The sorrow of God

When Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus, He was not weeping because His friend died, at least not as we would weep; He knew He would raise Lazarus from the dead. He was weeping with grief over the fact of sin, sin so deeply terrible that it kills us. It brought death to Lazarus — and brings death to all humanity.

“He (Jesus) was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)

Jesus knew grief like none of us know grief. As Chambers says, our view of sin usually begins lightly. When we learn to hate it, we still think we can control it, if not by our best efforts then at least with the help of God. Yet as life goes on, we realize that sin is more than a flaw in human character; it is a wild, irrational mutiny against God. And as Chambers says, either God or sin will rule our lives. There are no alternatives.

Pick up the newspaper, go online to the daily events, just look around. Evidence of the reality and awfulness of sin is everywhere. If I cannot see it in my own heart at the moment, it can certainly be seen in today’s events. I shake my head and say silly things like, “Why would anyone do that?” but I know the answer. Sin has ruined us. It is at the root of murder, adultery, meanness, even gossip.

Sin also keeps me from going out and serving others, from generosity, from thoughtfulness. Sin produces a world than cares more about money than much of anything else, more about animals and trees than fellow man, more about having comfort and luxury than thousands who are dying of starvation.

How awful is sin? It is the reason God left the glory of perfection, entered this sewer called earth as a helpless baby, grew to manhood, and died on a cross. It is the reason human beings who fear death and long to live forever reject the only way God has offered them victory over sin and death and the promised of eternal life. Sin makes us reject the only cure for it; that is the awfulness of sin.

Sin is the reason Jesus came. Sin is the reason for all my grief and sorrow, yet I can invent thousands of ways to avoid grief or mask it. I have tried to fix my own sorrows, to make myself look young when I know I am dying. Sin keeps me from prayer to God who answers prayer, from obedience to God who knows what is most excellent for my life. Sin keeps me from the abundance He promises to those who abide in Him.

“This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:19)

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)

“He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

And from (Revelation 22:17, the Message)  

“Come!” say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, “Come!” Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, Drink freely of the Water of Life!” 

God cures the incurable

He restores my soul . . . (Psalm 23:3)

One of last week’s discussion questions in the online class I am taking asked how to counsel someone who struggles with a persistent sin. The responses revealed two things: one, everyone in the class knows what that struggle is like, and two, they also know that without the grace of God there can be no victory over sin.

Today’s devotional readings point to the same topic. In the Bible, the sad reality of Israel’s history is difficulty with consistent obedience. These three passages tell the tale and point to the power of God to restore those who are helpless and hopeless . . .

Jeremiah 30:12–22 begins with, “For thus says the Lord: Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous. There is none to uphold your cause, no medicine for your wound, no healing for you. All your lovers have forgotten you; they care nothing for you; for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, the punishment of a merciless foe, because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant.”

God tells them that they are incurable, but then He says, “I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal . . . . And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

Isaiah 35:1–10 also speaks to their sad condition with hope.  . . . The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly . . . . Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy . . . . And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray . . . . The redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”  

Ezekiel 36:24–38 offers further encouragement to Israel and to God’s people today. These promises reveal the kind of God we serve and are available concerning anyone’s struggle against sin. He says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules . . .  You shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses . . . . Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act . . . . Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord . . . . I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it . . . . Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

No matter what enemy may be against us, all God’s people battle sin, the enemy within. I’m encouraged as I read these verses. My battles with sin will never stop until my breath stops, but my Shepherd fights with me and for me. He does this for all His people that our witness to others demonstrates His grace, but also because we are His sheep. For this, I rejoice and am grateful.

To Live is Christ — His burdens are light

Anything major at the dentist usually means having a shot to “freeze” my mouth. Before the numbness wears off, I have to be careful. I cannot feel anything so it is easy to bite the inside of my cheeks.

I’ve heard that diseases like leprosy are terrible because the sick person cannot feel pain either. As a result, they are continually taking chunks out of their extremities. That means pain is actually a good thing. It lets us know when something is wrong. Without it, we would be oblivious to physical danger.

Guilt is similar. It is the impression on my conscience when I have violated ethical and moral codes. It can be false guilt in that my codes are faulty, but most of the time, it is a signal to me that I have done something wrong and need to deal with it.

The title of my devotional reading for today is, “God doesn’t book guilt trips.” I don’t agree. How else does He let us know when we have violated spiritual principles? How else would we know that we have committed any sin?

That being said, just like pain often requires seeing a doctor and getting some medication, guilt also requires action. God might have booked the trip, but He wants it to be a short one. Instead of wallowing in “Poor me” or “I’ve done it again,” He wants to treat our guilt so we do not carry it around like a heavy weight.

Jesus has been called the Great Physician. He was noted for healing the sick, but He is also a healer of guilty souls. Instead of thinking that “God is out to get me” for the sins and disobedience in my life, I must always remember this truth:

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)

He could have condemned us. We are all guilty, from the greatest of sinners to the sweetest saint, because the Bible is clear: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

One sin, one small thing can make us guilty before God, even if we don’t feel guilty. However, for those who realize that they have sinned and are sinners and are guilty, Jesus offers forgiveness of sin (all of it) and freedom from all guilt.

He cures the guilt problem the same way a good doctor cures pain – not by giving painkillers but by getting to the root of the problem. Guilt is caused by sin and sin will destroy us. So Doctor Jesus bore that destruction in our place. At the same time, He removes guilt by forgiving and cleansing those who put their faith in Him.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Without a guilt trip, I would never have known my need for the Great Physician. Had I insisted on mere pain killers, the guilt would still be there and real. But in my numbness, I would continue to bite and destroy myself, oblivious to what I was doing.

Yes, guilt is painful. Admitting sin is painful too, but hiding it or ignoring it means that the cause of it will go unchecked. Should that happen, the end will be destruction. If I could choose the carefreeness of no guilt at all (isn’t that a psychopath?) or having the burden of a very tender conscience, I’d pick the burden. It is a light one now, not because I’ve conquered the cause of it, but because I have a Friend who carries both its cause and its consequences — for me.

Grow up!

Ed Bulkley, PhD. , says in his book Why Christians Can’t Trust Psychology, that some of the characteristics of childishness are an unwillingness to accept change, pouting or crying at disappointment, a preoccupation with self, a tendency to lie, shirking of responsibility, shifting of blame, demanding instant gratification, throwing temper tantrums, and a host of other symptoms that coincide with the labels of psychological disorders, such as “infantile regression.”

He goes on to say that psychology often blames parents for the adults that do not “outgrow” these things, and gives those adults reason to believe that they can blame their parents and are permanently stuck with this behavior.

In contrast, the Apostle Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11).

I look through the list and easily can list the above “childish” behaviors as characteristics of my sinful nature. The Bible leads me to the conclusion that these are not psychological problems that flow out of childhood issues, but matters of the sinful human heart.

For instance, blame-shifting began in the garden of Eden. God asked Adam if he’d eaten from the tree He had commanded them not to eat, and Adam replied, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12)

Adam was an adult. His parent had never mistreated him. There was no child abuse. His environment was perfect. Yet after he disobeyed God, he hid, lied, and blamed both Eve and God (who gave her to him) for his behavior.

It still happens. I’ve heard people blame everything and everyone for their sins. The devil gets it most often, but God is blamed too. They say if their life situation was different (and who is sovereign over life’s situations?) then they would never have been tempted nor would they have sinned.

The New Testament is clear about the source of temptation and sin. It is not God. James wrote:

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. (James 1:13)

God controls all things, but unless it is yielded to Him, the sinful human heart is in charge of its own responses to temptation. I can decide all by myself whether to sin or not. Satan appeals to us with lies and the world appeals to us with all sorts of promises, but no one can blame God for temptation or falling into it.

Rereading what Bulkley said, I have to rewrite it like this: the characteristics of my sinfulness are an unwillingness to let God change me, pouting when I don’t get my way, preoccupation with self, a tendency to avoid the truth, shirking my responsibilities, blame-shifting, insisting on instant gratification, getting annoyed at everyone and everything, and a host of other me-me-me symptoms that coincide with the labels for sin that are clearly spelled out in the Word of God.

There is no human cure. Growing older does not change the sinful heart. The only way out of this “infantile regression” is to admit that I have a sinful heart and admit what I do wrong. Only then will the One who is called Counselor forgive me, cleanse my heart, and enable me to put away my sinful nonsense.