Dilemmas...
This past weekend we hosted a young adult event at the request of some of the 20-30 year old age group at our church. They wanted to camp on our property and we were faced with the dilemma as whether to tell them about all the black bear sightings in our neighbor the past two weeks.
As they arrived, one couple asked permission to attach hammocks to our trees. I shuddered at the thought of them being nibbled upon in the middle of the night! At that point, I felt it was important to be honest about the furry visitor to the neighborhood. We'd also had torrential rains the whole week and the hour since they had arrived received an addition inch and a half. There ended up only being nine of them spending the night, so they camped inside! Dilemma resolved.
The dilemma of mankind's sinfulness began a long time ago in a garden. God resolved that issue in a major way!
You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we're in-first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Even those who didn't sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of Go still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it. Romans 5:12-14 The MSG
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2
