Faith Fix: Clean It Up! (ATP)
Last night I was watching a documentary on Tsunamis and as I was sitting there, the thought of God creating the earth led to “Why would He create something so very devastating to humans? ”
Isaiah 24:20
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.
Questions like these are not uncommon for believers and unbelievers alike. In fact, many opposed to our faith point to things like natural disasters, diseases, and evil to try and prove that either God is not good or that He doesn’t exist at all. Every believer at some time or another has asked the same question, “How could a loving God do such things?”
The answer to this is not a difficult one but lies wholly within our understanding of who God is. The fact is that many believers don’t really understand God and I actually blame this on the religious leaders. Often, because the leaders don’t understand Him either, falsities have been taught in the name of religion. Psalms 118:1 says, “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” So the Bible plainly declares God is good. Does this mean that His definition of good is different than ours? Not if your definition of good is good! Good is good, it is not relative.
What we need to understand is that creation is quite different in what it is from what it was made to be. We see in Genesis 1 that the first things God did, commonly referred to as the creation account, was bring order to all things. He set boundaries and put things in place and then placed His man in the midst of it for a purpose. In Genesis 2:15 we are told, “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” The word keep means to guard or protect. Perhaps one of the most widely forgotten purposes of mankind on the earth was that we were made to have authority over it and keep God’s order. Essentially, man was made to be caretaker of the earth.
Well, we all know what happened. Man sinned and relinquished that authority over to the devil. Yes, it was man that gave the devil his power! One of the last things that Jesus said to His followers was, (my paraphrase) “I have overcome, I give you back authority. Go have it!” Man still fails to see this, though that is for another time. God created things to work a certain way, gave man guidelines to know how it works, then left man to it. When man failed in this area, corruption entered the whole earth. The earth we live in today is the result of thousands of years of corruption. Think about a city that gets corrupt politicians. In just a few years a beautiful city can become a horrible place. Now imagine that corruption on a widespread and deeply spiritual level.
God did not create humans in sickness and disease or the earth to be so either. He created both with perfection in mind. This is the reason God always did and still does warn mankind about sin. Sins effects on all things is way more devastating than one could even imagine. God’s warning of sin is not because it’s something He just doesn’t like, but because He knows sin corrupts. Contrary to popular beliefs, God is not in Heaven like some divine puppet master pulling strings either. He left the earth to be managed by its managers. This is so hard for religious people to get but even Jesus addresses this. Mark 13:34 says speaking of the way things are in relation to God’s control, “It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.” God is not in control! If He is, He is doing a terrible job!
What I mean is not to say that He is powerless. When necessary He visits the human race and cleans things up. In fact, He will visit as often as His people call on Him. Really, God is still waiting for His people to take their place. So why would He let things continue so out of whack? Well, He won’t forever. He is waiting for the maximum number of people to come to Him. James 5:7 says, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.” The precious fruit of the earth is the human race coming to know Him.
The Bible is clear, Jesus Himself talked about it. As the earth gets closer to the end sin will become increasingly unbearable. There is a direct correlation to the evil on the earth and the increase of natural disasters. The earth and life as we know it will be continually changed until eventually, He removes His church and brings judgement upon the earth. This is what is referred to as the Great Tribulation.
To end this on a good note, I want to remind us that God will ALWAYS protect His people. He gave us the Holy Spirit to be able to know where to go and what to do. If we learn to follow Him, to use our authority, and stand in faith, no disasters will come near us. God will always protect His people who call out to and trust in Him.
Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff
