I read an article yesterday that a
known preacher in South Africa told a reporter that God is angry
with Cape Town and that is why it is not raining there. And if they
do not repent, then the rain won't come. I was shocked when I read
this, as I had a lot of respect for this preacher. But what he is
saying is not true at all.
Let us begin on a practical level
without even going to the Bible first. If it is true what he is
saying, then why is it raining in Johannesburg for example? Why
does Gauteng have more than enough water and Cape Town doesn't? Is
he then in actual fact saying that people living in Cape Town has
more sin than people living in Johannesburg? But that cannot be.
Any Christian will agree that this is not true. So why is God then
punishing Cape Town and not Johannesburg with drought?
Or let us go even further than
that. The Scandinavian countries and Switzerland for example are
countries known to be mostly atheists. So if God were to judge a
country, wouldn't it be one of them? And yet they are so blessed in
many instances. According to the world happiness report, they
are every year amongst the happiest people in the world. So
wouldn't God be unfair to single out Cape Town and strike them with
a drought, but bless countries that have no regard for Him? It just
doesn't sound like the God I love and it certainly isn't.
God doesn't judge countries any
more. Yes, He did it in the Old Testament. God's judgment came in
the form of wars, droughts, famines and plagues. There are so many
examples, but believe me when I tell you. When you page through the
Old Testament that is what happened when people lived sinful
lifestyles and not followed the Law as God prescribed. Go and read
about all the curses in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 and you will see that
there were dire consequences directly orchestrated by God to turn
people back to Him. For example verse 23, 24:
"The sky above your head will
be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The Lord will turn the rain
of your country into dust and powder."
Sounds like the drought now in Cape
Town doesn't it? That is how God judged people in the Old
Testament. But thanks be to God for our Lord Jesus Christ! He came
and bore all these curses upon Himself - Galatians
3:13:
"But Christ has rescued us from
the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he
took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written
in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a
tree."
Jesus took all the curses
upon Himself, including the curse of 'no rain'. He took it so that
it never has to come on us from God ever again. God judged all sin
on the cross. And because Jesus bore our sin we can boldly come to
the throne room of grace and have communion with God. If what the
preacher says is true, then our sins are still unforgiven and
because it is we cannot come into God's presence. What was the
point of the cross then? If what the preacher says is true, then I
see God as a stern unfair Father, punishing certain people and not
others. If what he says is true, then it pushes me away from God in
fear of unfair punishment, instead of drawing me closer. That is
not the God I know. The God I know stands with open arms, waiting
for us to turn to Him in love. He will clothe us with a robe and
give us His ring of honour. Our punishment today is when we turn
our backs on Him and rather go and sit in the mud with the pigs.
Our punishment is then self inflicted and not from Him. So yes, sin
has consequences, but the consequences are due to our own choices
and not direct punishment from God.
You see Jesus came to take the
punishment for our sins so that forgiveness is ours. Let us have a
look at a couple of Scriptures:
"In Him we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace." Ephesians 1:7
"He has
delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the
Kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians
1:13, 14
"And you, being dead in your
trespass and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive
together with Him, having forgiven you all
trespasses." Colossians 2:13
"I write to you, little
children, because your sins are forgiven you for
His Name's sake." 1 John 2:12
Can you see? The Bible clearly
tells us that our sins have been forgiven us. All our
trespasses have been forgiven, past tense. It is not something that
must happen on a regular basis, but something that HAS happened
already. Jesus took all the penalty of our sins on Him. He took it
all. He took it all upon Himself that we do not have to bear it.
That is grace. That is unearned, unmerited favour that He has
bestowed upon us and all we need to do is to believe on Him.
We are now one with Jesus Christ.
We are His body on earth. When God looks at us today He sees Jesus,
He sees the body armour of righteousness that has been given to us
as a gift. He doesn't look at us and search for our faults and
close the windows of Heaven when we sin too much. And He doesn't
stand in Heaven with folded arms until we have prayed long and hard
enough to His liking. No! He isn't like that at all!!
It truly grieves me that My loving
God is portrayed like that! We live in a fallen world. We live with
people that do not look after our planet. We live with global
warming and changing weather patterns. So yes, we live in a world
with natural disasters, and indirectly it is a consequence of the
sin of the whole human race, not looking after the planet as God
had intended. Remember God gave humankind all authority over the
world in Genesis 1:26-28, He made them rulers over the world. And
we haven't been good stewards. So when natural disasters come, that
doesn't mean that those people afflicted were more sinful than
others. No, our world operates in a fallen state.
But remember one thing, as
Christians we needn't fear. God is with us and He will look after
us despite all the evil prevalent around us, despite all the
disasters. We are His children, part of His new Kingdom. We will
inherit all that is His. He will look after us and care for us. We
need to stand up in all that we are in Him. That is what I have
been teaching for eight months now with my weekly devotions, please
go and read who we are in His Kingdom as I cannot go into further
detail in this devotion alone.
We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. Despite living in a fallen world, we can still
rejoice in a loving Father looking after us. The closer we draw to
Him, the more of Him will manifest in our lives and the more our
environment and living circumstances around us will be changed. The
more we realise who we are in Him, the more we will stand up in our
authority given to us from Above. The more we allow His Spirit to
work through us, the more Jesus can manifest. And when Jesus
manifests through us, blessings will come raining down, because
that is God's loving heart for us all!!
So my message today to all living
in Cape Town is this: You are not more sinful than other people.
Realise that God has forgiven you all your sins through Jesus
Christ. Draw closer to Him and spend time with Him. Allow Him to
become more and more in your life and then allow Him free access in
your life to change the world around you into a better place. The
more you begin to live and breathe like Him, the more you allow Him
to manifest through you, the more changes you will see. A life on
fire for God, a life inspired and influenced by Him is a miracle
working life. Then look up and see the miraculous manifesting and
give Him all the glory!!!
Thank you Father for Your loving
kindness. Thank you for loving us and helping us on a daily basis.
We want to draw closer and closer to You. We want You to grow in
fullness and stature within us. We want to become less and less and
You more and more. You are living within us and desperately want to
manifest. Take my hands and feet and work through me Lord. Use me
as Your vessel, only then can true change come. Jesus changed the
whole world in three and a half years of ministry, how wonderful
wouldn't it be if He can work through all Christians in fullness
for millennia! How different the world will be. Thank you that it
is possible. We are open vessels. Use us for the change You want to
see in this world. Thank you Father, thank you Jesus and thank you
Holy Spirit. Amen