The Age of Insanity
|Extra, Extra, Read All About It!|
Pick a newspaper - any paper. One thing I can guarantee, without having read a single article, is that the paper will contain some sort of crime and corruption. I'm absolutely certain that any national paper or news broadcast will include violence, turmoil, corruption, evil, or wickedness. It's a sure bet. I'm so certain of this that I would bet my life savings. How is it that I can be so certain? What makes me so sure?
When you look up the word "insanity," it is defined as extreme folly or unreasonableness; something utterly foolish or unreasonable. A more popular definition, often attributed to Albert Einstein, is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. Someone takes the same steps, goes through the same progressions, display the same behavior, yet somehow expects a different outcome.
Mankind drives the age, and we are currently in the age of insanity. We have to ask the question, How did we get to this point? If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome, then we need to look at man's original behavior. What motivated these actions, and where has it gotten us thus far?
|Take One|
In the book of Genesis, we see that Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After disobeying God, the two had an interesting response.
Genesis 3:7-8 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons: And they heard the voice of
the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
If we extract the specific actions that Adam and Eve took, we find that their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked, they covered their nakedness, and heard the voice of God, but chose to run from it. The result of this entire situation was that it placed mankind in bondage.
The Bible is clear whoever we obey becomes our master. Jesus made this known when speaking to the Jews in John chapter 8.
John 8:31-36 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the
Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
When Adam and Eve obeyed sin in the garden, sin became their master. The bondage of sin came with the bondage of the world, corruption, and subsequently, the law. Galatians 4:3-5 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
|The Law of Liberty|
God's solution to man's bondage is freedom in Christ. Some people misconstrue freedom in Christ as a license to do whatever they please. However, freedom in Christ is simply freedom from the bondage of sin. Freedom from Christ is empowerment, through the Holy Spirit, to display the fruits of the Spirit and not those of the flesh. This freedom allows us to be reconciled back to God, through the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The word of God refers to this freedom as the "perfect law of liberty."
James 1:22-25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own
selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty,
and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall
be blessed in his deed.
So we see that what qualifies the perfect law of liberty is being a doer of the word. This is consistent with what Christ told the Jews. He told them to continue in His word to become His disciples, and they will know the truth, and the truth shall make them free. Jesus is the Word and the truth. Therefore, Christ is saying that abiding in Him is where we obtain freedom. The perfect law of liberty is God's answer.
|The Law of Lawlessness|
Although God has provided a solution to man's problem, man continues to repeat the same behavior. Remember the behavior that was done by Adam and Eve in the garden: covering their nakedness and ignoring the voice of God. It's evident that man is fallen. We are naked and depraved. This is why every single day there is corruption and wickedness in our world. Instead of listening to the voice of the Lord for salvation, man has chosen to be independent. This notion is fueled by secular humanism with the goal of world peace outside of Christ. According to Wikipedia, "The philosophy or life stance of secular humanism embraces human reason, ethics, social justice, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition as the bases of morality and decision making." In laymen's terms, it's man telling God that we can figure this out without Him. The problem is that the more man tries to do things on his own, the more iniquity abounds. We are witnessing man become more desperate and spiral into a deeper place of depravity.
Logically, the easiest thing to do if you can't overcome sin is to legalize it. Under the inspiration of Satan, the god of this world, man has made relentless efforts to legalize sin. Covering sin through legislation has shown man's desperation, as laws get progressively more ludicrous. Things that would have been considered idiotic 10 years ago, absurd 20 years ago, and downright unheard of 50 years ago are now legal. Here are a few examples. In my area, the Washington, D.C. area, there is a proposal to legalize prostitution. The justification is that sex workers are scared to report crimes against them due to fear of being prosecuted themselves. There have been proposals to use medical marijuana as a solution to opioid drug use, and even having sanctioned opioid centers where users can come and use opiods legally. The justification is that this will prevent people from overdosing and gradually ween the addicts off of this drug. Other examples we have seen over time include abortion, the legalization of gay marriage, legalizing marijuana, and California officially legalizing a third gender.
So, just as God freed us from bondage of sin with the law of liberty, the enemy's solution is to attempt to free us with the law of lawlessness. The difference is that the law of liberty frees us from sin, but the law of lawlessness frees us to sin. We are witnessing exactly how far man is willing to reach without Christ. American is a country that identifies as Christian. We have tons of bibles at our disposal. There are churches in every town. However, just as Adam and Eve ignored the voice of God in the garden, the insanity of man is ignoring God's voice, expecting a different outcome. Man believes that he can achieve world peace outside of Christ through good works. Our world is merit based and man is programmed to believe that enough good works will drive out any evil. Secular humanism promotes the idea that humans can establish their own moral compass outside of religion. However, the theme of man's moral compass is becoming synonymous with the Satanic creed "do as thou wilt." Everyone is "free" to do whatever they please and no one is restrained to the dictates of God.
|The Kicker|
Here's the kicker in all of this. When lawlessness becomes the law of the land, then guess who becomes the transgressor...the righteous. When everyone else acknowledges a third gender and you decide to stick to the fact that God created male and female, then you are a transgressor. When everyone acknowledges homosexual marriage, but you hold to the idea that marriage is between one man and one woman, then you become the transgressor. When everyone approves of recreational drug use, but you hold to the idea that it is sin, then you are now the transgressor. The righteous becomes the odd man out. What we see shaping up right in front of our eyes is foretold in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints
of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until
a time and times and the dividing of time.
Revelation 13:6-8 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name,
and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with
the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
These scriptures are referencing the Antichrist. However, the spirit of the Antichrist is already at work in our world. Everyone will be on board with this one way of thinking. Everyone will be of one speech. If believers decide to retain their sanity and hold fast to the truths of the living God, then we will be ostracized and marginalized. It will take a lot to maintain your sanity in the age of insanity. For this reason, we must arm ourselves with the full armor of God. We have to be steadfast and unmovable. We must endure. Man continues to spiral down into his own depravity, covering his nakedness, and ignoring the voice of God. It take a special person to stand on the word of God in these times. This is the age of Insanity.
Shalom
