Let God Be Magnified

Everyone -

It’s been six years since the World Trade Center, and America, was attacked. And we still have a hole in the ground. It’s a shame.

America, in this day and age, is so confounded by bipartisan bickering that we have been unable to honor the fallen properly. There are many who want to put up a shrine to those fallen – but how do you design that shrine so that no one is “offended” or “left out”? There are others who argue that the architect isn’t of a certain race or color or their religious background isn’t politically correct – but people from all races, creeds, religions and ideas were killed in those towers. The terrorists who carried this out didn’t care. They were too blind with hate and drunk with blood to care. They wanted to make a statement no matter what the cost. In that moment, they were as egocentric as anyone could ever become.

We live in a day where we are dominated by “Relativism” where black and white do not exist but are blended into some sort of gray. No longer does “1+1=2” since there may be someone who might argue that they “don’t think” that is the right answer. So we are stuck in this area where truth is relative and personal rather than….truth.

But what did you expect? We have taken God out of the equation by allowing truth to slide to opinion. We’ve come to an extreme case of liberalism where we start to say things like, “I don’t agree with what Bobby is doing, but who am I to tell him what to do?” Or, “I don’t agree with homosexuality/abortion/pornography, but that is my opinion and I can’t force it onto another person. That is their choice and as long as it doesn’t affect me, then it’s ok.”

Well it’s not ok.

And we do have a right to tell people that what they are doing is wrong.

There are truths and there is black and white.

Christians can have personal opinions but what should really matter to them is what God says about it.

That is the beauty of God. He has preserved His Word for a reason. It’s not just some “historical account” that is there to guide us. God has revealed Himself through His Word and the standards He expects of us. Sin separates us from God. Do you think He’d write a book that gave a half-hazard account of what is and is not sin? Do you think He’d go through the trouble is sending His Son to die for our sin and then leave us with no idea what “sin” was? Never.

As Paul expresses,

“What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting is the Law had not said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COVET.’” – Romans 7:7

All throughout the Old Testament we see what God thinks of sin. In the New Testament He tells us what He thinks about sinners. In either case, sin is revealed. God’s Word is truth. We can rest on it. No longer do we have to say, “I think” about something. We can say, “This is what God says” about it.

God’s word stands firm. There is no avoiding or dodging it. Sin is sin. You are condemned under sin unless you are free through the Son.

Israel had just begun to enter the land of promise that God was giving them – Canaan. One barrier they had was the River Jordan that, as this time of year, was overflowing her banks. God instructed the Israelites to allow the men who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant (where God dwelled for Israel) to step into the Jordan River and cross. It was told them that when the Priests stepped into the waters that the Jordan River would recede and they would walk on dry ground and pass safely. Notice, however, that God did not dry the waters and then they had the faith to cross – they had to step out in faith and God then dried the waters.

After they got to the other side of the river God said the gather stones from within the Jordan River to act as a memorial:

“Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them saying, “Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay then down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.” So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, ‘Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, “What do these stones mean to you?” then you shall say to them, “Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.” So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.’” – Joshua 4:1-7

It is in this light that I feel like the Twin Towers in New York City should be rebuilt as they were before – but only better and more glorious. To build a shrine to the fallen would be a nice gesture, but to rebuild the Twin Towers would be a slap in the face to those who dared to attack us. It would show the unity of this country and the determination we have, the resolve we have, to fight the good fight against those who wish to do harm to not only us, but the who world. We must rebuild. But we will not be able to do so until we are united and strong. Most of all, it will mean nothing unless we bring God back into His proper place – first. A country without God is doomed. If there is no fear of God then there is likewise no respect for Him or His standard of righteousness and holiness.

The Twin Towers, if rebuilt, could be our stones that we stack as a memorial. Not only to the people who have fallen, but to the God of the Universe to whom we owe everything. Further in the book of Joshua, it is elaborated as to why the stones are important:

“For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” – Joshua 4:23,24

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” say Proverbs 1:7. There is a difference between knowledge and understanding. Knowledge is just being aware of the information. Understanding and Wisdom are the application of said knowledge.

We need the fear of the Lord. To see why, read Proverbs 2.

later Eriek