You can’t build models for very long before you realize that kits can vary in quality. Right now, I’m building a kit given to me by my dear brothers in Christ on the Agape Forums, a 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire Mk. IX. It is a magnificent kit. The fit of the parts is simply amazing. Everything just goes together right. No fuss or worries.
If only they were all that way.
Yet I know that such a kit is the exception. Most kits have some issues that must be dealt with. Some are minor- filling a gap here and there, sanding a seam, adding a bit of detail. A few kits can present challenges that make many modelers simply put them aside, or never even start them after reading reviews, or simply looking in the box. The scope of problems that you can encounter with model kits is long. And many people have come up with great solutions for working around those problems. Modeling is often, I think, not the quest to build the next kit, but to solve the next problem.
Thankfully, life is not so complicated.
You may be asking yourself “How can anyone make that assertion? There is war and starvation and poverty and cruelty. Theft and crime and hatred. Child abuse, parent abuse, drug abuse. The list of problems is almost endless.”
I agree, those are monumental problems, certainly. Yet they are really just symptoms. You see, there is only one real problem in the world today.
That singular problem is sin.
God has given us His word, telling us how to live in accordance with His righteousness. Doing otherwise is defined as sin. When we sin, we rebel against God, and live outside His purposes. It’s such a serious problem that even one sin will bar us from entering into His presence when we die. Though He desires to have relationship with us eternally, a single sin disqualifies us from being in His presence (Revelation 21:27), leaving only one alternative, a place of eternal separation from God called Hell.
Now, to briefly touch on our modeling analogy, wouldn’t it be nice if a company came along and created one product that solved all modeling problems? Maybe they’d call it Mr. Fix-It. Have a quarter-inch gap at the wing root? Apply Mr. Fix-it. Lacking detail in the cockpit? Apply Mr. Fix-It. Cowl shape wrong? Apply Mr. Fix-It.
Of course, no such product exists. And in the analogy, we’re really only talking about a hobby.
But sin effects your life- your eternal life. You see, when we die, we don’t just disappear, or go away. God has given us a soul, one that will live eternally, regardless of whether we want it to or not. The only two options are, to put it mildly, smoking or non-smoking.
We face many problems in life. But really, the only one that matters, is sin. Everything else is just a symptom of that. Sometimes our sins effect us directly. Other times the sins of others may impact single people, or the whole world.
Thankfully, God has provided a single way to deal with our sin.
His name is Jesus Christ.
You see, God knew that man’s efforts to rectify this sin problem, to atone for his wrongdoings, would be inadequate. And in His infinite love for us, God sent His Son Jesus to live among us, fully man and fully God, to ultimately die for our sins. When He was nailed ot that cross, Jesus took on the penalty for all of our sins, once and for, to pay the price. And when He rose from the grave, the chains that bound us to sin were broken, once and for all. We no longer had to stand for our own wrongdoings. Christ offers to stand in our place. In fact, He has already died- paid the price- for your sins. But that gift is not automatic. We must turn from sin and self and turn to Jesus as Lord.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to click on the link at the top of the page labeled “Becoming A Christian”. Making Jesus the Lord of your life does not mean that you won’t have be effected by sin anymore- we still live in this world. But it will resolve the only problem that can follow us after death- the question God will ask when we stand before Him- “Was there a time in your life when you accepted my Son as Lord and Savior?” No amount of your own works will do. Pleading ignorance will not be acceptable. Only accepting Jesus as Savior in this life will be acceptable before God in that day.
And if you are already a believer, I encourage you to focus on the real problem in the world today- sin. Don’t let the symptoms discourage you. Those are temporary, and will soon pass away. What will change this world- and the next- is sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone. That is our mission given to us as belivers by Christ.
Matthew 28
18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
When someone asks “You know what’s wrong with the world today?”, simply tell them “Yes, I do, actually. And the only solution is Jesus Christ.”