Last week the high
school in Sayreville, NJ shut down the football program after sexual hazing
practices came to light. As the sordid details crept out of the darkness, we saw
depravity that lives in the suburbs, not in monsters, but in ordinary kids. We were
left wondering, how can this go on and no one know? How could these teenagers do
this to others and not think it was wrong?
Then, yesterday the story of a beloved actor who played the pastor/dad
on 7th Heaven hit the
news. Behind that smile Stephen Collins
hid personal demons, some awful and ugly depravity. Yes, I know, he was just an
actor in a role created by writers, but somehow he always ‘looked’ the part,
too.
Here’s the scary
truth – we are all capable of ugly,
horrid, despicable acts! Evil does not just live somewhere else, in people
unlike you or me. God tells us that no matter our place in the human race we
are broken by the curse of sin. "Sin
is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to
master it.” (Genesis 4:7, The Message) Paul quotes the Psalms to describe
the sinful state. "There is no one
who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together
become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats
are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on
their lips.” (Romans 3:11-13, NIV) "Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not
know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:16-18, NIV) Offended? Many are! However, if we refuse the truth there is no
hope.
So, what is the answer to depravity and
sinfulness? How do we move from sinfulness to sainthood?
God gives us a
rebirth, comes us to the life of the Spirit, and changes us from the inside
out! After the ugly assessment of our
natural state, Paul shows us the amazing grace work that Christ Jesus does on
our behalf. "By entering through
faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make
us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus.
And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment
that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing
where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace
and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise." (Romans 5:1-2, The
Message) "In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling
shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold
everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! "
(Romans 5:5, The Message)
The powerful life of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Word, along with the work of the Church that gives us
community and counsel, sets us free from the urges of sin, teaches us what is
right, and helps us to defeat depravity, breaking the grip of the curse.
Believe it! Of course, Christians still
sin. There are stories of those who fall
hard – into adultery, theft, drunkenness, greed, or cruelty. It is not God who fails them, but rather their
refusal of His conviction and truth that allows the sinful nature to re-assert
itself. Countless others learn to ‘keep step with the Spirit’ and find that
their lives "reflect the Lord’s
glory, (they) are being transformed into
his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is
the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV)
Here is the word
from the Word. Even as you read it, have a healthy respect for the power of the
sinful nature and the deception of the Devil. But, do not live in fear. Take the grace. Find the power! "So here’s what I want you to do, God
helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating,
going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t
become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even
thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside
out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.
Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of
immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in
you." (Romans 12:1-2, The Message)
_______________
Turn Your Eyes
Upon Jesus
O soul are you weary and troubled,
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed and we follow Him there.
Over us sin no more hath dominion
For more than conquerors we are.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face!
And the things of earth,
Will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Helen H. Lemmel
© Words: Public Domain
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