“…the Prince of Peace.”  (Isaiah 9:6)

 

I remember an evangelist preaching a message called, “Jesus is the Answer.”  I also remember hearing another preacher giving the message, “The Gospel is the Answer.” I heard both of these messages given at beginning of my new life in Christ and I must confess that I didn’t fully understand them.

The point of these messages was Christ and His Gospel is the Answer to all of life’s many problems!  If the messages meant that Christ is the Answer to the problem of sin or spiritual dificulties, I understood that. But how is Christ and His Gospel the Answer to all problems?

Reader, I can understand, after (2) two decades, and I can quarantee AND promise you, Christ and His Gospel is the only Answer to life’s problems!!! Before we move along, let me tell you how often I will guarantee or promise anything. You can ask my children and they will tell you, “Dad never promises anything nor does he guarantee anything.” I never guarantee anything because I cannot quaratee anything or promise anything as I cannot. To do so is to have control over everything or to be able to promise or guarentee something that is in the power of another. Having said that, allow me to repeat myself, I can quarantee and promise you, Christ is the Answer to life’s problems.

What do I mean by the above?  I will repeat something the evangelist said almost (20) twenty years ago. This is an event he shared with us. A man had a wife and a son. This man was an abusive man. He abused his wife in every way conceivable and he did so in front of his son. Like many if not most abused women this wife remained with her husband at the expense of her safety and her son’s mental welfare. I do not recall how it can to pass, but this man, this husband, this father came to know Christ as Lord and Saviour.  Reader, Your writer has welled up with tears and is covered in goosebumps. I am so thankful and grateful to know the Power of Christ!!!

Back to the above events. As I said, I do not recall how it came to pass, but this abusive man came to know Christ as Lord and Saviour.  He changed as do all persons that come into saving contact with Christ. Not only did he change but His view of the world changed. Also did his view of his wife and child…praise be to God, my reader. Praise God everything that Hath breathe, give glory to God…raise up you voice and give honour to Christ if you know Him today!!!  Cry out for His grace if you do not for He is able to save to the uttermost!!!

This man’s everything changed. However……..his wife and child looked on with doubt as this man has “changed” before but always reverted back to his violent ways. They wanted to believe but couldn’t. They wanted to enjoy this “change” while it lasted but they wouldn’t be disappointed again.

They watched him as he attended church services and as he would tell others of Christ and His saving grace and how Christ is the Answer to life’s problems. This man with his new found Christ-ian wisdom did not force himself or his new found faith upon his family…he extended them all the time they needed.

Each night the family would sit in their living room. Mom would watch television (and her husband…secretly) while sitting in a rocking chair. The boy would watch television with Mom (and Dad…secretly) as he sat at the other end of the couch from his Dad. Dad would read his Bible and would close his eyes and say silent prayers and then would open his eyes and look at his family with a smile and then begin reading his Bible again. He would do this several times before closing his Bible and his eyes one last time before watching t.v. with his family.

Each night the man’s son would inch a little closer to his Dad on the sofa. Finally after some time, I don’t know how long, the boy asked his father if he could sit next to him. His Dad, holding back tears nodded yes and put his arms around his son and asked him to forgive him in a quakey whisper. The man looked over at his wife to quage her reaction and she too, holding back tears and nodded her head.
Christ is the Answer to marital problems.

Christ can and will re-make a person into a better spouse, sibling, friend, worker, and person in general, as well as, a better person in all his/her relationships.

Let me clarify.  Christ will not take away all of life’s problems or difficulties, He will not. In fact, when one comes to Christ one is signing up for a new batch of problems…”…Count the cost…” says the Christ. To Peter and to us Christ says, “(s)atan has desired to sift you, but I have prayed for you.” The sifting will come but Christ has prayed for us (John 17). Christ has told us on different occasions that the World will hate us, will try us, and will kill us. Having said that, The Christ-ian life does not deliver us or exempt us from everyday trials but the Christ-ian life does exempt us from going it alone.

After over (2) two decades of walking with Christ this writer can say, He would rather face great trials, great tribulations, problems and difficulties with Christ at his side than to live a life free of any and all obstacles. I think or rather I know, anyone who knows Christ and is loved by Christ will attest to the same. That last sentence is a good question to ask one’s self to determine if one is back-slidden or is unregenerate, ie. lost.

[SIDENOTE: It is good to question yourself on occasion...not always but on occasion. Paul would call it -examining whether or not you are in the faith. Peter would tell us -make your calling and election sure, meaning examine yourself and not to ask God to save you just to make sure. Peter is speaaking to Christ-ians. Our calling and election should be sure like a ram is sure-footed upon a mountain peak. To do so, one can ask one’s self questions in addition to the one above, “If I could be free from sin, would I be?”  or  “Do I take pleasure when being pleasured by sin?”  “Would I go on a sin binge if I knew God wasn’t watching?” If I could live however I wanted to and still go to Heaven would I, even if it meant displeasing God?”
Let me explain, “Do I take pleasure when being pleasured by sin?” or in other words, “Am I displeased by my pleasuring in sin?”  I ‘ve heard it said and I have said it myself. “There is no fun in sin.”  To say that is to tell a lie. Sin IS FUN and it is PLEASING. I will prove it to you. The old man, the old nature, the carnal nature, the flesh does not do anything willingly unless it is enjoyable, fun, and pleasing to self. Do you want proof of that? When you look at a photo of family or friends that you are in, who do you look at first? This question is not original with me.
Having shown that sin is fun and pleasing, let me ask you, Are you pleased when being pleased by sin…whatever the sin may be? or Are you displeased by the enjoyment of sin? The answer to this questions says a lot.]

In the Book of Isaiah, God promises to go through fire and through floods with us. In Joshua, the Gospels, and Hebrews, God promises to “never leave us nor forsake us.”

Readers,
God never promises us a life void of problems. He promises the opposite, in fact. However, along with the promise of problems comes the Promise of His Presence and the Promises of His Grace, of His Power, of His Mercy, of His Love, and of His Strength to endure. Along with these promises comes the knowledge that Christ has already lived the life we are called to live in this world and the knowledge that He has already “Overcome the World.”  John would go on to write, “[our] Faith is [our] victory.”  Think of your faith as an all encompassing shield that nothing can break through or crack. Think of your faith that way because that is, in fact, what your faith is. This is why and how God allows us liberty in the world.  The Christ-ian may live freely and do as s/he pleases because our faith shields us from becoming contaminated with the world’s sin sickness and from being negatively influenced by the world. This is why we can see movies, listen to music, work in the world, etc. However, Reader, do not abuse your liberties or tempt LORD, thy God. Do not use your liberties as a cloak of licentiousness or lasciviousness. Reader, Know this too, There are power levels to one’s Faith. One can even act without it. In Ephesians 6, Faith is called “the shield” and we are told very clearly, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherein ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” “Above all…” Paul, by saying this, clearly sees the shield of faith as the most important piece of armour among all other pieces of armour. We’ll stop here for now. In the next article (DV) we will see why the shield of faith is the most important piece of armour.

Godspeed.