In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth and all that lies therein. He made the sky, the clouds, the mountains, the oceans, the stars and planets, all vegetation, animals, fish, insects and microscopic organisms. And though everything in this physical universe was called into existence by the power and genius of God’s wisdom, He saved His ultimate creative effort to produce us, humankind, to whom He gave authority and dominance over the world that He formed. “And God said, Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he Him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1: 26-28).
As the story goes, and how we all well know, the Paradise that was created for us was corrupted by us and we were ejected from the original land of milk and honey, and the world suffers the stain of that sinful saga unto this present day. But by His everlasting mercy and grace, the love of God already had a glorious plan in place ready to rescue us from that fateful decision to disobey His directions. And that plan has provided a righteous road to redemption, a path to perpetual peace and a heavenly highway to His holiness.
Since Jesus is the way, not to mention the truth and the life, our references to these spiritual passageways is all about Him and the blood He has shed on our behalf that has granted us access to the “diamond lane” so to speak, on this freeway to fellowship with the Father. This is the same Jesus who the Lord would send to be the manifestation of His glory and the source of our salvation. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1: 1-5 & 9-14)
It is so awesome that everything in this universe whether rock, wind or waves, whether sun, moon or stars, whether fin, feather or fur, are all instantly responsive to God’s commands. All, that is, except us. Over the ages we, His crowning creative achievement, have been up and down, in and out, unreliable and inconsistent in our service and obedience to Him. And that is because we have abused a privilege that He has not given to anything else. And that privilege is the ability to choose. “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days…” (Deuteronomy 30: 19-20) Even the Apostle Paul while in Athens on his second missionary journey said of Jesus, “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being…” (Acts 17: 28)
Unfortunately, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life and the love of money has enticed and influenced us to make wrong choices. But that doesn’t have to be. Consider Moses, who grew up in the privilege and prestige of Pharoah’s palace. He could very well have succumbed to the lewdness of his lustful leader’s lifestyle, but instead, “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” (Hebrews 11: 25-26)
But be that as it may, sin is sin whether for a season or for a second, and the result is always death. And though rebellion against and disobedience to the Lord is nothing new, there are seasons of widespread demonic saturation that unpleasantly and undesirably manifests itself on this planet. And we are living in one of those seasons as we speak. A season that the Bible calls “perilous times.” As described in scripture, it says, “But realize this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless , conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power.” (2 Timothy 3: 1-5)
Yes, we are in a generation that has departed from total submission and allegiance to God. We are in a time and culture where the temptations of this world and the allure of carnal pleasures have corrupted the spiritual fabric which binds us to God. In this generation, evil has become something that is tolerated, emulated, celebrated and gleefully participated. We have seen the emergence of immoral, dishonorable, abominable and even unspeakable acts of vulgarity, perversion, unkindness and violence that have not only been excused but normalized by today’s so-called civilization. And if you don’t agree and support their profane and obscene behavior, then you become the enemy, the oddball, the outcast. You are the menace to this society of shams and scams. As stated in Peter’s epistle to his fellow-believers, “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you…” (1 Peter 4: 4) And being a devout follower of Jesus Christ who is unwilling to compromise your treasured and consecrated principles, don’t be surprised that the bad in them will hate the good in you.
The Book of Proverbs describes this generation perfectly by declaring that “There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.” (Proverbs 30: 11-14) A generation that has lost its way and are plowing full steam ahead to a place that had to undergo extensive renovations to accommodate the masses that are cheerfully flooding its gates. “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.” (Isaiah 5: 14)
Similarly, the Book of Judges is another example of the spiraling decline in the morality of God’s people. It tells the story of a disobedient and idolatrous community who chose to violate their covenant with the Lord who loved them, resulting in disastrous consequences leading to repeated cycles of defamation and defeat at the hands of their enemies. We see that it was after Joshua had led them on a successful campaign to obtain their promised inheritance that his faithful and obedient generation died, “ and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD…” (Judges 2: 10-11)
They were arrogant, defiant and refused to acknowledge God as their rightful King. Therefore they were not concerned about how God saw things, only how they saw things. “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21: 25) They just didn’t realize that those eyes of theirs were blind. And that same blindness exists today, only the phrase has been changed to things like “This is how I see it” or “This is my truth.” They were not interested that their actions and attitudes were more than enough reason for God to discard and wipe His hands clean of them, but He was still the Father of Mercies and when they called out to Him for help, He delivered them. Over and over again, He would raise up military champions, sometimes very unlikely people, to lead them out of oppression and back to their worship of the one and only true God.
So here we are today and the question is, “Do we have to repeat this cycle of bumbling between sin and salvation?” The answer is an emphatic, “NO! GOD FORBID!” The Lord wants us to be “steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15: 58) Besides, our God has always maintained a remnant of faithful servants in every generation who will not bow down to fits and fantasies of the flesh. Such was His servant Noah before the flood. “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6: 9) “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.” (Genesis 7: 1) A generation in which everyone perished except for 8 people!
At another time when Elijah humiliated the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel, he lamented over his feelings of insecurity and isolation. “Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD…” (1 Kings 18: 22) But as he was on the run from Jezebel and repeating this woeful inaccuracy, the Lord corrected him by saying, “Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19: 18) It is undeniable that the Lord has unfailingly helped the people of past generations, and yes, we can certainly trust that He will help us of this generation and those of generations to come. “But Thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and Thy remembrance unto all generations. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.” (Psalm 102: 12 & 18)
Now we all have our own personal situations that challenge our faithfulness. You may be in the midst of the bleakest of circumstances where you are abused, neglected, deprived or disrespected. You may be encumbered with grief from the loss of a loved one or are burdened with the stress of financial difficulties. Maybe you are suffering with excruciating pain from a physical ailment or struggling with the inner torment of emotional or spiritual unsteadiness. You may feel alone, abandoned or marginalized by the cruelty and callousness of family or friends. And though we acknowledge that you may be troubled on every side, we don’t concede that you have to be distressed. You may be perplexed, but we will never give in to despair. You may be persecuted, but God has not forsaken you. You may be cast down, but our Heavenly Father has not allowed you to be destroyed.
Your labor of love has not been forgotten and your voluntary choice to serve Him in the midst of this wicked generation with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength has gained you access to His glorious virtue. The same virtue that poured out of our Lord Jesus when He was on His way to raise the dead 12-year old daughter of a temple official back to life when a woman who had been hemorrhaging blood for 12 long years, who had emptied her savings suffering at the hands of many physicians and still didn’t get any better but only got worse, was attempting to touch the hem of His garment because she believed that He was the key to her cure. Imagine her difficulty as she pushed her way through the crowd, her faith driving her every anguished step, as she continued to press on in spite of the obstacle presented by the throngs of people blocking her path. But she refused to allow anything to stop her short of receiving her expected blessing. And upon that touch, glory to God, a divine stream of comfort and restoration flowed out of Jesus and into her and she “felt” the healing in her body. Jesus said, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole…” (Mark 5: 34)
So don’t be deterred by what this generation thinks, what they do or how they try to get in your way because “… ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Peter 2: 9-10) Be it known and rejoice that you are cherished and you have the right to always enthusiastically glorify God and say, “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with Thee.” (Psalm 139: 14, 17 &18)
Even as we walk through this valley of the shadow of death being harassed by spiritual antagonists attempting to discourage you and depress you to the point where you will begin to think that serving the Lord is too hard and that you can’t do it. This is one of the greatest lies ever told because you can do all thing through Christ who strengthens you and “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10: 13)
We have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin. But there are those who have. “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11: 36-40)
We are destined to witness the glory and power of God together with all of His people that have passed on before us. “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18)
As for the disobedient ones who choose to live their lives as they desire, the Lord chooses to describe them with colorful words such as generation of vipers, corruptible, naughty, adulterous, faithless, perverse, stubborn and rebellious. Thank God that we can make the choice to be the generation that God created us to be. A generation that worships, adores, honors, obeys and glorifies Him. A generation that will pass along this wonderful way of living to our children. “We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done. That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them their children: That they might set their hope in God, not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.” (Psalm 78: 4, 6 & 7)
Yes, “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2: 10) We have an incorruptible inheritance that is reserved in heaven waiting for us to claim as we “…are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1: 5) Yes, it is God Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord Who empowers us for He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Our fountain of mercy we run to where we find grace to help in time of need.
Therefore dear ones, we should “…greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1: 6-9)
Finally, with all deference and respect to those born during the time period referred to as “The Greatest Generation,” let me assure you that the greatest generation will always be a godly generation “… for God is in the generation of the righteous.” (Psalm 14: 5)
So choose ye this day whom you will serve. “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.” (Deuteronomy 7: 9)
The choice is yours.
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