Satan's sin, which caused God to expel him, was to try and be God. His scheme here on earth is to try and get us to do the same. We need to realize when we practice moral relativism we are essentially recreating God in our own image. We see this all the time where people use salad bar theology to pick out the pieces of Scripture they like and discard those that make them uncomfortable in their sin. Only someone as deceptive as Satan can convince so many that their sin is not an elective choice. That God somehow created them in direct opposition to His own law. I understand that moral absolutism rubs people the wrong way because we prefer to be our own god. We prefer to make the rules rather than have to follow them. Last week Adam Lanza made his own rules about what was right and wrong in a civilized society and while we all can agree that he was wrong, he is merely a product of a fallen society overrun by the evil spiritual powers of Satan. Because while we lose sight of our own sin within the shades of grey the world creates so does Adam Lanza. So did Cain when he murdered his brother. So will the next Cain or the next Adam Lanza. Yes, there will be another we can be assured. It doesn't matter if we banned all gun sales and tripled the dosages for all people being treated for psychiatric problems. Because sin will always be sin and evil will always be evil. Until we stop dancing around the issues to avoid having to look at how far our society has drifted morally, we can never start to push back against it. You cannot fight an enemy you refuse to acknowledge exists.
This brings us to the key verses which contain some truths for us to realize this day as the children in Connecticut are buried. First of all, it our responsibility as believers in Jesus Christ to pray for all people. Not just pray but intercede for them -- asking God to help them. Until they realize their reasonableness is leading them to hell they will always view the Adam Lanza's of the world as the aberration instead of the microcosm that he is. We pray first however for all leaders and those in authority. Not for their political platform as neither party cares for the cause of Jesus Christ. No, we pray that they too can see through the haze of moral relativism long enough to lead by the precepts God has set forth. So that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.
Lives where the peace and quiet are not interrupted by the sound of gunfire in a crowded elementary school. Lives where the peace and quiet extends to going out to the movies in Colorado, or attending high school, or walking on the campus of Virginia Tech. That type of life has to be marked somehow beloved. When it is marked with godliness and dignity we can be assured that peaceful and quiet lives will follow. When it is marked with moral relativism and shades of grey we can be assured that everyone will decide for themselves what is moral and what is not. Now for the most part we all agree on the big ticket items. The problem is the "most part" because there will always be the Adam Lanza's of the world who will take the shades of grey and blur them even more.
God does not want anyone to perish. He wants all to be saved and to understand the truth. The truth is that He gets to make the rules and that in the end; they are what are best for us living our lives in peace and quiet. The truth is that while we hide ourselves in moral relativism and disguise our sin as reasonableness the end result is that we fail to see the need for a Savior. We fail to care about reconciling ourselves to God. We drown in our own agnosticism and reasonableness. We drown while God stretches out a hand to save us...but we turn away.
His life purchased our freedom. Our freedom from sin. Our freedom from the schemes of the devil. Our freedom from this world. The salesmen of the shades of grey disdain the notion of black and white because they claim it is not enlightened. The reality is only the devil can convince a blind man he is enlightened. There is only bondage within the grey. This is not my message -- I only believe what God has told me. He has told me the message about faith and truth. He has chosen me to be a preacher to teach people about this message. This message of hope that breaks the back of the evil in Newtown Connecticut. That there is good and evil. That there is right and wrong. That there is a devil to shun and a God to worship. I am not exaggerating -- just telling the truth.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- December 17, 2012
