Friday, January 9, 2009

Why Socialism?

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 2And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. [Genesis 3]

1Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." 5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. [Genesis 11]

Have you ever wondered why the U.S. government, having started small, continues to expand and usurp more and more authority and become increasingly socialistic? Here is the problem. Man, by his fallen nature wants to be God, controlling all things. Socialism, by its very nature, attempts to control all things. We can see this in the economic bailout. Our politicians, not content to allow us to have our own money, will bail out the economy by taking our money from us and spending it for us as they see fit. (Remember, government never produces anything. It can only take from those who produce.) Congress thinks that it can plan the economy better than we can. This is the theory of socialism. As the bailout continues, watch for the agenda that our economic planners will follow and ask yourselves, is what they spend our money on the most effective way to grow the economy for us.

While it is likely that socialism will increase in America for some time, it will not increase forever. There is an end to socialism.

6And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech." 8So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. [Genesis 11]

This is how God works, bringing confusion to the self-seeking efforts of men. This is how He has worked throughout history. When the time comes, there will be confusion, but God will also put something in its place.

1Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." [Genesis 12]

Notice how God promises to give Abraham what the nations wanted to take in Genesis 11. And this is how God will work out history today. Christ is the blessing to the nations promised to Abraham. His church, small and seemingly insignificant, is His remedy to socialism. My prayer is that it would engage that challenge today.

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