This month, I debated on what my article would be. I had two
themes I wanted to write about. Originally, what you are about to read was
going to be my “Pastor’s Corner” submission for the August 12th McLeod
County Chronicle. So, my second theme will be in the August 12th
newspaper. So, onto the August newsletter:
Why do bad things happen to good people? How would you answer this
question? Take a moment to think before reading on.
Why is there so much crime? Why are there so many shootings? Why
is there hate? Why is there racism? Why this? Why that?
While these answers may seem unanswerable, there is an answer. The
answer is: sin. Now, what is sin? As the culture around us has eliminated sin
from our collective conscience, some may wonder “what exactly is sin?”
Today, many sins have become accepted — or even praised —
by society. But, according to the one true God, humanity cannot just eliminate
sins. If humanity had this power, we would step into God’s office. So, again,
what is a sin? Well, the one true God tells us in His Ten Commandments.
Ever since the fall of Adam in the Garden, humanity has been destined to death,
hell, and damnation. Every human being is under the curse that Adam set forth,
since every human being is descended from Adam, so “all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
But, didn’t God reveal the Ten Commandments to Moses? Didn’t Moses
live well after Adam? Yes, but before the Law was revealed, the Law was written
on our hearts — beginning with Adam. So, Adam, like you and me, was bound by
God’s Law.
God reveals to us that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans
6:23a). So, are we just doomed? No! Why is this? “The free gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23b).
But, what can Jesus do? Isn’t He like us — a descendant of Adam?
Well, Adam was created by God. While, Jesus is God Himself. Jesus is the
Creator. You see, Jesus is like us in every way, except Jesus never sinned. How
is that possible? The answer lies in the good news, or the Gospel, that was
revealed to us in the New Testament and is also revealed to us in the Creeds.
You see, the Creeds (Nicene, Apostles’, Athanasian) reveal this
good news short and sweet. Although, Jesus is man, He is also fully God. He is
fully God in that His mother Mary did not become pregnant via a descendant of
Adam, but she became pregnant by God Himself. The Nicene Creed puts it this
way: “And [I believe] in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son
of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the
Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came
down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and
was made man.”
This free gift of eternal life is found only by grace through
faith in Jesus Christ alone. By faith, we receive this grace through Christ’s
perfect life, His sacrificial death for our sins upon the cross, and His bodily
resurrection from the dead for our justification. This same Jesus is reigning
in heaven at the right hand of God the Father.
Until, Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead, we
pray as He has taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer. We pray to
God the Father and ask Him confidently about all our needs of body and soul. We
are able to ask these petitions through the person and work of Jesus Christ,
who is the only mediator between God and man.
So, why do bad things happen to good people? Well, according to
God, there are no good people on their own merit. We are all just lost and
condemned sinners. But, through believing, trusting and following Jesus, we
become good. In Christ alone, we are made good. In Christ alone, we receive
forgiveness of sins, salvation, and life everlasting!
In Christ,
Pastor Adelsen
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