Weeping because they were no more...

 

We were reminded again today that the world is a wicked place. We already knew that, but we have grown accustomed to fighting and random shootings at 2:00 in the morning just outside a rowdy bar. The civil war in Syria doesn’t really affect us. Even the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are something we aren’t happy about, but we’ve grown callous.

Now, after the horrible tragedy in Connecticut, we are painfully aware of how wicked man – mankind – is. There will be calls for new laws or stiffer penalties or tighter security, but when someone is intent on doing harm to innocents none of those things will make a difference.

What the world needs, what this nation needs, what each person needs is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The world we live in isn’t that much different from the world at the time of Christ.

 
Matthew 2:18 NASB
"A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE."

'Massacre of the Innocents', Matteo di Giovanni, 1482

(Satan, the prince of this world, through Herod, tried to kill the answer to the world’s wickedness – Jesus Christ.)

But the world can change. The wicked can become new.

In 1 Corinthians 6 the Apostle Paul says “do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God?” (v.9) He then gives a list of examples of unrighteousness followed by these words

11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (NASB)

Did you catch these words? “Such were some of you.” Former adulterers, thieves, swindlers all washed, sanctified and justified through Jesus Christ.

He says it again this way in 2 Corinthians 5:17( NASB)

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

The only answer to the wickedness of the world – in the hearts of men – is for each person to be changed by the Spirit of God as they become followers of Jesus Christ.

As we search for answers to the tragedies of this world we can blame many things, but ultimately the only answer is for hearts to be transformed.

We will weep for many days to come. I have cried several times while watching the news, while writing this blog, while thinking about parents who - for now - can not be comforted. I've also wept for our nation that keeps moving further and further away from God. My prayer is that this tragedy will spur us on to be bold in our witness that Jesus Christ alone is "the Way, the Truth and the Life."