Love and Happiness

When I read the works of C.S. Lewis, I am always blessed and encouraged by his God-honouring intelligence which far exceeds my own.  His literary skill and creative approach to answering meaningful questions puts me in the place of a little child having to run to keep up with his father's long stride and still lagging behind.  I recently started re-reading The Problem of Pain, a book Lewis wrote in 1940.  It is the sort of book which strikes the reader differently in each reading because of the depth of content and how much the reader or his circumstances have changed.  Instead of following a familiar pattern of discussion, C.S. Lewis blazed a trail academics, theologians, and us ordinary folk do well to follow.

Having laid the foundation for the existence of God, C.S. Lewis began to explore how people have a belief that if God is all powerful and loving, He should ensure our constant happiness.  A false contradiction and even the denial of God's existence can follow because of the pain a supposed loving God allows.  Consider this remarkable paragraph on page 36:

"The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word "love", and look on things as if man were the centre of them.  Man is not the centre.  God does not exist for the sake of man.  Man does not exist for his own sake.  "Thou has created all things, and for they pleasure they are and were created."  We were made not primarily that we may love God (though we were made for that too) but that God may love us, that we may become objects in which the Divine love may rest "well pleased".  To ask that God's love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God:  because He is what He is, His love must, in the nature of things, be impeded and repelled, by certain stains in our present character, and because He already loves us He must labour to make us loveable.  We cannot even wish, in our better moments, that He could reconcile Himself to our present impurities--no more that the beggar maid could with that King Copherua should be content with her rags and dirt, or a dog, once having learned to love man, could with that man were such as to tolerate in his house the snapping, verminous, polluting creature of the wild pack.  What we would here and now call our "happiness" is not the end God chiefly has in view:  but when we are such as He can love without impediment, we shall in fact be happy." (Lewis, C. S. The Problem of Pain. Whitefriars Press Ltd., London and Tonbridge, 1942.)

Every love we experience on earth:  the love of people for pets, the love of family, and love between a married couple are only shadows of the love God has for every person.  In our natural state we are cut off from the love of God by our sin, but having provided atonement through the Gospel we are restored to a relationship with God He has designed and desires.  Love is never content with distance, and God delights for us to invite Him in.  Jesus stands at the door and knocks, calling out for people who have grown comfortable without Him like the Shulamite in Solomon's Song.  Fullness of joy is promised those who open the door of their hearts to Him.  What could make a man happier than to love the God who created and loves him?

According to the Gospel

God's Word is like a fire, like a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces.  It vapourises the chaff of personal opinion and shatters assumptions about God and what we must do to please Him.  It is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path, guiding us to avoid pitfalls and obstacles common in life.  In reading the Bible we are warned and in heeding the scriptures there is great reward.  We are most blessed to have the Bible preserved and provided for us personally.

I was impacted as Paul hammered home the nature of the Gospel to believing Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6-10:  "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. ⁸  Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹ who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, ¹⁰ but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel..."  Like glowing embers that are stirred flare up, so God's Word stirs up our hearts to consider the things of God and live accordingly.  Paul reminded Timothy to stir up the gift of God he received by the grace of God, to use his gifts liberally without fear.

God had not given Timothy or any Christian a spirit of fear but the Holy Spirit marked by "...power and of love and of a sound mind."  The nature of God aligns perfectly with the Gospel provided for the salvation of sinners.  It is a Gospel "according to the power of God" which was evident in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and His glorification.  The Gospel has been provided "according to His own purpose and grace" which was given to us in Christ Jesus.  Before the world began God purposed to save sinners and make us His inheritance by grace, for the Gospel is "not according to our works."  God's power, own purpose, and grace has been revealed by our Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Good News of salvation offered freely to all.

Paul, Timothy, and all believers are divinely empowered and enabled to walk in the power and love of God with a sound mind.  No longer should we be ruled by fear, cares, and unknowns but rest in the Saviour we know and that we are known and loved by Him.  Having been saved by grace through faith in Christ Ephesians 2:5-10 says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  An inventor carefully guards his designs and prototypes which are his life's work, and we are far more precious to God having been purchased with the blood of Jesus.  A Jewish sofer takes great pains to ensure the Torah is copied with perfect precision, and God knows us intimately out of His goodness and for the glory of His name.  A curator is careful to prevent any damage to a painting (or even the frame!) of a valued masterpiece when it is being displayed, moved, and stored, and God takes infinitely more care with us since we are His forever.

Like a weaver makes fabric on a loom, by the command of God this universe has been created, we have been fashioned in the wombs of our mothers, and Jesus Christ the Saviour has called out to us.  Through the Gospel we are His workmanship created for the purpose of revealing God's power, purpose, and grace through good works God has prepared for us.  Having believed we have received blessings beyond number or price, death having been abolished and life and immortality have been brought to light through the Gospel.  How amazing is the power of God and the love He has demonstrated for us.  Since we have received the Gospel we should walk according to it.  Should we suffer for the Gospel it is light affliction indeed, for how can the loss of anything compare with all we have gained through Him?

God Regards the Lowly

"Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar."

Psalm 138:6

God is exalted and on high, greater than all others.  The affluent, famous, and powerful among men fraternise with others like them, but the Creator of all things condescends to hear the lowly.  No amount of riches can compensate for or afford His blessings, but Jesus gladly acknowledged the widow who freely gave two copper coins which amounted to a penny because she gave all (Mark 12:41).  The Most High draws near to the humble soul He regards, but keeps the proud at a distance.

It is entirely possible to have great wealth with humility as Jesus Himself showed:  all things are created by Him and for Him, yet He gave all to put on human flesh with humility.  Since He has all authority in heaven and earth Jesus could have come as a king in glory attended by the host of heaven shouting His praise.  Jesus was instead born of a virgin, wrapped with strips of cloth, and laid in a feeding trough because there was no room for him in the inn.  He was viewed with disdain and suspicion as a child conceived out of wedlock, and when Jesus was grown even His own brothers did not believe He was the Son of God.  Even when He was crucified Jesus prayed concerning His enemies, "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do."  What grace!

Jesus told an insightful parable in Luke 18:9-14:  "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ¹⁰ "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' ¹³ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

In the Jewish culture the Pharisee would have been regarded by men for his praying, his clothing and tefillin, tassels, tithing and fasting, yet he only prayed "with himself."  A tax collector, despised and maligned by his fellows, went home justified with a short, unorthodox prayer because he humbly begged for mercy.  He humbled himself before God and would be regarded and exalted by God, yet the proud Pharisee who trusted in his own righteousness by the Law despised the man who actually found favour with God.  Thanking God did not eliminate the Pharisee's pride but put it on display as he foolishly imagined himself worthy of God's notice and favour.  The question is, are we willing to humble ourselves?  The rich and poor alike can do this if we will acknowledge God's greatness and our unworthiness.

Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart.  The proud man does not see his need for God while the humble realises all he has is a gift from God.  Genuine humility is like God's wisdom:  God is the only source of both.  Without God we could never humble ourselves and see self in truth as constantly and completely corrupted by pride.  Pride is endemic to the human race:  a rich man may feel superior because of possessions or station in life, and person in poverty is too proud to admit they need help.  The day we imagine we have pride quashed it pops up again like a mechanical "Whack-a-mole" game--and trying to win by brute strength or speed is impossible.  The amazing truth is the proudest, most hardened sinners can humble themselves by the grace of God and He is faithful to draw near.  He has not dealt with us according to our sins but with the grace and humility demonstrated by Jesus Christ as He walked among us.

The Good Fight of Faith

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

1 Timothy 6:12

Paul strongly urged Timothy not to be swept up by fables, the pursuit of riches, or the works of the flesh, but to fight the good fight of faith in Jesus Christ.  Paul realised a door opened by Jesus did not mean there would be no adversaries or conflict.  All who walk through doors Jesus opens will face opposition, starting with themselves.  Answering the call of Jesus will always require a personal cost of dying to self, taking up our cross daily, and following Jesus.

Being "called" by God does not mean the path of following Jesus will be easy:  there are many people Jesus called out to who refused to follow or heed Him at all!  Timothy had been called to eternal life through faith in Jesus, called as a pastor, and gifted by the Holy Spirit.  But calling was no guarantee Timothy would fulfill his calling, much less labour to lay hold on eternal life.  Eternal salvation through the Gospel is absolutely secure, and at the same time Timothy had a personal responsibility to humble himself, to submit to God and others in love, and to hear the Word of God and do it.

Paul's confidence in Timothy's calling was not on the basis of Timothy's calling, gifts, or public profession of faith, but in Jesus Christ whose blood provided atonement for the sins of the world.  Following Jesus is good but it is not easy with the opposition which withstands children of God in subtle and overt ways.  Having realised the pitfalls of pride, perverse disputes, the love of money and pursuit of wealth, Paul exhorted the young pastor in 1 Timothy 6:11, "But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness."  Fleeing other things preceded the pursuit of Christ and His sanctified life.

Faith in Christ is a battle mostly waged and won within our hearts and minds, for if Jesus refused to lay down His will in Gethsemane there may not have been a Calvary.  It is glorious to be called by Jesus and to have the sure promise of eternal life provided for disciples of Christ by grace through faith.  At the same time if we have genuine faith we will hear the Word of God and do it.  Our weapons of warfare are not carnal but mighty in God to pull down strongholds--spiritual strongholds in our own minds and hearts which impact our conduct and choices (2 Cor. 10:3-6).

Praise God He has called us to lay hold on eternal life, and though our days are filled with conflict may we press on in following Christ without retreating from the front lines.  Let us press the advantage of our Saviour who has claimed the victory over sin, Satan, the flesh, and death.  We overcome not by positive thinking or self-help but because Jesus is our Saviour and we follow Him.  Going our own way leads to ruin, but Paul affirms in 2 Corinthians 2:14:  "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place."  Thank God for His glorious presence and promise.