For chemistry one day, we had the option to do something different. We could write about certain aspects in chemistry, and relate it somehow to some aspect in christianity (all for points of course :) And since this was right in my sweetspot, unlike most of chemistry, I decided to take the teacher up on this offer. I found it again just recently, so I thought I'd share it with y'all.
Acid is dangerous. In all the old video games, you never want to fall into the acid pit. And everyone knows why. It eats away at things. It can destroy metals; and, as some people have discovered the hard way, it can eat away at your body as well.
Most people think of bases as the opposite of an acid. In many ways, this definition can work. However, what most people aren't aware of, is that bases can be just as dangerous, if not more so, than an acid. And, surprisingly, an acid can save a life.
For instance, my dad grew up in a huge family, where he was the youngest. As you can imagine, he looked up to his older brothers, and copied all their ways, just like good little brothers do. Well, one time, his brothers were goofing around. They had a bottle of ammonia, which is a very strong base. They were passing it around, pretending to take swigs of it, and generally being goofy teenagers. This was fine, except for the fact that my dad had no idea that they were simply pretending. He wanted to be just like them, so when the bottle got to him, he opened it up and took a swig. More than a swig- he gulped down a decent sized portion. WHen his brothers realized this, they whisked him off to their mother. Fortunately, she had just read in a newspaper about how grapefruit juice, an acid, can be used to neutralize ammonia. Well, she pumped my daddy up with that grapefruit juice till it was just about coming out of his ears. I'm here to tell you this story for one reason only; my daddy was saved by an acid. It neutralized the base that was destroying him.
This got me to thinking. Adam and Eve lived in a perfect garden. They had everything they would ever want; a perfect and pure love for each other and God. A neutral solution, if you would. Soon enough though, along came that bottle 'o base- the temptation to sin, to go against God. The base that could and would ruin their lives forever. But, not wanting to be different than those around them, or the serpent, they took a swig of that seemingly harmless bottle. It ate away at their lives, their conscience, their homes, and their relationship with each other and God. Their perfect solution had gone basic.
They tried finding all the acids they could for years. Their children and their children's children and their children's children's children (and so on) searched for that acid to get rid of such an aweful base of sin. But none of the acids they found were strong enough. Sacrifices only went so far. We needed help. Badly.
And then Jesus came. His acid was much stronger than anything they had ever experienced. The thought of an acid that strong was frightening; what would it do to them? The chemical reaction taking place between the base of sin in their lives and the acid of Christ's saving grace was explosive, and they nailed their only chance of becoming neutral again to a tree. Very few reached out into the saving acid that could eat away their sin.
Those who did were rejected. They were different. Their heart was once again like it should have been; like the Garden of Eden. They were happy. They were peaceful. They were neutral.
That blood is still flowing. Every day we reject that acid for fear of it burning us, for fear of it changing us, we are pounding another nail into that cross, into our own coffin. An acid saved my daddy's life. Now my Father is offering an acid to you. What will you do with it?
Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Acts 13:38-39
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.Colossians 2:13-14
