How Small Things Become Very Large Things


The original act that precipitated the fall into sin may seem to some skeptics a small thing. Eve took a bite of forbidden fruit, then she gave it to Adam to eat. And a seemingly minor act of disobedience enveloped the whole world in sin and misery. Things have never been the same since the earth’s good beginning. Context, of course, is everything.

Today, a tiny virus – microscopic – metamorphosed in what is called a “wet market” in China, and through contact, many, many contacts, this microscopic virus, has traveled the globe, sparking fear, panic, uncertainty. As of this writing it continues its contagious spread.

In the case of this particular strain of the coronavirus, many scientific researchers are furiously pouring over formulations in an attempt to discover an antidote that will battle with and kill the virus – to end its reign of terror, a reign that has shut down church buildings, ministries, conferences, businesses, households, airlines, schools, resorts, sports teams, gambling casinos, movie theatres, art galleries, public transit – a good portion of what we’ve come to know as daily living. The result is substantial and significant.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Not everyone who contracts the coronavirus dies. Many have died, but many more have survived. The result, however, of Adam and Eve’s transaction in the Garden was far worse, leading to the death of both body and soul.

But there is an antidote. 

It came at a great price. But it was a price that we did not have to pay. And the antidote is not just a cure for the coronavirus. It is a cure that lasts for eternity. The Church celebrates that antidote this Easter and every week when we gather for church on resurrection Sunday. We know the antidote. We have the antidote, and we’ve been charged to share it with the world. Many will take it; many will reject it. Still it is our gift to give.


The world is sick and broken, and the virus that is making the rounds is a reminder of our sin-sick state, and our need for a Saviour. Pray that many millions today would turn to Him who can cure both body and soul forever. 

John Van Dyk, Editor
Christian Renewal Magazine


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Back from Nashville, with the fading after glow

Image
One of the privileges of my job as editor and  occasional reporter is the opportunity to go  from time to time to a conference. I   go with a three-fold purpose: to cover the event for our Christian Renewal readers; secondly, to hopefully be edified by the content; and thirdly, to experience the fellowship of Christians from a wider circle of churches than I am used to experiencing at home. How can that not be encouraging. As one of my colleagues who emails me regularly said, jokingly, for which he now repents: “Let me know when you come back from the mountaintop experience and its afterglow.” There is some truth in what he says. Of course, nothing can compare to a meeting with Jesus Christ, Moses and Elijah on the Mount and hearing the voice of God. So we do need to tread carefully here. But there is definitely a high to gatherings such as the one I covered recently (report on page 12) in Nashville, Tennessee organized by Getty Music. The singing was inspiring; the speake
Read more

Tectonic Shift in Our Life Situations

Image
For a generation of North Americans who have lived with very little trauma in their lives, generally speaking, the shift in life situations over the last number of weeks has been dramatic. O ur fast paced, frenetic lives have taken a decided detour and redirection with the advent of Covid19, the coronavirus that has swept around the world, reportedly slaying its thousands, emptying malls, schools halls, sports arenas, airports, movie theaters, streets, highways, byways and church sanctuaries, cancelling concerts, conferences and a multitude of public events for an as yet undetermined period of time. Most churches have responded by obeying the government directives severely limiting public gatherings. Household worship is the temporary norm as families and individuals tune in each Sunday to computers and televisions to watch ministers bring the Word, either from their homes or from near empty church buildings. Businesses that have been required to
Read more

No-Spin Zones No More

Image
  W e all have our biases. Let's admit that off the top. Christian Renewal magazine, for instance, is influenced and guided by a Reformed, Christian worldview.  We don’t hide that fact. It’s on our front page.  So what we write is guid ed by certain principles regarding truth and false   hood, about a world that is sin stained, and about a God who is active in creation and redemption, with fulfillment and fruition to come. Secular newspapers and other media for the most part are directed by their own ideologies and beliefs, and those beliefs shape content. When I was in college studying journalism, there was still a sense that a newspaper’s purpose was to be objective, to get the facts and report them in a balanced and fair way. Today, journalism is very much advocacy based.  There is an editorial direction that is clearly promoted by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, for examples, that is evident to those who read these daily
Read more