How could younger people be more spiritual than their elders?
The next generation sees God and the world more clearly than we do. Electronic Arts and Hollywood know their core beliefs. We should too.
Take a look at the books, movies and video games that captivate them. Divergent series, Maze Runner, Ender’s Game, Hunger Games populate teen fiction/movies. Marvel provides the superheroes. Fallout, Gears of War, The Last of Us, Wasteland give gamers a chance to fight in dystopian worlds destroyed.
The movie plot to Dystopia explains a common premise:
“Dystopia” is a post-apocalyptic thriller about the journey of a man who struggles to survive in a city of darkness and desolation. When a mysterious disaster strikes, the world as we know it turns upside down, creating a futuristic society where rules are non-existent. Throughout the barren landscapes of a lost city, people must find the inner strength and courage to confront the dangers of this terrifying world.
· The human race is nearly annihilated by man’s own self-destructive devices.
· The earth becomes a wasteland and society is plunged into survivalist circumstances.
· Only genetic re-coding, supernatural creatures, superheroes or machines can save the day.
· Every survivor must be a warrior, ready to risk all to live.
I was duped for so many years. I lived in a happy Christian family. People were basically good. Hell was a place in my Picture Bible. Sins were rule infractions. The Devil sat on my shoulder taunting and tempting me occasionally.
My deception grew as “churchianity” took the place of Biblical truth and spiritual realities. Man is moral. The future looks bright. Jesus came to be our friend, and we need to invite others on a “spiritual journey.”
No bloodshed. No darkness. No disaster. Pollyanna faith.
Your kids are right. Man is not just “fallen,” he is hopelessly wrecked and savage to the core. A self-destructive monster eats away at our humanity, driving us toward an eternity of torment and separation from God.
Now I’m just depressing you.
But here are the powerful truths you can learn from the honest, core values of those who are younger.
· God is infinitely greater than we can imagine. He will never fit into our “box” of human intellect. Nor should He.
· Our human nature cannot be rehabilitated, it must be “re-coded.” We became something entirely “other,” newly-born.
· A terrible, heroic sacrifice had to occur to atone for man. A new world, a new society must emerge.
A God infinitely greater and purer than we can imagine stepped into hell for us. Our decaying, dystopic world is almost here. Read Revelation. The apocalypse is explained in detail. Jesus, the God-Man King will return to rescue us.
He re-codes, redeems and reforms us to inhabit the true Utopia, a new Heaven and a New Earth.
References:
The reality of an apocalypse.
Isaiah prophesies the apocalypse in vivid terms:
“Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Men will stare aghast and horrified at one another, Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare]. The day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with wrath and raging anger, to make the land a horror [of devastation]. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shed its light. And He shall exterminate its sinners from it. God will make mortal man more rare than fine gold. And like the hunted gazelle, And each one flee to his own land.” Isaiah 13:6-16 AMP
Jesus, the Superhero
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation. For through Him God created everything in galaxies and worlds beyond. Substance and invisible powers, all thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities of the unseen world..everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else and is the unseen force that holds everything together. He is supreme over all who rise from the dead. All of God’s fullness lives in Christ. Through Jesus, God reconciled humanity to Himself, through Christ’s bloody death on the cross.
You were Jesus’ enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through His physical death, descent into hell and mighty resurrection. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” Colossians 1:13-22 LB
Final Victory
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who was riding it is called Faithful and True (trustworthy, loyal, incorruptible, steady), and in righteousness He judges and wages war [on the rebellious nations]. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many royal crowns; and He has a name inscribed [on Him] which no one knows or understands except Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, [dazzling] white and clean, followed Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword (His word) with which He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He will tread the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty [in judgment of the rebellious world]. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name inscribed, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11-16 NEV
Mankind needs a new Genetic makeup, supernatural power through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.” (A new race, new genes, new indwelling Holy Spirit). John 3:3 NKJV
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP