WE ARE WITNESSING MORE AND MORE MASS MURDERS. ONE POPULAR EXPLANATION FOR SUCH HORRIBLE BEHAVIOR IS THAT IT IS INSANITY WHICH SIMPLY PUT IS A DERANGED STATE OF MIND.
SUCH A GENERAL EXPLANATION OF EVIL CAN BE MISLEADING. WE KNOW THAT THE MIND OR BRAIN CAN GET SICK JUST LIKE ANY OTHER ORGAN OF THE BODY CAN GET SICK. WE CALL IT MENTAL ILLNESS. BUT TO ATTRIBUTE ALL MASS MURDER TO MENTAL ILLNESS IS GREATLY OVERSIMPLIFYING THE QUESTION OF WHY HUMANITY DOES SUCH THINGS.
THE APOSTLE PAUL GIVES THE ANSWER TO WHY WE SIN IN ROMANS 3:23. WE SIN BECAUSE WE FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD. WE THINK AND DO EVIL AND BAD THINGS BECAUSE WE FALL SHORT. WE ARE NOT WHAT WE SHOULD BE OR WHAT GOD INTENDED THAT WE BE.
MURDER IS AS OLD AS ADAM AND EVE’S SON CAIN WHO MURDERED HIS BROTHER ABEL. HOW DID SUCH A THING COME ABOUT? IN GENESIS 3 WE ARE GIVEN THE ORDER OF EVENTS.
EVE ADMITTED TO GOD THAT SHE HAD BEEN DECEIVED BY THE SERPENT, AND GOD TOLD ADAM THAT HE LISTENED TO HIS WIFE INSTEAD OF TO HIM. TO THE SERPENT, WHO REPRESENTED THE EVIL ONE, SATAN, GOD SAID THAT THERE WOULD BE ENMITY BETWEEN HIS SEED AND THE WOMAN’S SEED. WE HAVE A PICTURE HERE OF AN ONGOING BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.
GOD TOLD SATAN THAT THE SEED OF THE WOMAN WOULD CRUSH HIS HEAD. WHEN ONE ENCOUNTERS A POISONOUS SNAKE, THE GOAL IS TO CUT OFF ITS HEAD. WITHOUT THE HEAD IT IS DEAD.
THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE MAN, CHRIST JESUS, DID. JESUS WAS THE FIRST HUMAN BEING WHO FACED SATAN HEAD ON, BOTH IN THE BEGINNING OF HIS MINISTRY AND AT THE END.
HIS BAPTISM INAUGURATED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY. BY STEPPING INTO THE JORDAN RIVER AND BEING BAPTIZED BY JOHN, JESUS MADE MANKIND’S GRAND CONFESSION OF SIN. ONLY HE WHO KNEW NO SIN BUT KNEW WHAT IS IN MAN COULD MAKE SUCH A CONFESSION FOR US. John 2:25
AS THE TRUE HUMAN SON OF GOD, JESUS WAS ABLE TO REPRESENT THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE BEFORE ALMIGHTY GOD. IN RESPONSE, THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD DESCENDED UPON HIM, WITHOUT MEASURE, AND REMAINED. INSTEAD OF CONDEMNATION AS ADAM EXPERIENCED, GOD’S WORD TO JESUS WAS, “YOU ARE MY BELOVED SON. IN YOU I AM WELL-PLEASED.”
IT WAS AFTER THIS THAT JESUS, LED IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, ENCOUNTERED THAT ANCIENT SERPENT FACE TO FACE AND OVERCAME EVERY ONSLAUGHT OF EVIL THAT SATAN COULD MUSTER. AND JESUS DID SO WHEN HIS BODY WAS SO WEAK FROM FASTING FORTY DAYS AND NIGHTS THAT HE COULD HAVE DIED HAD NOT ANGELS BEEN SENT TO MINISTER TO HIM.
THE NEXT GREAT BATTLE THAT JESUS ENCOUNTERED WAS IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. AS HE COMMUNED WITH THE FATHER ON HIS KNEES IN THAT OLIVE GROVE, HE WAS FACING THE DECIDING BATTLE FOR HUMANKIND.
IN THE DESERT, HE HAD FACED SATAN HIMSELF AND HAD OVERCOME EVERY TEST FOR HIMSELF. NOW HE WAS FACING MANKIND POSSESSED BY SATAN. JUDAS, HIS DISCIPLE AND FRIEND, HAD LED THE ONSLAUGHT.
JESUS KNEW THAT TWELVE LEGIONS OF ANGELS WOULD DESTROY THOSE HE LOVED. ON THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION, HE DISCUSSED HIS DEPARTURE FROM THIS WORLD WITH MOSES AND ELIJAH. THUS HE DESCENDED THAT MOUNTAIN TO DEPART FROM JERUSALEM BY THE WAY OF THE CROSS.
BATTLES ARE PLANNED AND DECIDED, BUT AS THE ENEMY APPROACHES, THE WARRIOR MUST FACE THE ENEMY HEAD ON. IN GETHSEMANE, JESUS’ ENEMY WAS US, SINFUL MANKIND. HOW COULD HE SAVE US. THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY. HE WOULD TAKE ALL THAT OUR SIN COULD DO UNTO HIMSELF.
HOW LITTLE WE CAN APPRECIATE WHAT HE FACED THERE. HIS CLOSEST DISCIPLES FELL ASLEEP! ONLY AS WE DRAW CLOSER TO OUR HOLY LORD CAN WE BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND AND FEEL HIS SUFFERING AND UNDERSTAND WHAT HE FACED. AND MOST OFTEN IT TAKES OUR OWN SUFFERING TO BRING US TO THIS PLACE. THE APOSTLE PAUL SAID, “THAT I MAY KNOW HIM AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERING.” FIRST IT IS COMING TO KNOW HIM, THEN THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERING.
WHAT A PARADOX IS THE CROSS. DISPLAYED THERE IS BOTH MAN’S SIN AND MAN’S RIGHTEOUSNESS, ALL IN ONE PERSON, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS. THE CROSS WAS THE FINAL BLOW THAT CRUSHED SATAN’S HEAD. THE APOSTLE PAUL DESCRIBES THIS IN COLOSSIANS 2:15. “HE DISARMED THE RULERS AND AUTHORITIES. HE MADE A PUBLIC DISPLAY OF THEM, HAVING TRIUMPHED OVER THEM THROUGH THE CROSS.” OUR SINS NAILED JESUS TO THE CROSS, BUT WHEN JESUS DIED, OUR SINS DIED IN HIM BY THE POWER OF HIS HOLY INDESTRUCTIBLE LIFE. Hebrews 7:16
ADAM, EVEN IN HIS INNOCENCE, BEFORE HE EVER SINNED, WAS INCOMPLETE AND FELL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD. OTHERWISE, HE WOULD NOT HAVE SINNED. ONLY GOD HIMSELF CAN MAKE US WHOLE SO THAT WE NO LONGER FALL SHORT. TO DO SO HE HAD TO BECOME ONE OF US TO GIVE HIS LIFE TO US.
REGARDING THE TERRORISM OF TODAY, WE HEAR SO OFTEN SAID, “HOW CAN YOU DEFEAT THE ENEMY UNLESS YOU IDENTIFY IT, NAME IT.” BUT THE ENEMY BEING DISCUSSED HERE IS NO EARTHLY ENEMY. IT IS A SPIRITUAL ENEMY, AND IT IS FOUND IN EACH HUMAN HEART, MIND, AND SOUL.
ONLY ONE, THE SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN, DEFEATED IT. HE IS OUR VICTORY. HE IS OUR SALVATION. “BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS AND YOU SHALL BE SAVED.” Acts 16:31
Rosemary E Hyslop October 4, 2015