SF830 - WHERE WAS GOD ON TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 1999 - Lessons From The Littleton Tragedy (Psalm 22 1)
Psalm 22:1
Introduction
The events of Tuesday, April 20, 1999 at the Columbine High School in Littleton, CO have left an entire nation in shock.
Two young men driven by anger and hatred entered their High School and begin to systematically kill students and faculty members.
In what is being called a suicide mission[1], they murder thirteen classmates and one teacher before turning their guns on themselves.
In addition to firing hundreds of rounds of ammunition inside the school, these boys had planted numerous homemade bombs in and around the school in an apparent attempt to destroy the school.
This tragedy has left students, teachers, parents, law enforcement officials, and regular citizen shaking their heads in disbelief. It has sent shock waves across every city and town in America. Experts have scrambled to explain why this happened and to offer solutions to keep it from happening again.
Everything from peer pressure to video games to lack of gun control has been cited as reasons for this horrendous crime. Solutions include the posting of armed guards at our schools to the elimination of the right to bear arms.
It is time for a Word from God. What does God have to say?
Where was and is God during these times?
Three important lessons we need to learn from this tragedy…
1A. The Unbelievable Magnitude of Our Sin
We have asked why did this happen?
1B. We are all sinners.
1 Kings 8:46 (NKJV) 46“… there is no one who does not sin…”
Psalm 14:1 (NKJV) 1…There is none who does good.
Romans 3:10 (NKJV) 10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
2B. We are all sinners from birth.
Psalm 58:3 (NKJV) 3The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Psalm 51:5 (NKJV) 5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
3B. We are all sinners by choice.
Psalm 53:3 (NKJV) 3Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
Genesis 6:5 (NKJV) 5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
4B. We are all sinners by practice.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV) 19Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Left to our own there is no sin we are not capable of committing.
2A. The Undeniable Consequences of Our Sin
We have asked why were the innocent hurt.
1B. We are all personally responsible for our sin.
Ezekiel 18:20 (NKJV) 20The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
2B. We are all hopelessly ruined by our sin.
Jeremiah 13:23 (NKJV) 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.
Ø We are not as bad as we can be, but Sin has contaminated our entire being.
3B. We are all eternally doomed by our sin.
Ezekiel 18:4 (NKJV) 4“Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.
Romans 6:23 (NKJV) 23For the wages of sin is death…
Revelation 21:8 (NKJV) 8But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
4B. We are all affected by the sin of others.
Exodus 34:7 (NKJV) 7… visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
3A. The Unexpected Remedy For Our Sin
We have asked what can be done.
Romans 5:6, 8(NKJV) 6For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…. 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1B. Christ has borne the penalty for our sin
1 John 2:2 (NKJV) 2And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
1 Peter 3:18 (NKJV) 18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NKJV) 3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
2B. Christ has broken the power of our sin
Romans 6:22 (NKJV) 22But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
Application
Where was God on Tuesday afternoon?
The same place He was on that faithful afternoon 2000 years ago when the only completely innocent man to ever live died.
He was redeeming a lost world.
WHERE WAS GOD ON TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 1999
Sunday, April 25, 1999 - Psalm 22:1
1A. The Unbelievable Magnitude of Our _________
1B. We are all _______________________.
1 Kings 8:46 (NKJV) 46“… there is no one who does not sin…”
Psalm 14:1 (NKJV) 1…There is none who does good.
2B. We are all ______________________ from birth.
Psalm 58:3 (NKJV) 3The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Psalm 51:5 (NKJV) 5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
3B. We are all ____________________ by choice.
Psalm 53:3 (NKJV) 3Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt….
Genesis 6:5 (NKJV) 5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
4B. We are all ______________________ by practice.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV) 19Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
2A. The Undeniable Consequences of Our ________
1B. We are all personally responsible for our _______.
Ezekiel 18:20 (NKJV) 20The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
2B. We are all hopelessly ruined by our __________.
Jeremiah 13:23 (NKJV) 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.
3B. We are all eternally doomed by our ___________.
Revelation 21:8 (NKJV) 8But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
4B. We are all affected by the ____________ of others.
Exodus 34:7 (NKJV) 7 … visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
3A. The Unexpected Remedy For Our ___________.
1B. Christ has borne the penalty for our ___________.
1 John 2:2 (NKJV) 2And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
1 Peter 3:18 (NKJV) 18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
2B. Christ has broken the power of our ____________.
Romans 6:22 (NKJV) 22But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
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[1] Knoxville News-Sentinel headlines Wednesday, April 21, 1999.