One of my favorite songs is 'Seattle', I think sung by Perry Como. The words go like this:
'The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle.'
'And the hills are green as green in Seattle.'
'Like a beautiful child, growing up, being wild.'
'Full of hopes and full of fears, full of laughter full of tears,
full of dreams to last a year in Seattle.'
Wow. I have always loved that song and now I understand why. If you were to take the song seriously, you would probably want to move out to Seattle (unless you live there already). It appears that skies are always blue there. Green hills. Children running around having fun. No problems it appears. None of the stresses of life appear in that song. I want to live like that. I have often wondered if it were really like that living in Seattle!
Well, reality is that that song does not portray reality in a fallen world, which we live in. The skies aren't always blue. Sometimes it rains hard and people get into accidents. People get sick. Children die. Life is really hard. Why is there such a disconnect between reality and that song?
The reason has to do with an event that happened in the Garden of Eden, around 6000 years ago. God created man in His own image. He gave them a beautiful world, probably much like Seattle is portrayed in the song. God already warned Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. But when the serpent (Satan) questioned the goodness of God and threw questions at Eve to cause her to doubt God's goodness, she listened to the serpent and ate the fruit and gave some to Adam as well. They went and hid from God but God found them. They tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, but God covered them with an animal skin. God also told what would happen to them, because of what they did. They were banned from the Garden, and God put the earth under a curse. The earth will stay in this fallen state until the time of the renewal. Throughout History, we see wars, plagues, families breaking up, decomposition, strife, and a multitude of other bad things going on around us continually. From the time of Eve's disobedience until today, we see continual hardships and suffering. Even the earth is suffering from the curse.
As I take this Human Personality class, I am learning that man was created in God's image and bears that image, but the image has been distorted because of the fall. How will God deliver us? Can we get out of this mess? The world we live in is nothing like the Seattle in the song with the same name. What a deception and disappointment!
Well, God did do something and we will be restored. 2000 years ago, God sent His Son to come to our darkened world and rescue us. He did it by dying on the Cross for us. He died for our sins, but He also died so we could be restored to God. He is going to come back one day and receive us into heaven. He also will bring restoration to the earth. The Bible says that He will make all things new. He will make a new heaven and earth. No more wars! No more mental problems! No more divorces! No more children becoming slaves of pornography! God has the answer for all of this. We can experience a genuine relationship with Him now, and in the life to come, we will have eternal life. Only then will life resemble what the song indicates Seattle is like. Only the next life will even be better!
For more information on the Gospel, go to the blog page here: www.thegospelconversation.blogspot.com
Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions or want to learn more about eternity and the Gospel. awestruck@bellsouth.net
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