Does this plague bring Good News?
As we see our world moving inexorably towards a second Coronavirus spike and possible lockdown, I have been looking to see what Christian Leaders are saying about Covid.
Early in the pandemic there were messages of hope. We prayed that God would speak into our world and bring people back to him. Now I notice a prominent article in Christianity Today headlined “Covid 19 is Not God’s Judgement”.
I wrote an Amateur Christian article asking, “Is Corona virus an “Act of God”?” noting that God frequently brought natural disasters on his people Israel as a means of bringing them back to him. Underpinning this relationship between God and his people was the Mosaic Covenant with its associated blessings and curses set out in Deuteronomy 28. Before anyone picks me up, our relationship with Moses’ covenant is somewhat different since Jesus gave the New Covent in his blood. However, if God brought judgement in ancient days, could he not do it again?
I have been encouraged in this thinking since recently reading the book of Revelation. This final New Testament book is something of a mystery to many Christians and has been the subject of a number of dramatic sensationalist books in recent years.
The most recent interpretations of Revelation, over less than 200 years, outline a story of history moving along a timeline ending with dramatic literal depictions of plagues, destruction of the earth, martyrdom of saints and eventually Christs return.
The church has for many centuries held to a rather less dramatic symbolic understanding of Revelation, with seven scenes each of which depicts the whole of history from the cross to end days. From this, preferred approach, I see that on this earth we might expect, earthquakes, famines, volcanoes, plagues, wars, and destruction as regular occurrences due to the sinful heart of mankind. History bears this out. When has planet Earth been free of such things?
Which ever approach you adopt with the book of Revelation, we should not be surprised that the earth is currently experiencing a plague, and we should take note that God will send further disasters on this earth from time to time to remind man of his helplessness against the power of Almighty God.
Leading Reformed pastor John Piper, in his book “Coronavirus and Christ” describes God’s “bitter providence” in bringing to us an experience that we struggle to understand. Of course, we do understand that God is sovereign in all things, but what use is that when the plague continues its ravage of death.
Generally, however, there seems to have been a significant reluctance to suggest that the Covid plague is a result of God’s judgement on sinful man. Frankly, I find this surprising. I read articles, from people who should know better, bringing all sorts of ridiculous “Christian” teachings and whilst I find it easy to find articles today saying that God is not to blame, I rarely see one of the opposite persuasion. What does this tell us about our image of God?
For some time now we have seen an emphasis in church music, and Bible teaching on the love of God. We are taught about God’s immeasurable grace that reaches down to all mankind. We are reminded that “God so loved the world….” We sing “How deep the Father’s love for us…” and whilst this favourite song explores the pain and suffering of Jesus it is from the singer’s perspective. It’s all about me!
When I read the opening chapters of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome and read what he has to say about how God views mankind I receive a very tough message. “The wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” Rom 1:18.
Paul goes on the explain who the recipients of God’s righteous wrath are, namely:
- Those who have “supressed truth by their wickedness”. Such people are without excuse because God reveals himself to all men through the wonders of his creation.
- The self-righteous. Such people frequently accuse others, but their own lives are lived satisfying their own desires with little thought of God.
- The outwardly religious. Thinking they are superior, by knowledge, birth or law keeping they have no deep experience of God living with unchanged hearts.
O dear! If God’s wrath is against all these, perhaps we might expect judgement from on high?
Last night I watched Tom Holland the non-Christian historian being interviewed on YouTube channel “Triggernometry”. I recently finished reading his history of the Christian church, “Dominion” in which he traces how Christianity and the Bible have profoundly influenced Western culture over the last 2000 years, particularly in Great Britain.
Sadly, Holland discusses how since the 1960’s people have rejected “doctrinal Christianity” replacing it with a new world view shaping popular morality today. Holland believes that modern morality is shaped, not by the Bible, as it had been, but by total rejection of Hitler and his fascism.
Principally, Holland says this might be summarised as:
- A rejection of Hitlers belief that one race is superior to another
- A rejection of Hitlers belief that power and strength is morally superior.
Holland went to some trouble to explain how the former idea runs counter to the teaching of Paul that when we are joined with Christ there is “neither Jew or Gentile”, Gal 3:28.
The most significant Christian image for most of us is that of a beaten up, helpless man nailed to a cross of wood, suffering insult, pain, and death. The image is crucial to Christianity but was rejected by a Fascist state built on a rejection of the man of sorrows and promotion of power, strength, and the rule of a Dictator. Weakness was despised by the Nazis, even as Jesus had been 2000 years earlier.
So, revulsion against fascism has resulted in our current “woke” society, full of self-righteous indignation, but terrified that men like Boris Johnson or Donald Trump will turn their counties into re-incarnated Nazi states.
I have always thought of Sadiq Khan the current Mayor of London as a reasonable chap, however he is one of the more moderate Labour supporters to brand “Donald Trump and Boris Johnson extreme "far right" leaders in a blistering rant that seems to liken them to the NAZIS.”
Sadly, “To 'pay' for their own sins, the zealots of the Woke Left's new religion are on a mission to sacrifice the reputations and livelihoods of others.” according to Tripp Parker writing in The Federalist recently. Tripp explains how “Woke” has become the religion of the left wing, replacing worship of God with an uncompromising doctrine of hatred towards anything that doesn’t comply with their thinking.
“So, how is the Woke Left similar to a religion? Well, even without a supernatural element, it has all the trappings of one. It has a core set of beliefs that you cannot question and remain in the tribe with myths that aren’t subjected to normal academic scrutiny (the 1619 Project); it has sacred texts (White Fragility), its idea of original sin (being born white and/or male), rituals (including self-flagellation), symbols, heretics (hello, JK Rowling), and de facto priests and prophets to enlighten and then initiate us into this new religion. All will be shown a new way of viewing everything about the world, and we must adopt this without caveats or questions.”
The Woke religion is however a message of bad news with no way out. There is no atonement, no Saviour, and no means of forgiveness for past or current sins. It is a religion based on pointing the finger, blame, hatred and cancel culture.
On November 20th, 1945, the International Military Tribunal commencded in Nuremberg with 24 leading Nazi leaders facing trial for war crimes committed by the Nazi regime. Whilst Hitler and Joseph Goebbels had both committed suicide before trials, which would lead to eleven executions, most other front line Nazi leaders were present.
In “The Cross and the Swastika” Frederick Grossmith tells the story of how US Army chaplain, Henry Gerecke offered comfort, prayers, and the offer of salvation to men who had committed the most terrible of atrocities. Some like Hermann Goring failed to respond to the message, in spite of the urgings of his family. His daughter Edda wrote that “I kneel by my bed and look up to heaven and ask God to open my daddy’s heart and let Jesus in”.
Others, including Albert Speer, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder and Field Marshal Keitel responded to the gospel message with confessions of guilt, looking to Jesus death as the sole basis for their eternal salvation. A group of these men with blighted histories fellowshipped together, sharing scriptures and communion as they awaited their just punishment.
Whist many will find it difficult to understand the amazing forgiveness of a holy and just God, surely this is what differentiates Christianity from religions of the world, including the modern woke movement.
The Christian message is a message of Good News to contrast with the woke message of Bad News.
The Christian message brings forgiveness, reconciliation and wholeness whilst woke brings hatred, division, and brokenness.
The Good News is that Jesus did not come for good people, but to help those who recognised their weaknesses and failures. He didn’t limit himself by shouting at others, he did something about the sin problem. Thank God that salvation is available for all.