Rebels Against the Light

"There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways nor abide in its paths."

Job 24:13

During Job's discussion with his friends, he spoke of murderers, adulterers and thieves who operated under the cover of darkness.  Their sin was premeditated and meticulously planned, for they made disguises to avoid detection and scoped out properties during the day to return to plunder after dark.  These are those who "rebel against the light," who know what they are doing (and are planning to do) is wrong, but they choose to do it anyway.

God who created the sun to shine by day and the moon to shine by night has given every man the light of his own conscience, the ability to reason and make judgments and provided the light of God's word.  Even young children have a sense of morality built into them and express their displeasure over what seems unfair.  This concept of fairness is not cast off in our adulthood but further refined according to our worldview.  No other beast or creature God made on earth possesses this capacity for convictions we can declare, promote and live by.  Human beings by God's design can override the mindless reactions of instinct, follow our convictions and walk guided the light of our conscience when others walk in darkness.

It is a grave thing indeed to rebel against the light, for it is willful departure from what we know is right.  People wrongly paint God as a cruel ogre who punishes people for what they are ignorant of, but the truth is He will hold all accountable for the light they have been given, what they know and have chosen to intentionally violate.  Sin against the light is blatant hypocrisy and rebellion God will certainly hold to account.  God did not only cause the light of the sun to shine or the light of His Scripture the Bible, but He sent Jesus Christ as the Light of the World to plainly speak and demonstrate what righteousness looks like:  love from a pure heart.  It is by knowing Christ by faith and abiding in Him we can walk in the light.

Jesus revealed Himself to be the true Light that shines in the darkness, and He said in John 3:19:  "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."  John 8:12 says plainly, "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  Seeing light shine is one thing, but walking in the light by following Jesus in submission and obedience and having the light is another.  Those who rebel against the light rush to ruin though they reign on earth, for God will bring such down to the dust in death and to hell forever for their folly.  Let us choose to walk and abide in the Light rather than rebelling against light we have received and know.

God Declares Truth

There are many sayings and cliches we hear that promote a message we wish could be true.  My uncle was quoted as saying something like, "If your heart can conceive it and your mind can believe it, you can achieve it."  There is evidence to support this could be true--though our desires and belief have no guarantee of fulfillment.  I wanted to bowl a perfect game and believed I could do so, but despite training and practice I never managed to achieve the milestone.  Of all the games I bowled in my adult life I only started a game with 9 strikes in a row once, and I finished with a 279.  Inspirational sayings may be nothing more than wishful thinking when results depend upon our efforts.

What prompted these thoughts to percolate in my mind was due to a slip of paper in a fortune cookie I read yesterday:  "Affirm it, visualize it, believe it, and it will actualize itself."  This statement goes far beyond wishful thinking because it is plainly ridiculous.  Our observations and life experiences show us nothing in this world can actualize itself, that something imagined could by itself become a concrete reality we benefit from.  It is a very good thing declaring something to be true, visualizing and believing it does not make it actualize itself, for this is the thing nightmares are made of.

I love that God's plans and purposes for our lives exceed our wildest dreams and most fervent desires.  Christians know this is true because God's love is not of this world, a thing we never could have imagined until Jesus revealed His love for all by dying on the cross for us sinners.  Our greatest imaginations and conceptions of heaven are far too small even when the eternal state is described in the pages of the Bible.  We often see as in a mirror dimly, a hazy faint image of a future we cannot grasp or clearly make out.  But the glories of heaven are entirely believable because Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven in view of His disciples--some of whom joyfully embraced martyrdom rather than deny Christ, so great was their confidence in Christ's promise of eternal life to all who trust in Him.

Better than affirming, visualizing and believing in what we can imagine or conceive in our minds is the reality God has declared of His existence, sovereignty and power broadcast through the heavens that declare His glory for all to see.  God alone has the power to speak things into existence, for He is the creator of the heavens, earth and all living things.  Man longs for this power and seeks it for himself, yet this is God's sovereign territory as it is written in Lamentations 3:37:  "Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it?"  Man naturally values his imaginations and what could be more than the reality of God and what He has commanded and declared to be true.  Faith in God opens our hearts and minds to comprehend Him and what is even when it is beyond our understanding, and this reality is better than man's fantasies.

Taught to Know War

While listening to a sermon the other day, it occurred to me when people face opposition, trials and difficulties they can lean towards identifying these as "attacks of the enemy," evidence the devil is actively seeking to thwart or distract them from good they are doing.  Others tend to see negative situations as God exposing their own sin or teaching them a lesson--and the sooner they "learn the lesson" the problems will resolve quickly.  Because God and His ways are higher than ours, I believe the LORD is at work to redeem our situations for good in countless ways whether we realise it or not.  It may not be possible to reduce the reason we are experiencing a particular trial to one primary reason, and I do not think it necessary to do so.

Case in point:  after the children of Israel did not drive the inhabitants from the land, God allowed their enemies to remain for many reasons which God plainly stated in His word.  Judges 3:1-4 says, "Now these are the nations which the LORD left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan ² (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), ³ namely, five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses."

God could have driven out the inhabitants of Canaan without a fight, yet there were several practical reasons for allowing them to remain:  to test Israel, to teach them war because their generation had never known it, to prove His people, and to see if they would keep God's commands or not.  There is a kind of test we can pass or fail, and there are also tests we can practice to knock off rust, that measure our speed or show improvement, that enable us to exercise at our present level with an aim to grow.  "Passing" one test is preparation for facing another test we must practice to pass, so God's testing can take a new form that challenges us in unexpected ways.

Of all these reasons given, it may be a surprise God would have His people who are ignorant of war to learn war.  There is a time for peace, and there is a time for war.  When we choose to be God's people by faith in Him, there is no shortage of conflict even within ourselves because we continue to live in a human body.  God desires His people would be battle-hardened in trusting and obeying Him, even as warriors looked to their superiors for guidance and provision.  Rather than being careless and taking peace for granted, God wanted His people to learn how enemies looked for lapses of defenses and vulnerabilities, and how their own carelessness and lack of obedience to God undermined their own safety and prosperity.  It would take time for the Hebrews to realise it was God who fought their battles, and how their part was to honour Him with obedience and submission to His commands.

Those who have personally observed the horrors of war wish more than anything their children would be spared such suffering and pain, yet like the Hebrews there is no one who fears God who can avoid the war that breaks out after being born again by faith in Jesus and continuing to live in our bodies of flesh in a corrupt world.  As the Lord of the Rings character Aragon said, "Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not."  It is not a question if we can avoid conflict and spiritual warfare, but whether we take steps by reliance on God coupled with obedience to undergo testing and refinement through many failures.  We cannot say or know why a particular trial overtakes us, but we can know God remains good and allows it as a tool to accomplish His redemptive purposes.  As much as the devil can trouble us, God's ability to help us and redeem every trial for good is infinitely greater.  What will you do:  curse the devil or glorify God with gratitude for His love, grace and mercies?

Practice Love

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

John 13:34

As Christians, we love God because He first loved us.  Having freely received His love, we are also called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to love others like He loves us.  God's love is not of this world and is not natural to our flesh, so it requires spiritual regeneration by the Gospel, faith in God and obedience to embrace God's will to love one another as Jesus does.

When going through notes penned during a funeral service years ago, I came across an acronym for "love" I had not seen before that I found useful.  While it is not a formula to be followed or a perfect summation of God's love for us in convenient form, it provides practical advice for what form God's love can take in our interactions with others--a sacrificial love that cares deeply for the good of others without thought of self.

The scrap of paper had this written in the middle of it:

• L isten
• O verlook other's faults and offences
• V alue each person
• E njoy everyone

The love of God is deeply personal because it always involves people.  For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, and God's desire is that every single person would receive and respond to His love by freely choosing to love Him back.  God has listened to our cry for love and purpose  in this world, and He has treated us infinitely better than we deserve by His grace.  He values each one of us and enjoys us as we are--though He would have us free from the curse and bondage to sin that brings death.

All who love Jesus Christ are called to love others as He loves us.  God loved us while we were miserable wretches, self-righteous hypocrites and arrogant atheists; He has loved us when we felt entitled to be loved and thought we naturally loved like Him.  Knowing we cannot love as God's loves, how wonderful it is by God's design the fruit of the Spirit is love.  You cannot love as God loves, but are you willing to take a step of faith in God (because you love Him) to give Him the opportunity to love others through you?  Let us be those who choose to put love into practice.