The Right Perspective
Last Sunday I began my sermon with 1 John 5:19, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (Legacy Standard Bible). I shared that this verse gives me so much comfort, and I shared three specific ways it brings comfort. First, it proves God’s Word true. I look at the world around me and have no doubt that it lies in the Satan’s power. Second, the church is of God, not the world. We are not in the power of the evil one but under the power of God and our King Jesus Christ. Third, it gives me a solid explanation for the craziness going on around us.
I woke up this morning and read the headline that the FBI of the United States had raided former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. I am not going to get political, hang in there, but it should be disturbing to every American when an agency underneath a current administration raids the leading member of their political opposition. This happens while the FBI has yet to seriously investigate the terrorist organization that wreaked havoc from the left during the summer of 2020. It is clear there are unequal weights in the federal government executive branch depending on your political views.
For one like me who has been very patriotic in the past, this is disturbing. The United States has been a beacon of freedom for the world, has done much good, and continues even today to be one of the very best places to live in. But with all that has happened over the last few years, including the mandates for experimental injections into people’s bodies to the closing of businesses around the US to slow the spread of a virus with a 99% plus survival rate, this country is quickly changing, and not for the better. There could be a turnaround, and I would be thankful if there were, but my best guess is that the country we loved is going to disappear in the not too distant future and become something we do not recognize.
This makes sense to the one who knows the Word of God, and specifically the verse mentioned earlier. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. The evil one, Satan, hates humanity because we bear the image of God. His desire is not for our good but our destruction, and he is going to use his power to bring more death, more corruption, to bring forth evil and wickedness. What we see just makes sense in light of the truth of the Bible.
We must remember the first part of the verse, however, “We know that we are of God.” Christian, I know you may love America, and I know we would love to see freedom ring, but we are not of America, and America lies in the power of the evil one. Christian, church, we are of God. It is in Him that “we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:28). For us, it is Christ “who is our life,” and Christ who we “also will be manifested with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). We are like those who have gone before us who “aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16).
Christian, we do not need to be thinking about how to course correct this country, rather we need to be thinking about the country we are looking to, this better country. The Christian needs to continue to have joy despite the sorrow that may come if our country does falter worse, not because we do not care, but because “our momentary, light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). So Christian, “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Church, “if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above and not on the things that are on the earth. For you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3).
We need to get our perspective right. I need to get my perspective right. I read the headlines and wonder what tomorrow might look like, but when I read the Word of God, when I read about the hope we have in Jesus, when I read about the spiritual blessings we possess now, and when I read what God commands me to hope in, tomorrow becomes a lot more meaningless. This nation becomes a lot less important, and I realize the work I have to do here is work for that kingdom, God’s kingdom, and not this temporal one. Praise the Lord for His goodness to us, and let us rejoice in His glorious grace in every season.