I’m not a Christian myself, but below are some notes that I’ve taken away from the book: Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper
Goodreads => https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52976360-coronavirus-and-christ
- God is infinitely high above all, but not solitary
- There is one God. Not Three. But this one God exists in unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- All of us are sinners. No exceptions.
- The coronavirus does not point to unholiness or unrighteousness or lack of goodness in God. It’s a punishment (rock?)
- We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces characters and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
Before he gives the answers, he noted:
- [My] aim here is to point to reality, not create reality
- I think this is a good quote to keep in mind in our daily life. Instead of reading make-up stories from the media, sometimes we should spend a bit of time digging the truth. Not really related to the book, but just want to keep a note to myself.
Six answers that the book provides answering the question:
What is God doing through coronavirus?
- God is giving the world in the coronavirus outbreak, as in all other calamities, a physical picture of the moral horror and spiritual ugliness of God-belittling sin.
- Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
- Physical pain is God’s trumpet blast to tell us that something is dreadfully wrong in the world
- Some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions.
- The sin of homosexual intercourse (jd: huh??)… “Men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” That “due penalty” is the painful effect in themselves of their sin.. (jd: I’m not sure about this part. I could be reading it wrong, but is the book suggesting that it is wrong to be homosexual? It’s 2020 come on man…)
- The sin of homosexual intercourse (jd: huh??)… “Men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” That “due penalty” is the painful effect in themselves of their sin.. (jd: I’m not sure about this part. I could be reading it wrong, but is the book suggesting that it is wrong to be homosexual? It’s 2020 come on man…)
- The coronavirus is a God-given wake-up call to be ready for the second coming of Christ.
- The birth pains of the natural world are meant for this message: Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake
- The birth pains of the natural world are meant for this message: Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake
- The coronavirus is God’s thunderclap call for all of us to repent and realign our lives with the infinite worth of Christ
- Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish
- The reason he makes calamity the occasion for offering Christ to the world is that the supreme, all-satisfying greatness of Christ shines more brightly when Christ sustains joy in suffering.
- The coronavirus is God’s call to his people to overcome self-pity and fear, and with courageous joy, to do the good works of love that glorify God.
- You are the salt of the earth… you are the light of the world
- Don’t let the possibility, or reality, of suffering stop you from doing good deeds
- Christians lean toward need, not comfort. Toward love, not safety.
- In the coronavirus God is loosening the roots of settled Christians, all over the world, to make them free for something new and radical and to send them with the gospel of Christ to the unreached peoples of the world.
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