The power of sin is not what separates us from God. It is God’s holiness that separates sin from himself. The power of sin does not overwhelm God, but rather it is God’s refusal to dwell with corruption. When God created the earth and it was Good, he created it for his pleasure as much or even more than ours (Gen. 1). We were part of the creation. And when sin entered everything tilted. Not only was mankind corrupted but so was creation. Not only was mankind in need of redeeming but so was creation. This is why there is a need for a New Jerusalem (Rev. 21). The old earth passes away, and everything is made new. Sinless. Uncorrupted. This is why when God rebukes the earth it makes the sea dry up and the flowers wither (Nahum 1:4). The chaos we feel is a result of God’s rebuke. We may hear its whisper occasionally but it screams in times of tragedy. Things are not right but we long for them to be. The earth groans as well as our spirit (Rom. 8:22-23) for redemption. Sin is so invasive, it distorted what was Good to the point where everything needs to be redeemed. The point I’m getting at is that as we live in this corruption, not just within ourselves but the earth itself, everything is distorted. Meaning our baseline expectation of the world should be for all things to result in calamity and seldom will we find events of grace.
“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22–23, CSB)
Keep in mind, this is written after Jerusalem has been destroyed. Not before with the hope to rescue God’s people. The tragedy already fell on them. Loved ones were dead. Homes destroyed. Life was displaced. But God’s faithful love will not permanently abandon us.
The struggle is how a Christian is not always protected from tragedy. Wouldn’t a loving God do that? Where I settle is that both the tragic and the good, are found in the chaos of a corrupt world both physically and spiritually. Sometimes goodness shows its face, but the default is corruption. However, it is within tragedy that God can express his faithfulness. This is why the sun rises on both the evil and the good (Mt. 5:45). We are all in this catastrophic existence equally despite righteous and unrighteous. None are safe from the destruction of sin until the New Jerusalem arrives. The miracle then is not keeping us from tragedy but rather that there is a redemption within it.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1–2, CSB)
