Tuesday, October 3, 2017

The evil in this world

The heartbreaking and senseless shooting in Las Vegas this past weekend brought home a number of issues.

The first issue is that evil is real.  Back in the 70's Hal Lindsey wrote a book, "Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth." What was true in the 70's seems only amplified today in a world marked by terrorism and senseless killings.  John 8:44 says that Satan, "was a murderer from the beginning." Satan always seeks to destroy what God has created and the crown jewel of God's creation is mankind. The evil that exists has but one ultimate source.  People often ask me if I believe in demonic possession and demonic influence, my answer is always, "Ask the parents of the kindergartners in Sandy Hook Elementary School, or the parents of the teens teens in Columbine Colorado, or the New York City Fire Fighters."  We can blame this on a psychological disorder or some other mental illness and I am not trying to diminish those who suffer from such things. Ultimately, however, the very root of evil lies with Satan. Clearly murdering 60 innocent people is demonic at its core.

The second is how far this world has fallen.  Since Satan first tempted Eve, mankind has struggled to maintain the image in which God created us.  My heart absolutely breaks for the families that have to face the consequences of this unspeakable tragedy.  Men, women, children, indiscriminately cut down while doing nothing more than enjoying music.  Some of the bios of the victims have been posted on line and it seeing the faces of the victims and reading about their lives makes this tragedy all too real. And my mind screams at me to find and answer to why these things can occur. In the New Testament book of Romans chapter 1  we find a description of a fallen world in which God simple allows men to do what they want to do.  The end result is a world filled with hate and discord.  Now, please do not interpret this as blaming the victims. I am absolutely not. They did not deserve to be murdered.  What I am saying is that the world is not improving and that a world that has turned its back on God will eventually cause even the most innocent to suffer the consequences.

It is so difficult to know how to respond to such an event as a mass murder. It is easy for us to allow evil to win the battle for our hearts. The Bible says in Romans 12:21 (NIV)  "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." That is hard.  My mind wants to repay evil with evil.  I want to go kick some butt.  I want to scream at the perpetrator of such a heinous act and punch him in the face.  But, you see, by doing that I then become what I do not want to be. By doing those things I will have followed my own evil path. We cannot let evil win.  We must overcome evil with good.

So how in the world do we overcome evil with good?  For starters the Bible says that we should pray for those that as the King James says, "despitefully use us." The religious leaders at the time of Jesus taught that we should exercise and "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," but Jesus showed us a superior way and said that we should turn the other cheek and love our enemies. Not only did Jesus tell us to do those things, but his last words as He hung on the cross, was to ask God to forgive those who had driven spikes through His hands and feet. Because He did those things, because He showed us the ultimate act of love, by sacrificing Himself for us and through that sacrifice providing a way for us to be forgiven and reconciled to God. Loving our enemies and overcoming evil with good are counter-intuitive actions that bring about unexpected results.

Look, most of us, thankfully, will never be in a situation where we are faced with the tragic murder of our loved ones. And if you are reading this and you are in that situation, I can only imagine how absolutely difficult your situation is and my heart aches for you.  For the rest of us, maybe we should start closer to home.  Maybe we should learn to pray for that co-worker who gets under our skin.  Maybe we should turn the other cheek when our spouse says something we don't like. Maybe we should tell our kids that we love them. Maybe we should learn to see people through the lenses of God's eyes and recognize that the person whom has made us their enemy was also created in the image of God and that God sent His Only Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to reconcile that person to Himself.

There is no excuse for people hating each other. There is no excuse for mistreating each other. But, it happens and some of you are at the receiving end of this everyday of your  life.  Remember the words of the Bible and "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  God will bless you as you do this.

For information on how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or to have someone pray for you, contact us at www.lifepointealliance.org.

Blessings,

Pastor Jeff

If you live in the Pittsburgh area I invite you to join us for Sunday Morning worship.  We gather at 11:00 am in Franklin Park at 2298 Rochester Road, Pittsburgh PA 15237. 

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