Right Time to Consider God's Gift

“For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

People don't like to think about death, especially if they believe either than something awful awaits them or nothing at all. Instinctively we want to keep living and to live pleasantly, not to suffer, so illness is also a fear, especially the potentially terminal kind. So it's not really surprising that we've seen a certain amount of fear and panic in the face of the coronavirus.

Paul's words from Romans (above) say nothing about serious illness. Rather he writes that sin causes death. Of course, the medium may be illness, accident, murder, or simply old age, but he means that, had there been no sin, we would not experience death. Now some think that sin is nothing more than the imagined, whimsical demands of a weak god, proving his power. Such folk haven't read the Bible (and sadly that includes some, if not many, so-called Christians), because few who had would not doubt that, what God calls evil, truly is evil! I don't know if they still do, but philosophers and thinkers once pondered what they called “man's inhumanity to man.” None of the so-called “lesser evolved” creatures exhibit self-centered, greedy, or hateful aggression or revenge like humans do. Why is that? The answer is one powerful reason why I do believe in God and humans as his creation, rebellious and disobedient men, women, and children, even the very youngest ones.

My undergraduate degree is in physics, and science also convinces me that this vast universe and all we observe in it, every creature, every subatomic particle, shows evidence of complexity not consistent with chance or random accidents occurring over millions and billions of years of time; I don't believe that incredible order came from chaotic disorder. Well, perhaps you don't think my credentials warrant accepting my opinion. Well, how about the brilliant Isaac Newton (You can find out more about him here)? He had the same opinion (This is a timely article and includes much about his reason for accepting the existence of God).

A common question people ask is how a supposedly good God would allow bad things, like say a coronavirus, to happen. One reason is the fall: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12, but a longer discussion follows). I believe a second reason is to encourage the “lost” to return by heart in faith to their Creator. Like any creator or parent, our heavenly father hopes for us to become like him. For example, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” Galatians 5:22-23, Paul first lists the fruitless life; the entire chapter is insightful). God actively works to produce what is natural in himself, and no one objects to these—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness or loyalty, gentleness, and self-control. Awful, isn't it, that he should desire such things from his children, after we trust him and get adopted into the family. Holy rollers? I don't think so! Drearily pious and boring? Nope! I would call it powerfully virtuous!

So, in challenging and fearful times like these, we may rest and hope in God, concerned yet content, and, if we are living in the vital relationship he intends, we have the strength, courage, and wisdom to prevail and not panic! If instead, we hope only in what our time on earth may provide, which for many isn't much, if we can only cling to this life, then we really don't have much to hope for. Panic in the face of a contagious disease or war or some other earthly disaster isn't surprising. Furthermore, the end is worse than merely the death of the body, but spiritual death, which is the permanent, everlasting separation from our Creator and loving God.

What a person deserves, what he or she literally earns, from a lifetime of sin, of human evil, of inhumanity toward other humans, is death both physical and spiritual. It is my hope and prayer that, at times like this, people will recognize the end of their selfish striving and accept the “gift of God”, provided through the sacrificial death of the God/man Jesus Christ, which is to live eternally. This life begins with a spiritual transformation, adoption into our heavenly father's family, cleansing from all sin, past, present, and future, and the chance to live life abundantly now and forever. Oh yes, and in times like these that seem so perilous and uncertain, or even in your own personal crises, we have access to resources to seek help, relief, comfort, peace, and hope:

• Matthew 7:7-8 – We may seek God's help, and he will respond.
  
• Philippians 4:6-7 – He provides a divine prescription for finding freedom from fear, anxiety, and worry and gain genuine personal peace.
  
• James 4:2-10 – After warning what gets in our way, he points out we don't have because we don't ask him and, if we humble ourselves, he will lift us up.
  

I know people who are afraid, some panicked and desperate. Others seem to exhibit careless indifference, seemingly bold in the face of potential infection; I don't believe their outward show. Yet I also know some who are not afraid. They trust God and are confident their lives are safe in him. Like me, I'm sure they are fully aware of the possibilities, the nature of the illness, and that some will die—those who are elderly, others with weakened conditions, and even some who appear healthy. No one wants that, but with God's grace and strength, we can face it, knowing he loves, cares, protects, and assures our forever futures. So which seems the better perspective?

P. S. Since I posted this, I've been pondering the challenge of convincing people that God is real. Here I mentioned that, if we are the result of evolution, then human evil makes no sense, but sin as a rebellion against the Creator does. I also pointed out that the marvelous complexity of everything argues soundly against random chance as the ultimate cause. Even without seeing him, I know a creator designed the amazing things we are only beginning to appreciate.

Still, I somewhat sympathize with those who say they can't believe in something/someone they cannot see. Then it occurred to me that people, in fact, believe in many things they cannot see. For example, wind is only identified by what it does. Then it came to me that people indeed do believe many things they cannot see. For example, I recently wrote a blog in response to the irrational attacks some direct against Chinese people living here. They certainly didn't "see" them creating the coronavirus or intentionally spreading it; while racism is one of those "sins" I mentioned, this is plainly inspired by an imagined, invisible act by unseen actors, that is, an unseen but very much believed conspiracy theory!

Science is another example; many, who claim science to be the rational alternative to an unseen God, don't “see” many of the scientific ideas the claim to accept. Many nonscientists, ordinary laypeople, don't know much about science or understand the most basic principles; in fact, many simply accept the assertions of others, often no more scientifically literate or capable of truly “seeing” the ideas they almost religiously proclaim. Many simply believe. On the other hand, many legitimate scientists became explorers of nature because of their faith in the Creator and a desire to observe and understand his creation; others became believers in the Creator because of what they observed and learned, finding a creator made more sense of the complexities they observed.

An “elf” in TimAllen's “The Santa Claus” says, “Seeing is not believing; believing is seeing.” Sometimes wanting or just needing to believe is enough. That reminds me of “I know what you're thinking.” Talk about “knowing” what hasn't been seen! Thoughts are certainly NOT visible or knowable without the thinker telling us, and, let's face it, we don't always know ourselves exactly what we are thinking!

I'll bet you can come up with other examples that people believe without seeing. Certainly the media and politicians give us room to doubt. Feel free to post in the comments below...