Better Stuff to Come

The world is broken.That stinks for us. The “natural” order isn’t natural at all; it’s not at all as it was intended. All we have known is a world of brokenness.Satan would love for the twisted affairs of the world to entangle us (2 Tim. 2:4). He wants us to believe that this order, this “natural” state of things, will never change. He wants to push us either to sinfully despair of it or sinfully revel in it. We give in either way. If we think the world will never be any different than it is now, we can become despondent and lament without hope or we can throw ourselves into hedonism and pleasure to mask the pain of imperfection.But when I sin, I perpetuate what is wrong with the world.Once we gain a perspective of the eternal, a right view of the brevity of life and the lack of satisfaction to be had at the various dispensers of happiness that culture offers, all other, lesser pursuits grow dull and meaningless. What is a mindless evening at the club when God offers you an eternal party with a new consciousness? We ignore the eternal for the passing, and try to figure out why we feel so empty.It's because we were designed for more.True faith says, “The world is broken, but not forever.”Yes, as Sam Cooke sang, “a change is gonna’ come.”And, through faith in Him, it starts with us.The first sin promised to make man like God, but dimmed His image in us. And now, each subsequent sin attempts to mar that image further, to suppress it, to cover it like shovelfuls of mud over a royal crown. But each step of obedience, each season of suffering driving us into His care, each act of faith wipes more of the thick dirt aside and reveals more glimmers of what is to be restored in us (1 John 3:23).I am to be a tiny glimpse of a grand, future restoration.We must “redeem the time" (Eph. 5:16). My relationships should be heavy with the scent of grace. The tasks at hand should be seen as Kingdom-work. I should live the Gospel. Again, if it doesn’t point to Christ, it doesn't bear any eternal weight.When I’m living that way, I’m offering something God-breathed to an air-starved world.