In a world where terrorism, murder, and even mass-murder
are common place it takes a lot to shock us anymore. But the murderous
acts of Stephen Paddock (64) on last Sunday evening at a concert in Las Vegas
leaves people scratching their heads. Something like this only makes any
sense at all if one can put it into some sort of context. In recent
years, Islamic terrorists have been behind much of the chaos and losses of life
in this world. But, as of yet there is no clear ties to I.S.I.S.,
Al-Qaida or any such radical group. There may never be any such links
established. Paddock does not, based on what we currently know, fit any sort of
standard criminal or terrorist profile.
Many want to blame guns, as they commonly do. According to some the
answer is, generally speaking, more laws, more gun control, and more
governmental oversight. But is that the answer? Problems reveal
themselves through signs and symptoms that sometimes are hard to
diagnose. Whether it is your car, a household appliance, or your health,
the symptoms tell you there is an underlying cause for the display of the
symptoms such as a funny noise, a strange smell, or some type of pain.
Treating symptoms does not correct the root of the problem.
People have been killing people ever since Cain slew his brother Abel in
Genesis 4. Abel was not only the first person ever murdered, but was actually
the first person to ever die at all. It is quite revealing that the first
ever human death was by murder. What a foreshadowing of things to come.
Presumably Cain murdered Abel by hitting him over the head with a rock.
When God confronted him about the act he displayed a serious heart problem.
Cain was sullen toward God, and even implicitly blamed Him because He
did not accept his heartless offering of grain. God, however laid the
blame for the wicked, selfish, unthinkable, murderous deed at the feet of Cain
because of the malice harbored in his heart, for all appearances at Abel, but
more accurately at God.
Down through history the number of actual murders, if known, would be
staggering. The truth we do know is that there are over 25 thousand
murders just in the United States each year. That is an average of almost
70 per day. Murder is so common place that some murders do not even make
the local news. The only murders that make national news are ones
involving someone famous, ones involving large numbers of people, or ones with
strange or exotic twists. Sadly, murder is a part of life and has been
since very shortly after sin entered the world.
The
Scriptures are clear that Satan is a liar, a thief, and a murderer and has been
so from the beginning. He mocks God through pitting man (God’s creation
made in His own image) against fellow man. He works through both precise
targeting as well as broad. He seeks to kill an individual, a nation, or
even the whole world if possible.
Mankind has killed one another in a multitude of ways down through
history. In fact, it would be hard to find any type of object that has not
been used by someone to kill another person at some point in history.
Today people are poisoned, strangled, smothered, stabbed, shot, ran over, blown
up, burned to death, bludgeoned, etc. While these may appear separate
things there is a common thread that runs through them all.
In Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus taught that murder begins in the heart. It
begins with hatred. Hatred of man/men cannot coexist with love for
God. Hatred of man/men is fixation on one’s own evil desires which have
already replaced God in a person’s life. James wrote that “Each one is
tempted [to sin] when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
gull-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15) The first thing a
murderer hates is God’s Word which teaches Him to love his fellow man.
The Apostle John writes in 1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved let us love one another, for
love is of God and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not
love does not know God, for God is love.” Murder is the antithesis of
love. Murder is sticking one’s finger in the very eye of God and mocking
Him and His creation (mankind made in the image and likeness of God). To
commit murder on a mass-scale such as we see in Las Vegas only shows how deeply
embittered Paddock’s heart really was toward His Creator.
When secular, worldly minded, politically motivated politicians and individuals
call for tougher laws, gun control, etc. after a mass-shooting they are merely
falling back on what they think they know. They believe that man’s laws
can control human behavior. Not even God’s laws have controlled human
behavior, how much more weak, frail, ineffective, and pathetic are man’s
laws. Criminals have no respect for God’s laws, so it would be ridiculous
to think they would somehow respect man’s laws. Murder has always been
against the law, but the numbers of murders are incalculable. God gave to
Moses, carved in stone tablets, the commandment “Thou Shall Not Murder,” at
Sinai but it has not stopped millions upon millions of homicides worldwide over
the last few millennia.
Murder is a symptom fueled by hatred and the only cure is a personal
relationship with God the Creator. The wisest man who ever lived, King
Solomon, wrote “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and
keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.” (Ecc. 12:13) This verse
applies to Stephen Paddock, Hitler, you, and me all equally. He goes on
to write in the next verse “For God will bring every work into judgment,
including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (vs. 14) No
matter who we are and no matter what we have done we will stand before God in
judgment and we are told “Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess,
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” Only then will
there be no more murder. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20)
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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