What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

–Romans 8.31–

“As if it weren’t enough that a monumental solar eclipse is one week away, the world is abuzz with ominous predictions of a looming nuclear war with North Korea. None of us might live to unwrap our Christmas presents this year. We might all be blown to smithereens. We might all die in nasty, horrible ways. The world might end in one gigantic kaboom.

What in God’s name are we to do?

Me—I’m gonna make breakfast.”

These words, shared yesterday, by one of my favorite current Christian authors, Chad Bird, offers a parallel statement to what was said many years ago by the British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, when he gave this advice at the height of the Cold War,

“If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.” (“On Living in an Atomic Age”)

Who is against you?

Others are against you.

As we have been seeing on the news, there is a dictator that says, “Your life is worthless, and I have a missile with your name on it!”

How about a few examples of people often against you from a little closer to home?

• A husband that says, “You don’t meet my needs in this marriage!”
• A wife that says, “You don’t provide me with everything I want in this relationship!”
• A child that says, “I don’t like you and I am not going to do what you say!”
• A parent that says, “You have let me down with your lack of achievement.”
• A boss that says, “You have failed at the tasks I gave you and you have no value here!”
• A teacher that says, “You’re best work isn’t good enough!”
• A student that says, “You need to give me the grade that I want, I don’t care what I deserve!”
• A pastor that says, “You have no worth to God, me, or this church, unless you serve more, pray more, and give more.”

Who else is against you?

You are against you.

You are against you, with an inner and outer dialogue that speaks,

• “I am a failure as a husband and father.”
• “My roles as a wife and a mother leave much to be desired.”
• “I will never be successful.”
• “I will never look like those fashion models.”
• “I will never look like those guys working out at Muscle Beach.”
• “I will never make enough money.”
• “I can’t provide everything the people around me want.”
• “Life is meaningless and it is all going to end soon anyway.”

We live day-to-day in a world that seems to be easily against us, against all we think, against all we say, against all we do, and against all we believe.

Even though it is true that others are often against us, we are equally guilty of being against others in our daily life.

We are against our spouses when we act entitled and expect them to work for us, when we withhold the truth from them, and when we refuse to partner with them in the tasks related to family management.

We are against our kids when we ungraciously exasperate them with an abundance of rules, yelling, and strict punishment for the slightest misstep at home.

We are against our parents when we grumble against and disobey their rules that are set in place for our safety.

We are against our bosses when we do not do our best work every second of every day.

We are against our teachers when we do less than our best work but expect them to grade us as if we did our best work.

We are against our communities when we act entitled believing that one skin color is better than another.

We are against our churches when we expect to be treated with favoritism because of our last name, number of years attending, or amount of money donated.

When you examine the landscape of your life, including the lying, the cheating, the stealing, the sneaking, the hiding, the gossiping, the withholding of love from others, and the entitled attitudes, it is amazing to hear of a love so strong and focused that the Giver of that love will still say every moment of everyday, even in the midst of your failings, that He is for you!

We sing a song that says, “On the cross where Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” (In Christ Alone)

The cross of Jesus Christ clearly shows you that God is for you!

God’s love for you is so great that He gave His Son to die to forgive your sin of being against Him and against others.

By nature, you live against God and against others.

By grace, Jesus lived for God and for others, for you.

By faith, Jesus’ perfect life of obedience and love is credited to you before the throne of God in Heaven.

Even though others are against you and you are often against God and others, God, your Creator, is always for you who find yourself believing in Jesus Christ!

With God always acting for you, you do not have to fear ultimate destruction. The work that Jesus Christ did in life, on the cross, and at the tomb, secures for you an eternally safe place in the loving arms of your Creator in Heaven. You may face extreme circumstances in this world, but, right now, you have place being prepared for you in God’s Kingdom defined by the absence of tears, pain, and suffering.

One of the songs that the kids learned at our Fun Maker Factory Vacation Bible School this year, spoke the truth of God’s sovereignty, or in other words, God’s ultimate control of all things, with lyrics proclaiming, “He’s got the whole world in his hands….”

The love of God for you, in the person and work of Jesus Christ, in Jesus’ life, in Jesus’ death, and in Jesus’ resurrection, is your confidence when the world seems to hang on the brink of self-destruction.

The truth is that a monumental solar eclipse is one week away, and the world is abuzz with ominous predictions of a looming nuclear war with North Korea.

Therefore, you might not live to unwrap your Christmas presents this year.

However, you will never see God, our Father in Heaven, break out in a cold sweat over Kim Jong-Un, solar eclipses, demanding spouses, disobedient children, unfair bosses, or unjust teachers.

Do not let fear dominate your mind.

Find rest with God who is for you!

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8.35-39)

God is for you.

Today, be for others as God is first for you!

Amen.

Pastor Fred.

August 13, 2017