Prior to the game, I really began to believe that this could be it. This could truly be the team that goes undefeated. I didn’t become over confident. I only had bet a nickel on the game. I am fully aware that anything can happen. Nevertheless, I really started to believe this team would do the impossible. Then that touchdown pass with less than a minute in the game brought me back to reality. Unless Brady and Moss performed a miraculous play, the Patriots would end their season 18-1.
What was interesting was the feeling after the game. What now? Where does one go from here? It was almost a taste of losing something that you may not get back. It brought to my mind that Scripture speaks of death in a similar fashion. I don’t mean to make light of the loss of family members or friends by comparing them to a sports game. Yet, the feeling is similar even if to a much lesser degree of course. Unlike certain other sports fans I know, I will actually get over this quickly. But there is a real connection, though. Let me explain.
What is the definition of sin? We all know it is a deliberate disobedience to God. Yet the meaning of sin is literally to “miss the mark”. The analogy is often used of a bow and arrow. The shooter aims for the center of the bull’s eye and the bow bends just enough to miss the mark. So going into the Super-Bowl the Patriots have a perfect season. If they win, they will achieve what only one other team has done…perfection. In the end, even though they have won every game, they will always be known for having “missed the mark”. This “missing the mark” leads to that feeling of death, that sense of loss. Fans know this intuitively. We all say to ourselves that, “Hey, they did what no other team has ever done. They won 18 games in a row”, but we know that we are kidding ourselves. We demand perfection. We even expect it.
When it comes to God, isn’t the situation similar? We know that Adam did not do what Adam needed to do. He needed to live perfectly. We even expect it from others around us today. We know we ought to be perfect ourselves. Yet, we miss the mark. When we sin, we feel the sense of guilt that just won’t go away.
Tom Brady asked recently in an interview:
"Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey man, this is what is.' I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, 'God, it's got to be more than this.' I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be."
Even a winner like Brady knows that man in all his glory has missed the mark. I pray that the Lord would show Tom his true need. He doesn’t need reformation or a better program or a better work ethic or to hang out with better people or to support the United Way or even win another Super-Bowl with a perfect season. He needs to understand he has missed the mark of God’s Holiness.
There is one who truly has hit the bull’s eye. There is one whose life is perfect and whose righteousness meets the standards of God’s holiness and righteousness. There is one who has taken the sins of the world and satisfied the wrath of God for all who believe.
2Co 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
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