A CHRISTMAS POEM

© 1965 R.B. Thieme, Jr.

The Night Before Christmas

By Robert B. Thieme, Jr.

‘Twas the night before Christmas,

   and all through the world

A message was preached,

   a challenge was hurled:

Believe on the Son

   and thou shall be saved!

The road to heaven with His blood

   was paved.

Out of the darkness of sin

   and despair

God’s salvation – the fairest of fair-

Was born in a manger;

                             no room in the inn.

    God in the flesh,

         He died for our sin.

     The angels sang;

        the shepherds rejoiced,

     Messiah has come!

         The message was voiced

     By joyous believers both far and near;

     Christmas has come!

     Immanuel is here!

EVIL

Much has been said in the past week since the tragic massacre of innocent children in Newtown, Connecticut concerning evil within our culture. The questions seem to hinge on just what can we do as a nation to ensure this is never repeated. I can assure you that legislation of any sort will only act as one of those cheap bandages that refuses stick more than two hours.

Men have the choice between good and evil. Most choices are thought out based upon our learning of the difference between the two. It stands to reason that we consider two points in this connection: 1) what basis should be used to determine what good is and what evil is; and 2) if the culture desires individuals to choose that which is good, than should not all be taught from the same basis?

And that is the crux of the matter. Who or what decides what good is and what evil is.

The only long lasting solution is to change the hearts and minds of people. This is obviously easier said than done. Our culture is not interested in any type of morality training. The forced secularization of our culture and its open hostility towards “religion” makes it considerably hopeless.

However, this is the answer. According to theologian Lewis S. Chafer, “moral evil is an ultimate fact in the universe which can neither be explained nor explained away.”[1] Evil takes on many forms. Not only in the form of the recent massacre, but it includes all murders, all crimes, hatred towards others, disobedience to parents, parents who abuse their children, spouses who abuse each other, and the list could go on, but you see the point.

There is a tendency by the secularists to believe that most things in our culture are normal, except for the tragedies. When in reality, most do not recognize the fact that man does not exist in a state normalcy. Chafer points out this problem when he states that man “is created to be God-centered. To become self-centered is a contradiction of the basic law of creature existence.”[2]

Man is out of sync with his Creator’s divinely intended ‘basic law of creature existence’ – to serve Him and bring glory to His name.  The individual needs to experience the normalcy of his existence. This entails accepting the Creator’s remedy from what separates the individual from Him – namely sin (the evil of self-centeredness). Jesus Christ was sent to mankind to die on the cross and provide the atonement possible for all mankind. (I believe this is why we celebrate Christmas!)

Trusting Christ as savior and accepting His work on your behalf begins a relationship with the Creator which brings normalcy to your existence, and the power to counteract evil in our own lives. That is how hearts and minds are changed and evil averted in our culture, one person at a time.

   

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[1] L.S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, 2.31

[2] L.S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, 2.31

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE MORAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF OUR CULTURE?

Thomas Sowell made a very astute observation in his May 10, 2012 Columbus Dispatch editorial: “There has been much concern, rightly expressed, about the rusting of bridges around the country, and the crumbling and corrosion of other parts of the physical infrastructure. But the crumbling of the moral infrastructure is no less deadly.”

Many Christians claim that our nation was grounded at its origins in Judeo-Christian principles. Within this belief system, it is stated that the governing authorities that exist are appointed by God (Romans 13:1). The passage goes on the say that these governing authorities (whether they choose to believe it or not) are God’s ministers to us for good. This can only imply that those who are the rulers over the masses (congressmen, presidents, etc.) have a responsibility to maintain and promote good morals and values. Good, meaning according to God’s standards, not according to the ‘good’ defined by the culture. Today’s political correctness only leads to anarchy – doing whatever the individual deems right in their own eyes – and moral decay.

Amazingly, those without a belief system still uphold certain Christian principles. They believe that murder, infanticide, pedophilia, and bestiality (to name a few) should be prohibited. But why is sodomy not included? Because the liberal scheme is to smash the Judeo-Christian morals of our culture. Over the past 60 years we have seen the slow demise of marriages in our culture – over 50% end up in divorce. The traditional family of the 1950’s is gone. And now a minority of our society has fostered the notion of same sex marriage under the guise of demanding “equal rights.”

What is not surprising is that President Obama and Vice President Biden have bought into this errant idea along with their Hollywood cronies that “equal rights” supersedes the higher laws of God. We have been utterly abandoned by those who are supposed to protect us from that which violates the moral intents of the Divine and the founders of our great country. Remember, nothing ‘good’ will come to our country when the last pillar of the moral infrastructure comes crashing down.