You're Right John.....He Is Greater

In recent days and weeks I have become increasingly frustrated by what I see going on with our government and some of our leaders. In particular I am frustrated and worried about the actions of our President and others in his cabinet. My concern centers around what I believe to be a move from a nation that protects the innocent, defends the cause of the poor, homeless, sick and elderly to one that is more concerned with becoming all inclusive to nations that have proven track records of denying basic human rights and freedoms. I am not opposed to allowing more travel between Cuba and the United States as this will allow Cuban Americans to visit their families still living just a few miles away. But until we see and end to the atrocities that the Castro dictatorship's commit on a daily basis, until we see free and open elections, until we see the end of a campaign of fear I am against the normalization of relations with them. Then, when I see my President shaking hands, not once but three times, with an evil dictator by the name of Hugo Chavez I am heart sick. This is the same man who called our former President "the devil." This is the same man who cares little, if anything, about the people of his country. He was a friend of Saddam Hussein and remains a friend with the Castro's and with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is the leading supplier of weapons to the terrorists in Iraq and other places. And then he apparently bowed to the Saudi King. There is only one King that we, including our President should bow to and that's the King of kings.

It's strange how one hour in the presence of a Spirit filled church can change one's perspective, or is it? As I listened to one of my pastor's this morning and the the song's of praise that were offered I was instantly reminded of my favorite Bible verse, 1 John 4:4, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." The world has always been filled with people who embraced evil and corruption, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. I pray that what I see happening in Washington is not intentional, but either way "Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world."

Throughout the pages of Scripture, which is the inerrant Word of God, we see evil, corruption, hatred going on. Go back and read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Every evil we can think of was going on and God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and we think covered them with the Dead Sea. The world was, as we might say today, "going to Hell in a handbasket," in the days of Noah so God wiped out everything except Noah and his family and the animals that were brought aboard the ark. That should have been a purification, but it was short lived. God was saddened by what soon began to take place. God was heartsick and, I think angered. I know how much I love my children, but when I rescue them from self-destruction and then they turn around and do it again I get more than a little upset. Now, God had already promised never to destroy the world again with the water's of a flood, so what was God to do.

God could not tolerate such a Godless world. Even his chosen people, the Israelites, were filled with sin and corruption. They were not much better than the Romans. At least the Romans didn't profess to be God fearing people as did the Jews. There was only one thing left to do and that was a blood sacrifice. In seminary I used to have an old friend from Kentucky who was fond of saying, "There is no worship without sacrifice." David was right in those words. And in the Jewish culture there was no forgiveness without sacrifice. So God decided that he would provide one sacrifice good for all time and for all people. He became flesh and dwelt among us and His name was Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, The Christ, Christos, Dios, Jesu, the Lord of lords. God, allowed his one and only Son to die for the sins of the world, for you and for me and for a Godless and corrupt world that did not deserve it. But that's the beauty of grace. It doesn't just come to those who deserve it. If it did, nobody would ever received grace because none of us deserve it, although some perhaps think they do. Grace is "God's Riches At Christ's Expense." He was and is the Passover Lamb who was slain. Christ offered forgiveness from the cross that you and I hung him on when he said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." "He who was without sin, became sin for our sakes." The sky turned black when he took our sin upon himself and then he breathed his last and offered up His spirit. But when he rose on Easter morning he had defeated the last enemy.

So now, I say that despite all the corruption in the world, in the Untied States, in Washington, in Nebraska, in my home, "He who is in us (you and I) is greater than he who is in the world." God defeated Satan long ago and cast him out of heaven and one day, "by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ," we will enter the gates of heaven. I do not believe in universal salvation, but I do believe it is universally available. It doesn't come by shaking hands with a corrupt leader, but it isn't denied by that either. It comes when one bows to the one true King, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is in those who believe and is greater than the one who is only in the world. Believe, be at peace, don't worry about the stock market, or anything else. Simply "know Jesus and know peace." In four to eight years we'll have new leadership, but we will always have one Savior.

God Bless You and God Bless America.