WHILE PREPARING A TWELVE POUND TURKEY FOR THANKSGIVING, I THOUGHT OF ITS LIFE THAT WAS SACRIFICED, AS IT TURNED OUT, FOR ME. I OFTEN THANK THE LORD FOR AN ANIMAL’S LIFE THAT WAS TAKEN TO SUSTAIN MY BODY.
A JEWISH FRIEND ONCE SAID TO ME, “WE NO LONGER HAVE ANIMAL SACRIFICE.” I KNEW HE WAS REFERRING TO THEIR RELIGIOUS PRACTICE, ANIMAL SACRIFICE HAVING ENDED WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTHLY TEMPLE. HOWEVER, AS I THOUGHT OF HIS WORDS, I SAID TO MYSELF, “OH BUT WE DO HAVE ANIMAL SACRIFICE. EVERY TIME WE EAT A HAMBURGER, A STEAK, ROAST, CHICKEN, OR FISH, LIFE WAS SACRIFICED”
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT IN THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH THERE WILL BE NO MORE DEATH. I LIKE TO REMEMBER THAT EVERY TIME I SEE THE DEATH OF ANY CREATURE. I DON’T LIKE TO SEE DEATH OF ANY LIVING THING.
EVEN A VEGETARIAN, IN ORDER TO LIVE, CANNOT AVOID DEATH. YES, PLANTS HAVE A FORM OF LIFE. SPECIALIZED PHOTOGRAPHY HAS SHOWN HOW SENSITIVE PLANT LIFE IS TO HUMAN INTERACTION. AND EVEN IF A PLANT OR ANIMAL IS PROTECTED FROM BEING KILLED, IT WILL EVENTUALLY DIE, AS WE ALL MUST DIE. DEATH, IN THIS WORLD IS UNAVOIDABLE IN THIS WORLD.
WHY MUST THERE BE DEATH? WE DO NOT NEED THE BIBLE TO TELL US THAT SIN CAUSES DEATH. OUR OWN GOD GIVEN REASON CAN TELL US THAT. SIN CUTS US OFF FROM GOD THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE. NO MATTER HOW GOOD WE MAY BEHAVE, THE ROOT OF SIN IS WITHIN US, AND SIN BRINGS FORTH DEATH.
BUT THE FACT OF DEATH GOES DEEPER THAN JUST CAUSE AND EFFECT. EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD HAS A PURPOSE. GOD HAS AN ETERNAL PURPOSE AND DESIGN THAT HE IS WORKING OUT, AND HE HAS ALLOWED DEATH TO BE, AND DEATH IS SERVING HIS PURPOSES WHICH ARE GOOD AND JUST AND WONDERFUL.
ROMANS 8 TELLS US THAT CREATION GROANS IN TRAVAIL, AND THAT IT HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO FUTILITY, BUT IN HOPE, THE HOPE OF SHARING IN THE FREEDOM OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
GOD MADE MANKIND WITH THE PURPOSE OF BRINGING HIS LIFE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS INTO THIS WORLD. THE GARDEN OF EDEN WAS MEANT TO TRANSFORM THE WILDERNESS INTO THE GARDEN OF GOD. BUT INSTEAD OUR FIRST PARENTS MADE THE GARDEN INTO A WILDERNESS AND THAT FALLEN ANGEL SATAN HAS HAD CONTROL EVER SINCE.
BUT NEAR THE CROSS, ON MOUNT MORIAH, THERE WAS ANOTHER GARDEN WITH A TOMB WHERE JESUS’ BODY WAS LAID. AND FROM THAT GARDEN, THAT IS STILL THERE, CAME FORTH THE RESURRECTION OF MANKIND.
SUFFERING AND DEATH ARE STILL GOING ON. BUT OTHER UNSEEN THINGS ARE GOING ON THROUGH ALL OF THIS SEEMING “FUTILITY.” JESUS SAID, “THE FATHER IS WORKING STILL AND I AM WORKING.”
THIS OLD WORLD IS FALLING APART AND DYING, BUT THE NEW CREATION IS TAKING FORM THROUGHOUT MANKIND. IN THE MEANTIME, IT IS COMFORTING TO REMEMBER THAT THE ONE WHO LIVED, SUFFERED, AND DIED FOR US IS WORKING STILL.
JESUS, SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN IS BOTH THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END. ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM AND ALL THINGS WILL FIND THEIR SOURCE OF BEING IN HIM, ALL THINGS IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH. Ephesians 1:10
AS WE EAT OUR TURKEY THIS THANKSGIVING, MAY WE REMEMBER HIM WHO HAS BROUGHT LIFE OUT OF DEATH AND GIVES MEANING TO EVERY SINGLE PANG OF EVERY LIVING THING. AMEN!
Rosemary E Hyslop
Thanksgiving Day, 2014