A New Day is Dawning; a Cure to Heal the World’s Ills
Posted: Friday, April 08, 2011
by Carol Allen Anfinsen
AnfinsenArt
There’s an eagle who fishes in the pond in back of my villa. Once I saw him eating his catch and realized for the first time how huge his thick solid legs were as he stood there pecking at his meal: a squirming bass.
This morning, I saw him again flying across the pond; his huge wingspan and outstretched legs a stark contrast to his smallish white head. Still, he appeared massive and regal. I couldn’t help but recall the promise in Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
If some miraculous cure could once and for all crush this enemy and destroy its insidious effects, we would all cheer. Yet, something even greater has come to earth to save us from the destruction of sin and evil.
“For the grace of God has dawned upon the world with healing for all mankind.” (Titus 2:11-12 NEB). What a pronouncement! If that sentence had proclaimed a cure for cancer, we would all be dancing in the streets or falling to our knees in prayer and thanksgiving. Imagine, “ the grace of God has dawned upon the world.” And with this grace, we can be healed from all sin and imperfection; the grace of God given to us through the atonement of God’s only son, Jesus Christ.
And what does the world say in return?
- The Bible was written so long ago, I don’t think it applies to me today.
- Why do I need a Savior? I believe in God.
- Jesus was a great teacher, but I don’t think he’s the only one who can save us.
- God loves all of us no matter what…I think there are many ways to get to God.
Yes, as a matter of fact there is. The apostle John spoke about these people: “As a thief comes in by some other way…they are robbers and will be turned away. (See John 10:1 KJV)
Grace through Jesus Christ is our direct link to God. Our part is simply to believe and have faith in his promises. No bitter pill to swallow. No ongoing chemotherapy, no surgical procedures nor loss of life or limb. To be healed, we must simply believe and he “remembers our sins no more.”
Why are people so afraid? Is it because they fear they may have to change the way they think, feel, and behave? Tell me what you hold dear, and I’ll tell you about your character. Tell me what you are willing to die for, and I’ll tell you what you worship. Show me your allegiances, your memberships, your pastimes, and I’ll show you what you treasure. “For where your treasure is, there is your heart also.” (Matt 6:21 KJV)
In today’s world, people spend enormous sums of money and incredible amounts of time preparing for a career and future employment. They chalk up hours and credits earning advanced degrees and gaining knowledge to help them compete, advance, and be successful in their life’s work.
And yet, on a spiritual level, a personal level, this same kind of focus and concentration is often missing. Knowledge about God and his word is deemed unnecessary for purposes of education, earning a living, or generating wealth. It is considered separate and apart from our daily life. And so, we end up straying far from our heavenly home, and far from the purpose for which we were created.
Through God’s unconditional love for us, he sent a Savior into the world to atone for our sins and more or less round up his “lost sheep.” This earnestness and love is given a physical reality in the form of God’s only begotten son, Jesus Christ. The love of the father is clearly evident in the Son. Having power over life and death, Jesus willingly gave up his life for us so that even those who crucified him might be forgiven: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do,” Christ said before he pronounced his final words “it is finished.”
The Bible proclaims that the “gospel of Jesus Christ” is the “Good News.” It is good because of its simplicity. He offers us the keys to the entrance of his kingdom based not on works, but on our belief in his word. The atonement was necessary because none of us were worthy enough to do it ourselves.
How would the world change if we spent as much time gaining spiritual knowledge as we do in our pursuit of temporal learning? Timothy admonished: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed…but shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” (2 Tim 2:15-16)
Timothy goes onto say: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16) And then he provides this warning: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Tim 4:3-4)
Sounds like our present day. Many people are creating their own God to worship; a God who makes no demands on their conscience or behavior. A God created in their image. As Timothy said, “they have turned truth into fable.” They have created a complex spider web of belief based on imagination, hearsay, heresy, and false hope. “Denying the truth, thereof,” they prefer to cling to popular opinion and man-made doctrines proclaiming that they are more enlightened and intelligent than the rest of us.
They make a mockery of believers calling them “hypocrites” when they stumble and fall; yet they themselves make up their own rules and values as they go along ignoring timeless principles and eternal values that have worked for centuries.
Paul warned Timothy of just such an attitude: “No one engaged in (spiritual) warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life.” When you entangle yourself in superstition, fable, witchcraft, or sin, the web of deceit, untruth, and hypocrisy pulls you into “entanglement” and death.
Have you ever studied a spider’s web? During the winter months in Florida, spiders take advantage of the dry season and build countless webs that fill in every space, opening, and crevice. They build a maze of silvery patterns linking twigs to leaves, and walkways to plants and houses. As far as the eye can see, a pathway of shining strands link the environment. Even torrential rains cannot destroy them. A spider webs tensile strength is both strong and resilient. An insect rarely escapes once trapped by these seductive tactile tentacles.
When I was a child, I watched many Tarzan movies; the animals, the jungle, the adventures reeled me in and kept me on the edge of my seat. In almost every movie, there was a battle with the forces of nature. The one I feared most was quicksand. Watching someone sink slowly into a pit of slog and slop from which they may never return brought screams and cries from the audience.
Yet every day, each of us is drawn to the quicksand forces of evil; tempted through our own lusts and desires or through ignorance and selfishness. We recognize danger, but it draws us. We feel the pull of evil, and yet we dance around it like an insect until we’re caught. Or like the quicksand analogy, until we’re rescued from our certain fate.
Unlike precarious cures for cancer, or a fictional Tarzan waiting in the wings, we have a faithful rescuer who can heal us, and pull us from the arms of temptation and evil. He not only saves us from certain destruction, he forgives our sins and “remembers them no more.” He has washed our sins with his own blood on the cross. All we must do is reach out and take his hand, his offer of forgiveness. Our faith in reaching out is enough. Our belief in his ability to heal us, to rescue us is enough.
Will we eventually die? Yes. As I wait to hear about my beloved aunt who teeters between life and death, I am not afraid for I know she was a lover of the Lord, a student of the scriptures. Do we need to fear death? No. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
“The grace of God has dawned upon the world.” Jesus Christ lives and we will also; “Be not afraid.” At this Easter season reach out and let him save you from the muck and mire of daily living.
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