THE RIGHT USE OF AUTHORITY

When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.  2 Sam. 23:3, 4, N.I.V.

"You're just trying to rule me!" pouted the defiant child.  His sense of justice was wounded because his mother insisted that he perform a task in which he saw no meaning.  When she scolded him for his unwillingness to obey, his countenance fell even further.  His self-image was at stake.  "I hate you!" he muttered as he left the room.

Before we take sides, let's consider today's scripture.  "When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God''--that is, when one who is in a position of authority is in right relationship with God, and finds His ways worth emulating--"he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth."

The right use of authority is likened to the warm brightness of early-morning sunshine, which makes grass spring up from the earth.  If authority, for whatever reason, blights the hearts of those over whom it is exercised, it is wrong.  God Himself values the nurturing of our friendship more than He esteems mere correctness.

However, the attitude of altogether too many people who are in a position to order others around is "Get people in line first, then worry about their feelings!"  Often the chief motivation is progress, not winning the respect of those who must answer to their demands.  The need to avoid chaos is stressed.  What they fail to realize is that people achieve far more when they are in an environment of trust.  When there is respect for a supervisor because he respects the worth of the workers, camaraderie develops and production soars.

God has far more in mind than the production of good works.  He has given us a glimpse of how He uses His infinite authority to warm frozen hearts into throbbing life.  Tender as young blades of grass, our affections toward Him are nurtured by His commitment to respect and protect our individuality and freedom of conscience.  He uses His power, not to whip us into line, but to enable us to respond to the high and lofty calling of walking as sons and daughters of the King.

NO CONDEMNATION!

No condemnation now hangs over the head of those who are "in" Christ Jesus.  For the new spiritual principle of life "in" Christ Jesus lifts me out of the old vicious circle of sin and death.  Rom. 8:1, 2, Phillips.


"That's a tall list," the young man gasped.  "Who could ever live up to all that?"  He was studying the personal standards of his church; his youth pastor had been reviewing what the Bible requires in the areas of personal conduct, moral values, recreation, friendship, diet, dress, the media, use of time, and financial responsibilities.  He was both bewildered and overwhelmed, because he was certain that until he had learned to embrace all these details he would be continually guilty of violating God's will.

He was expressing a familiar feeling: that we spend our life growing toward the security of freedom from guilt, rather than growing within that security.  He shared the too-common perception that the only reason God could think of to get people to live by high standards was as an escape from condemnation.  Therefore, in his mind, if God were to pronounce His people free from condemnation, they would start misbehaving all over again.  At the same time, however, the thought of continually staggering under condemnation hardly seemed appealing.

So his pastor began to unfold to him the meaning of Romans 8:1.  He pointed out that we bear a burden of guilt when we are outside of a relationship with Christ.  Indeed, the broken relationship is itself the guilt-inducing sin, and being reunited with Christ is the desired remedy.  The young man's eyes began to widen as he recognized that it is the union with Christ, not the dread of condemnation, that is the new motive power in the believer's life.  Were Christ continually to hang the threat of condemnation over the growing believer's head, it would shift the focus away from Christ Himself.  It would confuse the motives for obedience, offering self-centered escape from condemnation in the place of Christ-centered love for truth.

Oh, how much we need to grasp that guiltiness has no place in the life of one in union with Christ!  Yes, we may stumble en route to wholeness in Christ.  And we shall feel remorse for hurting others and for misrepresenting our Lord.  But we must not let Satan push remorse into feeling condemned and rejected by God, for "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (R.S.V.).

MY DEFENDING COUNSEL

In my heart I know that my vindicator lives and that he will rise last to speak in court; and I shall discern my witness standing at my side and see my defending counsel, even God himself, whom I shall see with my own eyes, I myself and no other.  Job 19:25-27, N.E.B.

There are few places in all of Scripture where one can find such a vivid, confident, and intensely personal portrait of God, wrapped into one sentence, than this expression by Job.  All who have, like Job, felt accused, abandoned, and misunderstood will appreciate every nuance of this picture of our Father.  It is particularly powerful when seen in contrast to Satan's portrait of God.

Satan has asserted that God relates to His people as an accuser.  Being a perfect God who holds high standards, He can respond only with judgment against such obvious sinners as we are.  But Job has a special title for Him.  He speaks of God as "my vindicator," as one who not only announces forgiveness but who defends Job against all others who would accuse him.

Those who have had a case pending in court remember their apprehension about the summary arguments of the opposition.  They worry that if their adversary has "the last word" they will have no chance for rebuttal and will lose the case.  Job, however, is confident that his vindicator will have the last word, the final summary statement on his behalf.  He knows that his accusers will have nothing more to say when God puts forth His final evidence.

As Job imagines the heavenly courtroom, he does not see himself standing alone and exposed before all the officials.  With transparent warmth, he describes his heavenly advocates as "standing at my side."  Of all the places God could position Himself, there is a touching message in His choice to show solidarity with His troubled friends.

No wonder, then, that Job could speak of God with the endearing term "my defending counsel."  He did not regard God as though He were merely a court-appointed defense, going through the motions required by law in order to "make things proper."  Job felt a deep, personal interest on God's part in a happy outcome for himself.

That's why God could speak so highly of Job, seeing him as one that could be counted on not to fail, even under the most trying circumstances.  That's what happens to our faith when we know God as He is!

WHAT ELSE COULD HE DO?

The Lord was in the right; it was I who rebelled against his commands.  Lam. 1:18, N.E.B.

What if God were to work miracles that made smokers healthy, adulterers happy, and cheaters wise?  On the face of it, we know that these species of sins would suddenly become much more popular.

On the other hand, if smokers got healthy, then why would smoking be a sin?  If adulterers truly became more happy, then why would God be against adultery?  If people could cheat to gain genuine wisdom, wouldn't God be in favor of it?

This illustrates that God doesn't go around simply hanging the "sin" tag on various activities, then railing against all of the activities so labeled.  Christian growth doesn't mean that we simply try to get all the tags right.  There is nothing arbitrary about any of God's dealings with us.  That which He rules out from our lives is that which in itself is hurtful to us.  Christian growth, then, involves learning to walk within the patterns of inherent blessing.  It means learning to avoid those patterns that will in themselves bring pain and grief.

In the Lamentations of Jeremiah, a man of God verbally weeps over the sorrows of his people.  Their country has been invaded and badly damaged by foreign troops.  The glorious Temple lies in ruins.  The people are suffering from famine and disease.  A nation that refused to listen to her God as He called her to repentance has come face-to-face with the consequences of her choices.

Yet there is no rancor in Jeremiah's voice, no bitterness that God has inflicted undue punishment upon His people.  Instead, he is quick to acknowledge that God is absolutely in the right in allowing the nation to suffer.  He knows that God does not work the kind of miracles that confuses people about reality; He does not step in to prevent a wandering people from feeling the pain of their wandering, lest they come to feel that wandering from God is a wholesome thing to do.

The pain that God's wandering people feel is portioned out to us with a loving hand.  He allows enough to sober and instruct us, yet not so much as to crush us.  He longs for us to feel His love, rather than to cower before His anger.  The only enduring basis for true faith is admiration for the beauty of His character and the goodness of His ways.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

It is the same God that said, "Let there be light shining out of darkness," who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God's glory, the glory on the face of Christ.  2 Cor. 4:6, Jerusalem.


One of my favorite fantasies is that we will get to watch Jesus do Creation week all over again.  You know the setting: The earth will just have been cleaned up with a consuming fire, lying all barren and ready as it was six thousand years ago.  The Father will announce, "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5).  Then Jesus' great voice will sweep across the landscape, creating in its wake green forests and blue lakes teeming with life.  Perhaps it will take seven days, just as it did the first time, giving us twenty-four hours to celebrate each step.

Paul's favorite fantasy was only slightly different.  He too pictured that great voice saying, "Let there be light!"  But instead of suns and stars, he envisioned brilliant truth impacting the minds of men and women--truth about the glorious character of our Father as revealed in Jesus.  He longed to see that bright, compelling truth sweeping aside every fragment of darkness--the darkness of Satan-sponsored misunderstanding.

Far from a fantasy, of course, this was Paul's life mission!  Nothing meant more to him than that Jesus should be made known.  His cherished definition of the gospel was the "Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:4, Jerusalem).  To Paul, there could be no greater news than the discovery of the Father's true character as revealed in Jesus.  There was nothing that would be of more benefit to the world, more valuable for mankind to know.

I'm so glad that Paul recognized this glory as being revealed on the face of Jesus.  Far beyond words, there is so much that is revealed by one's face.  The eyes, the gentle lines around the mouth, even the tilt of the head while listening intently to another speak, can reveal such winning qualities.  What a delightful way to dispel the darkness.

The same creative power that could by a spoken word bring to life beings in God's own image could--by becoming the Word--fill their minds anew with truth that could reform their characters into His own likeness.  In the final analysis, wouldn't that be even more thrilling to behold than Creation week?  Fortunately, we can enjoy them both.

THE THEME OF JESUS' PRAYER

Oh, Simon, Simon, do you know that Satan has asked to have you all to sift like wheat?--But I have prayed for you that you may not lose your faith.  Yes, when you have turned back to me, you must strengthen these brothers of yours.  Luke 22:31, 32, Phillips.

How easy it is for us to pray amiss!  We earnestly plead for God to bless the missionaries across the seas, while we neglect the needs of our neighbor next door.  We ask for more money, while our prior need is to learn how to manage what money we have.

When Jesus prayed, however, His briefly stated concerns went right to the basic issues.  The prayer for Peter that is recorded in today's text reveals such sensitive understanding.  He knew that Peter would not make it through the night--that before the sun would rise on a new day, he would have vehemently denied his Lord three times.  For Peter's sake, Jesus wanted to report the theme of His prayer; it contained the avenue of his recovery.

Peter was about to face an aspect of the Messiah's ministry that simply did not fit in his script.  His vision of Jesus as the military conqueror and national deliverer was about to be nailed to an ugly cross.  And Peter's narrowly based faith would die with Him.  It is a crisis that all of Jesus' fragile-faithed friends will have to face eventually.  All of us who have believed in Jesus because of what He can do for us, who have staked our confidence on our small vision of Him, will face a crash similar to Peter's.

Jesus knows better than to prevent that crash.  He knows that immature, self-centered faith is too small for the great issues of life and salvation, and that it must die to give way to new understandings.  So He tenderly walks with us through our Calvary, in order that when immature faith goes through its death throes, we can remember the heart of the One who looked Peter in the eye with great compassion even as he was swearing his denials.  We can remember who He is and, remembering, we can return to Him.

The theme of Jesus' prayer was that Peter would return to Him.  Rather than be disappointed that Jesus did not measure up to his own miniature expectations, Peter's faith needed to grow up.  This is the kind of faith that Jesus prayed would not fail.

THE LONGING IN GOD'S HEART

If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.  Prov. 1:23, N.I.V.


In our endeavors to please God, we often seek to know His will regarding what we should or should not do.  Could it be that God is ultimately more concerned about our relationship with Him than with our actions?  Could it be that His desire to deal with our actions is because He longs to promote, protect, and nurture that relationship?

Today's text speaks of a great longing in God's heart.  It explains His intentions when He remonstrates with us.  "If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured  out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you."  It is plain that God not only wants to make His thoughts known to us; He desires to pour out His heart to us!

In human relationships, when we pour out our hearts to somebody, we trust that person with all our hopes and dreams.  Can it be that our great God has hopes and dreams that He'd love to share with us?  Have we been shortsighted in thinking that all He ever thinks about is our behavior?  Before this world began, God had plans and dreams, and we may confidently know that we are a part of those dreams.  Our companionship was something He envisioned long before sin entered the universe.

It is difficult for us to conceptualize eternity.  I've heard people comment candidly that they are a little nervous about what we will find to do for a time as long as forever.  Perhaps most of us will take a long time in getting past the relief we'll experience in not having any more trials.  At this point I can picture God smiling broadly, because He can hardly wait to tell us what He's been thinking about!

The happiest times we know on earth are when we are sharing the rich companionship of trusted and loved friends.  What we do together is almost inconsequential, though often stimulating and rewarding.  It is the friendship that makes the experience worthwhile.  In like manner, our friendship with God is what eternity is all about.  Even now we may begin to enter into such a special relationship with Him that we will be eager to have anything and everything removed that would keep us from ever-deepening communion with Him.  We will be just as eager as He is.

THE ROOTS OF UGLINESS

There is no fidelity, no tenderness, no knowledge of God in the country, only perjury and lies, slaughter, theft, adultery and violence, murder after murder.  Hosea 4:1, 2, Jerusalem.


On a recent radio talk show various callers were expressing their firm opinions to the host about why there was so much crime in our country.  One said, "It's the breakup of the family.  That's why there is so much crime."  So the host asked, "But why are there so many homes breaking up?"  The caller didn't know.

The next caller did know.  "It's because of television; that's what is breaking up our homes.  They show such immoral stuff on TV that people just try to live that way too."  Again the host responded, The producers just give the people what they want.  Why do people want to watch that stuff?"  This caller wasn't sure.

Another caller wanted to blame the liberal courts, but when the host pointed out that juries and judges tend to reflect something of the prevailing morality of a society and asked where society was getting its values, the caller only mumbled that he didn't know.  And so it went, each caller blaming what he thought was a prime cause, only to acknowledge that it also was just a symptom of a larger malaise.

Had Hosea been in the listening audience, however, we might have heard him say, "There is no knowledge of God in the land."  The root cause of all the ugliness is that the people do not know their Father.  He could have defended his position from any of several angles.  Some might say, for example, that there really is a lot of religion in the country, so many professional clerics.  To which he would have replied, "Let no one accuse the people or reprimand them--my complaint is against you priests" (Hosea 4:4, T.E.V.).  The religious leaders, even though talking a great deal about God, have rejected a true understanding of Him (verse 6).

When a country claims to live by God's values, yet its people have no vital union with God to obtain the inner renewal to live by those values, the whole scheme becomes a frustrating mockery.  There is neither a fixed point of certainty about what is right, nor the inner desire to live it.  All the country's institutions suffer alike: the homes, the courts, the schools, and the media.  The solution?  "Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord" (chap. 6:3, R.S.V.).

HOW HOT IS HELL

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might.  2 Thess. 1:9, T.E.V.


If you have a table or desk lamp near you as you read this, let your eyes glance from the bulb down to the power cord at the base of the lamp.  Then trace the cord across the floor to the wall plug.  From there you will have to imagine electrical wires running through your house, across town, over the countryside, and finally ending at some huge generating plant.  The little bulb in your lamp gives off light because it has an unbroken connection with the power plant.  If the wires are broken at any point--by a tree falling across the power lines, or by you pulling the plug--the light will go out.  The bulb cannot give light by itself.

In the same way, we live because we are in union with the Life-giver, our heavenly Father.  Though we have broken connection with Him, God has been giving us the daily grace-lift of life that we might choose to renew our loyalties with Him.  But He will not forever keep the whole planet on an emergency life-support system.  God has great respect for our freedom; the day will come when those who refuse His gracious invitation for friendship will be given what they have chosen: separation from Him.

When you unplug your lamp, it doesn't explode.  The light just goes out.  Nor do you need to beat on the bulb in anger for its ceasing to give light.  That's simply what happens when it is disconnected.  By the same token, when one breaks union with God life ceases.  God does not, in anger, need to crush it out.  Nor does He need to work a miracle to keep a person alive so that He might at the same time inflict unending punishment on him.  To be separated from the Life-giver is to be dead--eternally.

The people God was addressing in Biblical times did not always understand this cause-effect principle.  It was difficult for them to appreciate the destructiveness of being out of harmony with God.  And so the Bible writers employed the imagery of consuming flames to describe the sureness and completeness of the destruction of life apart from God.  But being apart from God is in itself the worst thing that could ever happen to a person.  God doesn't need to torch hellish fires to enhance what is already so terrible.

FAITH IS BEING CONFIDENT

Do not then throw away your confidence, for it carries a great reward.  Heb. 10:35, N.E.B.

Would you be willing to make a promise to do absolutely anything I asked you to do, without questioning?  If you were to answer, "Yes!  Of course!" then I would have some questions about you.  Most likely you would respond with cautious questions such as "How can I know you won't ask me to do something foolish?  Would you want to prove all that authority you have over me?  Or abuse it?"

You probably would not be satisfied if I replied in soothing tones, "Just trust me.  Take a blind leap in the dark, and just trust me."  You would ask what basis you would have for trusting me, what evidence upon which to base your confidence.

It seems reasonable to relate to fellow human beings on this basis.  We place our confidence in people only after we have come to have sufficient basis for doing so.  We see no virtue in blind faith; we trust only the trustworthy.  Why, then, do we feel so hesitant to relate to God in the same way?  Why do we feel embarrassed about looking for evidence for trusting Him, when He has gone to such great lengths to give us so much of it?  Why do we employ the highest mental capacities He has given us when making decisions of modest importance, but set them aside when making the most crucial decisions of our entire existence?

Through the ages, many Christians have felt that faith is simply a choice to believe religious convictions without any basis for doing so--that to ask for evidence is to undermine faith.  Because the powers of intellect often have been perverted to the detriment of religious experience, it has seemed antireligious to bring careful mental discipline to one's informed trust in God.

But our God is not afraid of the evidence!  He is not worried what people will find when they look closely in His direction.  He knows that we turned from Him in the first place because we handled the evidence in a shoddy manner.  He knows that through the centuries those who have been His best friends have always been those who understood Him most clearly and could speak most accurately about Him.  He invites us to become acquainted with Him in Jesus, and then not to throw away our confidence.