Missionaries were sent to New Guinea because there were many so-called pagan and primitive people there. The story is told of one cannibal tribe, which has since ceased to be cannibalistic. Previously, men would race into a village, grab a man by the hair, pull him back, tense his abdominal muscles, use a bamboo knife to slit open his abdomen, pull out his intestines, cut up his fingers, and while he was still alive, eat him until he died. People hear that and say, "Oh, what primitive savages!" They are not "primitive" savages; their ancestor was a man called Noah. The Indians ancestor was a man called Noah; the Eskimos ancestor was a man called Noah; and our ancestor was a man called Noah. Noah had the knowledge of God and could build ships. His ancestors could make musical instruments and they practiced agriculture. What happened to those New Guinea natives is that, somewhere in history (as Rom. 1 tells us), they rejected the knowledge of God and His laws. And God turned them over to foolish, perverse, and degenerate things.2

However, this same degeneracy (this same rejection of Gods laws) can be seen in so-called civilized nations that cut people up alive all year long (one and a half million of them in the United States each year), and it is legalized. This is what abortion is cutting up people alive and sucking out the bits and pieces. The so-called "primitive tribes" had ancestors who once knew the true God and His laws. As they rejected the true God of creation, their culture degenerated in every area. The more our so-called "civilized nations" reject the God of creation, the more they will degenerate to a "primitive culture." Thus, a culture should not be interpreted according to whether they are primitive or advanced (as presupposed by the evolutionary scale), but every aspect of their culture must be judged against the standards of Gods Word. How does your nation measure up?

Chapter Seven - Death: A Curse and a Blessing

Chapter 7

DEATH: A CURSE AND A BLESSING

WHY SIN AND DEATH?

Suppose someone came up to you and said, "You Christians are saying that we need Jesus Christ, and that we need to confess our sins. Sin? Why do we need Christ anyway? Besides, God cant be who He says He is. If He is, like you say, a God of love, look at all the death and suffering in the world. How can that be?" What would you say?

THE GOSPEL, SIN, AND DEATH