Welcome to Mr. Applegate’s Economics 101 class. Please make your way to your seats, power down your Blackberries, and focus your attention on me for the next few minutes. The objective of this mini-class is to explain the Economic Stimulus plan to you in simple, layman’s terms and give you something to bring home from today’s class to think about. At the risk of being accused of hyperbole, the rest of your life and beyond depends on your understanding of this concept. Allow me to begin.
We are in debt up to our chins. Debt, interest on the debt, and new debt arrives daily. Every man, woman, and child contributes, in a real and personal way, to this debt. We, as individuals, have no real possibility of being able to pay off even the interest of this debt. Foreclosure or default has tremendous, long-term consequences. Everything we do, whether good or bad in intention, fails to do anything to solve the problem of this economic albatross wrapped around our neck. Attempting to repay our broken economic system with these minimal efforts is like trying to dig in the couch for college tuition funds. Yum...I found a pretzel, but no $50,000! What is the answer to this dilemma? Work harder? Maybe if we worked as hard as we could and applied all of our resources to the p
roblem. Two problems...the debt is growing faster than we earn our payoff and all we pull from the couch is snack foods. Wait...wait I found a gummy snake! Delicious. If only we had someone with the ability to cancel our debt or pay it off. It’s obvious my gummy snake and pretzel, while quite yummy, have no hope of achieving the desired goal. What on Earth can we do?
Before I answer the economic woes of our country, allow me to transition this scenario into your living room. Romans 2:5 (ESV) says “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Romans 3:23(KJV) says “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” And Romans 6:23a (NASB) states clearly “For the wages of sin is death”. We have an economic crisis of the heart. We owe God more than we could ever dream of paying off, and He is not happy about it. “But God is a God of Love. He could never be mad!” you might say. Alas, He is a God of Love and a God of Justice. For God to love, he must be just. He must punish the wrong doing and collect the debt the wages of sin have earned. If a judge let go murderers and thieves, he would certainly not be called loving or just, except possibly by the lucky crooks that he let go.
I have much more than gummy snakes in my couch, you might proclaim. I have much of value to offer. I am a good person who gives to the United Way and volunteers at the library.
roblem. Two problems...the debt is growing faster than we earn our payoff and all we pull from the couch is snack foods. Wait...wait I found a gummy snake! Delicious. If only we had someone with the ability to cancel our debt or pay it off. It’s obvious my gummy snake and pretzel, while quite yummy, have no hope of achieving the desired goal. What on Earth can we do?Before I answer the economic woes of our country, allow me to transition this scenario into your living room. Romans 2:5 (ESV) says “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Romans 3:23(KJV) says “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” And Romans 6:23a (NASB) states clearly “For the wages of sin is death”. We have an economic crisis of the heart. We owe God more than we could ever dream of paying off, and He is not happy about it. “But God is a God of Love. He could never be mad!” you might say. Alas, He is a God of Love and a God of Justice. For God to love, he must be just. He must punish the wrong doing and collect the debt the wages of sin have earned. If a judge let go murderers and thieves, he would certainly not be called loving or just, except possibly by the lucky crooks that he let go.
I have much more than gummy snakes in my couch, you might proclaim. I have much of value to offer. I am a good person who gives to the United Way and volunteers at the library.
Isaiah valuates our individual good works saying in Isaiah 64:6 (KJV) “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (FYI... “filthy rags” in this context references an ancient feminine hygiene product, for lack of a better term.). Not only do these not pay off our debt, they offend the creditor. But if someone paid our debt the problem would be solved.
Enter Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a sinless life and died on a Roman cross as a substitute for the sin debt we have racked up and rose again on Easter Sunday. We are given His righteousness (right standing/ free and clear account) in exchange for the financial mess we made of our life. What an amazing God. All that is required to acquire this debt forgiveness is to turn from sin (repent) and trust Jesus Christ, not our own goodness or works, as our debt payer. What an amazing offer. What an amazing God!
How do I fix the economy you ask? Here’s the deal. I have a little confession to make. I am not an economics professor. I just play one in the column. I, frankly, have no clue how to fix the economy. That being said, I must believe the same God that created the world, forgave my sins, and sustains every atom of the universe, can handle the economy. I am likely at least as broke as you and only have fuzzy couch pretzels too. However, I fully trust that God will grow my character through this economic morass we live in today. His promise in Romans 8:28 (ESV) saying “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” applies to my family. Pray for our individual and collective financial well-being, and trust the only one that can really help anyway. Class adjourned.
Enter Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a sinless life and died on a Roman cross as a substitute for the sin debt we have racked up and rose again on Easter Sunday. We are given His righteousness (right standing/ free and clear account) in exchange for the financial mess we made of our life. What an amazing God. All that is required to acquire this debt forgiveness is to turn from sin (repent) and trust Jesus Christ, not our own goodness or works, as our debt payer. What an amazing offer. What an amazing God!
How do I fix the economy you ask? Here’s the deal. I have a little confession to make. I am not an economics professor. I just play one in the column. I, frankly, have no clue how to fix the economy. That being said, I must believe the same God that created the world, forgave my sins, and sustains every atom of the universe, can handle the economy. I am likely at least as broke as you and only have fuzzy couch pretzels too. However, I fully trust that God will grow my character through this economic morass we live in today. His promise in Romans 8:28 (ESV) saying “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” applies to my family. Pray for our individual and collective financial well-being, and trust the only one that can really help anyway. Class adjourned.
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