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When
Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so
death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before
the law was given. And though there was no law to break, since it had not yet
been given, they all died anyway--even though they did not disobey an explicit
commandment of God, as Adam did. What a contrast between Adam and Christ, who
was yet to come! And what a difference between our sin and God's generous gift
of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin.
But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God's
bountiful gift. And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the
result of that one man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but we have
the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive
God's wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin
and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
(Romans 5:12-17 NLV). Children in Bosnia-Herzegovina all know the ancient story of the poor woman who caught a golden fish, released it, and in return gained wealth and happiness. According to a 1998 Associated Press story, this Balkan fairy tale turned into reality for one poor family. Before the start of the Bosnian war, the Malkoc family lived next to a small lake in the northwestern village of Jezero. One day in 1990, Smajo Malkoc returned from a trip to Austria with an unusual gift for his teenage sons, Dzevad and Catib: an aquarium with two goldfish. Two years passed before Bosnian Serb forces advanced on Jezero. The women and children fled, and the men stayed back to resist the attacking soldiers. Smajo Malkoc was killed. When his wife, Fehima, sneaked back into the destroyed village to bury her husband and rescue what remained of their belongings, she took pity on the fish in the aquarium. She let them out into the nearby lake, saying to herself, "This way, they might be more fortunate than us." Fast-forward
to 1995. Fehima Malkoc returned with her sons to Jezero. Nothing but ruins
remained of their home and their village. Through misty eyes she looked toward
the lake. Glimpsing something strange, she walked over to the shore. "The
whole lake was shining from the thousands of golden fish in it," she said.
"It made me immediately think of my husband. This was something he left me
that I never hoped for." During the years of killing all around the lake,
life underwater had flourished. After their return, Fehima Malkoc and her sons
started caring for and selling the goldfish. By 1998, homes, stores, and coffee
shops all over the region feature aquariums containing fish from Jezero. The
Malkoc house, rebuilt on its original site, is one of the biggest in the
village. Two new cars are parked in front, and the family says it has enough
money to quit worrying about the future. "It was a special kind of gift
from our father," Dzevad Malkoc said. 1 The
Malkoc's story is also a parable of God's relentless grace at work even in the
midst of chaos and trouble. While the war in Bosnia was raging, life below the
surface of a small lake flourished. We can rest assured that God's will is being
done, that his kingdom is flourishing, even when life on the surface is full of
trouble and strife. That is the message of the gospel, grace on top of grace! 1. Edited from Still More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice; 1999; Youth Specialties, Inc. |
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