Articles
Confused
I’ve been amazed at some of the comments about Fidel Castro after his recent death. He has been represented by some as a hero, one who was worthy of honor. Maybe I have it wrong. I thought the man was a ruthless dictator, much in the fashion of other ruthless dictators that have come and gone. Cuba was at one time a beautiful and thriving country but has been reduced to poverty due to his rule.
This article is not about Castro, but it did get me thinking, “If Satan died would people praise him for all that he has done?” From a purely carnal point of view, think of how he has enabled man to live unrestrained. He has made evil good and respectable. He has enabled man to pursue any pleasure he ever wanted with impunity. He allows man to live in luxury, without guilt for how he may have achieved it. So, if Satan died, would he be praised?
On the other hand I thought, “If God died would anybody really be that upset?” Would He be railed against for how He restrained man? How he defined marriage as between one man and one woman? How He spoke against the abomination of man sleeping with man and woman with woman? How He created men to be men and women to be women? How He tells man to love his neighbor as himself? How He tells man to work with his own hands to give to those who are in need? If God died would anybody really be that upset? Would people rejoice now that God is dead there is no one to whom man is accountable–except for his own desires?
Well, the truth is Satan is alive and thriving. And God is alive and still sovereign. Man has the choice before whom he will bow. Satan promises in gold but pays with fool’s gold. He is always counterfeit. His power is in soliciting and seducing. He is good at what he does. On the other hand, man can choose to bow before God. He woos man with His love and fear of judgment. He appeals not to man’s flesh but his heart. He pleads and warns. He wants man who will choose to love Him, not by coercion but freely and willingly.
Man can call evil good but evil is still evil. God is good and He sets the boundaries. Man can praise the evil and ruthless today while he rails against God, but there is a day coming in which man will bow, not willingly but by constraint (Phil. 2:9-11). No, Castro and men like him are not good men. They are evil. Sadly, they are glossed over in death. God is not evil. He is the essence of good. He always lifts man to higher ground.
