The Reason For Democracy

"A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. . . I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost, much less a nation. The real reason for democracy is: Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows."

-C.S. Lewis-

The Tyranny of Sin

I saw the effects of it today in an old friend who is being ravished by a disease that has attacked his mental capacities to the point he has lost the ability to speak. I saw it in another friend who is fighting with the grief of losing their spouse to illness. It reared its head in the news of another family friend who found out their six year old has cancer and will be heading to chemo. Why is there any of this in the world? The short answer is sin. One man’s disobedience unleashed a torrent guilt, condemnation, sickness, and death. All sickness and death is a result of sin, even when the person suffering may not be suffering because of any specific act of sin in their life.

Seldom do we think about it with as much seriousness as we should, but it is all around us. It ravishes both those we love and those we consider enemies. Quite often, we play with it as if it were some tame animal that could never turn on us, but in reality, the only reason we think little of it is because it has already turned on us and has us under its sway. Scripture speaks of the exceeding deceitfulness of sin, and part of that deceitfulness is that it convinces us of its harmlessness, but when we see the havoc it has released upon this world we should think twice. The truth of the matter is that the sicknesses and death that plagues us are not the biggest problem. All have sinned and fallen short, our sin condemns us before a holy and just God, and part of its tyranny is to convince us that though we may not be perfect, we certainly don’t deserve the wrath of God. The deceitfulness of sin doesn’t stop there, it goes on and moves us to suppress the truth when we hear it and reject the very remedy for our condition.

Yet, by the grace of God, Scripture does not stop there; it goes on to tell us that, through Christ, all who have faith in Him have peace with God, and have been set free from sin (Rom 6:18). Though this does not mean we will never have to fight with our old nature, it does mean that the fact that we have turned to Christ is because the Lord, through his grace, has released us from sin’s ultimate deception. On top of this, he has promised that He will complete the work He has started in us.

This promise of Christ completing His work in us deals primarily with sanctification, but it doesn’t stop there. All of sin’s tyranny will ultimately be destroyed for the believer. Because of Christ’s resurrection, we too will be resurrected. Though we were sown perishable we will be raised imperishable. Though we have been sown in dishonor we will be raised in glory. And though we have been sown in weakness we will be raised in power (1 Cor. 15:42-43). Even though through one man’s trespass, death has reigned, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17). So when you look around and see the ravishing effects of sin in yourself and the lives of those around you; remember to take sin seriously, and to trust in Christ who is greater than the tyranny of sin. For there is no condemnation, there is no disease, and there is no death as powerful as the life given to us in Christ, which is our hope of glory.

Doug

Creation, The Fall, and the Promised Redeemer

Sin, Sorrow, and the Joy of Christmas: A Meditation

The lights glow softly, the Christmas music plays, and wondrous thoughts of the birth of our Savior fill our minds. What a blessing it is for the believer who still finds childlike joy in this time of year. Being "grown-up" is a bit over-rated, because being "grown-up," according to the world, usually entails a constant stiff upper lip and a cynical heart. Now, there are times to be stout, to conceal your emotion, and be a bit guarded, but too often these virtues can be turned into vices. Just as there is time to be immovable, there is a time to be moved. There are things that should stir our hearts, and move us to childlike wonder, and the story of the birth of Jesus is one of those things.

Sin is our greatest enemy, and it has been ever since the fall. In our natural condition, with hard hearts, we are the makers of our own demise, we despise what is good, and we love that which will destroy us. So much so that it seems we love our own destruction. The disgracefulness of our sin is of such a nature that it does exactly that; it destroys the natural graces in which mankind was created. Left alone we will do nothing but revel in our own corruption, making ourselves all the more miserable. And what is worse, is that we are constantly heaping upon ourselves the wrath of a Holy and just God who will not let any sin go unpunished, and at the thought of such things should cause us to weep.

If this were where we were left, there would be no hope for any of us. But as we know, in the garden after the fall, God promised that He was going to give us a seed who would be the remedy for sin. What is often missed is the fact that right after this promise, we see a curse that was to come upon mankind for their sinful act of rebellion, and that curse was that God Himself was going to cause children to be brought forth in sorrow. Why would God do such a thing after such a wonderful promise? Of all the female creatures upon this earth, it seems that humans have the greatest sorrow during childbirth, but this sorrow is not without hope. Every time a woman grieves during the pain of childbirth, it is to be a reminder to us of the seriousness of sin. It is a proclamation of our depraved condition, but that is not all it is, it is also a gesture of God’s love for His people because He does not want us to evade the knowledge of our sinful condition and neglect the promised seed.

As Mary gave birth that night in a dusty stable, she undoubtedly lamented in pain. Any of us who have pondered that night and have thought of the cold ground beneath her, with no doctor’s guidance, and no comforts of home, have heard her proclamation of the tyranny of sin. In sorrow she gave birth, but the Child was to be the death of her sorrow, and even the death of death itself. Like Rachel giving birth to Benjamin, she may have had the desire to call Him Benoni, the son of her sorrow, but the Father, God Himself, had already declared Him to be the Son of His Right Hand. His name was to be Jesus, for He was to save His People from their Sins.

Christ, God incarnate, had entered our sin riddled world. From his first breath He was to be known as the Man of Sorrows, and He would endure it all because of His love for us. All we like sheep have gone astray, but as Christ suffered the sorrows of this fallen world, He never faltered in His righteousness. He then, like a lamb, willingly went to the slaughter never once opening His mouth in protest. Without fail, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and By His stripes we are healed.

If this Christmas season is passing you by, and the thoughts of our Savior have not yet moved your heart to adoration, through the Spirit's work, may the meditation of our great God and His Gospel invigorate our sin embattled hearts and produce once again the childlike wonder of the Christmas season. Through faith, He is the joy of our salvation. Though sorrow may still be a part of living in this fallen world, you can have joy in the knowledge that any sins over which you mourn, and any sorrows you face, have been conquered by the child who was born in the manger: Jesus Christ the Lord.

Merry Christmas,

Doug Eaton

Man's Strange Disorder

Man's Sensitivity to trivia, and his insensitivity to matters of major importance, reveal he has a strange disorder.

Blaise Pascal - The Pensees