Cancel Culture

 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. " Colossians 2: 13-15

    Cancel culture is as old as mankind. Joseph's brothers, pricked by jealousy, neatly canceled him (or so they thought) by throwing him in a pit before selling him into slavery. Years later, jealousy reared its ugly head again when the administrators under King Darius wanted to snuff out Daniel, having him thrown into the lion's den. But the greatest example of cancel culture was when the Jews plotted to cancel Jesus by nailing him to a Roman cross. "That ought to do it, " I picture them smugly saying as they washed their hands of Him, while they left that grisly scene on Good Friday.

    Though the Roman empire ruled over the Jews with an iron fist, Jesus did not rise up against them. He paid his taxes and He submitted to the arresting authorities when they came for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Pilate, the Roman governor, questioned Him, as a sheep before the shearers, He was silent until Pilate proclaimed, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you realize I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?" (John 19:10) 

    I would have loved to see the steady gaze of Christ when He gave this reply: "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." (John 19:11)

    The Bible says, "The authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1) So, the truth of the matter is that, whether it be the Babylonians, the Romans, the Russians or the Americans, they have no power other than what the Lord has meted out. 

    To be executed by crucifixion was a criminal's death, a very humiliating and excruciating experience. When those who wished to cancel the Son of God nailed Him to the cross, they sought to make a public spectacle of Him, but they never had any power over Him; He laid down His life for us of His own accord. Who was doing the nailing? It was Him! He nailed our sins to the cross. What Satan meant for evil, God meant for good, forever and all eternity, as He took a symbol of horrid execution and used it to disarm the powers of hell. 

     Putin and Biden are but puppets on the elaborate stage of history, just as King Darius and Governor Pilate had once been. We, as Christians, are given box seats as we watch our powerful God orchestrate and establish His kingdom in His timing. All He asks of us is to be faithful to the end.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12