THE third anniversary of the war is just behind us - the bloodiest, cruelest anniversary this world has ever seen. God alone knows whether there shall be a fourth anniversary, or a fifth, or a tenth, or which of us shall live to see it. And so, to you brave and bloody defenders of Russia, to you fierce fighters of China, to you warriors of Britain, to you our own American compatriots, we send a greeting on this anniversary. We wish to bring you a message of good cheer and of hope. May your efforts and ours in resisting aggression and tyranny be crowned with success to the establishment of justice and peace!
There is, however, only one message of cheer and hope about whose ultimate issues we can be quite certain. It is the message of God's grace to men lost in sin and, because lost in sin, lost also in the bewildering mysteries of life and death.
Have you ever asked yourself the questions, “What is the meaning of this life?” “Whence came I?” “Why am I here?” and "What will happen after death?" Of course you have asked these questions. It is only natural that you should have done so. But, what is more important, have you been able to answer them satisfactorily? Or, do you despair of ever knowing their correct answers?
These questions can be answered, and they can be answered correctly. You yourself, however, in your own strength, cannot answer them correctly, nor can your friends nor any other mere man. The only one who can give an authoritative answer is the One who made you and me and every other creature.
The One who has made us is God. He has told us this fact in His holy Word, the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). God brought this world into existence from nothing and, as He created it, it was good. "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).
“But”, you say, "the world in which I live is not very good. Everywhere I see unhappiness, sickness, suffering, sorrow, selfishness and greed. The world in which I live is not very good.” You are right. The world today is not very good; it is very bad. Something has happened since God said that the world which He had created was “very good.” Unhappiness, misery and death have appeared.
If you should ask how and why they have appeared, you would find the answer in the fact that they are the result of the entrance of sin into the world. When sin came, it brought with it untold evils. It is because of sin that there is war, sickness, sadness, unhappiness and death.
What, then, is this evil thing called sin? Sin is disobedience to the law of the Creator. Since God has made man, He alone has the right to tell men what is right and what is wrong. When we disobey Him, we sin. “Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4).
Sin is an insult to God. And yet all men, everywhere, including you and me, have sinned. We have sinned in our forefather, Adam, and every day, in our words and deeds and thoughts, we sin constantly. The Bible says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“But”, you may ask, “why is this fact so serious?” We have already indicated that to sin is to rebel against our loving Creator, and it is that which you and I have done. We are rebels against the holy One who made us. Furthermore, sin involves guilt before God. It means that we who have sinned will be brought before God in judgment, and that God, the just Judge, will find us guilty. He will justly blame us for sinning and He will justly condemn us. For one thus condemned of God, there abides only everlasting punishment.
Sin also involves the inward pollution of our hearts. Hence, because our hearts are sinful, all that we say and think is mingled with sin and cannot please God. It is from this inward corruption of our hearts—your heart and mine—that the miseries of this life flow. Hence, we find ourselves in a world of evil. Bitterness, hatred, enmity, jealousy, anger, evil passions, theft, murder, adultery, drunkenness are about us on every hand. And this life of evil is crowned with death.
Furthermore, there is absolutely nothing that you and I can do to right ourselves with God and to remove from ourselves the burden of sin. Good works, prayers, alms—these are of no avail. There is only One who can deliver us and that is the One who has made us—God Himself.
And here is good news. God has loved this sinful world and provided a way of deliverance!
If we have sinned, we must die eternally. If there is to be remission of sin, a sacrifice must be offered—a life must be taken. And there is only one sacrifice in the world that will remove sin. That sacrifice was provided by God Himself. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice for sinners. This sacrifice He offered upon the cross of Calvary, where He shed His own most holy, precious blood to pay the debt of sin and to make satisfaction for that debt. The burden of sin, which rested upon His people, He took upon Himself and bore it upon the cross.
Therefore, the only way of deliverance and escape, the only hope of salvation, is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).
How may this salvation be received? It may be received through faith and through faith alone. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). Believe on Him! Come to Him! Rely upon Him alone for your salvation! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
We cannot bring you news of the defeat of the Axis tyrant, nor of the victory toward which you so valiantly strive. But we can bring you news of the triumph of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, over all the forces of sin and death—of His eternal victory over that which kills not only the body but also the soul.
This is our greeting to you on this grim day of anniversary. Our God is mighty—mightier than all the forces of all the nations of all the world. In Him alone is your hope for peace—eternal peace; in Him alone is the only hope of a dying world.