Dear Friends,
As some of you know, under the instruction of my Doctor I am currently “self-isolating”, having developed symptoms associated with the Coronavirus pandemic. As I write, this virus has caused the death of over 7000 people throughout the world, a figure which is rising daily. Many Governments have temporarily closed their country’s borders, the sporting world is practically in “lock-down”, supermarket shelves are emptying and the financial markets have experienced their worst day since 1987. There is no question that many people, both here in Scotland and throughout the world, are living in fear. Men, women, boys and girls are worried. Worried about the health of already frail relatives. Worried about catching the illness themselves. And, yes, worried about the prospects of death.
However, there is one kind of fear which is sadly missing in these days, namely a fear of God Himself. God is sovereign over all things, including the Coronavirus. This has come as no surprise to Him and it will spread to the precise extent that He has determined in order to accomplish His perfect will and just purposes in His world. The truth is that because of the fall (Genesis 3), humanity is in constant rebellion against its Creator (Psalm 2:1-3) and as long as life is trouble-free, man in his unbelief is prone towards thinking that he is invincible and that he has no need to give a second thought to God or His will for our lives (Romans 1:18). We convince ourselves that death will never come - or at least that it’s so far off that it needn’t be a cause for concern today.
But then God ordains disaster. Sometimes an earthquake, other times a tsunami and other times still, a deadly virus which spreads across the globe causing widespread calamity. It is, in the end, both an act of judgement and of mercy: judgement in the sense that these events are often His just response to a world intent on defying His laws and rejecting His rule (Isaiah 45:7); mercy in the sense that these temporal disasters serve to warn the unbeliever of the far greater disaster which is to come. The disaster of facing Holy God on judgement day and being sentenced by Him to the everlasting torments of hell.
The bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and that “the wages of sin is death”. It tells us that apart from God’s mercy in Christ, we are not on a right footing with Him, but instead under His condemnation, awaiting a day when He will cast the unbeliever into that place where “the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”. But the glorious news is that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer, in His death, the punishment that was due to us for our sins so that all who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
If there is one thing that the Coronavirus should do, it should cause the world to seek the LORD while He may be found, to call upon Him while He is near. This virus is an act of judgement, for sure, but it is also an act of mercy; an opportunity given by God to turn back to Him, to seek His face and to cry out for that glorious pardon which is freely ours through faith in Jesus Christ alone (Romans 3:23-25).
May there be a fear of God in these days and may He grant the grace of repentance, the gift of faith and bring many sons to glory.
“And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.” Haggai 2:7
“…let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7
Soli Deo Gloria!
With love and affection in Christ,
Paul Gibson
As some of you know, under the instruction of my Doctor I am currently “self-isolating”, having developed symptoms associated with the Coronavirus pandemic. As I write, this virus has caused the death of over 7000 people throughout the world, a figure which is rising daily. Many Governments have temporarily closed their country’s borders, the sporting world is practically in “lock-down”, supermarket shelves are emptying and the financial markets have experienced their worst day since 1987. There is no question that many people, both here in Scotland and throughout the world, are living in fear. Men, women, boys and girls are worried. Worried about the health of already frail relatives. Worried about catching the illness themselves. And, yes, worried about the prospects of death.
However, there is one kind of fear which is sadly missing in these days, namely a fear of God Himself. God is sovereign over all things, including the Coronavirus. This has come as no surprise to Him and it will spread to the precise extent that He has determined in order to accomplish His perfect will and just purposes in His world. The truth is that because of the fall (Genesis 3), humanity is in constant rebellion against its Creator (Psalm 2:1-3) and as long as life is trouble-free, man in his unbelief is prone towards thinking that he is invincible and that he has no need to give a second thought to God or His will for our lives (Romans 1:18). We convince ourselves that death will never come - or at least that it’s so far off that it needn’t be a cause for concern today.
But then God ordains disaster. Sometimes an earthquake, other times a tsunami and other times still, a deadly virus which spreads across the globe causing widespread calamity. It is, in the end, both an act of judgement and of mercy: judgement in the sense that these events are often His just response to a world intent on defying His laws and rejecting His rule (Isaiah 45:7); mercy in the sense that these temporal disasters serve to warn the unbeliever of the far greater disaster which is to come. The disaster of facing Holy God on judgement day and being sentenced by Him to the everlasting torments of hell.
The bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and that “the wages of sin is death”. It tells us that apart from God’s mercy in Christ, we are not on a right footing with Him, but instead under His condemnation, awaiting a day when He will cast the unbeliever into that place where “the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”. But the glorious news is that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer, in His death, the punishment that was due to us for our sins so that all who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
If there is one thing that the Coronavirus should do, it should cause the world to seek the LORD while He may be found, to call upon Him while He is near. This virus is an act of judgement, for sure, but it is also an act of mercy; an opportunity given by God to turn back to Him, to seek His face and to cry out for that glorious pardon which is freely ours through faith in Jesus Christ alone (Romans 3:23-25).
May there be a fear of God in these days and may He grant the grace of repentance, the gift of faith and bring many sons to glory.
“And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.” Haggai 2:7
“…let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7
Soli Deo Gloria!
With love and affection in Christ,
Paul Gibson
