Les Miserables is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862. It is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century and could well be one of the greatest novels of all time. Hugo described his work as “a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from corruption to life, from bestiality to duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God.”
This gripping, emotion filled story is about redemption, grace, forgiveness, mercy, love and transformation – all so greatly needed in our world today. All are gifts from God so desperately needed in our daily conflict with evil. I am delighted that Les Miserables has returned to television as a 6 part “Masterpiece” miniseries on PBS on Sunday night at 9pm. If you have not been watching, I urge you to do and please try to see it from the beginning by going to “Programs on demand”.
The battle between good and evil, truth and falsehood has been raging ever since Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden. Injustice, corruption, bestiality and man’s inhumanity to man are daily news events. Our only hope is faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose victoriously from the grave to save us from our sin and give us Eternal Life in the heavenly home that He prepares for those who believe.
Fresh from Passion Week, Easter Sunday and our review and meditation on the events in the life of Christ that resulted in His resurrection, a story like Les Miserables reminds us that our faith in God can literally transform our lives and bring us as Victor Hugo so beautifully said, “from nothingness to God.”
Despite the evil that we encounter on a daily basis, there is victory in Jesus Christ. A day of accountability and judgment is coming. We will reap what we sow. Don’t think for one moment that evil will prevail or win. The cross is God’s death blow and judgment upon sin. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the assurance of Victory over sin and death and the guarantee of Eternal Life with God. In the powerful words of James Russell Lowell’s “The Present Crisis,” “Truth forever on the scaffold – Wrong forever on the throne, Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown, standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.” In Christ, we are victorious! AMEN!
In His Love,
Charles
