What is the most important thing to come out a mine?
Some might say gold, others silver and still others diamonds.
The most important thing to come out of a mine is…the miner.
Prior to the Cross of Christ and the rise of Christianity, human life was considered expendable.
Let’s look…
1. Children:
Infanticide and child abandonment were common practices in the ancient world. The reasons for abandonment were many while infanticide was a convenient way to eliminate deformed or maimed children. In some cases, children were sold to pay family debts. Those societies that worshiped Baal or the many Baal variations – such as Kronos in Carthage, engaged in the sacrifice of children. It was the Romans, however, that established a series of laws regarding abandonment.
Pre-Roman societies regularly practiced infanticide. In Sparta, the community leaders, called Ephors, inspected newborns for defects. Unwanted females and males with obvious defects were flung into a ravine. The Egyptians also practiced infanticide, leaving the unwanted newborn at the village dump.
http://michael-streich.suite101.com/abandonment-infanticide-in-ancient-times-a119201#ixzz1du5uPQgD
If you made it past infancy you became property of your father, who could kill you, sell divorce you or sell your property, any time he wanted. Killing a Roman citizen was illegal but killing a child was an act of beauty.
Then came Jesus who said in Matthew 19: 14 “But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven”
Because of sin we have been abandoned BUT because of Calvary, because of the Cross of Jesus we can be adopted.
Gal. 4: 4-7 “4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
2. Women:
Women have, during ancient times were considered the property of their husbands.
Aristotle said that women were somewhere between a slave and a freeman.
Plato taught that if a man lived a cowardly life, he would be reincarnated as a woman.
If this reincarnated woman lived a cowardly life, she would be reincarnated as a bird.
In India, prior to the influence of Christianity widows were, voluntarily or involuntarily burned on their husbands funeral fire. This was an act of what is called Suttee.
Then came Jesus and when a woman was brought to Him, who had been caught “in the very act” of adultery.
John 8“4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. ”
The men around Him were set and ready to stone her but Jesus had other plans.
John 8:6-11“6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have [something] of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with [His] finger, as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."
8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 Then those who heard [it], being convicted by [their] conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest [even] to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
I have always wondered what happened to the man she was caught with…I guess he got away.
3. The Elderly:
In days of old, Eskimos would put their elderly on ice flows to die. We have something we call “Granny Dumping” where a person drops an elderly person off at a hospital and leave them there.
Kay Ward is one of our members, who spends time at a local Nursing Home. She is a hair dresser and helps the men and women with keeping their hair looking good. She often asks for prayer for some of the residents whose children have left them in the care of “Laurel Gardens” never to return.
4. Then Came the Cross:
Jesus was born to a peasant women in a humble village. He grew up working in a carpenter’s shop until the age of 30, when He became a traveling preacher.
He had a book signing, from any books He wrote. He never got elected to the office of Mayor. Never had a wife and never owned a home of His own. He never received a degree from Jerusalem U. When He was 33 things began to change, when those He preached to, turned on Him. His friends abandoned Him and one even denied. He was turned over to His enemies and forced to go through a mock trial. Afterward He was nailed to a cross, between two thieves. He watched His accusers gamble for the only thing He owned in this world… His clothes. When He died some friends had to borrow a tomb in which to bury Him.
Three days later His tomb was found empty and He was proved to be alive. Some 2000 years later He is still changing the lives of people who come to Him.
There is not a military force or government ever known that has effected the lives of people as much as He has.
He came as He did… Died like He did…all because He cares more for you than anyone ever will.
If you have never come to Calvary and received the life changing Power of Jesus, I challenge you to come…Let the cross change your world forever more…
