9 July | Youth
«And by His stripes we are healed.» Isaiah 53:5
In the early hours of April 26, 1986, reactor four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, causing the biggest nuclear accident in history. The radioactive material soon spread, causing an increase in radiation rates in many places around the world. A group of firefighters, scientists, and workers, called liquidators, were sent to the region to put out the fire and bury the contaminated items.
The tragedy occurred at the plant, which is located about twenty kilometers from the city of Chernobyl, in Ukraine. The accident was caused by human error, as the reactor operators failed to comply with some important parts of the safety protocol. Another factor that may have contributed is that one of the reactors had a flaw in its design.
The total number of direct and indirect victims is not yet known. Studies show that the incidence of thyroid cancer in children has increased forty times since the explosion; in adults, the rate increased up to seven times. The accident also generated psychological and economic consequences and a mass evacuation within thirty kilometers of the affected area.
Near the place where the “sarcophagus” is located, which is an immense metallic structure made to iso-late radioactive material, there is a monument with several statues of firefighters, called the Monument to Those Who Saved the World. It is a tribute to the Chernobyl liquidators, who gave their lives to prevent that invisible enemy from spreading more lethally throughout the world.
When I saw this monument, I was thinking about the work done by Christ to save us from eternal damnation. After the disobedience of Adam and Eve, evil spread across the planet, so that the nature and hearts of human beings were affected by the “radiation” of sin. The prophet Isaiah described the effects of wickedness in these terms: “From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; […] Your cities are burned with fire; […] and it is desolate” (Isa. 1:6, 7).
To neutralize the action of sin, Jesus came to Earth and “gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6). He is our Shield, Antidote and the only “Liquidator” of sin. Are you under this strong protection?