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| Volume 23 Number 2 February 2021 |
Page 8 |
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| Volume 23 Number 2 February 2021 |
Page 8 |
Cliff Holmes
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7).
When God created mankind, male & female, did He show any concern as to what color the dust was? The dust could have been black as coal, tan as desert sand, red as clay, yellow as an Asian desert or white as sand by the seashore. What seemed to be of greater importance to God was that He was making man in His own image. He was more concerned that His creation was to be pure, perfect and sinless. The breath of life that He breathed into man was pure, holy and spotless, and no hue found within the color spectrum can describe the color of the human soul. However, coming from God, it was as He is – pure, clean and without blemish.
When Satan came upon the scene, he brought with him temptation. He placed the temptation before the woman (and her husband who was with her), and they both yielded to the temptation. Then, the spotless soul of man was stained with a blackness that he could not wash away no matter how he tried.
The hatred and animosity between mankind today is not due to the color of one’s skin. It is because of the envy, jealousy, deceit and malice with which mankind has allowed himself to become entangled, and now he finds himself unable to extricate himself from it. Skin color is just an excuse for having ill will toward a fellow man who was created by God just as you were.
If we allow ourselves to have anger, animosity and even resort to violence against our fellow human beings, then we are not worthy of the effort that God put forth to create us in the first place. God is love, and God loves us so much that He sacrificed His own Son to get us out of the snare with which Satan has trapped us all.
We must love all men, though we hate sin, envy, deceit and violence wrought by others. Put a stop to the rancor, anger, violence and devastation we see in our streets today. If we cannot be at peace with one another, and love one another, then I ask you, how can we say we love God?
So Small but So Devastating
Ralph Clevinger
The average diameter of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is 0.12 micrometers according to a Mayo Clinic article from last April. A lab guide from LSU gives the average human cheek cell diameter as 60 micrometers. The human cheek cell is 500 times larger than the coronavirus. Yet, something so small affects the whole person.
The smallest sin has the same devastating effect. Jesus explained to the Pharisees that “whoever commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). Sin corrupts the mind and causes the sinner to desire it (James 1:14-15). Sinfulness becomes second nature to the sinner (Ephesians 2:2-3). Every single sin separates the sinner from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). The same sin that separates the sinner from God also brings death (Romans 6:23). The worst part about sin is that every human has sinned and will continue to fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
The Gospel is God’s answer to sin. It tells of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone (Romans 1:16). Jesus’ death on the cross pays the redemptive price for those who would follow Him (Titus 2:11-14). The cross demonstrates God’s love toward all humanity (Romans 5:8). In truth, God does not desire for any to perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Time will tell if the Covid-19 vaccine proves to be a success. However, God’s plan of salvation holds true one hundred percent of the time. If a sinner believes that Jesus is the Christ, is willing to tell others he or she believes Jesus is the Christ, turns away from sinful behaviors (repents) and is baptized for the remission of sins, that one can have salvation found only in Christ.