Pandemics, attacks, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, drought, war, poverty, racism, crime of every sort, invasion, political lunacy, digital attacks, fear, espionage, enemies foreign and domestic, threats from foreign countries, etc., etc., … ad infinitum.    People say the world is “in a mess.”  I disagree.  The world IS a mess.  The question that is often asked is Why?

Whether asked inwardly or outwardly, the human population is asking “WHY” are things the way they are?  Why have all of the above-mentioned tragedies been taking place for many decades, are taking place now and are getting worse with each new arrival?  Human beings claw their way out of one morass only to find another one bearing down on them.  What is man’s answer to the each problem?  vaccines, military buildup, storm cellars, river levies, welfare programs, racial exaltation, more police, fewer police, change in political leadership, drugs, more more laws, fewer laws, etc., etc., …. ad infinitum.

Man’s answer to the current tragedy he is facing is always man-centered–what MAN can do to alleviate the  current problem and prepare for the next one?  Again, “Why?”  Why is life, as someone once said, “… just one (expletive) thing after another.”  Another explanation for man’s continuous struggle has only three words: “That’s just life.”  Even children are beginning to pick up on the inevitability of man’s endless battle with the next disaster to raise its ugly head.  After someone pondered what to do with his current problem my seven-year-old great grandson responded with what: “You just have to go with life.”  To man, life = problems.  This “life is trouble” theory has dominated human existence for so long that it has been accepted as inevitable and given its own title: “The Human Condition.”  Why is “one (expletive) thing after another” an apt description of “the human condition?”  Why does man face yet another problem thinking “So what’s new” about the latest problem one is facing that is worse than the one he/she just waded through?  The rich are not exempt from life’s troubles.  One of the world’s wealthiest men, while watching a child eat pizza, said: “I’d give a fortune if I could do that.”  Now there is the fear that someone with a computer could funnel off what the rich have stored away.  Why is fear the primary emotion consistently expressed by people all over the world?  God has the one-word answer to mankind’s “WHY IS LIFE THIS WAY” question: DISOBEDIENCE.

As I have stated before, there are two books in the Holy Bible that answer the “Why?” question clearly.  One needs to read Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 frequently in order to keep God’s answer to the “Why” question always in mind.  For those who dismiss the Old Testament, let us remember that the New Testament Church was founded on the writings of the PROPHETS and the apostles (Eph. 2:20), and that ALL SCRIPTURE was written under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:14-16), and that EVERYTHING written in the Old Testament was preserved for OUR instruction (1 Cor. 10:11), and that HOLY MEN OF OLD spoke (and wrote) as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God (2 Pet. 1:21), and that the LAW IS HOLY, JUST AND GOOD (Rom. 7:12), and that Jesus came to earth to MAGNIFY THE LAW and make it HONORABLE (Isa. 42:21), not to “nail it to the cross.”  God’s Word–Genesis to Revelation–is His unchanging Law by which we will all be judged (Jn. 12:44-50).

For those who see no connection between man’s continuous rejection of God’s Word and the continuous flow of problems he faces, who believe that Jesus enables those who have taken Him as their Savior to sin and get away with it, let us turn to the third chapter of Colossians.  Here, the Apostle Paul, who was taught God’s gospel by Jesus Christ Himself (Gal.  1:12), is writing to the people in the churches of the area known as Galatia.  Note that he was writing TO THEM AND ABOUT THEM.  “For which things (sins–vs 5,8) THE WRATH OF GOD COMES ON THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE.”  He is warning the “sinners saved by grace” in God’s true church, whom he calls “children of DISOBEDIENCE,” that God’s wrath would come upon them.  Recall that the Apostle Peter stated to those in God’s church that they were already being judged, and that, of those in the church, “only the RIGHTEOUS would be saved.”  Righteousness is the opposite of sin.  Sin is breaking God’ Law.  In his letter to the Colossian church, Paul reminds the people in verse 5 to be diligent in their war against sin which was, and still is on-going at all times.  He commands that they “Mortify (put to death) therefore your bodies, mind, etc.” by resisting Satan’s temptations to sin.  He lists some of those sins in verses 5 and 8.  In verses 6,7 and 9 Paul reminds them that they are not WHAT THEY ONCE WERE–“CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE”–SINNERS.  In verse 10 he reminds them that they are NEW CREATIONS, having been spiritually and totally changed from what they WERE–SINNERS–CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE.  In verse 16 he tells them how to keep themselves in the grace of God–“let the WORD OF GOD DWELL IN YOU RICHLY IN ALL WISDOM….”  In order to remain in their converted state they had to study, learn and obey the word of God, meaning the Old Testament–the New Testament did not exist at that time.

The world has for many centuries been coming apart as God has repeatedly and increasingly poured out His curses (“woes”) on sinning man, including sinning churchman.  GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF MAN’S PROBLEMS.  BUT MAN’S SINS ARE THE REASON FOR HIS AUTHORING THE PROBLEMS.  Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 make this perfectly clear.

Sin is causing the world to come apart.  But God’s people are not personally affected by His displays of wrath (vs 15).  Notice the word “Let,” meaning that whether we live in peace or fear is man’s decision.  Verse 16 tells us that the only way to be filled with peace when all others are filled with fear is to drink deeply of the Word of the Lord, believe and obey it.  God protects and provides for those minutely few who do so.  Those who do not are called “children of disobedience” upon whom falls “the wrath of God (vs 6).

For those who live richly and seemingly unaffected by the chaos taking place around them, let us be reminded that some people’s sins are not exposed in this life.  Paul wrote to Timothy that: “Some men’s sins are open before (Judgment Day) … while some men’s sins will be revealed later.”  There’s an old gospel hymn that speaks to this truth.  The song’s chorus contains these words: “You can run on (sin without punishment) for a long time, but you know that God Almighty’s gonna cut you down.”  These are they who will stand before Christ at judgment and say, “Lord, Lord, … look at all the wonderful works we’ve done in your Name ….”  Then He will say to them, “I never knew you.  Depart from Me you workers of iniquity (Lawlessness)”–Mat. 7:23.

God promised those who obey His Word that : “… though pestilence (disease) surrounds you at night and destruction during the day; though a thousand will fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, it will not come near you” (Ps. 91:6,7).  And who is the Lord speaking to?  “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High and abides in the shadow of the Almighty.”  He is the One who will “deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence (disease) … His Truth (Word-Jn. 17:17) will be your shield and arm.  You will not be afraid of the terror that comes in the night, nor of the arrow that flies by day (vss 1-5).

God’s answer to the “Why?” question contains the answer to the “How?” question.  Why does man continuously have to deal with wave after wave of turmoil, death and destruction?: DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD.  How can man keep the waves of turmoil, death and destruction from affecting him: OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD.  Why does man not believe this Bible Truth?  “Satan has deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). L.J.