CHRISTMAS MEANS PUTTING THE PIECES BACK TOGETHER

12/9/84

CHRISTMAS MEANS PUTTING THE PIECES BACK TOGETHER
II Corinthians 5: 17 - 21

JESUS CHRIST came to earth for a purpose. He came to help us put
together in the right order the broken pieces of shattered
lives. He came that we might have new life, abundant life, life
full of meaning.
He saw the spiritual condition as illustrated by an altar in the
great cathedral at Mariazell, Austria. At the foot of the cross
is a large silver globe. As a depiction of the earth, all
continents can be seen outlined. The unique feature is a serpent
encircling the earth. It pictures the world as being in the grip
of sin.
This sin has robbed individuals of God's intended peace and joy.
It has disrupted relationships between friends. Homes have been
broken by it. Nations are set against nations because of it.
Man's inhumanity to man is a consequence. Sin has separated us
and God. It forms a barrier between us and God. Many people seek
for a solution and hunger for a sense of being right with self
and God. Society offers its solutions such as alcohol, drugs,
promiscuity, brutality, and withdrawal. The result is mirrored
in frightening statistics. Last year in America 30,000 people
reached a point of total frustration and committed suicide. Of
these 6,500 were adolescents. The actual number many have been
higher because suicides often appear to be accidents.
The encircling grip of sin dramatically affects lives. During
World War II a condition existed in Nazi prison camps for which
French doctors coined a name. It was called "barbed
wiresickness". A principle symptom was an appalling sense of
futility an ...

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