A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO THE CORONA VIRUS, Part 3

6. Money that is printed by governments without gold or other wealth behind it is theft.

“You shall not steal.” These words seem very simple, but they imply private property, ownership, and even a work ethic. They strictly forbid not only “breaking and entering” but also taking things through a third party such as receiving unjust government benefits, wasteful taxation, and increasing the money supply through fiat currency, i.e. inflation.

The US government is trying to pass out free money to each family as if money was simply paper. They have forgotten that money without wealth behind it is a time bomb. The previous recessions and depressions of the world have taught them nothing because they refuse to obey simple commands like, “No stealing.”

Since God is not mocked, they (and we) will reap what has been sown because we can be sure that our sin will find us out (Num. 32:23). We have the most trifling thoughts about the consequences of ongoing, generational theft, and we forgive ourselves without confession or repentance because we fear the changing winds of an election as if there were no Master who set up kings and appointed rulers.

Eph. 4:28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

Summary: Christians reject government sponsored theft even if it makes their lives easier.

7. The fear of death only reaches those who have not laid hold of Christ.

What is the worst that could happen during COVID 19? You would die. Unbelievers are afraid of death, but they are not afraid of God. Or perhaps, secretly, they are terrified of God which is why they are afraid of death.

But to be a believer is a kind of death.

Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Luke 9:23 If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Those who believe are marked by no fear of death, rather a unique relief by death.

Phil. 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

2 Cor. 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Of believers, Scripture says, “He sleeps.” Jesus promised that they would be raised again (John 5:28-29).

John 11:25-26 I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Where does panic in an epidemic come from? The soul of a man who is secretly terrified by death. By the grace of our modern standard of living, we believe that we should be free from all risk. To this our Lord says, “They will put some of you to death” (Luke 21:16). To become a Christian is to accept a risky calling.

Living without the fear of death is now on display—not simply ignoring this crisis because these kinds of things don’t scare you, nor baseless “god-talk” about speaking life, but genuinely feeling the absolute confidence that being absent from the body is present with the Treasure hidden in the field. The last day of your time on earth is the first day of a new life with Christ. When viewed that way, I wonder that every professing Christian is not eager for his earthly time to be shorter.

Col. 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

The world is marked by an intense interest in this life. That means all the things of this world are very prominent in their eyes.

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

The sin of worldliness is loving this world and the things in it. How does a Christian feel? He holds the world with an open hand—ready to lose it at any moment.

Summary: Fear of death has motivated the world’s massive response, but this does not move Christians who are prepared and even eager for death.

8. Prayer in an emergency should first ask for forgiveness from sin.

When Israel is in captivity, Daniel asks only that God would forgive Israel for their many sins (Daniel 9). When Solomon opens the temple, he asks five times that God would forgive the sins of the nation in the future (1 Kings 8).

  • 1 Kings 8:33-34—When Israel is beaten by its enemies, they must pray for forgiveness of their sins.
  • 1 Kings 8:35-36—When there is no rain, they must ask to be forgiven.
  • 1 Kings 8:37-39—When there is any plague or national disaster, the first request is forgiveness of sins.

It will become very clear to us very quickly when we have only just entered the next life that the greatest and—it will seem—only thing that matters is whether our sins have been cleansed and removed. We will wonder that we ever pondered comfort or health or riches without a corresponding concern for salvation, conversion, and evangelism. At the time, the amazing power of sin with all its bewitching force will be laid bare, and we will rue with strongest feeling every thought and prayer that neglected this great reality.

Certainly, we can pray for people to be healed and for the virus to stop. But would it not be better—if we had to choose one option over the other—for great numbers of men to wake up to their sin and to fall on their faces in repentance and to kiss the Son lest He be angry even if the virus climbed into the ranks of history’s deadliest plagues?

Summary: A Christian’s prayers at this time ought first to be for the conversion of sinners and for a great spiritual awakening of humility and repentance.

Conclusion

There are Christian ways to view history, providence, politics, humanity, economics, science, and psychology. All other views and solutions built on them are wrong, and therefore, they will end up hurting more than they will help. Each of these should be viewed with Christian glasses. In other words, a Christian worldview will help us see each problem correctly. If we have the right glasses, everything comes into focus.

Most of us simply do not read the Bible enough. Or, in other words, we are too worldly. One reason God has allowed you to live at this time, is to draw you into thinking Biblically. Is the Corona Virus the worst ever? No. Is the Corona Virus sent from God? Yes. Is the Corona Virus a judgment from God? Possibly. Is the Corona Virus a good reason for the government to take away freedoms? No. Possibly some freedoms such as international travel bans, but in general: no.

Is the Corona Virus an opportunity for evangelism? Yes, because people are afraid of death.

Series navigation
A Christian response to the Corona Virus, Part 1
A Christian response to the Corona Virus, Part 2
A Christian response to the Corona Virus, Part 3

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