Ever since the great tragedy on September 11th, the single most talked about topic in the news has been the subject of terror or terrorism.
On a daily basis without fail the media has been bringing reports to us relating to terrorism. With a banner entitled “War on Terror” posted at the top on the television screen, news reporters and commentators have been covering the ongoing efforts to root out culprits in the world who are committed to terrorism. These same reporters and commentators tell of measures to establish a homeland defense that would protect our nation from future acts of terror.
With so much talk about such terrorism, you might almost think that this is the most important issue to occupy our minds day after day. Is this the most important issue for our lives?
The Most Important Issue
If we were chiefly concerned about our physical life and safety, it would certainly rank high on the list. However, as Christians we realize that there is more to life than our temporal well-being– namely, our spiritual and eternal welfare.
In this latter realm of life there is a form of terror that is far worse
than the one our nation has been struggling with in the last five months or so. The terror of which we speak is of a truly dreadful kind which can torment our innermost being day and night. It can cause paralyzing feelings of anxiety, sadness, fear, depression, and even utter despair. The culprit causing this fearsome terror is found in each and every one of us. It’s called sin.
Consider the unrelenting terror that vexed the heart and soul of King David after he committed the sins of adultery and murder. He writes about his conscience pangs in Psalm 32, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer” (vv. 2,3).
Consider also Judas Iscariot, who became so overwhelmed by feelings of guilt for having betrayed Jesus into the hands of His enemies that he went out and hanged himself. Tragically, this desperate measure did not deliver him from terror, but rather sealed his fate of suffering never-ending torments in hell–torments which far exceed any terror we will ever face in this temporal life.
Judas is a good example of man’s impotent and futile efforts to eliminate sin-induced terror. How vain it was for Judas to think that he could deliver himself from his terrorized conscience by returning the betrayal coins but then paying with the loss of his soul.
If only countless souls who are being terrorized like Judas would realize–and rely upon–the wonderful news of our deliverance from such terror through our Savior Jesus Christ!
Peace And Joy!
On the night when Jesus’ special operation of rescuing the whole world from everlasting terror would begin to intensify, He said to His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Jn. 14:27).
In order to remove terrorism of the soul that lasts eternally and to replace it with everlasting peace, Jesus had to suffer the greatest terror that will ever be experienced by anyone. The prophet Isaiah testifies of this as he writes of Jesus’ passion on the cross, saying, “The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:6). “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:4,5).
From the pages of Holy Scripture we also hear Jesus’ blood-curdling cry from the cross, when He was suffering the torments of hell in punishment for all our many sins, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mt. 27:46)
The psalmist David writes of the great peace and joy that is experienced by the penitent sinner who knows by faith God’s forgiveness through Jesus’ redemptive work, as he exclaims, “Blessed (happy) is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity” (Ps. 32:1,2).
It is the good news of Jesus’ delivering us from the terrors of sin and hell that needs to be declared throughout the world each and every day. This is the good news that we all need to be reminded of on a daily basis so that we can find lasting peace in a sin-terrorized world.
–Pastor Mark Gullerud