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Grace Presbyterian Church Characteristics of the Christian by Pastor Bob Burridge ©2001 |
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Chapter 4 We regularly face troubling challenges as we live in this world. And at the root of all our hard struggles is sin. When Adam sinned in Eden corruption spread to the souls of every one who would descend from him. This corruption is the foundation for physical as well as spiritual adversity, sickness and death.
God summarized the corruption that sin would bring when he pronounced the curses. He told Eve that there would be a struggle between her offspring and Satan. Then God said to her in Genesis 3:16,
Then God said to Adam ... (Genesis 3:17-19)
These far reaching effects of sin, both in our world and in our hearts, are why people constantly struggle against temptations and become morally confused. We see a society flooded with crime. Neighbors often find it easy to justify breaking the law, or lying in circumstances which they think are minor or unimportant. Justice is often perverted into injustice, and immorality becomes the treasured ethic of a fallen world. Even believers often find it hard to cope with calamities such as natural disasters, disease and death itself. God never promised that believers can escape these kinds of things in this life. But he has given us a way of rising above the agony and discouragement that can accompany such troubles.
This is a huge topic with many vast territories to explore. Our mind-set as believers, and how we respond to adversity, involves the whole issue of sanctification and spiritual maturity. Therefore, this study only attempts to be an overview to help us along to a more optimistic way of living. You have all probably heard the standard jokes, stories, and classic sayings about optimism and pessimism. I did a quick search of the internet about these two midsets using the google search engine. In less than half of a second it returned 21,900 web sites containing both words. The most posted example was the old poem written by McLandburgh Wilson (with variations) Between the optimist and the pessimist,
There were 1,820 web sites with either that whole quote or variations of it, including a few that identified themselves as Jewish humor sites where they substituted a bagel for the doughnut. There were 1,721 web sites telling the story of the optimist boy who was given a pile of manure for a present. Keeping with his character, he started excitedly searching expecting there must be a new horse hidden somewhere. The old tired saying about seeing the glass either half empty or half full appeared 4,390 times. But there was an interesting update of that one for our computer age ...
These examples point out a clear difference in outlook. They show what we see in people, and they're classic illustrations of trite humor. But none of them really gets to the heart of the issue. which is a counterfeit of the biblical version.
There is a head-in-the-sand optimism.
There is a false optimism that pretends to be Christian, but is not.
with a God-centered perspective Everything fits in with the bigger picture, as God directs his universe. Shorter Catechism question 7 says,
There are some key parts in that answer:
That means that sin, disappointments, failures, defeats, crime, persecutions, and eternal judgments all fit together into the large plan of God. And all of it promotes his glory. Therefore, as we try to understand things around us, both the things we like and the things we dislike, we need to keep this main principle in mind: God's sovereign power and infallible decrees move all things toward his own glory. God, in his word, clearly explains his sovereignty over all things: Its a teaching found in every section of the Bible. For example ...
If we knew nothing more than this, we would still have the most important encouragement a person could ask for. Since God is absolutely in control of all things there is no reason for discouragement. Of course we still sometimes get discouraged. But in Christ we know it doesn't have to be that way. We don't have to hide our heads in the sand and pretend nothing bad will happen to us. And we don't have to fool ourselves with wishful thinking. God rules over all things and moves them toward a glorious end. Nothing is left to chance in God's universe. Calamities don't blindly stumble our way. They are part of something bigger than our own expectations and understanding. God never has to change his eternal plan, though he reveals it in stages to us. There is no enemy that can force God's hand, or derail his plans. Even the wicked, when they strike out against God, only serve him though ignorantly. The unbelieving hands that nailed Jesus to a cross for execution meant to silence him. Instead they became the tools in God's hand that finished the work of Salvation. Peter explained in Acts 2:23
God didn't excuse this most horrible sin. But he turned the diabolical scheme around. Though we might not appreciate their importance, even hard times have a good purpose.
Just a few examples from the Bible can help us apply this important principle: serious threats against God's people. The prophet had become discouraged, so he asked God to explain. In chapter 1 he prays for understanding ...
Because of his discouragement, Habakkuk waited for God to explain.
But God gave a different kind of answer than he expected.
God pointed him toward his duty instead of toward his obsession with the problem. The redeemed, those made righteous, are to live by trusting what God has made known. What God has not revealed should not be our concern. This brings us back to that verse we quote so much ...
This doesn't mean we shouldn't work hard to find out all than can be known. But it does mean that God's reasons behind things should not be guessed at beyond what he says. As children, there are many things we should leave up to our Father. When we worry about things we can never control or explain, we show a mistrust in our Father. We trouble ourselves unnecessarily with unfounded anxiety about God's secret work, often to the neglect of our own revealed duties. by the seeming success of the heathen. In Psalm 2 he asked why the heathen nations get away with being so bold and wicked?
Then the Psalm reminds us who is in charge ...
Its a superficial delusion to see success in wickedness. The discouraged heart doesn't look far enough. Part of David's life was spent being hunted by armies of kings trying to kill him. But through it all he remembered that the kings who tried to kill him were never beyond the control of God. He wrote the so often repeated words of Psalm 23:4
When his brothers conspired to kill him and sell him into slavery Joseph later said...
So God uses even the sins and selfish attitudes of his creatures to accomplish his decrees. This doesn't excuse the sin. But it shows that evil is employed to accomplish God's wonders. From his captivity in Rome he wrote the letter to the Philippian Church. In the fourth chapter of that letter his words teach us a clear lesson ...
with confidence, peace and resolve. We leave the success of things to God, and we accept the things that are beyond our own responsibility. In place of confusion we should have a sense of duty and promise. Noah was not a pessimist simply because he expected a calamity. It wasn't a sense of impending doom that drove him to start making an ark long before there was a flood. He understood that it was not his responsibility to stop the flood. He turned his attention to the duty God had called him to perform. He made an ark. We need to remember this when we go about our duties too. When we explain the gospel to others or stand up for God's truth and law: Some may not believe. Some may ridicule us or think we are foolish. Some may even persecute us. But our duty is to represent Christ and his grace which has been shown to us as sinners. It's God's work to change the hearts. It's our duty to tell others about the good news he has provided. Remembering the Sovereign hand of our Loving Heavenly Lord, should give us a positive attitude as we look for our duties and appreciate his blessings. In whatever circumstances that come; a lost job, a lost election campaign, sickness, seeing pain in someone we love, losing our house to a storm, or realizing that our car spends more time in the repair shop than in our drive-way, we can rest joyfully and securely knowing that the hand of God which employs all things for good. God is glorified even in a sinner's rebellion, in a nation's fall or corruption. These will one day dramatically display his attribute of justice and holiness. Such things humble us, knowing we deserve the same wrath, yet we see his grace and love. These things work together in the larger good plan. Our mind-set is the key. We need to see things with a God-centered perspective. Everything fits in with the bigger picture, as God directs his universe. His sovereign power and infallible decrees move all things toward his own glory. This brings us back to a familiar verse. Instead of fixating on the problems or on the pain, there is a better way ...
The right cosmic perspective is to see all things as the unfolding of God's wonderful plan.
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