

"For I the LORD do not change. ...." Malachi 3:6a
In the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I, there is a song called, "A Puzzlement."
One of the verses of that song has the king saying, "In my head are many facts that, as a student, I have studied to procure. In my head are many facts of which I wish I was more certain, I was sure."
This week, my friends, I feel just as confused as was that king. You see, when I was a student, I studied (semi-hard) to deposit some facts in my cranium. In this endeavor, I, like you, was more or less successful. Among the things which I did learn was this: dinosaurs were gray, big and lizardy.
But now, according to prestigious Science magazine, a bunch of fossils found in Siberia have flipped "that perception on its head." Quoting a scientific expert, the equally respected BBC has said these fossils have "completely changed our vision of dinosaurs."
Curious about the discovery? Let me remove the suspense and give you the particulars of these discoveries. Having examined the fossil record, the scientists have jettisoned the gray, scaly, lizardy concept and stated most dinosaurs had feathers.
That's right: feathers.
When I heard that news, I immediately imagined a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which moved like, sounded like, and looked like a big chicken. Understand, the scientists are not saying that. That image is my own invention. All the scientists are saying is the majority of dinosaurs had feathers. Anyone care to join me in singing, "In my head are many facts of which I wish I was more certain, I was sure"?
Thankfully, there are some facts about which we can be most certain.
For example, we can be certain you and I are sinners. Both God's Law and our consciences, makes that fact quite clear. But there's more. We also know that divine punishment awaits those who have done wrong. That fact is pointed out by Christianity and by many other religions of the world.
Things would be pretty desperate if those were the only facts of which we could be sure and certain. Although it is neither sensible nor logical, unchanging Scripture tells us the Triune God felt sorry for sinful humankind. So we might be saved, Jesus became one of us. On earth, He lived for us, resisted temptation for us, kept the Law for us, and died for us.
Then, by His resurrection from the dead, the Savior showed us He had conquered sin, death and devil. By God's grace all who are brought to faith in Him are forgiven and saved.
Those are the facts.
Those facts haven't changed for the last 2,000 years, and they aren't going to change in how many ever years are left before the Savior comes back to judge the living and the dead.
Between now and then, I'm going to be confident that while there are many things that change and many facts about which I am certain, this is sure: Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks I can count on You. May others be given faith in the facts of Scripture and be saved. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: 1 Chronicles 4-6 1 Corinthians 7:1-19
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