When I stepped out on the back porch to take the dog out at 5:15 I thought maybe the ice had melted. (It is not very cold - just 32 degrees.) So I stepped of the porch and about fell down when my feet slipped on the ice on the step.
The ice is still here! Falling is a real danger.
We have power and our heat is on. That is nice when there's ice. I wish I could keep all of my dear ones safe at home - but Lola is already on the road for school. The radio says that MOST of the MAIN roads are safe... but I have no doubt that many people will find themselves sliding at some point today.
The ice is here - because the world is fallen.
An ice storm is reminder of the broken condition of the world. Mankind lives here and strives mightily to master the elements - but the world is a difficult and dangerous place. We've made ways to transport ourselves, ways to keep ourselves warm and ways to melt some of the ice on the roads - but we can't keep the ice storm from coming. We can't keep ourselves from falling or crashing on occasion. Inevitably some people will be hurt. Some might die as a result of this very storm. All of us are in jeopardy. The question is not "if" but "when."
Imagine how nice it would be to live in a climate controlled garden with everything you need or could possibly want. There you have perfect relationships - no shame, no fear, no deceit, no selfishness. There you live without the possibility of sickness or death or loss. You have perfect health. You know what you are there for and nothing stands in the way of accomplishing your purpose. There you can fully appreciate all the tastes, sights, sounds, and sensations that come with life.
It is a picture of the way God created the world. It is a picture of what God has in store for those who are redeemed through faith in Jesus Christ.
Even with our most advanced technology - life is difficult and brief. Billions of people around the are scrambling to find the wherewithal to live and keep their families alive from day to day. Man's inhumanity is ghastly - with robbery, rape, murder, and mayhem filling the news.
No wonder atheists imagine a dog eat dog world where survival of the fittest has always been the story of life. This IS what you see when you look at life in this fallen world.
But God reveals a different story and we can understand it. He created a world that was very good - and provided everything we needed - but we rebelled against Him and brought these conditions on ourselves. Ultimately God provided a way to rescue us - His own Son Jesus - who was completely obedient (sinless) and who took our punishment Himself. Jesus makes everything right again... and we who trust in Him will be restored and experience the life God intended for us.
What is the atheist's best case scenario? That he lives in relative comfort until he dies - hopefully with minimal pain.
What is the Christian's best case scenario? That he lives every moment of this temporary life (whether in pain or comfort) to honor Christ - then to pass from this world into eternal life where things are the way they were intended to be.
(2Corinthians 5:1-2) For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,
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