The Pursuance of Novelty -Part 2

Jesus made a startling statement in Luke 17:26 by drawing a parallel between the times that will mark His return, comparing it to the days of Noah. We therefore need to study the days of Noah in order to understand the times we live in today. Our antediluvian ancestors also lived life in the moment, thinking that they were invincible. Jesus describes their carefree and frivolous existence until the day of reckoning came suddenly upon them. To them it seemed sudden, yet there was ample warning given to them to repent and turn to God-Noah witnessed to the wicked generation for 120 years, but his appeals were largely ignored. We face the same dilemma today. When no one seems to be listening to your message, what do you do? Well, Noah kept on preaching regardless!

Sometimes, it seems like the world is looking for something new when the gospel of grace is right in front of us. The gospel is the old, old story that makes new hearts yet many people refuse to surrender and let God change their hearts. Instead, they seek the thrill of chasing after relative truth that evades them like a stealthy phantom that can never be caught! God made us creative beings, but He never intended for us to be so busy chasing a novel existence and getting bored with everything, that we have no time to spend in His presence and learn of Him. Our pursuance of novelty extends even into the arena of Biblical doctrines and truths. We are in grave danger when we think that we have heard it all before, and we go seeking after a message because it seems new and interesting. There will no doubt be many false prophets and false Christs out there, who will use their own private interpretations of the Scriptures to make things sound very different and attract the attention of those who are not grounded on Christ, the Rock. Jesus Himself warned us about this in Matt 24:24.

Satan’s ploy is to use the same old vices and sins to trap us. The Old Testament records for us the tragedies and triumphs of key figures in Bible history and we notice that the same sins that were their downfall, are ours today! Murder, adultery, licentiousness and immorality abounded then like it does now, yet in our pursuit of novelty we have blinded ourselves to the effects of these heinous sins. We have been desensitized to them to the extent that they are a normal feature of the landscape to us. Human beings, despite their God-given intellect, are slow learners. Just like the Israelites who fell into idolatry over and over again, we repeat the insanity of following a pattern of sin that gets us nowhere but we refuse to relinquish our old ways because we are terrified of change and of total surrender to God. Then, to add insult to injury, we claim that reading about the lives of others in the same predicament as ourselves is boring and not necessary! How can a person understand the New Testament without having a strong foundation in the Old Testament? How can someone appreciate the redemptive work of Christ if he does not first understand the origin of sin? Our neglect of the Old Testament is precisely the reason why some Christians cannot reconcile the justice and mercy of God, as revealed through Christ. Our understanding of the Gospel is incomplete without both the Old and New Testaments.



"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." -2 Pet 2:1


 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." -1 John 4:1