The Shame of Little Jess

We love because he first loved us 1^st John 4:19

In the 1956 movie version of Friendly Persuasion, Little Jess Birdwell does not know exactly what to say during a Sunday morning meeting of the Friends, and during a moment of contemplation blurts out “GOD IS LOVE!” Little Jess is immediately stared down by a speechless elder Purdy, as the lad hides his face in shame. Jess’s outburst held a core truth. God surely is love (1^st John 4:8). But what does that really mean? Is it just some kind of religious feel-good slogan or a free ride to heaven? If the sovereignty of God is perhaps His most abused attribute, then His attribute of love seems the most misquoted and misapplied.  

While the Greek has at least 8 definitions of the noun love, Our English has one. The English dictionary definition is ‘an intense feeling of deep affection.'  We can say we love our mates, we love our children, we love our pets, and we can even say we love that can of toffee peanuts by the chair. In the modern vernacular they can both be found factually affectionate and fully unfortunate. Love for many in both the secular and religious realms has become a license to do whatever people wish even if it goes against God’s character.

Satan’s mode of operating has been the same in his millenniums-long war against God, to reverse and twist God’s perfect design. If God says men and women should not have sexual love for the same sex, or that men and women be sexually abstinent outside the marriage commitment, Satan says, “God is lying to keep you from finding true fulfilment” (Gen. 3:4-5). After all what is wrong with love? God is love. It says it in the Bible! If God is love, how can it be wrong?” It eventually comes down to creating a god of love who is in essence, a dementia-addled grandfather who smiles and winks at what we do in the name of love because he is love, even when He says certain things are an abomination to His character.

Paul wrote to Timothy that a time would come when people would no longer want to adhere to sound doctrine. Their spiritual ears will itch to suit their own desires and turn away from listening to the truth, turning to myths (2^nd Timothy 4:3-4), the greatest being that God overlooks what His character demands!

We are living in that age right now, a time when people willingly have turned from the God of the Bible to a love-myth that is perverse. They have made love into a god of the imagination. If it is possible to love anything, then it is also possible to love outside the parameters of God’s character. To be clear, not everything we hold in affection is sin. For those who seriously want to grow in their walk in Christ, knowing the character of God is paramount to knowing love’s true purpose. I do my best not to scratch any ears that itch for license or reason to sin.

God's love and commandments always bring ultimate satisfaction when we trust His healthy design for us. From before the beginning of time God’s love was never specifically all feel-good or existed to tickle ears, it was sacrificial and always within the boundaries and character of the Triune-God (Gen 1:26, Titus1:2).

Let us study God's character to be approved by Him. Paul tells us to make the effort to be prompt and earnest to present ourselves worthy unto God, and after being examined by Him and found without shame, to rightly cut the word of God straight and correctly (to distinguish) in its meaning (2^nd Tim. 2:15). It is good to love and at its best when done within the attribute of God’s true character.

We love because He first loved us with a pre-Creation love that was fully demonstrated at the cross. Jesus said there is no greater love than this (John 15:13). Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death and witnessed resurrection from the dead He invites us to rest in Him and learn from Him (Matt 11:29). When we do, we will always find a fulfillment that is godly and stays within the boundaries of His perfection. Instead of blurting out the world’s diatribe of love, when we say God is love it will be with the fullest understanding. It will be without shame.

Maranatha,

Ken

Omnipresent-Always There, Ever Aware

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. Psalm 139:7, 8 (NIV)

God is everywhere present at the same moment, whether it is in our timeline, dimensionally (Jn. 1:18), or existing outside of it transcendently (Is. 57:15). He is both within the universe and outside it. Omnipresence is one of those difficult perceptions of God’s Being, closer to how someone could have always existed. How is it possible? It is probable that in our coming glorified position as a royal priesthood (Rev 1:6, 5:10) we may have a greater understanding of such things.

Satan as a created being cannot be everywhere at once. If he is spreading chaos in the Middle East right now and wants to do so in America, he will have to move himself to America. God is always everywhere present and never needs to relocate.

Always running parallel to God’s omnipresence is His attribute of omniscience. He sees all things and knows all things, even to what a person goes to great lengths to hide. Jesus told Nicodemus people seek to do their evil deeds in darkness, but God who is always present always sees everything thing done in the darkness as in the light (John 3:19).

Christ consoles us in our heavenly Father’s attribute of omniscience, reminding us that the Father is presently aware of even the death of a single sparrow. It is a reminder of how He always sees us, and how much more worth we are than many sparrows (Matt 10:29-31).

He is as close as your skin, and more thoroughly through your body, soul, and mind than anyone can be. Jesus says He is your completeness and will never forsake you (Matt. 28:20, Heb. 13:5).

When He says, “Do not be afraid,” He speaks with the greatest comfort and authority in time and outside of it. Wherever you are, God is. He is the God of our time and understanding and the Transcendent God beyond it, always aware and always there.

Maranatha,

Ken

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                      

The Man of Steel or the Omnipotent Man?

 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Isaiah 40:25 (NIV)

In the 1950s we kids used to tune in to the weekly Adventures of Superman TV series. The Man of Steel was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Bullets bounced off his chest, but we never wondered why he ducked his head when the bad guys would throw their empty guns at him in their last-ditch villainous Hail Mary’s.

Superman may have been able to do more than mere mortals, but, alas, he was imperfect. He was not all wise, nor all knowing, or even all powerful as his aversion to kryptonite proved. Between the Man of Steel and God there is no comparison. God has revealed in His word that He holds the ultimate power in the universe. For Him, nothing is impossible (Jeremiah 32:27, Luke 1:37).

“Let there be…” is chronicled 8 times of God speaking Creation into being in the Genesis record (Gen. 1:3, 6, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26). As in mythological accounts where the gods made the universe out of preexisting matter, God called all matter into being out of nothing with incomprehensible power, by His will and His word, everything being perfectly good in the widest sense (Gen:1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). God saw no need to tweak anything He spoke into existence ex nihilo (out of nothing).

Why consider this attribute of Yahweh and how is it relevant to us today? If He cannot do all things, how can He be a God we can depend on fully? He would be untrustworthy and could not be the God revealed in Scripture.

He is omnipotent not only by power alone but because of all His combined attributes, which work symbiotically. You get one, you get all working together to your highest good. Knowing the attribute of God’s omnipotence gives us tremendous insight into Christ as Savior and Redeemer. 

Jesus Christ is 100% Man and 100% God. In His appearance to John in Revelation 1:15-16, as He exists now is displayed. John saw Jesus in the full glory of the Godhead, His hair being white as snow (holy), His eyes like blazing fire (discerning hearts and intentions), His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace (bronze designates righteous Judgment), out of His mouth was a double-edged sword (metaphor for power and strength), His voice was like the sound of rushing waters (complete supremacy) and His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance (none comparable). He is the Omnipotent Man!

Jesus is just not Spirit but human. When one really stops to consider the humanity of His being fully God and fully human, what greater representative to the Father could we have than another fellow human being who has lived and suffered with us?  

He told the Jewish religious leaders that He would raise Himself from the dead (John 2:19-22). He tells John “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” (Rev. 1:18). We can trust someone who holds that kind of ultimate power and love, power so ably demonstrated on the cross.

Satan is on a short leash with a short deadline, and he is in a panic. He is doing everything in his limited power to overcome the God of biblical revelation, but he cannot. If he were powerful enough, he would have already done so, but he is only a created being and not the Most High.

God can do all things and as A.W. Tozer stated, “God has not surrendered His throne to any other,” and never will. In my life the Omnipotent Man has proved Himself to me over and over. I will choose Him over anything or anyone every time!

Maranatha,

Ken                                                                                                                                                                

Ready and Faithful

 And He [the LORD] said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” Exodus 34:10 (NKJV)

While the United States Marine Corps and several U.S. Army units have the motto of Always Faithful, I recall reading a news article about the U.S. Coast Guard’s official and unofficial mottos. The article summed up both readiness and faithful service. The official USCG motto is Semper Paratus (Always Ready). The unofficial motto is in any disaster or storm, “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” It sums up the faithfulness of this naval branch to risk everything to save lives in peril. It is one thing to be ready but another to be trustworthy and faithful to fulfill your mission. While talk is cheap, there is no higher value one can place on faithfulness.

Moses was perhaps under the impression when he led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, he would have a quick journey back to the land God promised to Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 17:8) That was God’s original design, but Israel’s disbelief changed what might have been a journey of perhaps weeks to one that lasted 40 years.

In all that time God was always ready and faithful to meet all of Israel's needs. He led them by a 24/7 presence in a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19), He opened the Red Sea allowing them to escape pursuit by the Egyptian army (Ex. 14:21-31), He supplied them with bread and meat (Ex. 16:4, 13-18), while giving enough water to sustain them (Ex. 17:2-6, Numbers 20:2-13). In 40 years of wandering, He even kept their clothes and shoes from wearing out (Deuteronomy 29:5). He was always ready to meet their needs and consistently faithful to do so.

In the same manner God remains faithful for us for He never changes (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8). Jesus posed the question to His listeners if they being wicked knew how to give good gifts to their children how much more will their perfect Father in heaven give them good things (Matthew 7:11)?  Whatever your current struggle, this same unchangeable perfect God who provided for Israel will work in your current circumstance(s) perfectly.

I challenge you to put God to a 3-month test of His faithfulness. Offer to Him a 90-day sacrifice of trust and hope, asking Him to show you His power in faithfulness. It is OK to ask (Philippians 4:6). Keep a daily prayer journal that can confirm how God is faithful to work in your circumstances.

When I did this myself, I marveled at how much of the changes I saw happened in myself, changes that increased my faith in the reality and power of Jesus Christ and brought peace that was beyond my understanding (Philippians 4:7). It is God’s faithful covenant with those who love Him. Trust Him. Ask Him. As He says, “It is an awesome thing I will do with you.”

Maranatha,  

Ken

The Most Disputed Attribute

His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” Daniel 4:34-35 (NIV)

I had a Christian friend whose oldest brother served with the Marine Corps in the Battle of Saipan in 1944. My friend said this brother, who was raised in a conservative Christian family, returned home saying he could no longer believe in God, as he could not give devotion to a being who would allow the horrors he witnessed in that 24 day battle against the Japanese. If God did not cause what he saw, then He allowed it. My friend said he never heard his brother recant his rejection and that was the bone of contention he picked with God until his death at age 95. As with many I have heard this from, it seems most of God’s sovereign will and actions become a stumbling block to an outraged sense that God is a god of cruelty and injustice.

The question of why God allows suffering remains something to which not even the most perceptive Christian minds can offer a satisfying answer. Why does God allow such terrible things? If His attributes include all power (omnipotence) and eternal knowledge (omniscience) then He knew before creating Adam and Eve that they would choose disobedience that would bring upon the earth the chaos it finds itself in today. And why does it seem an uncaring God just stepped back and let the suffering begin?

The fundamental question revolves around the attribute of God’s full authority (Sovereignty), and why He allowed evil and suffering in the first place? I wish I had an easy answer, but even Scripture does not fully explain it.

Remember, the first attribute God wants to be known for is His holiness. That holy perfection means everything He does is perfect. That is a very difficult notion to accept. Considering human freewill puts God’s sovereign responses in a whole different light. Allowing us to make our own choices does not make Him responsible for an outcome that avoids their consequences, but in His Sovereign Will He might intercede to make them less consequential in the long-term. Most often we miss understanding the outcome as God knew it would be. As the Supreme Universal Being He would have every right to make any self-determining judgment He pleases.

Whatever the result we can never fully understand why God allows certain things. Paul assures us that all things work to our highest good according to what He has purposed (Romans 8:28).

This is a most difficult idea to trust especially when He sovereignly acts in ways that go against our suppositions. It has been my experience that when I do not understand God’s ways I have to cling to God’s worth-that He is good in His holiness-even when times are not.

By allowing Adam to bring sin and death into the world (Romans 5:12), even God did not escape the costs of His own sovereign choices. He paid the ultimate price as the consequence of mankind’s rebellion. That suffering came in offering up His sinless Eternal Son (John 17:5) as the only acceptable way, to return us to fellowship with Himself. It was God’s omniscience and compassion that already had planned redemption before the beginning of time (Titus 1:2). Why did He ordain a plan of redemption before it was needed, putting His own Son on that hideous altar of sacrifice?

God in His sovereignty did not have to redeem Creation. He spoke it into being out of nothing by the word of His mouth and could have as easily spoken it out of existence and started over. However, knowing the cost to Himself beforehand He had already chosen to sacrifice what was most precious to Him to save it (Revelation 13:8), suffering the unimaginable pain of seeing His Innocent Son tortured and executed as a criminal to its completion.

Is God sovereign or savage? Humanity were the savages for we killed the One He sent to redeem us, but in His sovereign power and will God was witnessed by many raising Christ from the dead (Luke 24:50-52, Acts 1:3-9). The Father exalted Him to the highest place of authority, power, and glory (Acts 2:24).

The only thing that grants us any kind of understanding is learning and studying God’s character and attributes. Our understanding is as limited as what God can impart to our imperfect understanding. As Paul said, we currently see only the dimmest images of eternal things as though looking in a dark mirror; but then one day we shall see it clearly (1^st Corinthians 13:12).

The Sovereignty of God is perhaps the most disputed and abused of His attributes. Many use it as an excuse to reject and attack the One in whom their image is shaped (Genesis 1:26). If Jehovah is an evil despot, then, yes, he would be a savage god. If He is the Sovereign I AM who exists in perfect holiness, then that would make Him the right and righteous God who Judges in complete and independent perfection.

Job spoke of God saying He is sovereign and unchangeable and who can turn Him back? What He desires, that He does (Job 23:13). Who can point the finger and demand of Him “What have you done?” If He is the Sovereign Lord of the Universe we can only bow in respect to His sovereignty and wise judgments in all matters, while experiencing in that great and holy perfection perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3, John 14:27).

Maranatha

Ken

God's First Choice

Above him [the LORD] were seraphim [angelic beings], each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:2-3 (NIV)

I once taught a Christian retreat on the book The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. I posed the question to our group, “Which do you believe God wants to be known for first, His love or His holiness?” Everyone immediately responded with “His love,” and gasped when I said, “His holiness.” Love is what we have been taught, and it is the world’s mantra, but He wants to be known for His holiness first, for that is what defines Him.

That God is love is true and while Paul writes of love being the greatest virtue (1^st Corinthians 13:13) the angels around the throne are not crying “Love, love, love is the LORD Almighty.” God wants to be known first for His attribute of holiness.

To be holy means to be separated from something, and to God it is a complete separation from anything that challenges His character, and that is all sin. God demanded this separateness from human spiritual corruption throughout Scripture. He especially demanded separation from His presence for the protection of the Children of Israel and even Moses himself (Exodus 19:12, 33:20).

Why is it so important to study the attributes or character of God? Tim Challies in his article Counterfeit Detection, Part 1, says federal agents are not trained to spot counterfeit currency by studying counterfeit currencies, but by studying legitimate bills. By knowing what is right, they can more easily catch what is wrong. Knowing the attributes of God can cause us to pause at something we hear and say, “Wait a second, that does not sound right. It goes against the character of God.” Jesus said the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth (John 16:13). Holy truth comes from the mind and heart of God Himself.

It is well to understand that because God exists in perfect holiness, everything He does is perfect. Things may not play out like that in our estimation, but often down the road when we see the result, we can stand in amazement at the beautiful wisdom in His answer. It may not have been as swift as we may have liked but it was done right. When we do not understand God’s ways, we can cling to God’s worth, that in His holiness He is good even when times are not.

The definition of His holiness puts all His other attributes into finer focus. Studying the real thing helps us immediately identify the counterfeits. Even the angels who are ever before Him never cease to call out the eternal truth of His holiness (Revelation 4:8)

His perfect attribute of holiness means we are spiritually renewed in Him through the holy perfection of Christ, having full access to the Throne of Grace. Holy is the Lord. It is not what we can do for ourselves but what He can do for us. He is our blessed hope. Blessed be His perfect and holy name forever!

Maranatha,

Ken

Attributing God's Character

-to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever-more! Amen. Jude 1:25 (NIV)

It is my observation that most humans seem to be in love with love. It is the same here in the South where I live. Love is the cure all and the answer to every reality, but if we love something, can love ever be wrong?

According to God’s word, love is especially given to represent His character and nature. To love outside of that can lead to misrepresentation of His character and attributes. Yes, while God is love He cannot love sin which is contrary to His nature and complete holiness. He has carefully laid out a moral compass for us to follow in Scripture, detailing what He loves and abhors. He commands us to be in tune regarding His nature and character and to compare any question we have about an issue against His attributes. As Scripture so rightly professes there is a way that seems right to us but can end in ruin (Proverbs 14:12). So, how can we know?

A serious word study on the character of God can have an encouraging and stabilizing effect on our walk with Him. When confronted by God’s character, as He exists in His perfect, and divine sentient Being, then we can be sure that what we know what His nature reveals of His will, a will that rightly directs us to love the things He truly loves.

In future devotional thoughts, I will be sharing the major attributes of God’s image and character. These are attributes that ought to be dynamically shaping our own characters in a godly manner, for we were created to be sharers of this image (Gen. 1:26). I want to begin with His Eternality. He has no beginning, but has always existed (Revelation 1:8, 4:8). This attribute surely sets Him apart with no equal.

One of the most amazing things in considering the eternality of God is how important we are to Him. Because God is all-knowing (omniscient) you have been on His mind and in His thoughts for all eternity past.

God says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please,’” (Isaiah 46:10).

God’s eternal life spring means He remains unchanging throughout all eternity, as will His Son Christ Jesus (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8). Who else could be totally trustworthy otherwise? A God who wears out and perishes is just a god, and all the gods of the nations are idols (Psalm 96:5), but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His dwelling place (1^st Chronicles 16:26-27).

He is the only One you can put your full trust and hope in. His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, are evident and clearly understood (Romans 1:20). They will continually shine like the Son (Mark 9:2-4, Revelation 1:16).

Next week, does God want to be known for His love first, or His holiness? The answer may surprise you. I hope to see you then as we continue our look at the attributes of the One, True and Living God.  

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Romans 15:13).

Maranatha,

Ken