Observing the Overwhelming
Observing the Overwhelming
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Mt 5.17)
"Jesus Christ the righteous...is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 Jn 2.1-2 & 1 Pe 2.24)
I want to make these observations, following the earthquake which overwhelmed Christchurch at 12.51 on the afternoon of Tuesday, February 22, 2011. I predicate my comments with the Apostle Paul's self-effacing disclaimer, "But to the rest speak I, not the Lord." (1 Co 7.12)
(It might be worth considering nevertheless, that the Church has seen fit to include this particular portion of Paul's writings, within the Canon of inspired Scripture!)
(1) Every earthquake, no matter how great or small, should provoke all Christians to remember that we live on a still-cooling planet, and on top of its very thin "crust"...a jigsaw of rocks which is slowly and endlessly being rearranged. Beneath this casing, there are incomprehensibly high temperatures and unbelievably massive pressures...constantly in a state of flux and activity.
Rather than blaming or attributing an earthquake to God, we could always drop to our knees and give thanks to the Creator, that this planet has not before now blown itself into tiny fragments of space dust, as a result of the heat (about 5,500 degrees C), and the pressure (around 5 million times greater than our surface, atmospheric pressure) of the solid fireball which is our world's inner and outer core. (Our atmosphere catches fire and becomes a "firestorm" at a mere 800 degrees C.)
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed." (La 3.22)
"(Jesus) is the image of the invisible God...For by him all things were created...in him all things hold together." (Col 1.15-17 & Jn 1.3)
"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining (upholding) all things by his powerful word." (Heb 1.3)
In the light of Creation's physical reality, we should perhaps be amazed at the infrequency of major earthquakes in New Zealand. After all, we have chosen to dwell in a country on the margins of two colliding tectonic plates, where around 14,000 earthquakes can be recorded in a year!
(2) Not only is an earthquake always a salutary reminder of how fragile and tenuous life on earth really is, and how untameable and unpredictable Creation's power. It is also a sign of just how desperately and urgently we need the Parousia of Christ our Lord and Saviour. For it will only be when Jesus physically returns to this world to reign from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, that mankind and nature will finally be completely set free from the destruction of the "law of sin and death". (Ro 8.2)
"The creation waits with eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." (Ro 8.19-22)
"I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people...The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox." (Isa 65.17-19 & 25)
"At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Lk 21.27-28)
"Christ...will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Heb 9.28)
(3) It is also vital never to forget, that Jesus Himself unambiguously foretold that life here on earth immediately before His return would be turbulent - disturbed and disturbing.
"Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Lk 21.26-27)
"For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again...for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." (Mt 24.21-22)
(4) While it must never be automatically (legalistically?) assumed that God is the author and cause of every calamity and disaster, nevertheless His great wisdom and power enable Him to bring forth good out of that which appears to us to be entirely awful. ..even evil!
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." (Ge 50.20)
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes." (Ro 8.28)
"Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens...so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." (Heb 12.26-29)
(5) Now... I want to say at this point, that I have been appalled and disheartened by the speaking of some people who claim to be "Christian prophets"! Why is it, that at any time of tragedy and calamity, there is always a sudden proliferation of such people...self-proclaimed and self-appointed oracles for the hour? Why is their prophesying so hasty (frenzied)? Why are their oracles so unbiblical, and even contrary to both the Words and the Spirit of the New Covenant?
I urge all such people to be silent for sufficient time to ponder anew the infallibly true words of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ in Matthew 12.36 and 24.23-25,
"But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless (idle, unprofitable) word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
"At that time...false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time."
(6) The "judgement of God" is an important and integral part of the New Covenant. However, it is expressed and experienced entirely differently from the Old Covenant. Judgement in the Old was almost entirely about the preserving at all costs of one nation, Israel, in existence. This was an imperative for God, so that in the "fullness of time" (Gal 4.4) there would be a "family" for Israel's Messiah and the world's Redeemer to be born into.
In the New, God's interest in Israel's ongoing existence is still one ultimate concern. But His judgement is now almost entirely about the instruction and correction of individuals (via the "law" of consequences...sowing and reaping! Gal 6.7-8) for their salvation. It is a life-time's process, in which He constantly labours for the greatest good of both the individual and the many. No one is expendable. There is no tolerable or acceptable level of collateral damage in the Kingdom of God or the Church. No one dies from so-called "friendly fire"!
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (Jn 3.17)
"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines (chastens and trains) us for our good, so that we may share in his holiness." (Heb 12.7-11)
There may well be those "Christian" individuals whose lack of education or personalities move them to "prophesy" according to and under the Old Covenant. They ought to be fully aware that the Lord would be justified if He corrected them (for correction we all undoubtedly constantly need!) according to that Covenant they are speaking and acting out of. (Deut 13.1-5 & 18.20)
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Mt 7.1-2)
"Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes." (1 Co 4.5)
In this regard, never ever, ever forget that the hands of the Lord which may rest upon us to chasten and correct according to the New Covenant, are themselves wounded with "the print of the nails". (Jn 20.25)
(7) The Lord Jesus Christ Himself perfectly and definitively utters His verdict, concerning this vital and challenging issue...God's judgement under the New Covenant,
"Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Lk 13.1-5)
According to Dr. William Barclay (1907-78 and Professor of Divinity at Glasgow University), the Lord Jesus in our text "utterly denied" the automatic connection of sin and suffering, "in the case of the individual person". Dr. Barclay called this a "cruel and heartbreaking doctrine"!
In this passage, the Lord is plainly stating that those who were killed in the (fortification) tower collapse in SiIoam, were no better nor worse than those who did not die. But in the same breath, He is also prophesying that unless His hearers receive him as Messiah, they too will perish in a comparable disaster. (His tragic warning and prediction was graphically fulfilled in the Roman sack of Jerusalem in 70AD, when the great city's walls were smashed down and its buildings flattened by the Empire's relentless killing-machine.)
Dr. Barclay continues his exposition thus: "It means that we cannot say that individual suffering and sin are inevitably connected, but we can say that national sin and suffering are so connected. The nation which chooses the wrong ways will in the end suffer for it.
"But the individual is in a very different case. (He) is not an isolated unit, and is often caught up in a situation which he did not make; his suffering is often not his fault; but the nation is a unit and chooses its own policy and will reap the fruit of it."
(E.g. Hitler's Germany. All Germans - not just the Nazis - suffered through their country's bloody and bitter defeat!)
"It is always dangerous," concludes Dr. Barclay, "to attribute human suffering to human sin; but it is always safe to say that the nation which rebels against God is on the way to disaster."
(8) A disaster of the magnitude of Christchurch's, absolutely roars at us to listen to "hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev 2.7)...and to our beloved Aotearoa-New Zealand. In this regard it is absolutely essential that we first of all honour God, by obeying His Word, the Bible,
"Give everyone what you owe him ...if respect then, respect; if honour, then honour." (Ro 13.7)
"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves." (Ro 12.10)
Now is the time to honour Him by honouring the apostles and prophets and elders of the Church in Christchurch. As those who are in other places, we should press our faces and our mouths into the dust, and earnestly pray for these, our companions "in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus" (Rev 1.9), that they may clearly see His face and hear His voice, in the midst of the tumult and horror and loss.
For it is to such as these that God our Saviour will speak. And it will be through their hearing that we, all together, will obtain national succour, instruction and (if need be?) correction ...even chastening!
"Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." (1 Sa 3.9)
"But the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." (1 Ki 19.11-13)
Let us pray!
