How is God like a U.S. Marine?I have a riddle for you: How is God like a U.S. Marine? This page is in honor of Paul. Paul is a friend of mine, who will let anyone know that he is a Marine – it goes with the territory; Marines know that they are the best, and are not afraid to tell people that. Paul is currently in battle – this time against cancer. Considering the Marine attitude, he has no consideration that he might not win – that is not the Marine way! Update – on Wednesday, 29 October 2014, Marine Paul won his battle with cancer! He is now, and will forever be, totally cancer free. Paul has gone PCS (Permanent Change of Station,) and is now in the presence of his Ever Faithful, Supreme Commander, King Jehovah.
The motto of the U.S. Marine Corp, is Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for “Ever Faithful” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semper_fidelis.) In other words, when you really need the best, the Marines will never let you down. Another aspect of this ever faithful attitude, is that Marines are never to leave a fallen comrade – “Everyone comes home.” When I was in the Air Force, we were in a bit of awe of the Marines. We ridiculed them, of course - sibling rivalry! We called them “grunts” and other names. But we knew that when the chips were down, and we were in a really bad place, and the bullets were flying thick and heavy, a company of Marines was what we wished for to get us out. Even to this day, when I watch the unrest overseas, I wish for Marines to move in and “do the cleansing work of God.” Many years ago, before the first Marine walked the land (yes, I know that Marines say that the Corp was created on the eighth day, but really - the U.S. did not even come about until long after this story,) someone proved Himself to be “ever faithful.” When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, and Adam failed to protect his wife, and she fell to temptation, God did not wipe them out for turning away from Him (in the book of Genesis, chapter 3.) In pronouncing the curse on them, He foretold His plans for the ultimate defeat of sin; He told Satan that Eve’s seed would bruise his head (defeat him.) As an aside, women do not have seeds, they have eggs, which are fertilized by a man’s seed – God was predicting the virgin birth, even back then. After Adam sinned, God took an animal and killed it so that He could use it’s skin to cover Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21.) Since then, God has told us that only blood can cover sin (like the animal that had to give up it’s blood to provide the skin to cover Adam and Eve.) – In the book of Leviticus, God says: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11) In His description of the first murder in history, God records that after confronting the murderer (Cain) over his brother’s murder, God protected Cain, by placing a mark on him (also in the book of Genesis, in the 15th verse of chapter 4.) God said, in essence, through His mark, “look buddy, if you mess with Cain, you will answer to Me.” Only someone who is truly faithful, could show that kind of love, and dedication, to the “bad guy” in the story – remember, Cain had just committed the first murder in all of history. Throughout history, God showed His faithfulness. When the people of the world rebelled against Him, filling the Earth with sin, God did not destroy all life on the planet; He saved one family, and along with that family, He saved every type of animal, all in a huge wooden box. Finally (the bible calls it “the fullness of time”,) even after four thousand years of God’s very own people turning their backs on Him time after time, God sent His only Son. God did not spare his Son (Romans 8:32a), but allowed Jesus’ blood to be shed to meet up the demand from Leviticus “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness,” (Hebrews 9:21-23, referring to the passage from Leviticus.) This is the ultimate expression of Semper Fidelis – after millennia of people turning away from God, He did not turn away from them. Today, over two thousand years later, God is still demonstrating that He is ever faithful – In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8b.) A sinner is a sworn enemy of God, God’s faithfulness is so great that He sacrificed Jesus to pay for the sins of His sworn enemies – He did not leave us to die in our sin. “Everyone comes home,” God is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (we do have the final choice, but He does not want anyone to go to hell.) In the same way that a condemned criminal must accept a pardon from the governor (if the condemned person does not accept the pardon, he will be executed,) you must accept, by faith, the pardon from the Ever Faithful God to avoid eternal punishment for your sins. Please accept this precious gift from the ultimate Semper Fidelis. If you have any questions about this essay, or about this Gift from God, please let me know. Scripture taken from the New King James Version ®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Return to Granzeier's Faith Page This page was last updated by Art G. Granzeier III on Tue 30 Jul 2019 |
