Dear Friends,
As I write this month, I am conscious of two events: the earthquake in Japan and the season of Easter. The world is reeling from the triple disaster in Japan, earthquake, tsunami and explosions at a nuclear facility. I have to admit that I was transfixed as I watched the first news broadcasts of the tsunami; the power of that water was phenomenal, cars and shipping containers carried on the water like corks; houses reduced to matchsticks like a stack of playing cards. This was not happening in a country that had lived in complacency. They had erected buildings, conscious of the tectonic plates upon which their country stands. Their sea defences were much higher than many countries, but I do not think that I will ever forget the shot of the woman standing in a mess of debris and the television reporter saying that while she knew where she was, she was totally disorientated because all of the familiar landmarks had been destroyed. There was no security that comes from the familiar.
One news report stated that this nation, with its stable economy had been humbled by the forces of nature. It is frightening to think that our lives might be in the grip of some impersonal ‘force’. These events however have made me understand a little more the description of the flood in Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
That did not happen at some random time, because of the course of nature. It was a direct act of the Holy, Sovereign God. That God still reigns in heaven and on earth – in fact in the whole of His created universe. He called His creation to account in the events of the flood and only 8 people, prepared to trust Him, were saved by the ark he had prepared through Noah.
The Bible gives us illustrations of God’s continuing involvement in the events of earth and the nations. Isaiah records it in this way,
Remember this and stand firm,
… for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
(Isaiah 46:8-11)
We worship a holy God, who rules and will not ignore any who choose to live in their own wisdom and contrary to His Word. There are immediate and eternal consequences to rebellion against God, but Easter reminds us that God has not left us to our own devices and our own resources. He has intervened, not in the judgement of creation and humanity, but in the provision of a substitute.
Genuine Christians know that they cannot hope to correct the damage caused by sin, both their own and that inherited from our first parents; nor can they hope to live a life pleasing to God in their own strength, but they have asked the help of another. Paul puts it like this,
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)
The events of the first Easter were also marked by ‘natural disasters’ – earthquake and untimely darkness – but God did not at that time come in judgement on all humanity. Rather He poured out His judgement on His Son who gave Himself as a substitute for all, who within humanity will put their trust in Him.
The really sad lessons of the Japan earthquake are that no matter how we try we cannot defend ourselves against the power of Creation, nor do any of us know when we might be swept out of this life, into the presence of our Creator and Judge. The message of Easter is that God has prepared a way for us to meet such a sudden departure and know that someone else, Christ, has prepared an entrance for us, so that we need not fear an untimely departure or a condemning judgement. The tragedy is though that many feel that “it could never happen to me”, or “I don’t need the help of another”.
In the light of both the tsunami and Easter we each need to face and respond to the question, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3)
On behalf of Linda and myself I wish you all a very Happy and Blessed Easter.
Warm regards,
Bernard Lewis
April 2011
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