It has been a pleasure in the last two or three columns to have written about the great things God has been doing in our world, and to reflect on the even greater things he has yet in mind. But the prime reason for this site was to bring to mind the less palatable truth that God’s judgements are in the world, and threaten to increase. Paul put the basic issue very simply: “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18). Our age has certainly suppressed the truth about God: we cannot watch the consequences of that disdain of God with complacency. Its that more than anything that bring the dark clouds of judgement.
Man without God sows the seeds of his own destruction through his own godless behaviour. In other words, his behaviour itself brings judgement and disaster. The most obvious example of this truth at the moment is the extreme fragility and danger of the economic chaos in which we live. Few would or could deny that the vast debt and the threat of further collapse can only be placed at the feet of gross human self interest, not least amongst those who in positions of responsibility have simply had an eye to personal gain. Even the chaos of trillions of debt has not brought about any real repentance. Every human effort to find a way through comes to grief on the hard rock of our human nature. This debt is an extremely threatening cloud – another crash (much feared by economists) and the situation would be utterly catastrophic for society.
“Utterly catastrophic” – That’s the scenario God seems to be pointing to. The same sort of scenario has been conjured up by both the B.P. oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the volcanic ash. Superimposed on England the spill would stretch from Cornwall to the North Sea – much the greatest of such disasters yet seen - a disaster part human, part natural, but catastrophic. The volcanic ash (conveniently out of the news and forgotten) also gave us a glimpse of the real possibilities of the utterly catastrophic to our modern world.
None of these threats have gone away: a second crash is all too possible; the spill will continue until August at the earliest, and a greater volcano waits to erupt with vastly more ash. They lurk around. The clouds hover. Men do not read them; they have no fear of God before their eyes. The signs are of a massive and destructive storm.
Bob
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Man without God sows the seeds of his own destruction through his own godless behaviour. In other words, his behaviour itself brings judgement and disaster. The most obvious example of this truth at the moment is the extreme fragility and danger of the economic chaos in which we live. Few would or could deny that the vast debt and the threat of further collapse can only be placed at the feet of gross human self interest, not least amongst those who in positions of responsibility have simply had an eye to personal gain. Even the chaos of trillions of debt has not brought about any real repentance. Every human effort to find a way through comes to grief on the hard rock of our human nature. This debt is an extremely threatening cloud – another crash (much feared by economists) and the situation would be utterly catastrophic for society.
“Utterly catastrophic” – That’s the scenario God seems to be pointing to. The same sort of scenario has been conjured up by both the B.P. oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the volcanic ash. Superimposed on England the spill would stretch from Cornwall to the North Sea – much the greatest of such disasters yet seen - a disaster part human, part natural, but catastrophic. The volcanic ash (conveniently out of the news and forgotten) also gave us a glimpse of the real possibilities of the utterly catastrophic to our modern world.
None of these threats have gone away: a second crash is all too possible; the spill will continue until August at the earliest, and a greater volcano waits to erupt with vastly more ash. They lurk around. The clouds hover. Men do not read them; they have no fear of God before their eyes. The signs are of a massive and destructive storm.
Bob
To make a comment: click on word “comments” below, write your comment in the white box which appears and add your name and e mail address (if you wish), choose “select profile”, click “anonymous” and then continue.
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