The Cup Of Suffering

I don’t write about the crucifixion often, but without the death, burial and resurrection of Christ there would be no gospel, no forgiveness, restoration and no hope.  Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, but without His sacrifice there would be no eternal life, no supernatural peace, love and joy, no mercy and grace and we would all be miserable.  There would be anarchy, no justice, sin and wickedness would dominate without any restraint.  There would be every form of perversion and no conviction of sin because of the lack of the Holy Spirit and everyone would be a slave to their own sin and iniquity.  If there was any law at all, it would be administered through such liberal judges it would be like a joke.  Life would resemble Sodom and Gomorrah much, much more than it does today and human life would be expendable, for any reason and disregarded like garbage, similar to what abortion is today but on a much larger scale.  There probably wouldn’t be any elderly people or handicapped or mentally challenged because they would be done away with since they wouldn’t be useful to society and the feeling would be that they are just taking up space.

Think about what the world was like before the flood, it says this about it in Genesis 6:5-7, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’”  

God was sorry that the people chose sin over Him.  Did God make a mistake?  No, because of free will, the people made the choice to forsake God and live a perverted lifestyle.  The fact that God could only find one man that was just, tells the whole story.  When God created the earth, along with Adam and Eve, it was a beautiful place, then sin fouled up everything to the point that the judgment of God fell and destruction followed, because God hates sin and He is just, not because He hated His creation that He said was good.  Sodom and Gomorrah was sort of a similar story, their sins were very grievous to the Lord.  In this case there were not even ten righteous people in the whole city and their sins were an abomination to the Lord.  So once again, because God is just and He punishes sin, He destroyed those cities as well, but in both stories the righteous were spared, praise God!  

Sin has been a destructive problem ever since Eve was deceived and Adam chose to sin.  Look at the world we live in today, our country, as well as the other countries of the world, have been ravaged by sin.  You can call it what you want, but what it all comes down to, is sin.  There is not a person that has been born, outside of Jesus Christ himself, that doesn’t have a sin nature, and just like the evil that took place in Sodom and Gomorrah, in Noah’s day and all down through the ages, the evil is here with us today and getting worse and worse as time goes on.  Our sinful and wicked ways are probably equivalent to any other time in existence, so without the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ, there would be no hope, as I said earlier in this ‘Tidbit.’  

But, for the blood bought believer, there is hope, praise the Lord!  Someday we will live in a beautiful place with our Savior and Lord where we will be throwing our crowns before His feet and worshiping the King of kings and the Lord of lords where there will be no pain, sickness, sin or evil.  It says this in Isaiah 65:17, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

If you read this and you are not a believer, and you feel convicted about how you are living, and you want to get right with the Lord, you may want to say this prayer; “Lord I am sorry for my sins and I thank you for your sacrifice.  Please forgive me for my sins and be my Savior and Lord and help me to be faithful to you, in the name of Jesus, I pray this. Amen.”  Find a Bible believing church, where the truth is being preached.  Get a Bible and start studying and growing.  May the good Lord bless you and have a great day!!