Figure 1.
The truth is that I could very well have written a very similar NYT Opinion piece had not the Lord Jesus intervened in my life, saved me from my sins, and given me a new life. I recall with regret from high school how my friends and I teased one student to the point of mockery because we all knew that he was a true Evangelical Christian. To this day, I am still affected by those memories and recall how perplexed I was by his unaccountably kind responses to us—even though I could see the pain on his face. We responded to his kindness with an irrational resentment.
Around the same period, I heard a radio program called Science, Scripture, and Salvation. I’m embarrassed to say that I laughed at the speaker and said that he knew nothing about science and was making Christians look like ignorant bumpkins. That speaker was Dr. Henry Morris, the Founder of the ministry I work for today. I now know that it was me who was woefully ignorant of the science that I presumed to speak about with unwarranted confidence. In retrospect, I see that it was the fact that Dr. Morris used science to imply that my worldview was scientifically incorrect and morally misguided that I took as highly offensive. Out of pride, I responded with bitterly angry words. So, who am I to fume over Katherine Stewart’s words? That I can identify with her makes her easier to love…and I know what she needs to hear.
If I could talk with her, I would say that I know from experience that malice and pride and such feeling are sins that will be judged by the Lord Jesus, “for the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.”2 It is not that Ms. Stewart needs Jesus to overcome loneliness, desperation, or despair, but she needs Him to save her from her sins.3 The Bible points to a painfully obvious characteristic of humanity that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,”4 adding that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”5 “for the wages of sin is death.”6 A friend loved me enough to let me know that because of my sins I was facing an awful punishment. I would try to get Ms. Stewart to see the same for herself.
The good news is that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”6 How can that be? Well, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”7 Jesus died on the cross for all our sins and unquestionably rose from the dead. The certainty of this promised salvation is expressed in Jesus’ inviting words, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”8 I wanted that life and simply believed in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was supernaturally changed. The Lord Jesus’ promise that “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” is true in my life.9 In love, I say to Ms. Stewart, come to Christ today10 and He will give you life.11
References
1. Stewart, K. The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response. The New York Times. Posted on nytimes.com March 27, 2020, accessed March 30, 2020.
2. John 5:22.
3. Mathew 1:21.
4. Romans 3:23.
5. Hebrews 10:31.
6. Romans 6:23.
7. John 3:16.
8. John 5:24.
9. John 10:10.
10. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
11. “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
*Randy Guliuzza is ICR’s National Representative. He earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Minnesota, his Master of Public Health from Harvard University, and served in the U.S. Air Force as 28th Bomb Wing Flight Surgeon and Chief of Aerospace Medicine. Dr. Guliuzza is also a registered Professional Engineer.
