#101 The Dark Age(14aug06)

'For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;
And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble. And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts..'
Malachi 4:1

God always surprised me with the way He communicates with us. Yesterday morning, as He woke me up at 6.10am, knowing that I will be going for the early 7.30am church service, He enlightened me on an issue that has been bothering me the whole of Saturday.

Why and how should we put God as the sole focus of our lives??

In the past, before I truly desired to follow Jesus Christ, my waking hours tend to be interpersed with concerns of the world. Stress, fear and a deep sense of insecurity used to permeate my very emotions, and one do get a little confused; glad to be alive yet dreading what being alive mean't.

This early Sunday morning, God reminded me that we are individually and as a body, His church. His Holy Spirit resides in us and we must be mindful of the sanctity of our body as His temple.

As I read the church bulletin at the service, the following words struck me "our hearts is the altar, and the love of God is that flame that burns in us"

In the Old Testament days, Moses built a terbernacle for the residence of God. King David was also desirous of having the Spirit of God reside with the Israelites. His son, King Solomon also built a wonderful temple for God to reside with them.

Today, as believers and followers of Jesus Christ, when we truly believe, the Spirit of God resides in us.
The light of God shines and emanates through us, the body of Christ in this still very dark world.

Today the world talk about Pax America, with its concept of United Nations, IMF and the presence of American bases worldwide.
In the better part of the 18th to 20th century, it was Pax Britannia, when "in Her Majesty service" was of the same pedigree as today's fading Uncle Sam

Wind the clock furthur back(from about AD476 to 1000), and we were in a disoreintated world(at least in Western Europe and the Meditarranean), and with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, when the barbarians sent Pax Rome packing, and Europe entered the 'Dark Ages.'
It was a time of backwardness(history, science and cultural wise, after the glory and excesses of the now desposed Roman Empire), and a period of successor kingdoms, ruled over by the barbarian peoples(not too sure if the present Germans, French, Scandinavians and even English will agree with this description of their ancestors) who inherited it.

Depending upon ones' frame of reference, the world is either about to enter deeper into the dark recesses of another Dark Age(what with terrorism, diseases, natural calamnities, inflation and wars). Yet, for some, these are possibly means towards a new Renaissance, of the glory of a bygone era when with the so called civilized world of Roman ruled Western Europe having entered a rudderless dark period, when the centrifugal forces holding it together collapsed with the demise of the Roman empire in late 6th century, the only bright shining light was the onset of the Islamic Empire(with its achievements in the arts, sciences and mathematics) in the early 7th century.

In the history of man, what is dark and what is glorious light is largely dependent upon the role one takes; ie conqueror or the conquered.

Yet, reality is, the world has been in darkness since Adam's disobedience, when man has chosen the dark deceit of Satan's world, and rejected the loving light of God's grace.

When the looming clouds spring forth their incessant waters, joined in by the wellsprings of waters everywhere, only Noah and the chosen few survived the great cleansing of a filthy and corrupt world.
Man continues to linger in the shadows of deceit and sin and the post Noah Ark's generation and thereafter has allowed the latent evil in them to resurface.

Jesus Christ, by his death and resurrection, has forever broken the deathly grip of Satan on humanity. We need not wallow in the vicious cycle of sin and eternal damnation that is Satan's lot.

'..If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods.... and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you out of the hands....'
1 Samuel 7:3

The present world is dark. A new bright world awaits us in God's Kingdom when Jesus Christ returns and this old dark world will disappear in the flames of God's wrath and cleansing.

Light begets light. Why not lighten up your burden and let Jesus Christ's love light up your paths and bring to light, the heavy darkness in your hearts, and be like the joyful and effervescent community of believers, who are being made ready for His return.

God Blesses

Eng Hieang