It is all over the news. In fact, you can hardly find an escape. It is indeed everywhere and now they’re
telling us it was here before we knew it was here. They have us quarantined at home aside from
essential trips to find groceries and such.
Why? The coronavirus outbreak
referred to as COVID-19. This pandemic
has certainly got our attention as it wreaks havoc across the globe with
hundreds of thousands expected to lose their lives. This, while the best scientists in the most
advanced institutions in the world wrestle to gain the upper hand.
On this Good Friday when we remember
the day of Christ’s crucifixion it brings us to the obvious question of
why? Why did Christ have to die on the
cross and why is this coronavirus doing its best to kill us?
The answer is found in the passage
referenced today referred to as, “The Curse”.
This act of God cursing his own creation was the result of the fall of
Man. Please review the passages preceding
where the perfection of the garden was infected by the temptation of the
serpent (Satan) resulting in the sin (something less than holy) of Adam and
Eve. That willful disobedience of the first
man stained his kind. That’s you and
me. We now have the nature of sin within
us because of what Adam did. And with
that comes our inheritance of the curse.
In fact, the world from that point
forward is living under the curse. The
curse of creation has actually been at work attacking through the ages and having
a greater and greater effect. A review
of the patriarchs reveal a steady decline in the age to which they live. Methuselah lived 969 years the oldest
recorded living man. But all of these
early men lived for hundreds of years many more than 500. As the curse persisted so did the decline in
the age to which a normal man would live.
Only with the introduction of modern
science, our deeper understanding of the pathogens of the curse have we been
able to push back. But are we pushing
back successfully? I mean real success. Not just incremental
improvement. I would say, no. Median lifespan is now in the high seventies
approaching eighty. That’s a far cry
from 969. And by the way, that life span
of nearly 1000 years was not God’s design.
Man was created to be an eternal being.
Death was introduced with the curse.
None of us were ever supposed to die – full stop!
But with the curse came death and all
the means toward death including yes, the coronavirus and this present
COVID-19. It is the result of the curse
and it will be defeated by the scientists and our own immune system which God
too created.
So what is the tie to this day; Good
Friday?
Well, why would it be called “Good”
when such a terrible thing happened? How
is the crucifixion of Christ “Good”?
Frankly, it was the only way. In fact, it was the very purpose of Christ’s
coming to this earth in the form of Man living in this cursed creation but
doing so perfectly. Living a sin free
life. That set him up to be the perfect sacrifice. Not for himself, a sinless man requires no sacrifice. Just go ahead, live a perfect life and find
out. Ooops, no you cant. It’s not possible since you come from Adam
and were born into the lineage of sin.
So on this day some 2000 years ago the
perfect was sacrificed for the imperfect.
His act of giving himself up on the cross as a holy sacrifice enables
the restoration of mankind. A reconciliation
of the cursed back into the presence of a holy God. His act breaks the curse.
But, whoa, hold on, you said that
happened 2000 years ago. Why do we have
a pandemic today?
Well, that is simple to answer but
hard to understand. The simple answer is
that God is merciful and full of grace.
You see the impact of the act of Christ on the cross is dependent on our
faith. We must believe what Christ did
and believe He did it for us. In order
to do that, some of the generations prior to Christ looked forward to the cross
anticipating the Messiah. There are
numerous examples of faithful people believing the promise of a deliverer and
that faith being reckoned as righteousness.
Since the cross we look back with the same faith. God’s grace has provided the time for this
message to reach us. In fact, He is providing
time for all to hear and respond to this good news.
So what? All this blather about reconciliation and sin
and etc. etc. Why does this all
matter? People are sick and dying.
Yep!
They are and they will continue to.
The coronavirus COVID-19 is a blessing in one simple way. It has our attention. It has brought the stark reality of life and
death literally to our front door. There
is no escape from the cursed world in which we live. That is, no escape other than through Christ. Even then, we will all still die. Well, except those who are still here when
Christ comes to bring us home. But that’s
a story for another day.
For today, take a moment to reflect on
the cross. The sacrifice made for
you. Make the decision that this gift of
grace is indeed for you and accept it.
You can do that right there where you are. Just talk to God – in your head or out
loud. He’ll hear you.
And with me and the other Christians
around the world anticipate with great joy the celebration of Easter on Sunday
when we celebrate the victory of Christ as he conquered death and rose from the
tomb. Like Christ, we who believe will
rise and join Him to live forever as originally intended.
The Curse is Broken! AMEN
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