Freedom to Choose Life

I have been reading through the creation account recorded in the Bible.  By the power of His word alone God created the heavens and earth and spoke all thing into existence.  From the earth He brought forth plants, trees, birds, reptiles, and fish in abundance.  Finally on the sixth day God formed man from the dust of the ground in His own image and breathed into Adam a living soul.

Before today I never considered how God created countless living things to reproduce after their own kinds yet created a single human being.  When God created the human body He thought of everything and placed him in the Garden of Eden God planted.  Genesis 2:8 says, "The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed."  God gave man responsibility to tend the garden God planted and a command to eat from every tree save one in Genesis 2:15-17:  "Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."  God spoke to Adam having provided him the capacity to reason, a conscience, and to communicate using words and language--again, different to plants, beasts, and birds.

Genesis 2:18-20 continued:  "And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." ¹⁹ Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him."  Having given Adam dominion over the garden and the animals God created, God brought animals to Adam "...to see what he would call them" and the names stuck.  I find the freedom God allowed Adam to name the animals compelling.  How gracious is God who allows man to make decisions which have enduring consequences.

In all creation there was not a being comparable to him, so God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and from one of his ribs made woman because she was taken out of man.  From Adam and Eve God joined in marriage have all humankind descended.  How privileged we are as human beings to know God, to have been placed by Him in profitable labour, to hear His voice and receive His commands.  Even now He has graciously given all men and women the opportunity to make decisions that stick in regards to placing our faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour.  The first Adam sinned and died, and through the death of Jesus--the second Adam, the Word who became flesh--all who were once dead in sins who trust in Him shall live forever.  Jesus Christ has been given all authority in heaven and earth, far more than Adam ever dreamed of.

Paul expertly explained in 1 Corinthians 15:42-49:  "So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man."

God's Word is Pure

"Your word is very pure; therefore Your servant loves it."

Psalm 119:140

Psalm 119 is famous for being the longest chapter in the Bible, yet it has at least one other outstanding feature:  nearly every single verse therein praises God's word, commandments, and statutes.  The psalmist had a healthy obsession with the word of God and sought to heed it continually.  As this verse plainly states, the purity of God's word is a reason why servants of God love it.  Compared to good seed that is fruitful in prepared hearts by Jesus, it is living and active to instruct, guide, and help us to know God and follow Him.

The heavens and earth will pass away but all of God's words will endure forever in full force.  The Bible has remained unsullied and pure until now and will continue to provide life-sustaining wisdom forever to all who read and walk according to it.  Proverbs 30:5 says, "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him."  The absolute, eternal truth of God has been miraculously distilled into words that have been translated into many languages and has remained pure to this day.  All impurities of the world and opinions of men have been prevented from tarnishing this unique revelation of God.  In an unclean world the Bible remains pure and worthy of being called God's word.

Don't fall for the lie Satan has used to dupe many that asserts the exact opposite--that over years it has been corrupted and is no longer of relevance.  Those who agree the Bible is the word of God ought not to explain away doctrines and teaching which contradicts what we think or what the world values.  If we will know God and the faith once delivered to the saints the Bible is the means God has used to reveal the mystery of the Gospel and the hope all can have in Jesus Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  David wrote in Psalm 138:2, "I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name."  What a marvelous statement this is, that God would magnify His word "above all His name" and submits Himself to all He has said.

Photograph of "A Man in Christ" by J. Sidlow Baxter

Yesterday I started reading His Deeper Work in Us by J. Sidlow Baxter and am enjoying it thoroughly.  Now here is a man who knows and breathes the inspired truth of scripture.  No fluff or quaint cliches here:  just meaty, thought provoking words worthy of being meditated upon because they are from God's Word.  Directly after reading these words I found it necessary to read them again because there is too much to digest in a single pass:

Holiness, as taught in the New Testament, is no mere negative concept--a being freed merely from the disfigurements of sin.  Besides the negative aspect of being rescued from the tyranny of hereditary depravity, there are all those wonderful positive traits which accompany the Holy Spirit's deeper renewal of the mind into the image of Christ.  According to the New Testament picture of holiness, the garden is not only cleared of ugly weeds, it is filled with fragrant flowers and rich fruits...

In other words, the New Testament emphasis is not so much on our being ridded of something (though that is necessarily included) but rather on our being filled with a spiritual vitality and health which leave the sin-disease no environment in which to thrive.  That life of victorious fulness is the shining challenge of the written Word to every Christian believer.  It is a fulness of new spiritual life which is positive holiness--brought about through an invasion of our being by the Holy Spirit Himself (wonderful mystery!).  One has only to glance through the New Testament to know whether many or few Christians today are living according to the divine standard.

Look again at the New Testament photograph of "a man in Christ".  He has within him "the peace of God which passeth all understanding (Phil. 4:7).  He "rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet. 1:8).  He has "the wisdom that is from above" (Jas. 3:17).  He "walks in the light as God is in the light", having continuous "fellowship with the Father and with His Son (1 John 1:3, 7).  He is "renewed in knowledge after the image of God" (Col. 3:10), and is renewed into "true holiness" (Eph. 4:24).  He "beholds with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, and is changed into the same image" (2 Cor. 3:18).  In him "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).  He "dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16).  He is "filled unto all the fulness of God" (Eph. 3:19).  He lives the "more abundant life" (John 10:10).

In his prayer-life he "asks and receives", till his "joy is full" (John 16:24).  He finds God "able to do exceedingly abundantly above all he asks or thinks, according to the power that worketh in him" (Eph. 3:20).  To his praying heart the risen Lord "manifests Himself" (John 14:21).  In him, "the Spirit beareth witness that he is a child of God" (Rom. 8.16).  The "Spirit of life" has "set him free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2).  He knows by experience that he is "sealed" with the Holy Spirit, and that he has the inward "earnest" of the Spirit as a foretaste of the heavenly "inheritance" (Eph. 1:13, 14).  He is "endued" by the Spirit with "the power from on high".  His character is beautiful with "the fruit of the Spirit:  love joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness..."

When "troubled on every side" he is not "cast down" but the life of Jesus is "manifested" through him (2 Cor. 4:8, 10).  In "tribulations" he is "more than conqueror through him that loved us" (Rom. 8:37).  In "infirmities" and "reproaches" he sings, "when I am weak then am I strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).  "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phi. 4:13).  He has "full assurance of hope" (Heb. 6:11) and "full assurance of faith" (10:22).  In a word, he is "filled continually with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).  (Baxter, J. Sidlow. His Deeper Work In Us. London, Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1967, pp. 16–18.)

This photograph of those who are in Christ is not theoretical or a fantasy only to be enjoyed in the distant future.  Here are qualities of followers of Jesus Christ because the Holy Spirit has indwelt and empowered us by the grace of God.  A young aspiring bodybuilder hangs posters of muscled, ripped bodies in his makeshift gym because he hopes to work towards the body he idolises as an ideal:  God provides the true picture of the reality for believers in Christ we never dared to dream.  Faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to Him is the path to glory.  It is not the glory of the muscle-man who feeds and flaunts the flesh but humility and submission to God and by His using these weak, broken vessels the glory of Jesus Christ will shine through, and people will catch a glimpse of Him.

A Converted Soul

While preparing a sermon I have the practice of consulting with various commentaries to educate myself on what other notable believers have gleaned from the passage.  One of my favourite commentaries is one of the older ones I reference:  a condensed version of Matthew Henry's commentary penned in the early 1700's.  Perhaps one of these days I can acquire the full original version.  Every commentary penned by men has its flaws and limits, yet the concise volume remains instructive and insightful until today.  Today's reading was absolutely brilliant, a commentary on Jesus' words found in Luke 11:21-23:  "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. ²² But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. ²³ He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." Here are Matthew Henry's words on the subject:

"When Christ cast out devils he was stronger than they, and could do it by force, and did it so as to ruin Satan's power.  Now this is applicable to Christ's victories over Satan both in the world and in the hearts of particular persons.  And so we may observe here,

(1) The miserable condition of an unconverted sinner.  In his heart, which was fitting to be a habitation of God, the devil has his palace; and all the powers and faculties of the soul are his goods.  The heart is a palace, a noble dwelling; but the unsanctified heart is the devil's palace.  All the prejudices with which he hardens men's hearts against truth and holiness are the strongholds which he erects for the keeping of his palace.  There is a kind of peace in the palace of an unconverted soul, while the devil, as a strong man armed, keeps it.  The sinner has a good opinion of himself, is very secure and merry; he flatters himself in his own eyes, and cries peace to himself.  Before Christ appeared, all was quiet, because all went one way; but the preaching of the Gospel disturbed the peace of the devil's palace. 

(2) The wonderful change that is made in conversion.  Satan is a strong man armed; but our Lord Jesus is stronger than he, see that manner of this victory:  he comes upon him by surprise, when his goods are in peace and overcomes him.  See the evidences of this victory.  First, He takes from him all his armour wherein he trusted.  Christ disarms him.  When the power of sin and corruption in the soul is broken then Satan's armour is taken away.  Secondly, He divides the spoils; he takes possession of them for himself.  All the endowments of mind and body are now converted to Christ's service.  Yet this is not all; he makes a distribution of them among his followers, and gives to all believers the benefit of that victory.  Hence Christ infers that, since the whole drift of his doctrine and miracles was the break the power of the devil, it was the duty of all to join with him, to receive his gospel and come heartily into the interests of it; for otherwise they would justly be reckoned as siding with the enemy (v. 23):  He that is not with me is against me." (Henry, M. edited by Church, L., 1974. Commentary On The Whole Bible By Matthew Henry. 14th ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, p. 1452.)

Praise the LORD for the overcoming power of Jesus Christ who is faithful and true, the eternal Word who rules in righteousness, mercy, and grace.  Our hearts have not only been swept clean of satanic defilement but have become habitations of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel.  When the Gospel goes forth the kingdom and power of Satan is shaken and the enemy of our souls is plundered.  A strong man fully armed is no match for our Saviour Christ who is the mightiest now and forever.  Isn't the work of conversion accomplished by Jesus marvelous?