Who we are, not what we are
- Jun 6, 2019
- 2 min read
Think of beaches and we think of sunny summer days; places of family fun, games and relaxation. Seventy five years ago, neither fun and games nor relaxation was the order of the day on five Normandy beaches. Instead, the order of the day was for thousands of Allied soldiers to fight their way up the beach and establish a foothold along the coastline. Just how traumatic this was for many of the American men on Omaha Beach was graphically portrayed in the opening 27 minutes of Stephen Spielberg’s film ‘Saving Private Ryan’.
I am grateful to all those men and women (civilian and military) involved in the struggle against Hitlerism. It has secured a peace in Western Europe which, although fragile at times, has lasted 74 years so far.
The fact remains, however, that in a non-military sense, Europe remains at war with itself. Indeed, individual nations are at war within themselves socially and politically. Zoom out to view the rest of the world and we have seen, and still see, both ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ wars that have their origins in how the Second World War panned out. The Second World War was in direct consequence to how the First World War finished and so this cause and effect goes on as we look back through history to the beginning of time.
Christians believe that God has enacted a plan to interrupt and ultimately halt this vicious cycle seen in history; something humanity is powerless to do. Let me take you to another beach nearly 2000 years ago.
It is at Miletus on the western coast of Turkey. Here we find the Christian preacher and teacher known as the apostle Paul (the man who had the blinding-light experience on the road to Damascus). He is meeting with his friends to bid them farewell and is convinced that he will not ever see them again. There is much sadness and tears. He is determined to leave them with words of sober advice and instruction - not unlike the pep talks generals would have given to the soldiers before they embarked upon the ships to Normandy.
I’ll pick out just three terms that Paul uses when speaking to his friends, because they are foundational to that plan of God which I mentioned: a ) The Gospel of God’s grace, b) repentance towards God and c) faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The good news of God’s grace means that, just as it was the U.S. Government’s will to save Private Ryan from the peril of death in Normandy, so God wills to save individuals from the peril of experiencing death without Him. Private Ryan was saved because of who he was and not what he had done, be it either good or bad. Likewise with the grace of God, it is given irrespective of what we think we merit. If we turn to him (that’s repentance), and trust Jesus to be the supreme commanding officer of our lives, we can discover that God is working to his plan for victory over all destructive forces and that we are on the winning side.