Daily Word

One can sense an immense sorrow in the Lord’s words to Baruch, the secretary of the prophet Jeremiah.

The calamity and ruin He foretells are brought about by humanity itself.

Destructive forces have entered into humanity—and, by extension, into all of creation—through the Fall; the agents behind the terrible events depicted in the Bible’s final book are human beings themselves, along with the demonic forces to which they have opened the door.

God, for His part, permits this to happen—just as He allowed humanity, spurred on by dark forces, to nail its only Hope to a cross.

The foundation of existence is not rational, but wild and tragic, writes Oswald Chambers. A

slumbering beast dwells within humanity—a beast destined to rise up in all its horrific malice at the end of history.

Is the biblical view of humanity and existence, then, one of total pessimism?

No!

Just as God turned humanity’s greatest crime into its greatest blessing, the Bible reveals that the end of the world will become the catalyst for the creation of new heavens and a new earth.

The Risen One has unleashed entirely new, restorative powers into humanity and all of creation.

Yet, if we live for our own pleasure and attempt to build something of our own in this world, it amounts to nothing more than a fool’s paradise.

When everything collapses, the only thing we can take with us is the resurrection life we ​​received through the new birth; consequently, the only truly “sensible” course of action is to share this new life with as many people as possible.

Seek nothing for yourself—instead, join the effort to combat destructive forces by wielding the constructive powers you possess as a new creation in Christ Jesus!