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As I predicted at the beginning, the Musings started well, but tapered off right quick. For what it's worth, I'll attempt to get them kick-started again with this installment. If the pattern continues, you can expect to see the next one in about six months :-D
Isaiah 24:1-6
Because we were born into, and live our days in, a fallen world, it is hard for us to really believe that the earth we inhabit is abnormal in any way. We are used to living here, and we get used to the "fallenness" of our daily existence. But the biblical perspective is clear: not only is the world merely abnormal, but it is absolutely messed up through and through. Things right now are simply NOT the way they SHOULD be. Everything is WRONG. The murders and kidnappings and everything else you read about on the news is WRONG. The lying, cheating, vanity, lust, pride are ALL WRONG. These things simply should not be. What is going on?
The world, and everything in it, has been infected by a disease that no earthly doctor can ever hope to cure; it is infinitely more deadly than cancer or AIDS combined. It is the disease of sin. Man himself has been infected by this disease, and this in turn affects the whole creation. As the text before us says, "The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers . . . the earth is also polluted by its inhabitants" (see also Gen. 3 and Rom. 8:20-22). "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin" (Rom. 5:12), and nothing whatsoever has escaped the rule of this relentless tyrant. Man has been affected, and the rest of creation has been affected. Even the things of beauty in this world - like flowers and sunsets and mountains - are not AS beautiful as they SHOULD be because of the effects of sin upon them.
But - and this is extremely important - sin, in and of itself, is not really the ultimate problem. What do I mean? We sometimes think that sin has affected mankind and the world through some kind of mechanical cause-and-effect process. In other words, because man sinned, certain results just follow from that in a cause-and-effect kind of way. When this cause happens, these effects simply follow after, in the same way that when you drop a tennis ball it just falls to the ground as a matter of course. But that is NOT the way it works with sin (for a similar point re. the wrath of God, see John Murray's commentary on Rom. 1:18). What makes sin what it is? It is the fact that it is committed against a holy and righteous God (Ps. 51:4) who cannot even stand to look upon iniquity, and who MUST punish sin because of who He is; because the judge of all the earth must do right.
This means that mankind and the world is so messed up, not because sin entered the world and certain effects just happened as a matter of course, but because sin entered the world through one man, resulting in mankind and the world coming under the curse of God's judgment. As verse 6 says, "Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty." The world is the way it is because it is under judgment; it is under the curse of a holy God (again, see Gen. 3). And because it is under a curse, God will most certainly destroy it one day, as seen in Isaiah 24:1-3.
To be continued...
The world, and everything in it, has been infected by a disease that no earthly doctor can ever hope to cure; it is infinitely more deadly than cancer or AIDS combined. It is the disease of sin. Man himself has been infected by this disease, and this in turn affects the whole creation. As the text before us says, "The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers . . . the earth is also polluted by its inhabitants" (see also Gen. 3 and Rom. 8:20-22). "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin" (Rom. 5:12), and nothing whatsoever has escaped the rule of this relentless tyrant. Man has been affected, and the rest of creation has been affected. Even the things of beauty in this world - like flowers and sunsets and mountains - are not AS beautiful as they SHOULD be because of the effects of sin upon them.
But - and this is extremely important - sin, in and of itself, is not really the ultimate problem. What do I mean? We sometimes think that sin has affected mankind and the world through some kind of mechanical cause-and-effect process. In other words, because man sinned, certain results just follow from that in a cause-and-effect kind of way. When this cause happens, these effects simply follow after, in the same way that when you drop a tennis ball it just falls to the ground as a matter of course. But that is NOT the way it works with sin (for a similar point re. the wrath of God, see John Murray's commentary on Rom. 1:18). What makes sin what it is? It is the fact that it is committed against a holy and righteous God (Ps. 51:4) who cannot even stand to look upon iniquity, and who MUST punish sin because of who He is; because the judge of all the earth must do right.
This means that mankind and the world is so messed up, not because sin entered the world and certain effects just happened as a matter of course, but because sin entered the world through one man, resulting in mankind and the world coming under the curse of God's judgment. As verse 6 says, "Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty." The world is the way it is because it is under judgment; it is under the curse of a holy God (again, see Gen. 3). And because it is under a curse, God will most certainly destroy it one day, as seen in Isaiah 24:1-3.
To be continued...
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