HEBREWS 1:10-14
He [God] also says, “In the beginning, Lord [Jesus], you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”
To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
(New International Version)
These are interesting, and sometimes frightening, times in which we live. Many people across the United States of America, and around the world, seem to be in the midst of a social, cultural, political, and maybe even a religious melt down. There seems to be an ever-widening gap between the alleged “conservatives” and the so-called “liberals” within our society. Is it simply the same old party politics – Republicans verses Democrats – or is something much, much deeper and broader than we can ever imagine going on?
It is looking more and more like party politics are beginning to take a back seat to something much bigger; an entire philosophical, social, and political shift that may very well challenge and, perhaps, even completely transform Western culture. Trends are occurring in the United States that may have seemed almost impossible to conceive of just a few years ago. The struggle, it appears, encompasses Nationalists verses Globalists, Socialist thinking verses the philosophy of a Democratic Republic, Communism verses Capitalism, Multiculturalism verses Ethno-Nationalism, Freedom of Thought and Expression verses Politically Correct Thinking and Socially Correct Speech; and even – and this one is very scary – the concept of Religious Freedom verses Conformity to a particular social-religious dogma. Christians should be familiar with the warning issued by the Apostle Paul when he wrote to the people living in the city of Ephesus, saying: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12, NASB).
Many people today fear our government. They fear our political leaders. They fear, even more, our big corporate giants. They do not believe that “The Powers That Be” – Political, Economic, Social, Religious – have anyone’s best interest in mind, except their own. And, when those powers begin to censor people, silencing them, cancelling their accounts, or taking other punitive actions to express displeasure and punish them because people don’t happen to agree with the current “Politically Correct” thinking, then we’re in serious danger of losing the freedom upon which this great nation, and Western Civilization in general, was founded.
And, sadly, perhaps due to direct social engineering, people all across America, and around the world, are turning on one another. It has been said that, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!” And, rather than standing united against the powerful corruption increasingly evident among those “Powers that Be,” our society, lacking any common moral compass or unifying philosophy, has become vulnerable. People are allowing those increasingly corrupt powers to separate and divide them and pit them one against another. It has all the trappings of the old battle strategy of “divide and conquer,” or perhaps, “divide and enslave!”
Dare we mention “The Press” and those who control the mainstream media. It is almost as if authentic journalism is vanishing from the Western world. There seems to be very little actual “news” these days – but there is plenty of “Newspeak” (yes, an allusion to Orwell’s “1984”). Unrealistic, twisted, and distorted facts and information is being continually cultivated and incessantly spewed forth by the press, and those who control the press. It is fine-tuned “social engineering” of unprecedented proportions. Many watchers – scholars, theologians, political analysts, social commentators – agree with that perception, and are saying that what is going on in the United States today is unprecedented in American history.
But we, as Christians, can draw hope, and find peace, in what the Hebrew writer has said here in Chapter 1, verses 10-14: “But to which of the angels has He ever said, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet’? Are they [the angels] not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”
Those words cause us to contemplate the reality of another dimension. Authentic Christians are multi-dimensional thinkers; we are all about parallel universes and multi-dimensional realms inhabited by intelligences beyond the scope of our immediate perceptions. In other words, a spiritual world, parallel and in close proximity to our own, just behind the scenes. And spiritual beings – angels – working at the Son’s behest, to render service on behalf of all those who will inherit salvation.
Can we not see that so much of what is going on in this world is WAY beyond the current governing administration’s control; way beyond, even, the corporate “Powers that Be” and all their social engineering, and even beyond the press’s ability to deceive and manipulate?
There are, indeed, as the Bible says, “powers of this dark world… and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” that exert a very real and tangible influence in our world. But, at the same time, God’s people can experience that “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) in knowing that nothing is beyond our Lord Jesus’, and his mighty angels’, control. Furthermore, come economic collapse, global pandemic, cultural and political revolution, or even global war, we know that “God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). That is the promise we have – a promise for God’s people – that enables us to live with faith, and with confidence, and without us ever having to experience a personal, political-social meltdown!
“Oh Lord, my God, this world is becoming an increasingly confusing and frightening place. And I am tempted, at times, to let my heart become filled with terror, with anxiety, with fear, and worry. I know that, when I experience those moments, it’s because I’ve forgotten that the tomb is still empty and the throne is still occupied; and just Who it is that sits upon that throne. Lord Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords, ultimate authority and ruler of heaven and earth, I prayer that you not let me succumb to the trauma that an increasingly godless society seeks to inculcate upon me and those that I love; but that You will gently remind me and reassure my heart that, no matter the extent to which the evil of this world rages around me, YOU are still in control, that nothing happens apart from your divine permission, and that you will cause all things to work together for my good, and for the good of all those who love You. Draw me close, Oh Lord, and keep me walking close to You, sustained by the faith in my heart and Your love for me.
Copyright © 2022 Philip R. Stroud
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