Question Spot

a) Yes

The world we live in is not the world as God originally intended it to be. There were no natural disasters in Genesis 1. But the human race choose to rebel against God - and that had consequences. We now live in a world under curse. We are out of kilter with God, and our world is out of kilter with us. Ultimately everything wrong in our world traces back to sin.

b) No

But - you can't jump from the general to the particular. Our world is generally under curse because of sin. That doesn't mean that every bad thing that happens is a direct judgement on some particular sin. Jesus makes that point in Luke 13. A tower had fallen on some people. Others came to Jesus and asked if the victims had been especially bad sinners. Jesus said "No" - but then warned everybody to repent, or they would perish too! The world is generally under curse and judgement. But you can't always link a particular sin with a particular judgement.

c) Yes again.

But then again, sometimes you can. We live in a world with real consequences. And all to often we ignore them - we use the world in foolish or risky or uninformed ways. If we build houses on a flood plain they may well get flooded. If we build houses under a volcano they may well get melted. If we build houses on a fault line they may well get shaken to bits. One way sin works in us, is to encourage us to grab the short term gains - and forget about whether there are any long term pains. This was Adam and Eve's temptation in the garden. It the temptation loan companies use to lure us into debt. It's a factor in nearly every personal sin. It's a factor at for whole communities too. Climate change is an example of the community side of sin. It's not down to any one individual. No one sin has caused climate change. But it is the result of millions and billions of little choices, all building on each other. Little touches of greed, carelessness, laziness, exploitation of the world. And ignorance. As a race, we've turned away from God, and so cut ourselves off from his wisdom about how to take care of our world. So things go wrong.

Climate change and earthquakes - are they caused by sin? Yes - and no - and yes again.

And Jesus has done even more than defeat death. He has won all these blessings for us:

• victory over sin - freedom from the penalty and power and presence of sin.
• adoption as God's children and heirs
• new resurrection bodies
• righteousness in him
• a whole new creation

Jesus has already achieved all this - and more!

Part (b)

But when do we enter his victory? "Now", or "Not yet"? Actually the answer isn't a simple either/or - it's both/and. We enter it now/already and we have not yet entered it finally, fully and completely!

Let's think about 3 examples to help us. The first 2 (New Creation, and Sin) involve something of a sideways step. But looking at them will help us when we return to the 3rd example: Death (and its 'minion', sickness).

Example 1 - New Creation

Think about how we (as believers) enter the new creation Jesus has won:

• In turning to Christ we already are a new creation in him. The new creation is begun in us, internally, spiritually, and unstopably.
• But we are not yet in the creation, the new heavens and the new earth.

Jesus has already won both aspects of the new creation blessing for us, but now, already, we have only entered into part of it. And this is not because we have fallen short in some way. It's part of God's plan - now we have the foretaste of our blessings in Christ. When Jesus returns we will receive the fullness of them. When he returns he will bring in the fullness of the new creation (the new creation he has already won).

Example 2 - Sin

Think about how we (as believers) enter Jesus' victory over sin:

• We are now, already, freed from the penalty of sin. We are forgiven.
• We are now, already, freed from the power of sin. We are no longer slaves of sin, we are slaves of Christ.
• But we are not yet free from the presence of sin. One day - when Christ returns, and brings in the new creation - we will be. He has already won that for us. But we haven't entered it yet.

Jesus has already won all those aspects of freedom from sin for us. But now, already, we have only entered into part of them. We have not yet enter Jesus total defeat of sin fully and finally, for sin is still within us.

It is a mistake to think we can be totally free of sin on this side of the new creation. It's a mistake Christians have sometimes made, when they have (rightly) emphasised the "now/already" aspect of us entering into the victory of Christ, but (wrong) forgotten about the "not yet" aspect. We have the foretaste of our blessings in Christ already - and that is wonderful! - but the best is yet to come!!

When Jesus returns we will receive the fullness of every blessing. In particular, when he returns he will bring in the fullness of the victory over sin (the victory he has already won).

Example 3 - Death

As a third (and final) example, think about how we (as believers) enter Jesus' victory over death:

• We have eternal life now, already. We need not fear the second death of hell - and we know the first death (physical death) is a defeated enemy. We know we will rise again with Christ, in new resurrection bodies, like his.
• But we do not yet have those new resurrection bodies. We still have our old mortal bodies, and (unless Jesus returns first) we will still die physically, we will still grow old, we will still be subject to pain and suffering, sickness and mourning.

Jesus has already won all those aspects of victory over death (and its minions). But now, already, we have only entered into part of them. Again, this is not because we have fallen short in some way. It's because we are still in the old creation - the creation that groans (in pain and sickness and death) waiting for the new creation to be fully revealed.

Again, this is part of God's plan. Now we have the foretaste of our blessings in Christ - those foretastes may include times when God heals beyond all hope, or temporarily gives a reprieve from death beyond all expectation. We may see glimpses of the new heavens and the new earth breaking into this one. But they are still only glimpses - we're not in the new heavens and new earth yet. That new creation will be wonderfully better than anything we can ask for or imagine.

When Jesus returns we will receive his victory in its fullness. When he returns he will bring in the fullness of his victory over death (the victory he has already won). He will then banish all sickness and death, all pain and mourning, all crying and fear, all sorrow and anguish, all sin and evil.

Come, Lord Jesus!