Original Sin

Why do bad things happen to good people? They don't, and in a moment you'll understand why.

Original sin is a concept that is difficult for many to grasp, and even fewer to accept. You can understand it if you believe that Adam and Eve were truly our first parents as the Bible declares (Genesis 2:5-7, 3:20). Think about parents today, and how their kids are like them. Parents pass on things like eye, hair, and skin color, general stature, propensity to particular diseases and conditions, and even personality traits. This is an accepted fact to all men.

We have all inherited something from those who came before us. Adam and Eve have passed down traits to us like being made in the image of God, and having an awareness of God. They've also passed down something very unwelcome. Guilt for Sin. When they sinned against God they were tried and convicted of treason, and the world was cursed because of them (Genesis 3). They also inherited death because of their guilt (Genesis 3:3, Romans 5:12, 6:23). The very fact that we all die in our time is evidence that we have inherited the guilt of sin from our first parents just like you inherited your hair from your own.

This is original sin, and not one human being escapes being born already condemned because of it (Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:1-5, Genesis 8:21). Why do bad things happen to good people? They don't, because there are no inherently good people (Psalm 14:1-3, Romans 3:10-19) .

Salvation in Jesus Christ isn't a free man making a good choice, it's a condemned man accepting pardon for his Sin (Isaiah 55:7, Jeremiah 33:8, Galatians 2:16, Romans 8:29-30) . All have sinned, all need the pardon. Are you still waiting for something? Do you still want the prideful boast of being able to say that you earned salvation in some way? Set it all aside, and recognize the gift from Christ.

Manhood lost

I stubbed my toe on the leg of a chair in the dark so I sued the chair manufacturer for not making a safer chair, and won!

You can almost believe that headline today, can't you? First making national and even international headlines with the legendary spilled McDonald's coffee, the turn of civilization from frontier blazing, territory settling people capable of making their choices and living with the results, to a group more resembling elementary school children blaming someone else for every ill that befalls us, even at our own hands.

This is the story that has me today contemplating the slow death of personal responsibility and the feminization of society.

Beck Laxton, 46, and partner Kieran Cooper, 44, decided not to reveal baby Sasha's gender in the hope it would let its 'real' personality shine through.
They referred to it as "The Infant" and only allowed their child to play with 'gender-neutral toys' in their television-free home.
During the first five years of his life, Sasha has alternated between girls' and boys' outfits, leaving friends, playmates and relatives guessing.

Not only is the trend to blame someone else, but it's necessary and logical co-effect is that no one wants to be blamed for anything either. It appears that no one has taught this couple that the job of the parent is to craft the nature and person of a child into what he or she is supposed to be. This rides hand-in-hand with the parents who refuse to teach their children any religion although they themselves claim religion, because it's such a personal choice. I normally see this in unequally yoked couples where two people of different religions have married. Considering that the eternal destiny of their soul is at stake, you would think any parent willing to say no to a candy bar at dinner and yes to vegetables would want also to show their child the way to Heaven, even if they are wrong.

This soft attitude toward taking a stance on any direction or on accepting the consequences of a given action is a part of what has been termed the "feminization of society". Taking hard stances, telling others right from wrong, and self-reliance are largely regarded as masculine traits, and thus aggressive. It's considered "mean" to be aggressive, thus one must lean more towards what is passive. Case in point; letting the child "decide" his gender, which is of course, an impossibility from the start. Oh, and here's where feminization comes in:

Sasha wears a ruched-sleeved and scalloped-collared shirt to school from the girl's uniform list, and has been banned from sporting combat trousers.
The youngster is also encouraged to wear flowery tops at weekends. 

That seems a bit of a lean from being encouraged to wear the clothing of both sexes, no? Granted, perhaps the whole dressing story isn't in the article, however this is the only place it seems this poor boy was encouraged in either direction. Away from being a strong male, and toward being a pliable "inbetweener". Is it a by-product of television perhaps? Can you name any family show or show featuring a married (or even cohabiting) couple in which the man is not a boorish lummox and the woman is always put upon (including by her husband) yet always manages to smartly save the day? The message is no longer subtle.

It's tough to be a man.

A rose by any other name...

One of the most effective ways Satan has found to cause God’s people to weaken their stance on Sin is to play word games. For example, an unborn baby becomes a “fetus”, something that sounds much less human. Addiction becomes a disease, which isn’t something that begins with idolatry but is instead something that happens to people. Self-centeredness becomes driven, and who will ever forget wondering what the definition of “is” is. 

 

Believer, this message is for you; don’t allow the word game to break down truth. Call it  “MochaJavaChocaLataMumuBumpodragonFlower” if you want to, but when it hits your tongue, it still tastes like chocolate. It might be dressed up, but your tongue knows chocolate. Tall, Grande, and Venti are still small, medium, and large. 

When we started calling a baby a “fetus”, we made it easier to use other technical language like terminate. When we stopped calling drunks drunks and declared them to have a disease, we forgot to call them to responsibility for their condition, and “recovering alcoholic” makes them victims for life. When a man works all day and on the weekend while his children wonder why he’s missed another milestone in their lives and his wife adds another warm sweater to deal with the chill of her empty arms, we acquiesce to the idea that he is merely providing for them, and the athlete or entertainer who desperately needs rehab and people willing to say no is met with applause as long as they keep entertaining us, because they are “driven”.

This has led us to become soft on some things that God’s Word speaks on not only clearly, but loudly. I’m not saying go and be a jerk about it, but I am saying to resist letting the world change our God-given vocabulary into a form that allows it to wear away at godly conviction and holiness. Call sin what it is and offer the solution. Call a baby a baby because it IS a baby. 

Know what “is” is.