Why Is There Death In This World?

       One of the hardest questions to answer for people at a funeral is why did this individual have to die? Death, no matter your age, is tough to deal with. We often ask where was God when this person died. Sometimes death is expected. There are answers such as the person just got older, there was a terrible disease, or an individual did something to hurt himself/herself. Other times death is not expected. There are times when an unexpected accident happened or an individual did evil and killed people.

         The entire book of Job is about suffering. Job lost all of his wealth and his children. Job suffered some serious health issues. Why did Job suffer? Satan believed that Job would deny God and would stop following Him if Job suffered enough pain. Satan was wrong. Job remained faithful to God. Yet, Job still questioned God as to why all this happened to him. In the book of Job, God did not tell Job about His battle with Satan. All God did was tell Job about how mighty God is and how little about life Job really knew. After this conversation, Job praised God. It was trusting in God that helped Job find comfort.

         The Bible tells us plainly why there is death in this world.  Romans 6:²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Death is in this world because of sin. In Genesis 2, God warns Adam that if he sinned, death would be the punishment. When Adam and Eve sinned, death was part of the punishment they received (Genesis 3). Before Adam and Eve sinned, there was no death, no disease, and no destruction on this earth. God said that this world was very good (Genesis 1). It was a good world until it was infected with sin.

         Today, the world is infected with sin and death and destruction are a part of our every day life. This is sad and tragic. If sin were not in this world, there would not be any death. I am not saying that the person's personal sin necessarily caused their death. Babies die and they do not sin. No, I am saying that we live in a world where sin exists. Where sin exists, death exists. We die because we live in a world infected with sin. Since we deal with sin, we have to deal with death.

         This does not bring us much comfort. But that is why we have to learn the lesson of Job. Job wrestled with the issues of suffering and death before he simply surrendered and put all of his trust in God. We have questions about suffering and tragedy that we cannot always answer. God does know the answer. Better than that, God has the solution. We have to learn to trust in Him.

         One day God will put an end to all sin, all death, and all suffering. He will do this when Satan and everything that causes sin will be thrown into hell. He will recreate paradise.

         Revelation 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

         God will rescue us from death. If you want to escape death, believe that Jesus is the Christ, confess Him as Lord and Savior, repent of our sins, and be baptized. You can then receive a paradise without sin, without suffering, and without death. If you refuse, then the other reality is that you will have an eternity of suffering and the second death. We may have to deal with death on this earth, but we do not have to live with death forever.

What Christians Can Learn From Bruce Jenner?

        Over the past few months, our country has been obsessed with the decision Bruce Jenner made to have a sex change. People have taken sides and gave strong opinions. What can the church learn from this?

            First, we must remember that regardless of how we think or feel about Jenner's decision, we must remember that this individual still has a soul. Jenner is still a human being made in the image of God. The church should be concerned with where Jenner's eternal home will be. We are not Jenner's judges, but we are the agents in this world sent to evangelize all people wherever they are in life.  This is no exception.

            Second, I think the church needs to look at this moment to understand the world that we now live in. Too many Christians still view our nation as a country that is guided by Christian principles. While there is a healthy debate as to whether we (USA) were founded on Christian principles, we must agree that our society is becoming more post-Christian every day.  Jenner's decision reflects where our country now stands. This is also one of the reasons this decision has been held up high as a great moment. Let us take a moment to examine the attitudes behind this decision and how it is impacting our decision-making.

1. Our society has, either knowingly or unknowingly, accepted the ideas and principles of humanism, relativism, postmodernism, etc. At the heart of these philosophies is the idea that man determines truth (if truth can be determined at all). When you combine these ideas with evolution, you begin to think that whatever society is now accepting is not only good but is morally superior to what was old. This means that we no longer look to the past for timeless truths for they no longer exist. It also means that we no longer look to a God to guide us, for man does not need Him. Romans 1 discusses what happens to man when they neglect God, and it describes where our society. In Romans 1, Paul describes how people become more wicked when they neglect, ignore, or deny God. Many ignore the Bible today because they view the Bible as out of date since it was written 2,000 years ago. Our ignorance and arrogance has blinded us to the fact that the Bible deals with everything we deal with today. Solomon was right when he wrote there is nothing new under the sun. We are repeating the same mistakes that others made before us. Our problem is that we are not willing to see what the results of past mistakes were. The calendar may change but God's Word does not. He has not changed His mind in the last 2,000 years.

2. Many claim that our bodies belong to us and therefore we have the right to do what we want as long as it does not hurt others. First, our actions do hurt others. I see this every day as a minister. For example, people who abuse alcohol and drugs affect the lives of their spouse, parents, and children. Second, we do not have the right to do what we want with our bodies because they do not "belong" to us. 1 Corinthians 6 makes it clear that Jesus purchased the body of the Christian and that body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian, your body belongs to the one who paid for it, Jesus Christ. Treat it like it is Christ's possession when making moral, ethical, and spiritual decisions. What about the non-Christian? Your body is a gift from God. You live because of Him. You need oxygen, gravity, food, and water to live. He provides that for you everyday. You live in His world and everything in it is His possession. You may not want to admit it but you are still under His rules. It may be your body, but it is His rules that you must live under.

3. Our desires do not give us permission. This world is full of temptation and sin. We are commanded to over come it. James 1:¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Increasingly, our society believes that if you desire something strong enough you should give into it. This includes (but is not limited to) sexual desires. What does that make human beings? God tells us that we will be tempted but that we have the free will ability to resist. He provides us a way out of temptation. Just because you desire something, does not mean you have the right to do it. Your desires do not equal permission.

4. Rebellion is not good. We live in an age that loves rebellion. In fact we make rebels our heroes. Even the church has bought into this line of thinking. Christians are not called to be rebels but to be submissive. We are submissive to God. Then we are submissive to parents, the elders of the church, governments, etc. The attitude of rebellion, if it is encouraged, will lead people to be rebellious to God. We are only called to be rebellious when authority figures are trying to lead us to disobey God. That is it. This rebellious attitude in the world makes us question God's commandment. In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Eve the question "Did God really say...". This is the same question he asks us today. The church is actually helping to promote this rebellion by asking the same question: Did God really say? How can we expect the world to follow the commandments of God when the church is debating if He really meant it? God gave us His Word and it is clear, we just don't want to obey it.

            I believe that the church should spend some time examining Bruce Jenner's decision. How Bruce Jenner came to this decision is the same attitude and thinking that our generation is using to make decisions today. We cannot minister to a society that we do not understand. The church has failed because we have not been honest about where our society has been and is going for a long time. Will we see what is plain to see or continue to be blind?

Christianity is Not A Hobby

        Several years ago I had a magazine salesman call me. He wanted to sell me a magazine subscription but I had no interest in any magazine. In the process of our conversation he asked what my hobbies were. I had none. He asked what I did for a living. I answered that I was a minister. His response, "Oh Christianity. That is a hobby." Needless to say, we had a completely different view of Christianity.

         In fairness to the salesman, many Christians treat their faith as a hobby. It is something they do (when they choose too). When they are bored, they may read the Bible. When it is convenient, they pray. When there is nothing else to do on Sunday, they might go to church. In other words, their faith is on their time when they want to do it. They can put Christianity on like a coat and take it off like a coat. Years after my conversation with this nameless salesman, I truly understand why he thought Christianity was a hobby.

         Those who treat Christianity as a hobby have failed to understand the Christian faith. Christianity is far from a hobby.

1. It is a change of life. 1 Corinthians 6:⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. The Corinthian church was located in one of the most immoral cities in Rome at that time. Apparently, these Corinthian Christians had a sinful past. The list above is a list of activities that are clearly forbidden in the Bible. However, Paul tells them that is what they were, which implies that a change has occurred. The Bible tells us that in order to be a Christian we have to repent. This word means that we acknowledge that we have done wrong, that we are sorry for our mistake, and that we will change. Christianity means that we quit doing evil and start doing good.

2. It is a lifestyle. Christianity is not something you do on Sunday. Instead it is something that is continuous. An example is prayer. We are told never to quit praying. Ephesians 6:¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. The point of this passage is that we do not just pray one day a week but every day. We do not just praise God on Sunday but every day. We do not help people on one day a week but every day. A hypocrite is a person who pretends to be one thing but is actually someone totally different. When an individual is a Christian around the church on Sunday but acts like a heathen 6 days a week, he or she is a hypocrite. And a hypocrite does not fool God.

3. Christianity is my hope. Hebrews 11: 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hope is not something unsure, such as I hope that it rains or I hope we make to work on time. The author of this passage uses hope as a confident assurance. We know that there is a God. We know that there is a heaven. We know that we have been forgiven. Since we know these things, we live with a confidence that we have a better future in our eternal life. Life is hard and difficult. We face many challenges. The reason I can move forward in life during these tragedies with hope is because of my faith.

4. Christianity is my commitment. Revelation 2: ¹⁰ Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. There are two vows of faithfulness until death that I have taken in my life. One was my marriage to my wife. I promised that I would not forsake her or betray her until death do us part. The other was my first vow, my commitment to God. When I was baptized I made a vow that I would follow Christ the rest of my life. A hobby can be laid down at any time; a vow is to always be kept sacred.

5. Christianity is my worldview. Romans 12:² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. How do I view the world? What determines my morality and ethics? What guides me in the decisions that I make? What influences me on what to spend my time, money, and energy on? How do I vote? My faith answers these questions and more. Our parents, teachers, entertainment, and friends influence us. They can shape our worldview. However, when we  become a Christian our greatest influence must be the Bible. We are claiming to be disciples of Jesus Christ but the only way to do that is to allow Christ to influence every aspect of our lives. This includes your marriage, parenting, work, and entertainment.

         We must never get to a place in our lives where our faith becomes a hobby. For if our faith becomes a hobby then we have lost our faith.