by Heath Taws

 
[ene_ptp]I remember shortly after 9/11 asking my father if the world was ending.
“Dad, is this the end? Is Jesus going to come back soon?”
I’ll never forget his answer.
“Son, every generation thinks theirs is the last. Believe me, when the world actually ends, you will know.”
In my lifetime alone (a very short 27 years), there have been numerous “end of days” prophecies.
I remember Y2K being a particularly popular one, and my own mother stocking up on food and water, preparing for the worst.
Harold Camping predicted the end in 2011, and shortly thereafter I predicted that he would apologize in 2012, which he actually did. (Maybe I am a prophet!)
Personally, I am still waiting for Obama to reveal himself as the Antichrist and declare marshal law! He better hurry up and do it as well, because with each passing day, his chances of subjecting the entire Earth under his oppressive world shattering new world order diminishes.
And now, here we are in 2016 starting the entire process all over again.
“The government wants to take away my guns!”
“Syrian Refugees are coming and we better prepare for the worst once they get here!”
“ISIS!”
“I’M UPSET ABOUT SOMETHING BUT I CAN’T PINPOINT EXACTLY WHAT IT IS YET!”
And these sort of reactions don’t really surprise me when they come from a world obsessed with being scared, being offended, and seeking the cure for death.
What does surprise me, however, is when I increasingly see these sort of reactions coming from Christians.
How can people who claim to have the Truth buy into the Chicken Little Theology of the world? You remember Chicken Little, right? Well Chicken Little Theology puts forth this idea that the sky is always falling, and the answer is to either buy more guns, or elect a certain person, or all become doomsday preppers.
This is not the way in which Children of the King should respond to such things. We of all people should have steady, surgeon-like hands, when it comes to uncertainty.
In the midst of fear, we aint skeered.
In the midst of sorrow, we have unshakable hope.
And in the face of death, we have the promise of resurrection.
And yet so many of us day by day are buying into these lies. We can see this in the way that many of the Republican candidates talk about America, Isis, and the government. We can see this in the way that the Democratic candidates talk about global warming, the Republicans, and guns.
On both sides there is fear and uncertainty, and both democrats and republicans are urging the voters to find the “Lion” and tell him about the Sky that is inevitably about to fall upon us all. The Lion, of course, is always their candidate. It is the person who will save us all with their heroic ability to…put forth law and have a bunch of people vote on it. Their dynamic agility and skill in overthrowing the powers of evil by…telling other people to press buttons that send robot drones to drop bombs and stuff. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention their herculean like strength with regards to…the way in which they use the veto pen.
Folks, these people aren’t our saviors. They aren’t the Lion that Chicken Little is looking for, and they certainly aren’t our Aslan.
And yet, we keep bathing in all of this doomsday hogwash.
“Every generation thinks theirs is the last.”
And so the question remains. Is our Republican Lion Trump, or Cruz, or Rubio? Is the Lion Hillary, or Sanders? Who will hear of the falling sky and be able to stop it in time before we are all consumed? Which one of these Lions will singlehandedly save us all from destruction!?!?
Enter the gospel.
Revelation 5 is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture. John is in the middle of his crazy vision adventure in heaven, when suddenly an angel comes forth talking about a scroll.
“Anyone worthy to open this scroll?” He asks, as all of Heaven kind of looks around.
“Nobody? Bueller? Bueller?”
Silence. Nobody is worthy.
“But wait! The Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy!” He proclaims.
Every head in heaven begins looking for the Lion, but what emerges instead, is a Lamb. And not some huge muscular genetically engineered Lamb with a sword in its hoof, but a Lamb that looks as if it had been slain.
This Lamb, this slain Lamb, is worthy. He alone is able to open the scroll.
You see, so many of us like Chicken Little are looking for the Lion to save us, when in reality, we should be looking toward the Lamb that already did.
The Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world. The Lamb that died in our place because He knew that if He didn’t, the sky would eventually fall and crush us all.
This is good news for all the Chicken Littles of this world. For all the doubters, doomsday preppers, Y2K hoarders, conspiracy theorists, and yes, even your crazy uncle down on 43rd street with, “the end is nigh” written on cardboard strapped to his chest.
Operation “skyfall,” was in play long before Daniel Craig came on the scene.
We see a whisper of this plan from the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis 3:15, in which the great snake crusher is prophesied. The serpent will strike, the heel will crush, and it will be finished.
We clearly see that plan carried out upon the cross, in which Jesus is simultaneously both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb that is slain. Jesus takes upon his shoulders the entire weight of the sky, and the mystery of operation “skyfall” is finally revealed.
“It is finished.”
Mission accomplished.
The sky did indeed fall, and the Lamb took the crushing weight in our place.
And now, because of Christ, we as believers stand under the umbrella of grace. A promise that on that final dreadful day, when the sky falls once more, none of us who stand under its shade will be crushed.
Neither Trump, Hillary, Sanders, or Cruz will save us on that final day. Don’t follow the Foxy Loxy’s of this world. They will lead you to their den, and you will never ever come out again.
Every generation thinks theirs is the final one. Believe me, when the end comes, you will know it.
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