The Paradox Of Size
Anthony had a problem that only two companies could help him solve. He calls them both and set up meetings with each of them. Company A was a renowned multinational corporation. They sent a staff of marketers and salespeople to the meeting. They talked about how great and big the company was, and bragged about whom their clients were – renowned companies from all over the world, and how many years they had been in business, all with an impeccable reputation. This Company A staff even mentioned how well their stock did in the market. They assured Anthony if they would be the best to do this project, because of the resources they had. They sounded very patronizing. Anthony thanked them for coming, and told them he would think about it, and get back to them.
Company B sent one representative. Company was a fairly new company. Being how they were so new, they only had one office, where Anthony lived. The representative explained to Anthony with details the possible reasons for his problem and how he would address each respective problem. Anthony was impressed by this representative’s presentation. However, when asked about follow up service or maintenance they could only do it during normal business hours. Anthony was also disappointed that Company B would not be able to serve other offices of his business in parts of the country. They were too local. However representative B was very down to earth and personable.
Anthony wished that there we a big company, such as A, with the personable touch of Company B. Anthony understood at that moment the paradox of size. The bigger and more global your company is, the smaller and more local it needs to appear; the opposite is also true.
When we read the about Sin in the Bible we may get the impression that it is a problem out there and has nothing to do with us. Sin starts with Satan in Heaven (Revelation 12: 7; Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:15); who knows when. Somehow he ends up here on Earth causing the fall of Adam and Eve – that was six thousand years ago (Genesis 3: 1-7). We also read about the plan of redemption, the prophetic time to establish it, and how God plans to work out this plan. This all may seem distant and not in our time. We thus ask the question, "What does this have to do with me?" All this may be too global – in fact too universal - for us.
Sin is indeed a cosmological problem. If Satan proved God wrong, the whole Universe would be implicated, because God and His principle of Selfless Love drives and controls the Universe. Proving God wrong would have said to all inhabitants of the Cosmos that all they believed in was lies. The Devil could have held claim of the Universe as his own, as He did this earth. Redemption would have been useless and futile, since the Son of God was not the innocent Lamb He proclaimed to be, but instead a fraud.
However, Sin is not only universal problem; it is a local (personal) problem. And, it is very personal, because it is in us. We feel it and deal with it every day. So, if Sin is both universal and personal so should the Gospel. Indeed, to be effective the Gospel necessitates being paradoxical by nature. It has to be universal and personal. How thankful we need to be that God has been vindicated in the redemption plan? Christ’s victory spares the Universe of an overturn of God’s Government, and vindicated God’s name and character for ever (Psalms 51:4; Romans 3:25,26; Revelation 19:2).
The Gospel needs to personal as well as universal because Sin has affected the universe and us. The Gospel needs to personal because it is the only way it will resolve the Sin problem in us. It insures our Salvation. And, indeed the Gospel is very personal. The Gospel enables the presence of the Indwelling Spirit of God in us, which is very personal and individual. It effectively eradicates the Sin problem in us, if we allow it. I pray that we do.
