To all of God's precious elect, chosen before the foundations of the world to inherit the Kingdom of his Son.
Greeting:
(Yes, I know that I said the next article would be on the importance of understanding the synonominity of the terms, "Kingdom of God" and "Kingdom of Heaven"; but I have decided to do this post first and then that post. Please bear with me."
I was watching the
twilight zone the other day and something came to me much later on. I was watching this episode where a man in the space program was placed in a 5'x5' box to simulate the long journey to the moon and back. This was complete isolation from the out side world: no human contact, no entertainment, nothing. The soldier stayed in this box for almost two whole weeks, and toward the last part of this he went mad. He fell asleep and began to hallucinate that he was in some town where he was the only inhabitant. All the lights and movie theaters were running themselves: the man was completely alone. In the state of complete isolation he went mad running around screaming and shouting. He was trying ever so desperately to find someone to explain why the town was so desolate. The man did not even know his own name, where he was, or what had happened to everyone else. Let me submit to the reader that this could be the state that you are in. I know, at one time in my past, this could be used to describe me. Every man born on earth feels like there is something he is supposed to know or do. "There must be a reason for my existence!", shouts the man who does not walk by faith. Men who do not walk by faith are more like this fictitious character than they might like to admit. They know there is something wrong but they can not produce an answer. They know there is a true world beyond the confined of there 5'x5' box (their mind), but again no answer can be produced. Consider this, if the character I use as an example had not bothered to seek the answers he would have gone on with no problems. He could have eaten, found shelter, and engaged in amusement if he could only avoid the intellectual questions of: where am I, who am I, where is everyone? And so it is for men without Christ; oh yes, you can go on quite happily and never have any problem so long as you deny your mind. So long as you deny the very nature of your existence you will be sound as a pound. But my friend, you will loose your sanity if you try to find out anything about life without first acknowledging the God who created you and who created this universe. Let me tell you how by finishing the story of the man, who is at this point hallucinating. The only way out of the box was to press a small button that was located on the wall of the box. The button was a signal to the scientist monitoring the experiment that meant "I have had enough, I can go no further, get me out!". And the story ends with the scientist releasing him and his sanity restored. The only way an unbelievers can escape his insanity, his misery and damning existence, is to press the button, and this button is Faith in Christ Jesus. Sure, you may think that by your good works you can merit the merit of Christ. Perhaps, you ponder, you by your own free will and power can escape the doom and misery that awaits you, but you cant. You must signal your helplessness and surround your pride. You must admit that you, by your own free will and strength, cannot will God's favor. You must confess your fallen state and admit that you have been dead and unable to do any good. You must come before your creator and admit that you have nothing to ransom yourself. You must strech for the empty hands of faith and plead, " Oh Christ, I have nothing to bring to you except my rags and filth. Fill my, I pray thee, with they own merit and honor. I submit to your Lordship." After a while has passed, you will realize that even this surrender and faith you express is not your own. It is the gift of God and has been wrought in you by the free sovereign purpose of God. Then you will have escaped the Twilight Zone.....
Sola Fide,
The Reformer