There are a great many things that are totally within your power to repair.
We live in a broken world, so we do our best to fix and overcome the problems that we face.
You can fix broken furniture, you can use medicine to fix body problems. You can even fix broken relationships if the other party is willing. Given enough time and resources humanity is able to solve a huge number of problems that we face!
But there are things that are beyond our power to fix. We have problems that are so great that no amount of time and effort will be able to overcome them.
The naïve do not understand this. They lack wisdom.
They are those who think that we have within us the power to create a utopian future of prosperity and happiness for all.
They are those who think that they can make an endless list of laws that will fix every single situation imaginable.
They are those who think that we have within ourselves the goodness to overcome all the evil in the world.
--
The world is fatally wounded. Adam ran creation through when he sinned against God and plunged us into darkness. God's good beautiful creation is marred, defaced by rebellion, sin and death.
This world which was ours to subdue chafes at the bit, and spews forth thorns to frustrate our work. The world for us to fill now consumes us, taking our lives through natural disaster or old age, turning us into dust. The world for us to rule defies our leadership.
But this cancer is not only "out there" in the world as if we stood apart from it. No, this evil has infected our hearts - to the very corners. There is no part of us that remains unaffected. We are perpetrators of evils big and small. Then we create an endless feedback loop of perpetrators and victims - where one hurts another, who responds by hurting others.
We despair at senseless acts of violence, abhorrent abuse and tragic neglect, but we cannot weed out the seeds of such evil from the depths of our own hearts. We are born in darkness, moulded by it. The darkness has been our home and we shy away from the light.
How do people respond when faced with their own brokenness? Usually they either they live in denial, and try to convince themselves they are not all that bad, or, they live in despair fed by their own hurt & shortcomings.
Some will take up a self-renovation project to attempt to repair the deficit and damage within. It could be new relationships, new hobbies that initially bring joy, it could be religious activity, or volunteering, or a diet of self help books mixed with flimsy counselling. There is some joy and help to be found in all of these things, but they cannot fix our deepest problems. They are placebos.
--
Look at all the suffering around us, reflect on your own sins, consider the state of the world. It all looks unfixable...
...but it is. It is fixable!
There is a way to make this world better, to sort out all the problems that are beyond our control. We need an outsider, one who can reach in with His mighty hand and sort stuff out!
God, the creator, has promised to make all things new!
He has promised to wipe away every tear!
He has promised to take away sin and defeat death!
He has promised to deliver true justice!
He has promised to heal!
And He will do it through Jesus Christ.
Jesus is God made flesh, the one who has come from the Father on a mission to save the world. This carpenter's son will fix more than furniture; he will repair creation.
The first stage of this plan is to heal humanity. In order to do this he came and lived a sinless life, and then took all our sins on himself and died in our place. So our sins are taken away, and his perfect righteousness is given to us. Then, Jesus rose from death, triumphing over the grave. He has power over death to destroy it.
Next, he sent his Holy Spirit to work in hearts and bring the light of Christ to shine in the darkness.
Soon he will return for Judgment and Final Justice, after which he will recreate creation. Then the repair will be done.
There will be nothing left to fix. Our souls will be sorted, our world will be perfect, justice will prevail always.
In our impatience we desire the final result right now, but we do not understand the intricacies of the plan. However, we do know that the delay before the Day of the Lord is a kindness to you, because it is one more chance for you to stop looking to yourself or anything in this world to fix our deepest problems, instead you must look to your Creator and Saviour to find restoration.
"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed." (2 Pe 3:8–10).
"'He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'" (Re 21:4–5).
"And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Is 35:10).
Fixing the Unfixable
There are a great many things that are totally within your power to repair.
We live in a broken world, so we do our best to fix and overcome the problems that we face.
You can fix broken furniture, you can use medicine to fix body problems. You can even fix broken relationships if the other party is willing. Given enough time and resources humanity is able to solve a huge number of problems that we face!
But there are things that are beyond our power to fix. We have problems that are so great that no amount of time and effort will be able to overcome them.
The naïve do not understand this. They lack wisdom.
They are those who think that we have within us the power to create a utopian future of prosperity and happiness for all.
They are those who think that they can make an endless list of laws that will fix every single situation imaginable.
They are those who think that we have within ourselves the goodness to overcome all the evil in the world.
--
The world is fatally wounded. Adam ran creation through when he sinned against God and plunged us into darkness. God's good beautiful creation is marred, defaced by rebellion, sin and death.
This world which was ours to subdue chafes at the bit, and spews forth thorns to frustrate our work. The world for us to fill now consumes us, taking our lives through natural disaster or old age, turning us into dust. The world for us to rule defies our leadership.
But this cancer is not only "out there" in the world as if we stood apart from it. No, this evil has infected our hearts - to the very corners. There is no part of us that remains unaffected. We are perpetrators of evils big and small. Then we create an endless feedback loop of perpetrators and victims - where one hurts another, who responds by hurting others.
We despair at senseless acts of violence, abhorrent abuse and tragic neglect, but we cannot weed out the seeds of such evil from the depths of our own hearts. We are born in darkness, moulded by it. The darkness has been our home and we shy away from the light.
How do people respond when faced with their own brokenness? Usually they either they live in denial, and try to convince themselves they are not all that bad, or, they live in despair fed by their own hurt & shortcomings.
Some will take up a self-renovation project to attempt to repair the deficit and damage within. It could be new relationships, new hobbies that initially bring joy, it could be religious activity, or volunteering, or a diet of self help books mixed with flimsy counselling. There is some joy and help to be found in all of these things, but they cannot fix our deepest problems. They are placebos.
--
Look at all the suffering around us, reflect on your own sins, consider the state of the world. It all looks unfixable...
...but it is. It is fixable!
There is a way to make this world better, to sort out all the problems that are beyond our control. We need an outsider, one who can reach in with His mighty hand and sort stuff out!
God, the creator, has promised to make all things new!
He has promised to wipe away every tear!
He has promised to take away sin and defeat death!
He has promised to deliver true justice!
He has promised to heal!
And He will do it through Jesus Christ.
Jesus is God made flesh, the one who has come from the Father on a mission to save the world. This carpenter's son will fix more than furniture; he will repair creation.
The first stage of this plan is to heal humanity. In order to do this he came and lived a sinless life, and then took all our sins on himself and died in our place. So our sins are taken away, and his perfect righteousness is given to us. Then, Jesus rose from death, triumphing over the grave. He has power over death to destroy it.
Next, he sent his Holy Spirit to work in hearts and bring the light of Christ to shine in the darkness.
Soon he will return for Judgment and Final Justice, after which he will recreate creation. Then the repair will be done.
There will be nothing left to fix. Our souls will be sorted, our world will be perfect, justice will prevail always.
In our impatience we desire the final result right now, but we do not understand the intricacies of the plan. However, we do know that the delay before the Day of the Lord is a kindness to you, because it is one more chance for you to stop looking to yourself or anything in this world to fix our deepest problems, instead you must look to your Creator and Saviour to find restoration.
"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed." (2 Pe 3:8–10).
"'He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'" (Re 21:4–5).
"And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Is 35:10).
Samuel Lindsay