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Categories: The ChurchGreg Haslam | 23-Jun-11
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Eph. 1:1-2)
The Church of Jesus Christ is beyond question God’s greatest idea. The entrance of sin into the world disordered everything. It warped humanity, strained relationships, fragmented community, and robbed mankind of hope. The Gospel is the remedy. The Church is God’s shop-front window display of what he offers freely to all. His ultimate vision is ‘…to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, Jesus Christ.’ (Eph. 1:10) Everything will eventually be under Christ’s benevolent rule again.
Most of mankind believes salvation is a human achievement, or at least a joint effort with God in which we play the major part. Actually, we contribute nothing to our salvation but the sin we need to be saved from. Paul credits our rescue entirely to God – the Triune God of the Bible. Jesus is central to this recovery so we make much of him. Deliverance was achieved in full by his faithful life and saving death on the cross, vindicated by his resurrection and exaltation. One who owed nothing settled debts we could not pay. The result is a new humanity, intimately related and reconciled to God and one another then empowered by his Holy Spirit.
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BBC 1′s Breakfast News on 14th June 2011 discussed Sir Terry Pratchett’s controversial documentary Choosing to Die broadcast the previous night, with its strong promotion of assisted suicide/euthanasia. It featured businessman Peter Smedley, a sufferer with Motor Neurone Disease who died before cameras in the Dignitas clinic, Switzerland. Pratchett, an Alzheimer’s sufferer, eagerly promotes the legalisation of the sufferer’s right to choose when and how they should die. I found his conversation and selected scenes from the program disturbing and sickening. Death holds many fears – What will happen? Who will be there? Will I suffer? Will it involve pain or distress? What lies beyond it? Smedley chose to die prematurely, and others assisted him to do this.