Sin has affected the world. Even so, God has not forsaken it, just like He has not forsaken us because of our sin. His redeeming work in and over this world has a transforming effect on all aspects of our fallen domain. God was pleased to dwell in Christ "and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through His blood; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven" (Col. 1:20). We learn through Scripture that "whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith" (1 John 5:4). "The Christian's responsibility on earth is to transform the world that ‘thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven' (Matt. 6:10)."
Because God is the One who brought "heaven and earth" into existence and "upholds all things by the word of His power" (Heb. 1:3), this alone should be enough to convince all Christians who recite the opening line to the Apostles' Creed that this world should count for something. While evil may exist in this world because of sin, the world in and of itself is not evil. "Whatsoever is evil, is not so by the Creator's action, but by the creature's defection." We should be skeptical of any theology that defames any part of God's good creation. "There is no nature originally sinful, no substance in itself evil, no being, therefore, which may not come from the same fountain of goodness."
Redemption restores both man and creation in Christ. Early in his ministry, Peter failed to understand the gospel's comprehensive cleansing effects. He could not believe the Gentiles were "clean," even through Christ's redemptive work. In time he realized that "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy" (Acts 10:15; cf. Matt. 15:11; Rom. 14:14, 20). The fall did not nullify God's pronouncement that the created order "was very good" (Gen. 1:31), because the Bible looked forward to what the renewing work of Jesus Christ would bring about: "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. 4:4-5).
Scripture is our guide as we deal with the world and not the two-dimensional worldviews of secularism, pietism, or escapism. God "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14) in this world! We, as Christ's disciples, are to carry out His mission in the world. Jesus worked in his earthly father's shop as a carpenter, affirming the goodness of the created order and the value of physical labor. We are called on to perform a similar task in the calling that God has for us and our posterity.
http://www.americanvision.org/article/is-christmas-a-celebration-of-losing/
Chuck Norris' take.. http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84210
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