Tuesday, March 10, 2015

The future of our nation is in God’s hands.

There are things that most of us agree are wrong: child abuse, lying, murder, adultery, etc. These things, and more, are impressed upon our consciences as things that are inherently immoral. Most nations, peoples, tribes, etc. see these actions as negative.

Nevertheless, we see more and more that these morals, and many others, are being reevaluated and are no longer deemed to be as binding as before. Lying is often seen as a legitimate part of business dealings and is justified as the means to an end. “Hey”, it is supposed, “what’s a little lie when so much money is at stake?” And, believe it or not, there is a national organization that exists solely to try to make it legal for adult men to have sex with young boys…and this group’s point of view is being seriously considered by a large part of our society. And adultery is simply justified as a person’s fulfilling his or her inner desire for love and sex…albeit at the expense of his or her spouse and/or family.

Christians believe that high moral standards were written on our consciences by God, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Romans 2:14-16 NASB). The fact that we view certain things as wrong is because God has instilled each of us with that knowledge. It is not the result of some random evolutionary process.

Nevertheless, many non-believers still consider these moral standards to be merely the product of evolutionary forces that exist to preserve the human species. However, the idea that matter ‘evolved’ into anything capable of constructing a set of morals seems a bit, oh, impossible, so it seems much more “reasonable” to ascribe the origin of these morals to God. Therefore; since God created these moral standards, then His opinion concerning them would be of the utmost importance for any sane person to consider.

So, how does God see the person who knowingly and willingly violates His standards of conduct? “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 NASB). We see this antinomian attitude rampant in our culture today; people clearly thumbing their noses at God’s rules and living by their own lusts and desires. In this verse, God is warning those people that their sin and rebellion will not go unnoticed…or unpunished. Those people who say that the things God has clearly labeled as sin are really not sin, are not merely deluded, but condemned and the only hope they have of avoiding an eternity of misery (“punishment” Matthew 25:46) is to repent of their rebellion and dedicate their lives to following Jesus.

God tells us that even the act of encouraging someone else to break His rules is a sin, “...and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such [sins] are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32 NASB). These are the people who applaud the sinful lifestyles of others as they mock and ridicule the holy God and His followers. The Bible calls these people an ‘abomination’, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 17:15 NASB).

Our nation is quickly becoming a nation of people who not only reject God’s laws, but approve of others who do the same. We are becoming a nation of people who think nothing of creating our own set of rules and regulations that ignore, and often supplant, God’s standards. We are becoming a nation that, due to this rejection of God’s laws and our rebellion against Him, will soon suffer the judgment of God. Only by returning to God in repentance and dedication to Him can we hope to avert His wrath. Take to heart these words from God through the prophet Jeremiah concerning how God deals with entire nations of people, “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it” (Jeremiah 18:7-10 NASB).

Our nation’s future is determined by the will and workings of God; if we love, worship, and obey Him our nation will be forgiven. If we continue to rebel against Him and reject His lordship, only judgment lies in our future. The choice is ours and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Choose wisely!!!

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