If the last few weeks of your life were like mine, you spent more time at home. Physical distance suggestions and rules set by governors, mayors, and even the president of the United States to deal with the Covid-19 have closed stores, restaurants, sports stadiums, and many other places. Many of us, including me, work almost exclusively from home. Instead of worshipping with other believers in a church building, we participate in Saturday’s weekly service in the best possible way through live Internet broadcasts. or I go to the supermarket once a week to buy and sometimes go out to eat, leaving the other spouse and children at home. As a family, we went for a walk in the neighborhood almost every night. remain silent on the Rothwell estate.
At the moment, we face many unanswered questions. How many people will die from this virus?How well do these restrictions prevent the virus from spreading?How many people contracted the virus, showed no symptoms and are now immune?Are local and state governments or the federal government in any way exceeding the limits of their authority?If we contain the virus now, will those who have had collective holidays or who have lost their jobs be able to get them back to normal in winter?Or will this historical event fundamentally change our society?And it could go on.
- At the same time.
- The virus reminds us that we live in a fallen world and that almost everything in this world is linked to other things in incredibly complex ways.
- When we try to fix one thing.
- We often break another.
- Are trying to prevent the virus from spreading.
- But with damage to the economy.
- However.
- Admirably.
- Life continues.
- Albeit with great difficulties for many of us.
- Doctors.
- Nurses.
- And other health professionals make bold efforts to preserve life.
- And ship captains transport the necessary goods around the world.
- Power plant technicians keep our lights on.
- Supermarket managers.
- CASHiers and retailers strive to keep shelves full of what we need to move forward.
- Here.
- I could go on.
- Too.
In the midst of this world pandemic, we see God’s common grace in action.
Grace is undoubtedly every goodness that the Lord gives us and which we do not deserve; and you should remember that, in general, the Bible refers to God’s grace in two main ways: first, special or saving grace This is the grace mentioned in texts such as Ephesians 2: 8-10 and Romans 9-11. John 3. 1-17 is also a key passage on special or saving grace, although the word grace does not appear in this passage. or saving grace is the grace that fulfills our salvation. If we want to be saved, it is God who must give us this grace. And it’s special because God doesn’t give it to everyone. The Lord grants special grace only to the chosen. , not because they are better than others, but simply because he has decided to save his people.
On the other hand, common grace refers to God’s goodness to all men; it is common because everyone, chosen and unelected, benefits God makes his sun rise over bad and good, and rains upon the righteous and unjust?(Mt 5:45), and so that the human race may cultivate food for its livelihood, God also made an alliance with nature so that the regular cycles of nature, including the seasons and physical laws of the universe, may continue as long as the earth remains. (Genesis 8. 22) How many times do we remember that without this alliance science and technology would be impossible?There would be no scientific advances or technological improvements if we could not count on the world to remain as it always has been. Without a predictable natural order, we would not be able to conduct repeatable and searchable experiments or formulate hypotheses; if the laws of the universe were constantly changing, we would not be able to adapt to them or learn anything from them.
In addition, a person does not need to be a Christian to love their family, treat their customers and business partners honestly, keep their neighborhood clean, or adopt wise laws that benefit many others. Sometimes non-believers do what the law requires (Rom 2: Of course, it is only external obedience that cannot please God, because it is not motivated by love for Him; yet these good works benefit others, even Christians; at least in the United States, we can still count on the police, firefighters, doctors and many others to help us , although people in these positions do not believe in Christ for salvation.
As fallen creatures, we do not value God’s common grace. But without him, we would really be in trouble. Think about what has to happen to have milk on our table. We need a breeder. This breeder and his laborers must get up at the right time every day and have a sufficient work ethic to motivate them to properly milk the cows. A trucker has to transport the milk to a pasteurization and bottling industry. And if it’s late, the milk can spoil. In the pasteurization and bottling industry, workers must rely on Louis Pasteur’s scientific discoveries and equipment designed by engineers to pasteurize and bottle milk. A truck driver must get you to the store on time. The supermarket must have reliable refrigeration, which depends on someone else who in recent years has figured out how to generate and transport electricity and workers who currently have to get to the power plant on time and do their jobs well, to keep things going. . . Next, a storekeeper and cashier must be committed enough to their work to show up for their shifts to store and sell the milk. I could multiply many other variables, and that’s just in relation to milk! Think of everything else.
This world is really complex. And at any time, something very small can disrupt the whole process and cause a lot of damage. However, things continue. Even in the case of a pandemic, it is God’s common grace to support the energy and will of human beings to know how to do things and do them. Do bad things happen sometimes? Sure, sinners are good at ruining things, but in general, society continues and needs are met, it is certainly better in some places than in others, but we are not destroying ourselves or the world, it is God’s common grace.
In the coming days, frustrations will certainly continue. Even after the virus passes, we will have the daily thorns and thistles, introduced into our work by Adam. However, we can be grateful that the Lord has supported us for millennia; and it will as long as the earth remains. When a cure or vaccine arrives, we can thank God for his common grace that has enabled Christian and non-Christian scientists to work for their development. Lord by his common grace, which is evident in the way people from all walks of life work together, each in their own region, to get things done. And in the future, when this is left behind, we can thank you for your common grace, which makes life in this fallen world more tolerable.