaction by Jesus to his beloved Peter is truly a just reaction. It is honest. Peter was letting Satan have his way in him. That is scary. That is horrible. And we do the same when we put our own selfish or shortsighted plans ahead of God’s ideas. If I take the path of least resistance even though I know it does not honor God’s commands, I am acting in a devilish way. If I do what is best for me even though it is not the best for the witness of Jesus to the world, I am being Satanic. If I exalt my desires above the desires of God as spelled out in His Word, I am joining the devil’s side. If I refuse to stand up for Christ for fear of human consequences, I am aiding Satan. Jesus came to this world, and He suffered. I will suffer, too. Jesus came to this world to die in my place. Now I must die to self. Jesus came to this world to obey His Father and work the plan. I must obey and work the plan, too. When I allow any of my human longings to be more important than my longing to love God and His ways, Jesus rightly says to me, “Get behind me, Satan.”

Let’s us pray and commit to never hear those words said to us. Let us keep setting our minds on the things of God and not the things of man. It’s that simple … and that difficult.

Gospel Blown to Smithereens

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The heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was blown to smithereens in just a few minutes one morning over the airwaves. Just as I turned on the radio, I heard a man of Jewish heritage explain the highlights of the Seder meal that his wife would prepare and his family enjoy during the Passover season. As a part of that description, he was asked by the radio show’s host what exactly was the meaning of the Passover. The gentleman explained that it was a remembrance of the Jewish people “dragging themselves” out of Egypt. Yes. He went on for a few moments letting all the listeners know that back in the days of Moses, God’s people were finally able through much effort, hard work, and persistence, to somehow drag themselves out of Egypt. In all fairness, I must add that after a few sentences about this great human effort, the Jewish man tacked on at the end a brief statement in a lighthearted voice, “Of course, God did help them.”

Wow. The Hebrew people were somehow able to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and manage to limp out of Egypt by their own hard work, though they were so completely bedraggled? I think not! The book of Exodus (part of the Jewish scriptures and, of course, part of the Christian Bible) tells us the reality of the Hebrews’ desperate situation in chapter 2, verses 23-25, “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel – and God knew.”

Clearly, the Hebrews were downtrodden beyond belief, and they needed rescued by God. This was not a work of human effort. Their miraculous deliverance would be the direct result of God’s keeping His Word. He would keep His covenant that was originally made to Abraham and passed down through the generations. The exodus of God’s people was all the result of Him keeping His promise, and not vice versa. For we, even as His people today, continue to fail Him. It is as the Apostle Paul proclaims in 2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV), “If we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.”

In fact, Exodus 6:6-9 (ESV) really gets to the heart of the matter by letting us know how helpless God’s people were, how mighty God’s salvation is, how lame the enemy is compared to the Savior, and how lacking in faith and hope the Hebrews remained even on the precipice of deliverance. We read God’s Word spoken to Moses, “Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’ Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.” This passage of the Bible makes it abundantly clear that the work of the exodus was all of God. In fact, the Lord tells His people that they would know it was Him who brought them out, because the work would be so miraculous. Despite the reiteration of God’s promise, the people still did not listen. This was definitely not a group of people who were pulling themselves up by the bootstraps and dragging themselves out of a bad situation; rather, this was a nation that was about to be thrown out of Egypt after a series of supernatural interventions by the Lord!

When we think of the plagues – the blood, the frogs, the gnats, the flies, the death of livestock, the boils, the hail, the locusts, the darkness, and the death of the firstborn – how can we imagine that the exodus was the result of human endeavor with a little bit of God’s help? The only thing we see in this historical account is the incomprehensible work of a God who never fails to keep His promises. The Israelites could in no way cause any of the plagues of judgment; it was all a work of the Lord.

The most disturbing part of what happened over the airwaves the day this gentleman talked with the radio host is how the reality of the Gospel was distorted by this discussion from the Old Testament. Not only was the truth of the book of Exodus not brought to light accurately, but the message of Jesus Christ as Savior was greatly harmed. You see, the New Testament is built upon the Old Testament. Jesus Christ did not come to destroy the law (of the Old Testament), but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) Jesus made clear that the Bible’s purpose is to point people to Him for eternal life. He said to the Jews in John 5:39 (ESV), “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” The historical account of the exodus, therefore, points to Jesus Christ! It is a beautiful picture of how God saves us. Remember that Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) declares, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The Israelites in Moses’ day had no reason to brag about their own efforts in the exodus. In the same way, Christians today have no reason to boast about our salvation; it is all God’s work!

When God sent the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, after wearing the Egyptians down with the other nine, it was a picture of the necessity of the blood of Jesus Christ to forgive our sins. The only way that Hebrew people could be spared death during this plague was to put the blood of a lamb without blemish over the doorposts of their homes. (Exodus 12:1-13) In the same way, we are saved today by applying the blood of Jesus Christ, the sinless One, to our hearts. (1 Peter 1:18-19) In all this narrative and theology, we notice that God is the one bringing deliverance through judgment of Egypt by plagues and that He is the one prescribing the only hope His people have for surviving that judgment.

The final plague struck the heart of Pharaoh and his nation, provoking him to throw the Hebrews out of His country. Exodus 12:30-32 (ESV) explains, “And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, ‘Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!’” There you have it. Pharaoh effectively threw out the Hebrews from his land. Why? Because the Lord sent plagues, culminating in the last one that put Pharaoh over the edge. God’s people could not initiate nor carry out their deliverance – except for their calling out to God. The same is true today. The only part we play in our salvation is calling out to God to save us.

The damage done on the radio by a person who was referring to the Bible – but inaccurately so – is devastating. In deemphasizing the work of the Lord and pointing rather to the work of humans, one man gave the impression that human achievement is what saves us. “Every word of God proves true” (Proverbs 30:5, ESV), so we must take into account every detail of every part of the Bible. When any portion is distorted or misrepresented, untold spiritual damage occurs. I am sure that the devil was pleased with this particular instance of the work of Jesus Christ being minimized. The devil cannot create anything of his own, and so he works ardently to pervert what God has already said. This has been the devil’s method of operation from the beginning. He is the “father of lies” (John 8:44), and he is at work all of the time trying to twist God’s Word so that people will not be saved.

Be aware. Be watchful. (1 Peter 5:8) Know God’s Word for yourself. Do not let anyone misdirect your understanding of God’s truth. My experience with an “innocent” radio program is a grand example. The enemy is always at work to distort the message of God’s salvation. There is nothing more important than your eternal life, and there is no other source for understanding the salvation that Jesus Christ provides other than the Bible – exactly as it is written.

Divine Restraint

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After Jesus had been performing miracles and feeding thousands of hungry people, a crowd was about to push an issue in the wrong way, for the wrong reasons, and at the wrong time. “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:15, ESV).

The restraint displayed here by Jesus amazes me, because at that moment, HE KNOWS HE IS KING! He had every right to come the first time to earth and take over the universe He had created and set up His perfect kingdom. But He didn’t. He waited. He restrained His glory and His rights. He chose a crown of thorns rather than a crown of jewels. He determined to be mocked rather than to take over. Why?

Jesus chose the road of suffering back then for YOU. If He had come the first time to set up His righteous kingdom, we could have never been a part of it. But since He came the first time to suffer for sin in our place, we can join Him when He comes to reign and be truly known as the King of the universe.

Have you trusted in His suffering for your sin? Have you reacted to the love He displayed for you in His divine self-denial? Have you believed in the King who wore a crown of thorns so that you could one day be beside Him when “on His head are many diadems”? (Revelation 19:12, ESV)

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15, ESV)

Animals in the Scheme of Things

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A student recently asked me if animal experimentation is wrong from a biblical perspective. This is an important question that actually gives opportunity to highlight the invaluable nature of humanity, the preciousness of animals, and the incomprehensible love of God.

I will say at the outset that my heart is particularly grateful for animals used in the field of medicine, as the insulin I had to inject for survival during my first years as an insulin-dependent diabetic was pork insulin. Pork insulin was made from pig pancreases. As Erika Gebel, Ph.D., notes, “We’ve come a long way since more than two tons of pig parts were required to produce eight ounces of purified insulin. Today, the insulin that comes in vials, pens, and pumps is not from pigs and cows but from designer microorganisms. These critters provide more of the hormones (and in forms more similar to the body’s own) to the millions of people across the globe who depend on a steady stream of high-quality insulin.” (1)

All of us are touched personally by disease and deformity. Everyone loves or knows someone who survives and/or benefits because of animal use in medicine. Each of us has also been touched by the lives of animals in other ways. God has made them good and beneficial for a number of reasons. We enjoy the companionship of domesticated animals as pets and the beauty and mystery of other creatures.

But as our culture continues to deemphasize the value of human life while simultaneously emphasizing the significance of the environment and animals, we begin to see questions surface. As Christians, we rightfully need to think through the issues using biblical principles; for the biblical perspective is the only perspective that is always correct and never changing. Despite our culture’s changing standards, God’s Word is timeless, and its principles stand true through all of history. As we will explore in the Scriptures in a moment, human value is above that of both the environment and animals (though the other parts of creation are vital and blessed!). William A. Dembski (mathematician, philosopher, and theologian) asserts, “Genesis clearly teaches that humans are the end of creation. For instance, Genesis describes the creation as merely ‘good’ before humans are created but describes it as ‘very good’ only after they are created. God’s activity in creation is therefore principally concerned with forming a universe that will provide a home for humans. Although this anthropocentrism sits uneasily in the current mental environment, it is not utterly foreign to it. Indeed, the intelligibility of the physical world through our intellects and, in particular, through such intellectual achievements as mathematics suggests that we live in a meaningful world whose meaning was placed there for our benefit.” (2)

I appeal to two passages of Scripture at the outset. First, Genesis 1:20-28 (ESV):

    And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
    And God said, “Let the earth bring for the living creatures according to their kinds – livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
    Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
    So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
    And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Notice that the living creatures were created and deemed “good” by their Creator. Notice also that when God created man and woman, He jumped into a new paradigm, making them “in his own image” – unlike anything else He had made. Humans were designed to have a unique relationship with God that no plant or animal or galaxy can ever have, no matter how beautiful or enjoyable. Additionally, humans were instructed to “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Part of the human task of filling and subduing the world God created was to dominate the other creatures. Certainly this dominion is not for evil purposes, as evil goes against the very nature of God. The subduing of creation is for the purpose of building society.

The second passage to which I appeal at the start is Psalm 8:3-8 (ESV):

    When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
    Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

We see here reiterated the emphasis of Genesis. Added though, is the truth that people are made just a bit lower than heavenly beings and are crowned with glory and honor. All things are put under our feet in order that our true destiny of godly glory and honor is fulfilled. Again, I add that it is dishonorable to mistreat any part of God’s creation out of a malicious heart. Moving toward honor and glory in a broken and sinful world must happen as we seek to do so within the parameters of God’s plan, for honor and glory can only come from Him.

Our Lord clearly tells us that unneeded cruelty is wrong. Proverbs 12:10 (ESV) proclaims, “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.” Jesus Himself often uses the metaphor of being a Shepherd, and He even speaks of “laying down his life for the sheep” (John 10:15, ESV). When we look at righteous King David of the Old Testament, we see a man who valued the keeping of His sheep enough to risk his own life in protecting them from lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-35). In fact, when necessary, he would kill the beasts if both the life of the sheep and his life were threatened by them. So we see – that in a fallen world – the best option to protect what is valuable can involve death.

Research seems to demonstrate that domesticated animals can be a benefit to their owners in terms of emotional and physical health. This seems right, as God made animals to live on the same earth as humans, yet under our ultimate dominion and as part of the plan for us. In the same way, animals can benefit humans by providing health research for the treatment and cure of illness and disease.

Here is the ultimate biblical point that brings home the case for both the precious nature of animals and the allowance for their use in saving human health and life. Think about our redemption from sin. Our salvation from our own sinful nature is necessary to preserve our eternal life with God. Without salvation from sin, we die one day physically and we die spiritually for an eternity. Our Creator thought our redemption so vital that He provided His own Son as the sacrifice to stand in our place. His death on the Cross and His blood that was shed appease the wrath of a holy God against our sin (Ephesians 1:7).

God sacrificed Himself in real flesh – and in real space and time – to save us. (No other religion’s god claims to have done this utterly unique and historically evidential act.) Our value is inestimable. Not only do we read of our worth in His Word, but we know of our value because the infinite Son of God gave His own life for ours. Two thousand years ago, Jesus began the restoration project of giving back to us our intended glory under the sovereignty of God. Made in His image to reign under Him, we will see that reality in the future. The cost was the very life of the Son of God.

Now think about this. Before Jesus came to earth to die and do the most pivotal thing God could do to demonstrate our human value and His love for us, how did He instruct humans to look forward by faith to that coming promise? The answer is critical: He told humans to make animal sacrifices. Innumerable animals were continuously slain so that their precious blood could point to the perfect blood of Jesus. As Scott Langston and E. Ray Clendenen note, “Leviticus 1-7 gives the most detailed description of Israel’s sacrificial system, including five types of sacrifices.” (3) As a matter of fact, when Adam and Eve attempted to cover themselves with fig leaves after the shame of their sin, God quickly demonstrated the inadequacy of such an attempt, and made them garments of skin (Genesis 3:7, 21). Skin clothing requires the death of an animal. And from then on, humans were instructed to deal with their sins by shedding animal blood to look forward to the final answer in the blood of Jesus (Genesis 4:3-5).

Sacrificial animals were precious enough (having been made by God) to foreshadow the work of Jesus. But they were not as valuable as the people for whom their blood would temporarily point to redemption by Jesus. God Himself makes clear both animal value and the limits of that value when compared to humanity. To God, our spiritual hope is worth animal sacrifice. Most assuredly, then, our physical health is worth it, too.

God cares for the animals. “He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry” (Psalm 147:9, ESV). Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26a, ESV). But then He directly adds, “Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26b) This rhetorical question Jesus asks, which follows an affirmation of His care for little birds, drives home the point. Animals are important. God sees all that happens with them. But people are more important, and one of the ways God has certainly provided for humans is by animal life.

We rejoice in the New Heavens and New Earth God that God is creating, because the sin curse will be erased and all disease eradicated (Revelation 22:3). People and animals will live without the hindrance of sin’s nasty effects. For now, we thank God for His calling on us to take dominion of this world under His sovereignty. Above all, we thank Him for the unimaginable price He paid for our entrance to the new world – foreshadowed at great cost by precious animals – and fulfilled in His Son. As I Peter 1:18-21 (ESV) tells us:

    Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

All of us who value animals and what they provide by way of medical help and emotional help rejoice in this promise about the millennial reign of Christ in the beginning of that new world (Isaiah 11:6-9, ESV):

    The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

References:

(1) Erika Gebel. “Making Insulin: A behind-the-scenes look at producing a lifesaving medication.” Diabetes Forecast. July 2013. Web. Jan. 27 2015.

(2) William A. Dembski, The End of Christianity (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2009), 143-44.

(3) Scott Langston & E. Ray Clendenen, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1429.

How Can I Believe In A God that Tortures People In Hell?

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An unbeliever asks, “How can you believe that God tortures people forever in Hell?” Now, wait a second; let’s think this through. First of all, the most startling thing is that God punished His very own Son (and Self) on the Cross two thousand years ago. In fact, the word excruciating comes from the Latin word for cross. Keep in mind also that the pain God inflicted on His Son was not only physical, but spiritual in nature. Jesus endured the guilt of our sin. He was tormented in body and spirit for our wickedness, though He is God and completely perfect. (II Corinthians 5:21)

Secondly, God “tortured” Himself, if you will, in order that we might be freed from the penalty and punishment we justly deserve. He deserved none of it, for Jesus is the perfect Son of God (I Peter 3:18). In effect, God does not send any person to eternal and tormented separation from Him without first offering the torment of His own Son (and Self) as the primary sacrifice … and the way out of anguish for all believing humans.

Thirdly, we are finite creatures sinning against an infinitely holy God. It is one thing for me to sin against another human being (and God holds us accountable for that), but in every sin we are ultimately offending God (Psalm 51:4). Sinning against an infinitely holy God obviously demands an infinite punishment. And, my friend, only an infinite God could absorb the world’s sin in a moment of time. That’s exactly what Jesus did! His infinitude allowed Him to absorb the totality of sin in one event of history. We finite creatures, however, would have to carry our own guilt on ourselves forever in order to pay it off. (John 3:36) Hence, Hell is an everlasting punishment.

So, before we get disturbed by the concept of Hell, we need to get amazed by the concept of Calvary. There, God inflicted immeasurable spiritual, emotional, and physical pain on His own Self as Jesus suffered and died. Jesus is our Way of escape from the misery of Hell, which is brought on by our own rebellion and refusal to believe in the measureless love and perfectly just plan of God.

First and foremost, we must understand that God placed our well-deserved penalty on Jesus, the Perfect One, who deserved no chastisement. Our punishment rightly follows if we sinners refuse to accept this great plan of unimaginable love. (Isaiah 53:10)

Spinach in Your Teeth?

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When you flash your pearly whites with a big piece of green spinach between two of them, it’s quite embarrassing. There’s that sinking feeling that comes when you’ve talked to a group of people and realize after the conversation that your smile had been compromised by a vegetable! Indeed, it’s a good idea to look in a mirror after certain kinds of meals (or at least consult a trusted friend).

Mirrors are important in life. We use them often, but we rarely stop to ponder their significance. I use a mirror to give me a realistic picture of what I look like … not what I wish to look like … but what I actually look like. And if – after peering in that glass – I find spinach in my teeth or a clump of hair sticking out, I fix myself. After all, isn’t that the point of looking in the mirror? What kind of fool would I be to walk away from a mirror after seeing spinach in my teeth and not do a thing about it?

Walking around all day with a glaring glitch in my appearance that could have been fixed after a consultation with the mirror is a ridiculous thing to do. An even more foolish thing to do is to look in the mirror of God’s Word and walk away unchanged. God has something specific to say about that in James 1:22-25 (ESV):

    But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

It’s a simple precept. The Bible acts as a mirror for us; it shows us what we really look like – not what we wish we looked like. The only true standard for a right-functioning human is God’s standard. He made us, and He knows precisely how we need to be. His Word is the glass into which we gaze and get a true picture of our glitches. Only, let’s be honest, those glitches are sins. And sin leads to death (James 1:15).

When we open the Bible and find we are selfish, we need to change and dislodge ourselves from the center of our world. When the Lord shows us we are unforgiving, we need to forgive with the love of Jesus. When the Holy Spirit shows us as we read the Bible that we do not have the passion for God to which we are called, we need to pursue Him more…with all our heart. When Jesus shows us that a relationship is out of His will, we need to make changes. And the list goes on.

To walk around with spinach in your teeth is one thing, but to walk through your days with glaring sin in your life is dangerous. God has given us His Word to show us what we need to see about ourselves. And His command is clear, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22, ESV). In other words, we are lying to ourselves when we claim to follow Christ but refuse to act out the change that needs to take place based on the standard of God’s Word. As much as you want your friend to tell you there is spinach in your teeth before you talk in front of a crowd, you desperately need the Bible to point out your sin before you stand in front of God face to face.

The Lord promises freedom to those who “take the spinach out.” We will always be bound up inside as long as we refuse to deal with the sin to which God points in the mirror of His Word. We will be restless and tied up in emotional, spiritual, and even physical knots. The Bible is the “law of liberty” (James 1:25) that sets men and women free by enabling us to deal with the reality of our specific sins.

Be blessed today by looking into the Bible and reacting to the accurate reflection you see. The Bible promises that if you persevere each day in this, you will find God’s mysterious and abundant blessing.

You most likely don’t give up on checking your physical body in the mirror each day – even when it’s difficult to face! You react to what you see in order to look good. But what is the status of your spiritual self? That’s a life and death situation. Don’t give up looking in that mirror! Open up the Bible…and react. Pull out that spinach and be blessed!

Confident Conscience

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A tormentor and murderer of believers. A man so fixated on his own, false religious zeal that he despised God’s own people and threw them into prison. This was the apostle Paul in his early days. So, if anyone had reason to bear a guilty conscience and be left in the misery of regret, it was Paul.

I think about the real man, Paul, as he sat chained in an underground Roman prison. The tables are turned, and the redeemed Paul is now the one being persecuted for his faith. He knows his execution is near, and he is left with his thoughts and his God in the dark, damp, disgusting dungeon.

If Paul was a human like you and me – and HE WAS – then his mind had to have drifted back a few years to Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. After Stephen witnessed to the crowds of God’s love in Jesus, the crowd rushed at Stephen and stoned him to death. And guess what leader was there approving of Stephen’s execution? Paul! In fact, as Acts 8:3 (ESV) details, “But Saul [Paul] was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” With all this in mind, we can only surmise that Paul had to be pondering the irony of his situation. The persecutor has become the persecuted. The murderer is about to be murdered.

Now we might conclude that Paul’s psychological position at this point would be one of weakness. Feeling sorry for himself, he might have thought, “Well, I deserve this.” If I were Paul, I would have been tempted to believe the worst – that because of all my sin, I was finally going to get what I had coming to me. God’s care of me might have been seriously clouded by my own guilt. Could I even call on Jesus now to help me … after all I’ve done? Why should God deliver me from circumstances exactly like those to which I had sinfully committed other people? Why should God help me, when I had been so evil?

Miraculously – and I mean by the actual miracle of God’s grace – Paul’s psychological bent at this point in his life was one of strength … and a confident conscience. Against all odds of human tendency, Paul penned the following words from his dungeon soon before he was beheaded, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18, ESV).

Can you believe it? Paul was not drowning in guilt or pity. He believed God would rescue him from every evil deed – despite the evil he had done. Paul was fully convinced that Jesus had already taken the hit for his sin when He died on the Cross. Paul – even in his last days – lived by the truth of the full forgiveness we find through Jesus Christ. The blood Jesus shed was truly a healing salve for Paul’s guilty conscience, broken heart, and haunted mind.

Jesus gave to Paul not only a clean conscience, but a confident conscience. Jesus enabled Paul to live above both the physical and psychological circumstances that would seem to hold him down. History upholds the execution of Paul under Emperor Nero. He did not recant. His head was placed on the chopping block, but his conscience was unbroken. At the moment of his death, I wonder if Paul was recalling the words he had written in Romans 5:1 (ESV), “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”?

Personal Reflection Questions:

1) For what sins should your conscience be broken and guilty?

2) Have you really trusted that the substitution of Jesus enduring the wrath of God on your behalf has cleared your guilt before God?

3) Will you, as Paul, trust God today for a clean conscience through Jesus AND a CONFIDENT conscience for all the future holds?

Dying Dog On My Trunk

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I paced around the stores asking God to show me a family to help. It was a few days before Christmas, and I was hoping to recognize a family in financial need that I could bless with food or toys. “Please God, lead me to someone,” I prayed to myself. “Show me exactly the right people.” And so it was with disappointment that I left the last store of my shopping spree, not having sensed the Holy Spirit show me anyone for which to buy anything.

I started home in my car and approached a familiar three-way intersection. Just as I began to apply my brakes to stop at the sign, I watched a blue truck ease out of a stop directly opposite me in the intersection, coming toward me. Running beside the large, shiny pick-up truck was a cute dog, a beagle. The driver could not have possibly seen the dog running right alongside the passenger side front wheel, because the truck was so high from the ground.

As the dog continued running near the truck, I whispered to myself, “Get away, little dog. Move away.” My words were to no avail. As the truck sped up to go through the intersection, the dog ran directly under the vehicle and was run over. Every second of this horrific event unfolded before my eyes. When the dog was hit, I screamed. Immediately, I knew I had to stop, though I had no idea what I could do or how I would handle this dog that had been crushed through the middle.

I pulled over into a driveway as the dog writhed in pain in the middle of the road. A man raced to the dog and covered him with his coat. I stood with the man who gently put his hand on the dog and explained through tears and anger, “I am the dog’s owner. I saw him running by the truck, and I jumped out of my car to try to stop him, but it was too late.” The man cried as his pet continued to struggle.

A stranger threw a blanket toward us, and the dog’s owner wrapped it around the poor beagle and carried the animal to my car. He looked at someone else and said, “I don’t know whose car this is, but I want to lay my dog here.” I told him it was mine and he could surely let his pet rest on my trunk. So He did.

Within a few minutes, the dog stopped tossing and died. Right there on the trunk of my car, the beagle perished. Soon, the dog owner’s wife and step-son made their way to the scene, and the woman began to sob uncontrollably. As I put my hand on her shoulder to try to comfort her, she came to reveal a sad fact. At the moment of their dog’s accident, the family was on their way to the hospital to pick up her mother, who was coming home to die of cancer after a long battle. Unbelievable. They witnessed the death of their pet on the way to begin the journey of imminent death of a beloved family member. On top of all this, the elderly gentleman who was driving the truck that hit the dog arrived at the scene, unable to stop apologizing or hold back tears. He was obviously filled with grief about the accident, certainly wishing he could somehow “undo” what had happened.

As I stood in the driveway on this cold, bleak winter day with a dead dog on my trunk whose blood now began to drip down my tail light and a sobbing stranger at my side whose mother was dying, my heart came into focus. I realized God had answered my prayer and shown me a family – and a whole lot more.

We don’t really have to search for hurt; it’s everywhere. Every person we pass in the store is carrying some pain and facing some difficulty. No one escapes the heartbreak of sin’s effects. We drive down the road and meet death and suffering at the intersection, so to speak. The trunk of a car that usually bears the weight of groceries or shopping bags or picnic supplies can also bear the weight of destruction and death. No person, no animal, and no thing evades the clutches of sin’s curse. The devastation is real; do not deny the strength and ugliness of the results of rebellion against God. Know it. Then hate it. Fight against sinfulness wherever you find it. Begin in your own heart. Determine to do battle with sin and its icy cold grasp, for it is the source of all this misery.

That evening, as my husband and I packed up freshly baked cookies, a fruit basket, and a devotional book for the hurting family I had just met hours ago; I asked the Holy Spirit to deliver hope. When we arrived at the home, we were invited in for a few minutes by the family that was definitely shocked to see me again. I expressed my sympathy about the dog and my prayers for their mother who was now already at the house receiving hospice. I just wanted to take a taste of the kindness – the grace – of Jesus to that family. Perhaps the power of sin would be broken in one more little sphere of this world.

Later that evening, my own uncle succumbed to his battle with cancer. I sat with my extended family around his body and once again pondered the agony of the last enemy that Jesus will one day conquer – death. How hideous evil is. How gruesome its fallout.

As I went to sleep that night, I could not get my family, the dog, or the other family out of my head. But I realized that – as Christians – we all need reminded of the ultimate battle that is taking place. In a dark world, we must be shining the light of the hope of ultimate redemption. When I had taken a bucket of soapy water and flushed the remaining dog blood out of my taillight that afternoon, I was reminded of the truest sacrifice of all time – the blood of Jesus Christ. What blood we now see shed as a result of sin is really nothing compared to the blood of the sinless God-Man once dripping from the Cross as the cure for sin.

This cosmic conflict isn’t a game; this is real. Everything is at stake. Death and suffering have come to all because of sin. There is a real problem; there is a real answer. Jesus saves. Jesus delivers a hope that darkness cannot steal from us.

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. – I John 5:19-20 (ESV)