Month: December 2012

Chicago Tribune  –

The gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage was carrying an arsenal of hundreds of rounds of especially deadly ammunition — enough to kill just about every student in the school if given enough time, authorities said Sunday, raising the chilling possibility that the bloodbath could have been far worse.

Adam Lanza shot himself in the head just as he heard police drawing near to the classroom where he was slaughtering helpless children, but he had more ammunition at the ready in the form of multiple, high-capacity clips each capable of holding 30 bullets.

The chief medical examiner has said the ammunition was the type designed to break up inside a victim’s body and inflict the maximum amount of damage, tearing apart bone and tissue.

Algazeera –

At least 22 children and one adult have been injured in a knife attack outside a primary school in central China, police say.

An officer said the attack, in the village of Chengping in Henan province, happened shortly before 8am on Friday, as students were arriving for classes.

The attacker, believed to be 36-year-old villager Min Yingjun, is in police custody, said officials.

A county hospital administrator said the man first attacked an elderly woman, then students, before being subdued by security guards. Two students have since been transferred to “better-equipped” hospitals outside the county.

China has witnessed a spate of school stabbings in recent years, leading to more security guards being deployed across the vast country.

In March 2010, eight children were murdered in Nanping, Fujian province, by 41-year-old knifeman Zheng Minsheng. The attacker was executed a month later, hours before 33-year-old Chen Kangbing injured 16 students and a teacher at Hongfu Primary School in Leizhou, Guangdong.

In April 29 2010, 28 school children – mostly four-year-olds – were stabbed alongside two teachers and a security guard in Taixing, Jiangsu. On April 30, Wang Yonglai committed suicide after using a hammer to attack preschool children in Weifang, Shandong.

Further attacks in the months and years following have left 11 children and four adults dead, and several more injured.

The recent tragedies may seem strange to most people, and evil to all. But these are not strange occurrences. This is the evil heart of man being revealed through their actions. When mankind looks at itself through the mirror of God’s word, it will not find good, but evil. Self analysis will reveal hard truths that mankind does not want to see, nor admit to (John 7:7).

The truth about mankind is that “by one man’s disobedience [Adam] many were made sinners”, and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 5:19, Romans 6:23). Also, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Some may blame God for not protecting them from the crimes of others. But is mankind on good terms with God to begin with? God has already said that his “hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” just as he said to the Jews after they turned away from him to serve false gods (Isaiah 59:1-2). The nations of the world are also guilty of the same crime, “because, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:21-23). This sin of idolatry continues to this day, but in modernized forms, such as the love of self, and the love of pleasure. All of humanity is guilty of this sin, because “there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12). Furthermore, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). But sinful mankind is not under the influence of God’s Spirit, and instead, mankind is carnal, earthly, sensual, living for the passions of the body, and the mind, because sin dwells in mankind, and rules over them (Ephesians 2:3). Therefore, mankind is dead to God “in trespasses and sins”, and lives “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1-2). This is why “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8).

Therefore, God is not the Father of sinful man, but Satan is. Jesus also affirmed this when speaking to the leaders of his day, who claimed to be God’s children when he said “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins… If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me… You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” (John 8:23-44). Jesus said that mankind’s spiritual father comes to “steal, and to kill, and to destroy”, and Scripture also states that God has handed mankind over to it’s immorality, because mankind does not, and will not, serve the true God (John 10:10, Romans 1:26-32).

Satan, who is the spiritual father of sinful man, has been cast out of Heaven, and is now causing all kinds of evil, and tribulation, throughout the world. That is why Jesus said “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”, and Scripture also records this, in Revelation chapter 12:9-12,”So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”, and “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Jesus, in Matthew chapter 24, described this “short time” as a time of deception, war, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places, and that these things are the beginning of sorrows for the world. He said that “many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another, and that “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthews 24:4-12). The Apostle John was also shone a vision of a “horse, fiery red… And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword” (Revelation 6:4).

Therefore, the reason that the world is experiencing the mayhem, and wickedness, that is now plaguing it is because mankind is under the control of sin, and it is under the influence of Satan, who rules as “the god of this world” (2Corinthians 4:4). But God will not allow this to continue forever, “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). This Man, whom God has ordained to judge the world, is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who “was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1John 3:8). He is the only hope for the people of this world that has, long ago, turned away from God, just as he is the only hope for Israel, who also turned away from God in their day. Just as the Jews had to humble themselves, confess their sins, and place their hope in God’s mercy to forgive, and restore, them, so must the rest of mankind.

Isaiah 59

9     Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10     We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.
11     We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.
12     For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:
13     In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14     Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.
15     So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.  Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.
16     He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17     For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18     According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.
19     So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
20     ” The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the LORD.
21    “As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.”

This salvation, and restoration, is the work of Christ. God, the Father, spoke of the coming of his Son, Jesus Christ in this way : “‘Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.’ Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: ‘I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house'” (Isaiah 42:1-7).

Jesus spoke of his salvation in this way: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:13-18). “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:47-51). “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free… Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:31-36). “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Therefore, Jesus “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1John 2:2), and believing in his sacrifice for sins sets people free from sin. Those who believe in Christ are given power to overcome the power of Satan “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11). So they may die, and may even die violent deaths, but they have been given eternal life, and will be resurrected to live forever with Christ, because the Scripture says “if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him.” (2Timothy 2:11-12).
The problem with the world is sin, the world, and the devil. The hope for the people of this world is Jesus Christ. Outside of him, there is no hope, and the world has been marked, by God, for destruction. The signs of the destruction can already be seen by the fulfillment of various Biblical prophecies listed above. If one’s hope is in this world, and making it better, that one’s hope will lead to disappointment, because God has already declared this world’s judgment. Instead, the people of this world are commanded, by God, to turn from their sins, and believe in the gospel of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the true God, and the Living God, and he is our salvation.

Romans 5

6    For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7    For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8    But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9    Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10    For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11    And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

1Corinthians 15

20    But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.21    For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22    For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
23    But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
24    Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
25    For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
26    The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.