The World is Upside Down
What is Wrong, Seems Right
Have you ever walked on your hands, or seen people who can do it. In order to accomplish this it takes a good amount of upper body strength and good balance. But if you want to learn, I've seen articles on the Internet that tell you how it can be done.
Now imagine, for a moment, a whole world of people who walk on their hands instead of their feet. They do everything on their hands. They shop, they work, they play. Everything is done upside down. After a while, people forget that anyone ever used their feet to get around. They have children, whom they teach to walk the same way. All seems to be right with the world.
But there are a few people who still remember what feet and hands were originally designed for. They know that the designer made feet to walk on, and hands to do various tasks, such as grasping tools for working, playing musical instruments, and hugging a fellow human being.
These people seem strange to the the hand-walkers. After all, everybody else is doing just the opposite of these peculiar individuals. The feet-walkers try to tell the hand-walkers that what they are doing is wrong. But those walking on their hands say that they don't want anyone telling them what to do. "Everyone should be allowed to do what they think is best", they say, "And anyway, why should we do something as dumb as walking on our feet. Isn't it obvious that men are supposed to walk on their hands? After all, everyone but you is doing it!"
The feet-walkers are able to convince a few of the sense of what they are doing. But the majority of people continue to walk upside down for the rest of their lives.
I. Man's Original Design and Sin
I hope the analogy is clear here. Due to the consequences of sin, we are now living in an upside down world where right seems wrong and wrong seems right to the average person. That is why what is obviously wrong to the Christian is embraced by this world. And the farther away our society gets from God, the more they walk on their hands.
The Bible tells us God created a perfect world. He looked at His creation that He had made and said that it was very good (Genesis 1:31). The pinnacle of His creation was man, who was created in the very image of his creator (Genesis 1:27). Man was created to have perfect fellowship with the Lord and to live in obedience to His commands. In this way, all mankind would bring glory God.
All went well until Satan tempted Eve and told her that what God was doing wasn't right. After all, why obey God when you can be god. And all she had to do to get that position was to rebel and eat the fruit that God told her not to eat. So Satan tempted Eve with the same pride that had caused him to sin. He wanted to usurp God's authority. Adam also ate the fruit and the rest is history. Sin entered into the world, and turned it upside down (Romans 5:12).
Now, instead of bringing glory to God, man tries to glorify self. Rather than fellowship with his creator, he is separated from Him for all eternity. Rather than harmony with God and his fellow men, there is fighting and discord. Sin has caused all that is evil and wrong with this world, including murder, wars, disease and death. Not only that, but sin has altered the very nature of man. Adam's sin has affected the whole human race, and now we are all born sinners. We are unable not to sin, because we were born with a sin nature (Romans 5:12).
Mankind, as a whole, has abandoned God and done what is right in their own eyes. However, the only thing that they can see is the upside down world in which they live, so what seems right is actually wrong. Here is a little taste of man walking on his hands:
"....For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks. But they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen" (Romans 1:21-24).
II. Jesus Came to Turn the World Rightside-Up
Even though the plight of the world seems so bleak today, there is hope. That hope came in the form of the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. The eternal Son of God, became like one of us, not only to demonstrate what it is like to live life as it was meant to be, but to die on the cross to take away that sin that has turned the world upside down. And all who place their trust in Him will be saved and given a new life. It is one that is turned right-side up and is capable of becoming all that it was intended to become. And it is a life that will never end.
Conclusion
The sad thing is that many people will not accept this new life, even though it is offered free of charge. They will continue to walk on their hands, and will think that that's the way life is supposed to be. Well, you don't have to be one of those hand-walkers. For you the world doesn't have to be upside down.
All you have to do is accept the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Chrst. And He will save you from your sins. He will give you a new life, just as He has for so many before you. And for the first time in your life, you will begin to experience a little taste of life as it was meant to be. And when Jesus Christ comes back, and turns the world right-side up again, you'll know the glory that mankind was meant to experience before sin destroyed everything.