The Divine Curveball

When I played baseball as a kid, I enjoyed batting practice.  That was the most fun part of training that never lasted as long as I wanted.  Sometimes we went to batting cages where the ball was spit out from a machine at a preset speed.  While batting in the cages was good to improve hand-eye coordination, balance and bat control, there were several drawbacks.  It wasn't long before a batter began to suffer fatigue and potentially develop bad habits (as well as blisters!).  The worst drawback is the repetition of the same pitch, pace and location caused batters to anticipate it.  Unlike a machine, a pitcher who knows you are looking fastball will throw a curveball or changeup, some off-speed pitch to throw off the timing of the batter.  Unless the batter is able to quickly recognise the pitch and adjust accordingly, he is an easy out.

I believe the Bible is full of "curveballs," unexpected spiritual truths and applications the natural or carnal man will always miss.  If we carefully observe the flow of a passage and consider what we might do, say or conclude in a given circumstance, the Bible is full of surprises.  God's intention in doing this is not to mislead or confuse us but to show us how totally different His ways and thoughts are from ours.  Isaiah 55:6-9 says, "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. ⁸ "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. ⁹ "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."  God doesn't want us just to obligatory nod our heads in agreement but to personally apply His truth to our lives so our ways will be patterned after His.

A recent study of the book of Jude was a perfect illustration of this for me.  In this brief epistle, Jude wrote to believers to earnestly contend for the faith because many had crept into the church unnoticed who used God's grace as an excuse to sin and denied Jesus Christ.  The body of the letter is filled with warnings about the dangers of apostasy, the coming judgment against them, and he used murderous Cain, greedy Balaam and power-hungry Korah as examples to avoid.  Then Jude switched his focus to address sin that was not ancient history or "out there somewhere" but was present in their love feasts and fellowship.  He reminded his readers that apostles had warned in the last days there would be murmurers, complainers, and flatterers who walked according to their own lusts and did not even have the Holy Spirit in them.

Now after hearing this, what would be a natural conclusion?  Perhaps to become suspicious of others in our fellowship or the church in general; to bring this ugly truth into the open to confront others for their guilt; to ferret these ungodly people out of the shadows and excommunicate them to rid ourselves of the evil.  And this is exactly when Jude twirls up that curveball in Jude 1:20-23:  "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²² And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."  The implication of what Jude says is, "That wicked person can be you."  Jude was not asking people to go on a "witch hunt" to purge a fellowship of dubious members but to build themselves up on their faith, praying in the Spirit, keeping themselves in the love of God, look for the mercy of Jesus, show compassion and do what they can to save others from destruction.  The application is a personal one, not the censure or judgment of others.

The purity and uprightness of the church  does not rest on the vigilance of the members, though we are called to righteousness, holiness, faith and love.  The strength of the Body is increased, not by the removal of sinners, but when Christians build themselves up in faith and keep themselves in the love of God.  For those who are concerned of the lamentable condition of the church, look to yourselves and to the LORD and repent of your sin so you do not become a Cain, Balaam or Korah under judgment.  Jude 1:24-25 is a perfect conclusion that extols the omniscient supremacy of God:  "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."  That's a curveball we should rejoice in and smash out of the park by faith in Jesus.

A New Creation

There is a memorable scene in Disney's Finding Nemo when the strapping great white Bruce compelled Marlin a clownfish and his companion Dory (of course a dory!) to accompany him as "friends" to a support group with fellow sharks.  Patterned from a cliche "AA" style gathering, the meeting was called to order by Bruce who lead them in the recitation of their motto in unison:  "Fish are friends, not food."  During the meeting Dory was bopped in the nose and a faint trail of blood wafted up to friendly Bruce's nostril.  Suddenly his pupils dilated as instinct to feed kicked in.  "Just a bite!" Bruce shouted as his shark friends attempted in vain to restrain him and made excuses for his ravenous behaviour.

This is a fitting demonstration of how good intentions, willpower, knowledge and even a support group are inadequate in themselves to keep sinners from sin.  Bruce was triggered to attack by a drop of blood in the water because he was a shark.  It is impossible to curb our appetites of the flesh by feeding them, and we cannot dodge the triggers forever.  Our flesh is so hungry to be satiated new triggers will appear everywhere:  reminders that lure and opportunity to indulge beckons.  Unlike Odysseus who packed his ears with wax and was physically restrained to the mast to prevent him from chasing the call of the Sirens, no mortal man can restrain body or soul from the call to chase transgressions which will corrupt, drown and destroy him.

Religion is not the antidote of sin's poison, for our best attempts to do what is right are as vain as our efforts to avoid what God deems sin.  God looked upon sinful flesh and did for us by the Gospel what no man could do through the Law or prophets:  by faith in Jesus we are born again and made new creations.  After Paul said through Christ the world had been crucified unto him and he unto the world, Galatians 6:15-16 explains:  "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.¹⁶ And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God."  Being circumcised does not save a soul nor does uncircumcision doom to destruction:  those who will be acceptable before God must be born again by faith in Jesus.  He is the only Way for salvation and genuine transformation from within.

A wise man knows his areas of weakness and avoids temptation, and even better is the one who is born again and realises the world has been crucified to him and he unto the world.  What power does a crucified world have upon a crucified man through whom risen Jesus lives?  We who have been made new creations and righteous by God's grace through the Gospel have peace and mercy upon us to endure and overcome.  Many believers have been duped to think they need fellowship with no one but God when Jesus has joined all believers with Himself as one Body, the church.  We are new creations united with Jesus Christ and one another to love, support, encourage and serve.  Only God knows the hearts of men and why precisely we are overtaken by trespasses, yet I know this without a doubt:  we must first be born again.  Trying to overcome sin by the flesh is a most foolish endeavor.  Jesus is the only way to obtain victory over sin, death and experience the abundant life Jesus has promised to all who follow Him.

The Better Hope

"For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God."

Hebrews 7:18-19

The Law God gave Israel was good, a divine revelation of God and the standard of righteousness required to draw near to Him.  The writer of Hebrews, however, pointed out the demonstrated weakness and unprofitableness of it to perfect those who were under it.  It had no power to make a man sinless, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.  It is like a doctor who skillfully diagnoses a fatal disease but is powerless to provide a cure.  The Law was of no profit to save a man or render him rightoues, for it could only condemn.

The weakness of the Law was also displayed in the fallibility of human administration.  One does not need to delve far into the priesthood to see those who anointed and sanctified to appear before the LORD were flawed men.  Hophni and Phinehas fornicated with women at the tabernacle, and their father Eli took no action to remove them from their roles.  Abiathar the priest undermined the rule of David toward the end of his life, and Caiaphas condemned Jesus Christ the LORD to death!  There were long seasons when the temple was polluted, the doors locked, and priests were unable to serve.  Even the best priests among the sons of Aaron ultimately passed away and could not continue in their office.

God who established the Law is able to annul it as a means of drawing near to Him and provide a better hope through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Abraham was declared righteous by God for faith in Him before the Law existed, so it is clear the keeping of Law was not required to find grace in God's sight.  Jesus Christ is the living hope which has forever changed the way men are to approach God because He has an everlasting, unchanging priesthood of the order of Melchizedek.  The letter of the Law kills, but the Holy Spirit spiritually regenerates those who trust Christ unto eternal life.

The Law held forth blessings for the obedient and curses for the disobedient.  Every sensible person desires a blessing, and God has already blessed us with life, His love, and offer of forgiveness and salvation.  All mankind labours under the curse of sin the Law could never overcome, and praise God He has overcome sin and death.  Why should man revert back to what is weak and unprofitable in a desire to please God when we have a better hope provided by faith in Christ?  Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount referring to Law, "It has been written...but I say unto you!"  It is Jesus we are called to trust and obey who lives and gives eternal life, not the Law which can only condemn.

Respond to God's Messages

Have you ever sent an email or text to someone and never received a reply?  Sometimes a message may go to spam or we never see it, and other times the message is read and not responded to.  Not all messages require a response, but many times they do.  There are times in scripture when people cried out to God and felt forgotten by Him because they did not see an immediate response.  Without question God sees and knows all and has His good reasons for what we see as delays.  The reality is God has sent us many messages through His word communicated by the Holy Spirit we have yet to respond to.  The "ball is in our court" so to speak, and responding to God's messages is our responsibility regardless if He seems to be silent.

I was reminded yesterday how Mary and Martha sent a messenger to Jesus to tell Him their brother Lazarus was sick.  The implication is they believed Jesus cared and had the ability to heal him, as He had demonstrated this power over sickness countless times in the past.  Contrary to their expectation, Jesus did not come to them quickly.  Jesus and His disciples did not arrive in Bethany until Lazarus had been dead from his illness four days.  The sisters of Lazarus mourned their brother's passing and also their belief it was a preventable tragedy.  This is shown by Martha's statement after Jesus arrived in John 11:21:  "Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  She felt great sorrow and regret over Jesus not being there for them when they needed Him.  Is it possible we assign blame to God for not doing what we think He should when He could?

Jesus, however, was working on another level.  He had responded to the message by intentionally waiting, and it was the loving thing to do.  He truly loved Lazarus without a doubt, yet He also cared for everyone else in Bethany and those who would later believe and testify of His glory.  Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus, wept and then asked for the stone to be rolled from the opening.  John 11:41-45 reads, "Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go." ⁴⁵ Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him."

Jesus proved He is the Resurrection and the Life by raising Lazarus from the tomb who was dead four days.  The tragedy of the death of Lazarus worked to provide eternal life for all who trusted in Jesus Christ, having believed He was indeed the Son of God.  The power of Jesus to give life to the dead would not have been seen except Lazarus died, and Jesus knew what He would accomplish.  He also knew what He would accomplish through His death on Calvary and resurrection, proving He has power over sin and gives everlasting life for all who believe in Him.  God hears your cries, believer; He has received the message.  Have you responded to His message, this proclamation of divine power, goodness and glory?  In our troubles and trials we can look to Jesus with eyes of faith, knowing He hears, answers and draws near to all who draw near to Him.