Distracted by a non-issue

God graciously explains the struggles of last week. He reveals that I was concerned about a “what if?” instead of something that was actually happening. The distraction was: “If you do all that God says, the enemy will constantly attack and you will be in a joy-destroying battle until the end of your days. To avoid such misery, you need to choose what you will do.”

This reminds me of a friend who wanted to go to the mission field with the caveat that where she was sent didn’t have a lot of big insects and other crawling critters. She soon learned that loving others meant dropping personal preferences!

Yesterday’s sermon was about cultivating love. The application: 1. Cultivate community…reach out to lonely people, go bless someone else. 2. Practice generosity. It is always a greater joy to give than receive. Besides, generosity is an act of worship. 3. Contemplate God’s love and be driven to gratitude. (There is even an app to help that!) Remember why I am here.

This made me think about my anxiety and realize I was supposing and fearful rather than facing any issues in faith. God was not asking me to do something difficult or make a great sacrifice, nor was the devil trying to stop me from any direct command. Fighting an imaginary war is like a nightmare; not real but still feels as if it is — for a shot time.

Today’s readings describes the wisdom of God in making Jesus our Mediator. He is fully God and fully man, not distant from either, near to both in nature, possessing all of both except without sin.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15–16)

Jesus had a nature to be compassionate to us and victorious for us, to pity us and be patient to bear with us. If he had been only God, he would not have had an experimental sense of our misery; and if he had been only man, he could not have vanquished our enemies; had he been only God, he could not have died; and had he been only man, he could not have conquered death.

The justice of the law had been honored by man’s sufferings, but in Christ the holiness and equity of the law had been honored by man’s obedience. Charnock writes that the life of our Savior is a conformity to the precept, and his death is a conformity to the penalty. The transgression of the law was condemned in the flesh of the Redeemer, and the righteousness of the law was fulfilled in His person, and imputed to the believing sinner.

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3–4)

As he died for us, and rose again for us, so he lives for us. His work is finished and now I can rest in it and not worry about anything. Worry is pride in action. That is why God says…

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7)

Today’s devotional says that our anxieties refer to “distraction of mind” but God’s care signifies “fixation of mind.” This speaks to me and my ADHD, mild as it is but a target for the enemy! He uses it on me far too often. However, this verse helps…

You keep (her) in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because (she) trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

PRAY: Jesus, this experience was something like a vivid bad dream, so vivid that it seems real after waking up and requires strong self-talk to quiet the emotions. The enemy hits my mind like that, producing vivid emotions. He hits my body too, but You are in my mind and have given me the will and a stronger desire to love and serve You. The cost of obedience cannot destroy any of my new life. It simply points to the reality that I belong to You and am Your child, and even my body is in Your total care and protection. Not my will but Thine be done.

Why did Christ come?

Most days I read the Bible and God speaks to me, then I record what He said in my words. But sometimes I just need someone to preach to me. Today both happened. First, the devotional is a mini sermon, answering the question in the title: “Why did Christ come?”

One reason Jesus Christ came into the world was to establish righteousness for us as a perfect human being. He restored what we lost in our sin. God requires righteousness from us, but we are guilty: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Jesus came to live without sin and in perfect obedience to establish righteousness before God for us. He is my representative . . .  

“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)

A second reason Christ came was to redeem his people by dying as our Substitute. He satisfied the wrath of God against sin when God took all our sin and put them on His Son. The law of God is satisfied by this trade: His righteousness for our sin.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus also came to glorify his Father. The unseen God became visible so we can know what He is like and so we can know Him. The love of God is seen in the salvation and sacrifice offered through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son.

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3)

As I read these things, I am drawn to worship and thanksgiving. But the Lord was not finished speaking to me. The second reference was from Isaiah and again speaks to why Jesus came. Both sets of answers are personal but this one is right now where I am at. My sister is with us for a few days. She has a form of dementia that robs her of remembering words and where she puts things. I am grieving; the person she was is no longer the person she is now. Sometimes I am annoyed and frustrated, but mostly brokenhearted as I watch her in her foggy prison. Jesus came to mend my sorrow, but also to build up and eventually restore her. She is His child and eventually will live in a perfect body with a clear mind.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61:1–4)

Because I know all this is true, my sadness is somewhat lifted and I know that as this good word settles into my heart and I contemplate the promises of God with expectation. Perhaps full joy will return, but if not, I know there is a better day ahead.

^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10) This is true for me, but also true for my dear sister.

Where did evil come from?

What made the first created people decide to disobey God? What about the angels who were created to serve God but rebelled against Him? Where did evil come from? Fortner attempts to answer that question in today’s devotional yet his answer seems to fall short. It seems true that God was not surprised by evil, but to say that God ordained makes me think we are puppets.

Would an Internet search provide the answer? I took seven hits and found these results:

1. Unlike God and the angels, we have no power to resist evil and will always yield to its attraction. This fits the biblical descriptions of fallen humanity, but it was not true of Adam and Eve before the Fall. Sin entered the world then, not before they sinned. It suggests God created them with a propensity to sin, but they were made in His image so that isn’t right either.
2. God created evil. This page quotes Isaiah 45:7 as saying: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." However, this is a misinterpretation of the word “evil” which actually means “calamity” and usually refers to events resulting in loss or misfortune. Yet God can use calamity for His good purposes. We might call them ‘evil’ but biblically, evil is totally destructive and anti-God. This website also says that evil originated with Satan, and asks why God didn’t nip it in the bud by destroying Satan. However, that does not explain where the devil got the evil idea to rebel against God.
3. God created humans with the power to choose so there was always the possibility that we would choose to do evil. This seems closer to a good answer. Alvin Plantinga says, "To create creatures capable of moral good, therefore, (God) must create creatures capable of moral evil; and He can't give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so. As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their freedom; this is the source of moral evil." In other words, evil happened not through nature or nurture, but choices.
4. Evil is the absence of what should be. God said His creation was ‘good’ and His intention was that we love Him and one another. However, love involves making a choice (otherwise we are robots). The opposite of choosing love is evil and it must exist if love is to exist. This short video explains better than my short paragraph. 
5. God created the ability to choose, from another short video that sounds almost like a pat answer. It focuses our God-given capacity to make choices and says Adam and Eve exercised that freedom and made a wrong choice. By doing this, sin entered the world. Yet the rebellion already existed for the angel Lucifer — who was also allowed to choose, and he decided he wanted to be god, to usurp his Creator. So evil in humanity is the fault of a wrong choice, and before that happened, evil came into the world because of another wrong choice. (Dr. Woodrow Kroll)
6. God allows evil for a time to test us. The sixth page is a cult definition, similar to those above but shallow. It falls short in explaining where evil comes from and has a non-biblical idea of redemption. However, it does show that all ‘religions’ struggle with this question about evil.
7. Evil evolved. The last page takes the idea that evil gradually evolved because of human fear and jealousy. The author does not believe the Bible is the Word of God, and his ideas are fanciful but without substance or based on any authority but his own ideas.

Reading these helped me understand the diversity of opinions. Some of them took verses out of context to explain their point of view and that is always unwise. Others did not consider the entire biblical message, also unwise. I landed on #4 and #5 as ringing true to the purposes of God. We cannot fully grasp this and other inaccessible answers because we do not have a full capacity to understand God. One thing is certain:

“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I know that You can stop sin. You did that with a pagan king (Genesis 20:6) and have done it many times for me. Yet You did not create robots. We are people with the ability to choose. Sin messes us up, even that ability to choose is messed up. However, redemption through faith in You restores our God-given faculties. Without You, I cannot do anything good, but with You I can obey You. Evil does not have to win — because You defeated it on the Cross.