This is a continuation of my previous blog in which I reflected upon the words of the mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser, who set up an advisory group to evaluate the “monuments, memorials, and facilities” in D.C. that had ‘disqualifying histories’.
I confessed to you that upon my initial reading of the commentary that I was reading by Joseph Loconte, I had not read his article completely. Since completing my previous blog I have read his article in its entirity.
And so, I proceed to finish my thought.
In the previous blog, it was shared that God flooded the earth because mankind had a disqualifying history; but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because its inhabitants had a disqualifying history; however, Lot was saved because of the intercession of his uncle Abraham; and at the end of this age, God will destroy the heavens and the earth because humanity has a disqualifying history; but those in Christ will be saved from the wrath of God.
All of this is ‘bad news’. All humanity has a disqualifying history. It is because of our sin nature.
Psalms 14:1-3 says, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works,There is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have all together become corrupt; There is none who does good, no not one.” (NKJV
If one would like to define the term ‘disqualifying histories’, I would suggest that Psalm 14:1-3 contributes to that definition.
To what do we ascribe the origin of humanity”s ‘disqualifying history’?
The answer to that question is found in the pages of God’s Holy Word, the Bible.
Simply said, when God created Adam and Eve neither one possessed a ‘disqualifing humanity’ because they were created in the image and likeness of God. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command. God had said to Adam, “…Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16b-17, NKJV); but they ate of the fruit of the tree.
Because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God’s command, the ‘image and likeness of God’, in which they were created, where there was no ‘disqualifying history’ was tragically affected. Because of their sin, they took upon themselves the consequences of their sin-“you shall surely die”. They now possessed a sin nature. In short, their sin, is the beginning of mankind having a ‘disqualifying humanity’ in the sight of God. They are the fiat parents of all humanity born with a nature to sin.
The Apostle Paul brilliantly addresses this situation in his letter to the Romans. In Romans 5:12, he writes, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (This is Paul’s statement saying that all mankind has a disqualifying history.)
[So one might think that God was ‘ticked off’, highly insensed, and put out of sorts; but that is far from the truth. What took place in the garden did not take God by surprise. I recommend that you read carefully Ephesians 1,2,and 3. It is a revelation of God’s heart toward His creation which is completely centered in Christ which began before the creation of the world.]
John 3:16 is the most succinct verse in the Bible that summarizes God’s heart for humanity in its sinful condition and the means by which that humanity can have its ‘disqualifying history’ forgiven, forgotten, and replaced by a ‘qualifying history’.
John 3:16, says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosover believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He (God) made him (Jesus) who knew no sin (He possessed a qualifying history) to be sin (to bear our disqualifying history at the cross) that we might become the righteousness of God” (in Christ with no disqualifying history).
Returning to Romans 5, Paul writes, vss. 17-21, “For if by the one man’s offense (Adam) death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense (Adam’s) judgment came to all men (all humanity), resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s (Jesus) righteous act (His death on the cross) the free gift came to all men (humanity) resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience (Adam’s) many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience (Jesus) many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, GRACE ABOUNDED MUCH MORE [emphasis mine], so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (NKJV)
How did God, the Father, provide for His creation of mankind to be reconciled to Himself? Paul writes in Romans 5:6-11, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners (humanity with a disqualifying history), Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were recconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be save by His life. And not only that but we also rejoice in God through our Lrod Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (NKJV)
In Acts 4, the Apostle Peter boldly declares in vs 10-12 “…let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead…This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given aboung men by which we must be saved.”
The essence of Mayor’s Bowser’s purpose for setting up a task force to look for ‘disqualifying histories’ in D.C. was for the identification of those memorials, monuments, street names, etc should be torn down, dismantled, and/or renamed to blot out their rememberance because of their ‘inappropriate’ lifestyle, beliefs, behavior and/or words deemed offensive. This change was to be part of our ‘cultural cleansing’. Can you visualize with me that the death of Christ is tantamont to tearing down a statue that is deemed inappropriate because of its ‘disqualifying history’? The truth is that Jesus allowed his life to be ‘torn down’ because He identifed with mankind’s ‘disqualifying history’. The good news of the Gospel is that God raised Him from the dead conquering death. In doing so, Jesus died for our sin, our disqualifying history,, and God raised Him from the dead so that having put death to death, we can now receive eternal life through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and be given the gift of salvation which is based upon Christ’s ‘qualifying history’ of having no sin. That’s a mouthful, but it is the truth of the Gospel.
All of humanity is disaqulified before God because of sin; however, God, because of His love for His creation, has provided His only Beggoten son, to be our qualifier for eternal life through His death, burial and resurrection just as the Gospel declares.
Are you qualified in Christ for your eternal salvation or are you still in your original state with your disqualifying history of sin? Without Christ our qualification separates from an eternity spent with God to an eternal existence apart from God, that the Bible calls Hell.
Romans 10:9-11, 13 says, “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame…for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you know the Lord, rejoice in His goodness, mercy, and love for you.
If you do not know the Lord, then I encourage you to re-read what has been shared and consider the good news of the gospel. God loves you, He sent His Son to die for you, that you might have eternal life.
Eternal Life is a free gift that one receives when they confess the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Savior and Lord, asking Him to forgive them of their sins, and to come into their life personally to cause them to be born again by the Holy Spirit.
Blessings to all, a brother in Christ, deo
Living Words of Encouragement 