Remembering September 11, 2001
Below is an excerpt of an article written by Franklin Graham one year after the tragedies of September 11, 2001, reminding us that no matter what types of attacks we face, whether physical or spiritual, Jesus Christ will have the ultimate victory.
Three days after the horrors of September 11, 2001, my father spoke at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance at the National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C. I can still hear his closing words echoing through the National Cathedral: "This will be a day that we will remember as a Day of Victory."
On that day, when the United States felt so vulnerable, it took a lot of faith to foresee victory. At that point, Americans weren’t sure even who our enemies were—or where they might strike next. We needed true wisdom, not just "smart bombs."
My father did not define victory in military terms. He spoke from the Christian perspective because he recognized the spiritual dimension of the attacks. He stated biblical truths: God will prevail. God will not abandon His people. Jesus Christ has conquered death and has doomed the devil.
We haven’t yet seen widespread national revival. The number of people involved in churches has not increased substantially, nor have our moral and social problems diminished.
The attacks on the United States have forced both Christians and non-Christians to look seriously at world religions. The Christian faith is unique. No other faith has anyone comparable to Jesus Christ, the Son of God who humbled and sacrificed Himself on the cross for your sins and mine. Those who have preferred to see Him as merely a Teacher rather than as the Savior have been confronted with His central message: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."(1)
Christians can trust God to redeem even the greatest of tragedies and the most desperate of situations. Before the resurrection, there had to be the crucifixion. Our victory is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him alone.
(1) John 14:6, NIV
Below is an excerpt of an article written by Franklin Graham one year after the tragedies of September 11, 2001, reminding us that no matter what types of attacks we face, whether physical or spiritual, Jesus Christ will have the ultimate victory.
Three days after the horrors of September 11, 2001, my father spoke at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance at the National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C. I can still hear his closing words echoing through the National Cathedral: "This will be a day that we will remember as a Day of Victory."
On that day, when the United States felt so vulnerable, it took a lot of faith to foresee victory. At that point, Americans weren’t sure even who our enemies were—or where they might strike next. We needed true wisdom, not just "smart bombs."
My father did not define victory in military terms. He spoke from the Christian perspective because he recognized the spiritual dimension of the attacks. He stated biblical truths: God will prevail. God will not abandon His people. Jesus Christ has conquered death and has doomed the devil.
We haven’t yet seen widespread national revival. The number of people involved in churches has not increased substantially, nor have our moral and social problems diminished.
The attacks on the United States have forced both Christians and non-Christians to look seriously at world religions. The Christian faith is unique. No other faith has anyone comparable to Jesus Christ, the Son of God who humbled and sacrificed Himself on the cross for your sins and mine. Those who have preferred to see Him as merely a Teacher rather than as the Savior have been confronted with His central message: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."(1)
Christians can trust God to redeem even the greatest of tragedies and the most desperate of situations. Before the resurrection, there had to be the crucifixion. Our victory is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him alone.
(1) John 14:6, NIV
