THE TRUE PERFECT STORM

In view of the "superstorm" that has hit America's Northeast, my already composed message on the meaning of Halloween seemed rather hollow (pardon the pun). So I am starting over with a new direction.

Whenever nature unleashes its power and destruction anywhere in the world, it should make all of us pause to reflect. Carol and I this morning were talking over breakfast in our safe, dry, warm home about the value of living in the middle of our great nation rather than on its coasts.

We know that storms and other natural problems can affect us anywhere, but the idea of a "superstorm" is interesting. Some have called it a "perfect storm," although that adjective seems misleading, considering all the damage and loss of life. "Perfect" leads one to think of goodness, not destruction. One doesn't think of a "perfect death" or "perfect illness." So "superstorm" seems more appropriate than "perfect storm." 

(By the way, my SpellCheck keeps changing it to "superstore." Evidently it doesn't think a storm could be super.) Whatever we call it, the notion is that when several powerful and evil entities come together, their power is increased and greater devastation results. 

If this is true, then Good Friday should be considered the greatest "Superstorm" of all times. On that day, all of the sin, pollution and evil means of human devastation Satan tried to inflict on us met together on Mt. Calvary, all falling on the person of Jesus Christ. 

Holy Scripture tells us when all this evil was placed on Him, that He died, willingly giving up His life on our behalf. There was darkness for several hours, and an earthquake, causing the temple curtain, perhaps two to four inches thick, to tear in half from top to bottom.

Just at the moment when the perfect little white lamb was being sacrificed in the Temple for the sins of the Jewish people, the Perfect Savior of the World was sacrificing Himself on Calvary for the sins of the people of the whole world. 

Satan must have thought he had won, that he had crushed the Holy One of God. But he was badly mistaken. The outcome of Calvary's divine "Superstorm" was victory for all believers of all times who trust that Jesus gave His life for us, "That whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life." (John 3:16). 

The winners of Calvary's "Superstorm" are you and me and all believers in Christ. Because of Him, we come through the storms of life, battered but not defeated, bruised but not drowned. We are the "Super Winners."

Praise be to God who brings us out of natural death and into eternal life.