The Fix Is In
by Jim Kenaston
November 6, 2020

To many it seems clear that shenanigans have been afoot in the 2020 U.S. presidential election (see a listing of allegations here). That said, we live in a fallen world where, historically, people craving political power have been willing to stop at nothing to advance their position or cause. Furthermore, people with a materialistic worldview, where they see no transcendent power beyond this life and themselves, tend to worship and therefore seek political power for their own use as a justifiable end in itself.

 

We understand from the Bible that the problem of human hubris goes back to the Garden of Eden where man first acts to usurp God’s prerogative of defining for him (and her) what is good and what is evil. As has been the case since that time, our attempts to play God for ourselves have always made a hash of what He had created and intended to be good for our thriving as human beings. The consequences of our pride have been witnessed in the carnage we see throughout human history. For all the technological advancement of our era, in ourselves we stand on no better a moral footing than anyone else has in human history, except for one person.

That one was presented for the benefit of all generations, and is woven into the words of the prophets of the Old Testament for all to see and consider. “The Fix” for human pride and its myriad negative consequences is submission to the Incarnate God Himself (the Son), who entered the world over 2000 years ago to live a life in close relationship and obedience to God the Father. It was a life of relationship that each of us is intended to live. (If we are honest with ourselves, we truly crave that relationship, but we invest most of our effort toward filling our lives with other things, sometimes even a political ideology.)

This ultimate “Fix” is one where the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, rejected political power as His means toward bringing about His kingdom here on earth. Rather, His “Fix” was a life of self-sacrifice, and one that led Him to an excruciating death under wrongful human judgment, inflicted by the most powerful government in the world of His time.

In His day, many looked for a political savior to overthrow that worldly government. Jesus had a higher goal in heart and mind, that of overthrowing human bondage to our original sin of seeking to replace the rightful authority of God in our lives.

Was Jesus successful in His bid? Did He overcome the ultimate consequence of human sin and its consequences?  

The proof is in His resurrection from the dead. If there is a God who created the world and sought to redeem it, along with all of humanity who would trust in Him, we have to ask ourselves whether it would be too much for God to raise a man from the dead in order to prove both His justice and His love for the lost (by sending His Son to take the punishment for human sin upon Himself).

In considering this question, we have at our disposal an open record of foreshadowing of this event throughout the Old Testament, and an eye-witness record of followers who were willing to be tortured and killed for their faith in their risen Savior. It is up to us to set aside the distractions of our time in order to consider this larger question, as well as whether Jesus is indeed the first fruit of a new creation.  If so, will we die to our sense of self-interest to follow Him?

But within our immediate context, and for those of us who claim to follow Jesus, it is incumbent upon us to ask how we are to live within a still-corrupt world that continues to look for salvation in political power and various forms of human ingenuity and scheming. How are we to “pick up our cross and follow Him” during our era?

Jesus Himself tells us that we are to be salt and light in this world. He does not tell us to try to advance His kingdom through political power or other coercive means. Rather, we as His followers are to die to ourselves and our own self-interest in favor of a life of sacrificial service to others.

It is hard to live out that mandate in the wake of what seem to be the corrupt political dealings of our time, yet this is what we are called to do, and for God’s higher purposes, far beyond what we can see from our rather limited political perspectives.

It may be that our generation needs to live with the consequences of our collective choices for a longer time before coming to a genuine repentance before God. It may also be that this generation will ultimately serve as a signpost for a remnant of faithfulness that will eventually follow us.

The bottom line, though, is that “The Fix” for our larger problem of human sin was put in long ago. It is up to us to live accordingly, and in faithfulness before the One who made that fix possible, and in loving service to those He brings into our lives, wherever they fall on the political spectrum.

[Articles by others here.]