Not as It Should Be

Elizabeth continues to teach me so many things. On Monday, we went to the doctor for her 2-month check-up. As it turns out, this is the time when they induce your baby to swallow a live virus and then introduce your baby to shots with a needle that seems far too long!

I don't think I will ever forget Elizabeth's cry this past Monday morning. It was unlike any cry she had during her first two months. The "hey I'm sleepy" cry and the "hey I'm hungry cry" were actually pretty subdued, pretty calm . . . not this cry. This was a cry of sheer pain and terror and confusion. In that moment, I think I experienced the most vivid illustration of the deleterious effects of sin that I've ever witnessed. For two months, Elizabeth had been jolly and full of life, but, on Monday, she learned that this world is not as it should be. In this world, there is pain . . . there is terror . . . there is confusion.

Why must my precious daughter have a virus pumped into her mouth and piercing needles driven into her thighs?

They do this because of sin. Yes, that's right . . . sin. Had Adam and Eve forsook sin long enough to have a baby in the Garden, we would read nothing about a regimen of shots for their baby. We would read nothing about sickness. There would be no sickness at all.

But sin, you see, is far more devastating than we first imagine. It's venom surprises us and reaches farther than we acknowledge. It doesn't just twist up our souls; it twists up creation. We are fallen until Christ redeems us, and creation is too - for creation is anxiously awaiting the day of Christ's return when it will be "set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Rom 8:21).

Until that day, believers continue to live in the midst of a corrupted creation - a creation which still declares the glory of God but also poses innumerable dangers.

Elizabeth took a live virus into herself and then took the piercing needles in her thighs to kill its power over her. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and then took the piercing spikes to kill its power over those who trust in Him. One day, Jesus will return to cast sin and death into the everlasting Lake of Fire and gather together only those who have trusted in Him. At that moment, sin and death will have no power over the children of God, and the creation will again be free of the corruption of sin. The world is not as it should be, but it will be when our conquering King and Savior returns.

There will be no shots in heaven, only shouts of "Worthy is the Lamb!" as we forever consider the grace He extended to us in His nail-scarred hands.

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus. Amen.