At the risk of
sounding like a broken record, let me say it again: This world desperately and
urgently needs Jesus. Lives are wrecked with sin. Families are in disarray.
Communities are fractured. America is in trouble. The world is a mess. And our
only hope is Jesus.
We are in a great
spiritual war. The devil knows his time is short. There will soon come a day
when the Almighty Judge of the universe will deal swiftly and decisively with
him and all his minions forever. But for now he has intensified his efforts to wreak
unspeakable havoc upon this world through all kinds of violent and wicked means.
How else do you
explain the hatred of the human heart found among those who are bent on murder?
The latest mass killing in Orlando reminds us once again that Satan has greatly
deceived those who pledge their allegiance to ISIS and other such terrorist
groups and ungodly causes. He has filled their minds with lies, blinded their
eyes to truth and captured their souls to do his will. And his will has always
been to kill, to steal and to destroy (John 10:10).
How else do you
explain the depravity of those who buy and sell young girls into the sex trade?
How else do you explain the vileness of men who commit shameless acts of
impurity with other men? How else do you explain the horrible evil of rape? How
else do you explain the utter cruelty of child abuse? How else do you explain
the rampant, ruinous addictions to everything from alcohol to heroin to
gambling to pornography and so much more? How else do you explain any and every
sin that grips the soul?
The Bible tells us
that the devil is the enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He is the “father of lies” (John 8:44), and
the “deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:8). And judging by the state
of world affairs, he’s doing a brutally good job of “blinding the minds of
unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
But, friend, let me
assure you that Satan’s schemes are no match for the matchless power of Jesus
Christ. Jesus has already triumphed over him through the cross and the victory
of the empty grave. He has already conquered, and will soon crush Satan under
his feet forever.
Let me urge you to
turn in repentance from sin and put your faith in Jesus today while the mercy
and grace of God still beckons you. “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold,
now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). For apart from salvation in
Christ, we all are dead in our sins, held captive by the devil, and bound for
eternal destruction. But in Christ Jesus there is freedom and forgiveness and
life abundant and eternal.
The world may be a
mess, and it’s going to get messier, but Jesus is still the glorious hope for
all mankind. And that’s a message worth repeating.
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