Photo Taken from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Website.
This week, once again, we are faced with the aftermath of a tragic event in our country.
A man turned an automatic rifle on a crowd of people in Las Vegas. It was the worst mass shooting event in our country’s history. Nearly 60 people have already passed away, hundreds of people were hospitalized, and there are still a number of people in critical condition.
It was a tragic evil.
I don’t have the emotional strength right now to process the whole thing in a blog form, but I feel the need to at least address it. I will do so by asking all of us to draw our attention back to the truths of God, truths we talked about on Sunday.
- When humans began to choose our own good rather than receiving the good God gave us, that was called sin, and it broke everything. Sin has desperately ruined every aspect of the human condition in this world. There are still moments when God’s glory shines through human action, but our brokenness is always evident.
- When Jesus came, his aim was to give his own life as a ransom to buy us back from “the kingdom of darkness.” Without his work of redemption, we are all lost in the darkness.
- Someday, Jesus will come again, and when he does, he will finalize the work of redemption. He will eliminate the kingdom of darkness completely, he will eliminate the sin and the brokenness in our own lives, he will wipe away every tear, and he will make all things new.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” … Revelation 21:1-5 NIV
Lord, work your redemption in our world now. We pray, redeem our brokenness. Redeem us from the evil around us and the evil within us. And come quickly to finish your work of redemption!