I recently read this caption of a major newspaper’s reaction to the latest mass murder: ‘God Isn’t Fixing This!’ My response – And you think man will?
Yes, war is running rampant on the earth, but what of the solution? Is there hope?
2,000 years ago a multitude of the heavenly host appeared to some frightened shepherds in the Judean countryside, announcing the solution and the hope:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
Not to be lost in the inoculation of familiarity, the proclamation of the birth of a Jewish baby in Bethlehem predicted centuries earlier brought the solution and the hope. For the deliverer had come to set the captives free (Isaiah 61:1)!
For apart from the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), Jesus, man is hopelessly at war. And surprisingly to some, the war among men is simply a symptom of a problem much deeper and much more profound – the war between man and his Creator!
Yet, in the compassion and mercy of God, at just the right time (Galatians 4:4), peace did arrive on the earth and God did extend goodwill toward men:
“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners [enemies of God], Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).
Who are the ungodly? Who are the sinners, the enemies of God? That would be you and me and all of humanity!
Thankfully, the Peace Plan is not based on the schemes of man. Rather its’ designer is the Creator God. And how is this peace attained:
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
In one sense, ‘God isn’t fixing this’ may be correct. The truth is – God has fixed this!
But why then the madness, the evil, the chaos and pandemonium? It’s a choice of man! For to be at peace with our fellow man, we must first be at peace with God. And that comes only through faith in the Prince of Peace, Jesus.
For those of us who know HIM, let us take the opportunity this Christmas season to sing His praises and proclaim in the highways and byways – ‘Peace on earth, goodwill toward men!’ Amen.
