Some might suggest that God's punishment for Adam's sin was work.
"...Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life." Genesis 3:17
But God gave Adam work before the fall of Adam and Eve.
"Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." Genesis 2:15
God very much blessed us with work. Why does God want us to work?
Here are some thoughts, with help from Sebastian Traeger's book, "The Gospel at Work".
We work to display our love for God.
Jesus did this.
"But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do." John 14:31
We are also commanded to do this.
"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." I Corinthians 10:31
We work to convey love for others.
God has designed us to be interdependent. We rely on others to do their jobs well, as they rely on us. If I do my job rightly and completely, then I show love for others.
"Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” Romans 15:2-3
We work to reflect God's character.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26
Some examples of God's character:
Creativity..."In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
Patience...Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4
Love..."Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2
Work is not just a job. It never is, no matter how small the job. It has the potential to be very fulfilling and a fragrant offering to God Himself!
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Friday, August 22, 2014
Who is that unborn child?
Whoever it is, God knows. Let's look at some insights from the Bible that reveal how God views these little ones.
It is pretty clear that God says an unborn baby is worthy of protecting.
If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life..." Exodus 21:22-25
It emphatically prohibits the killing of the innocent as well.
"You shall not murder." Exodus 20:13
God forms each person in the womb Himself.
"Thus says the Lord who made youAnd formed you from the womb, who will help you..." Isaiah 44:2
"Your hands have made me and fashioned me,
An intricate unity;
Yet You would destroy me.
9 Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?
10 Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
11 Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 You have granted me life and favor,And Your care has preserved my spirit." Job 10:8-12
No cosmic assembly line; God personally put great care into uniquely making us.
13" For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,When as yet there were none of them." Psalm 139:13-16
Each person, regardless of his parentage or handicap, has been carefully and thoughtfully created by God for His glory. Praise God today for the delight He took in creating you. What God sees is far different from what man sees. (I Samuel 16:7)
These are scriptures from an article found in "Table Talk", a devotional ministry of Ligonier Ministries.
For the full article, go to:
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/abortion/
It is pretty clear that God says an unborn baby is worthy of protecting.
If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life..." Exodus 21:22-25
It emphatically prohibits the killing of the innocent as well.
"You shall not murder." Exodus 20:13
God forms each person in the womb Himself.
"Thus says the Lord who made youAnd formed you from the womb, who will help you..." Isaiah 44:2
"Your hands have made me and fashioned me,
An intricate unity;
Yet You would destroy me.
9 Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?
10 Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
11 Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 You have granted me life and favor,And Your care has preserved my spirit." Job 10:8-12
No cosmic assembly line; God personally put great care into uniquely making us.
13" For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,When as yet there were none of them." Psalm 139:13-16
Each person, regardless of his parentage or handicap, has been carefully and thoughtfully created by God for His glory. Praise God today for the delight He took in creating you. What God sees is far different from what man sees. (I Samuel 16:7)
These are scriptures from an article found in "Table Talk", a devotional ministry of Ligonier Ministries.
For the full article, go to:
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/abortion/
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
The law of the LORD is perfect
The last post had to do with the law of God. This is my favorite passage on God's law:
7 "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,And in keeping them there is great reward." Psalm 19:7-11
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,And in keeping them there is great reward." Psalm 19:7-11
Even though the law "was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24), it still is useful and necessary to please God. Don't get me wrong, doing the works of the law is never the way to salvation (as we saw in the last post). But after the Spirit of God draws us to Himself and our soul is converted, God's word continues to endure forever and we are still warned by it, enlightened by it and made wise by it. In fact our salvation is proven by our desire for the law, if it is viewed as true and righteous, how it rejoices the heart, and even how sweet it is to the soul. Plus an added bonus...in keeping the law there is now great reward!
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
The Easy and Good Life
If we have had a somewhat easy and good life...we are fairly well off...the kids are fed...the job God has blessed us with covers the bills...we have always had a roof over our head...then we might have the same problem that the rich, young ruler had. (See Matthew 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-27; Luke 18:18-27 for the similar accounts of the same encounter.)
After the man questions Jesus concerning how he can have eternal life, Jesus answers, "...if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." This is not the gospel of course, this is the law. But Jesus first wanted the man to understand God's requirements for salvation and how man cannot meet these requirement on his own. The man should have answered Jesus with some kind of alarm that no person can live perfectly. But instead, he states that he has kept the law from his youth!
That should be startling to us. However, many people feel the same way, they just don't put it in those words. It comes out, "I've been pretty good." We feel God should accept us on our terms of what is good. We feel, and maybe say out loud, that since God knows nobody can be perfect, He certainly wouldn't throw people into hell just because of a few misdemeanors.
But lets look at how God feels about sin. Though there is innumerable accounts of God's view of sin in the Bible, we will only look at a few.
"Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord." Deuteronomy 9:7
"If I sin, then You mark me,And will not acquit me of my iniquity." Job 10:14
“I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." Isaiah 13:11
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse," Romans1:18-20
"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23
"For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10
When all our surroundings are easy and good we tend toward believing that our sin is not offensive to God. We may even find it hard to identify any sin in our lives, as the "rich young ruler" could not.
Jesus pointed the man to God's law first. It points us to the fact that we are sinners and we cannot keep the law perfectly. It points us to our need for a savior. It also gives us the gospel. It points us to the Savior.
Now to finish Romans 6:23 (above)...For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
After the man questions Jesus concerning how he can have eternal life, Jesus answers, "...if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." This is not the gospel of course, this is the law. But Jesus first wanted the man to understand God's requirements for salvation and how man cannot meet these requirement on his own. The man should have answered Jesus with some kind of alarm that no person can live perfectly. But instead, he states that he has kept the law from his youth!
That should be startling to us. However, many people feel the same way, they just don't put it in those words. It comes out, "I've been pretty good." We feel God should accept us on our terms of what is good. We feel, and maybe say out loud, that since God knows nobody can be perfect, He certainly wouldn't throw people into hell just because of a few misdemeanors.
But lets look at how God feels about sin. Though there is innumerable accounts of God's view of sin in the Bible, we will only look at a few.
"Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord." Deuteronomy 9:7
"If I sin, then You mark me,And will not acquit me of my iniquity." Job 10:14
“I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." Isaiah 13:11
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse," Romans1:18-20
"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23
"For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10
When all our surroundings are easy and good we tend toward believing that our sin is not offensive to God. We may even find it hard to identify any sin in our lives, as the "rich young ruler" could not.
Jesus pointed the man to God's law first. It points us to the fact that we are sinners and we cannot keep the law perfectly. It points us to our need for a savior. It also gives us the gospel. It points us to the Savior.
Now to finish Romans 6:23 (above)...For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Rich or Poor?
We have been traveling to visit family for a few weeks and we were able to visit the Moody Church in down town Chicago. Erwin Lutzer is the pastor and he was preaching on II Corinthians 8:1-15
Chapters 8 & 9 have much to say about giving, but I want to focus in on whether we are rich or poor.
Read all of the passage above in chapter 8, but I only want to unpack verse 9:
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."
Before Jesus came to this earth, He was rich in honor and glory.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:3
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
"And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." John17:5
He was also rich in relationships.
"When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'” Matthew 3:16-17
"I and My Father are one." John 10:30
Jesus is speaking: "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." John 16:13-15 (Notice the relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit here.)
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters...Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness'" (Genesis 1:1-2, 26)
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-3, 14)
Creation was a group effort.
He was in need of nothing.
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things." Acts 17:24-25
"Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it." Deuteronomy 10:14
Jesus was born into a middleclass family. But Jesus became poor in such a way that He gave up His position in glory. He gave up the free use of His attributes and relied on His Father. He stepped down, humbled Himself, and became a servant. But we won't step down. We don't humble ourselves. We are more concerned with saving our pride, getting what we want and being right. Nobody has ever been that high and stooped that low.
But, those who trust Christ as their savior and then live for Him actually are given the riches of Jesus! We become joint heirs with Jesus! We are given all that Christ has even though we are so evil and live for ourselves! (see Romans 3: 10-18, 23)
"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8:16-17
Imagine what awaits those who put their trust in Jesus and follow Him! No matter what situation we find ourselves on earth, we have no reason to despair. No one can take away the treasures laid on heaven for the true believer. Romans 8 continues with verse 18...
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
Ask yourself today, "Am I rich or poor?" And think about how that impacts your life: in attitude, generosity, emotions, etc.
Chapters 8 & 9 have much to say about giving, but I want to focus in on whether we are rich or poor.
Read all of the passage above in chapter 8, but I only want to unpack verse 9:
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."
Before Jesus came to this earth, He was rich in honor and glory.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:3
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
"And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." John17:5
He was also rich in relationships.
"When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'” Matthew 3:16-17
"I and My Father are one." John 10:30
Jesus is speaking: "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." John 16:13-15 (Notice the relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit here.)
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters...Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness'" (Genesis 1:1-2, 26)
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-3, 14)
Creation was a group effort.
He was in need of nothing.
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things." Acts 17:24-25
"Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it." Deuteronomy 10:14
Jesus was born into a middleclass family. But Jesus became poor in such a way that He gave up His position in glory. He gave up the free use of His attributes and relied on His Father. He stepped down, humbled Himself, and became a servant. But we won't step down. We don't humble ourselves. We are more concerned with saving our pride, getting what we want and being right. Nobody has ever been that high and stooped that low.
But, those who trust Christ as their savior and then live for Him actually are given the riches of Jesus! We become joint heirs with Jesus! We are given all that Christ has even though we are so evil and live for ourselves! (see Romans 3: 10-18, 23)
"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8:16-17
Imagine what awaits those who put their trust in Jesus and follow Him! No matter what situation we find ourselves on earth, we have no reason to despair. No one can take away the treasures laid on heaven for the true believer. Romans 8 continues with verse 18...
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
Ask yourself today, "Am I rich or poor?" And think about how that impacts your life: in attitude, generosity, emotions, etc.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Jeremiah 17: 5-10 (part 3)
5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
We have seen how these verses apply to God's gift of salvation. But they also have a lot to say about the person who has already been saved. Trusting in the Lord is not a one time act. Yes, there must be a time in my life that I have trusted Christ for my salvation (though I may not know exactly when that occurred), but after that I continue to trust Him in everything.
Look at Peter on the water as he walked toward Jesus in Matthew 14:25-32. The waves are tossing the boat and Peter asks Jesus if He would allow him to go out on the water. Jesus says "Come", so Peter gets out of the boat and walks toward Him. Peter starts to walk and then looks around and sees that the wind was tumultuous. He starts to sink. Peter cried out , "Lord save me!" and Jesus rescued him.
What happens next might surprise us. Jesus says, "O you of little faith". Peter is the one who asked to go to Jesus! Peter walked on the water when the wind was stirring up waves! No one else wanted to do that. But Peter looked to his surroundings and began to doubt (vs.31) that he could continue. He quickly looked to his own strength to do it instead of continuing to trust that Jesus said he could walk to Him. By calling Peter "little faith" (that is how that phrase is translated), Jesus gives the impression that anything but total faith is little faith. Nobody can have total faith, but that is how Jesus wants it. If I ever get my eyes off Him, then I need to run back to Him.
One last thought. (Actually, I generally have more to say, but I am trying to keep these posts short.) When we read in verse 7,
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord..."
we tend to think that blessings mean, "all will go well and just as I want it to". But, once again, there is a trust issue. I am to put all I have and all that I am in God's hands, trusting that He will do what will be for his glory and my good. Verse 8 continues,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
It says "when" the heat and drought come, not "if". Life will still have its problems. The blessing for the true believer is that he will not only have the Holy Spirit to assure him of eternal salvation, but also to guide, comfort and strengthen him while he is on earth. Praise the Lord!
Monday, June 16, 2014
Jeremiah 17: 5-10 (part 2)
5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
Continuing to look at this passage, the thought seems to be changing course, yet it is still considering the heart. Verses 5-8 tell us the results of trusting in man or trusting in God, but now verses 9-10 say that I can't even trust my own heart. It is desperately wicked. When is the last time I thought of myself as being desperately wicked? I tend to think of myself as a nice person. But as someone pointed out to me once, "nice" is not in the list of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). The list is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. I can have the appearance of "nice", but in my heart am I naturally kind? Naturally at peace? Loving? Patient with others? Faithful? Gentle? Having self-control? No! I have to work at it. Why are marriage relationships so hard, for example? Because we have to work at the heart issues. And God is telling us that heart issues don't just go away. They stay and plague us until we deal with them. ...But we deceive ourselves, thinking that we are not that bad (it's probably the other person)!
Verse10 goes further and says that the Lord searches the heart and tests the mind, so He must be able to tell more of what is going on in us than we can! Then God says that He will give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Scary verse if you think about how are hearts are desperately wicked! As the gospel tells us, we are all sinners. In the end we will only get God's wrath from "our doings", because He can't tolerate sin (Romans 1:18, 3:23). So, what do we do? We go back up to verses 7-8...more of the gospel. We are to trust in the Lord. Trust that when Jesus came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died and rose again, that it was enough to take away our sin and be made right with God the Father. Remember, verse 5, "cursed is the man who trusts in man"? We can't trust in man and God at the same time. Either I trust God to save me and then work in me or I trust that I am good enough in my own "doings" to be saved. There is nothing in between.
More in next post...
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
Continuing to look at this passage, the thought seems to be changing course, yet it is still considering the heart. Verses 5-8 tell us the results of trusting in man or trusting in God, but now verses 9-10 say that I can't even trust my own heart. It is desperately wicked. When is the last time I thought of myself as being desperately wicked? I tend to think of myself as a nice person. But as someone pointed out to me once, "nice" is not in the list of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). The list is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. I can have the appearance of "nice", but in my heart am I naturally kind? Naturally at peace? Loving? Patient with others? Faithful? Gentle? Having self-control? No! I have to work at it. Why are marriage relationships so hard, for example? Because we have to work at the heart issues. And God is telling us that heart issues don't just go away. They stay and plague us until we deal with them. ...But we deceive ourselves, thinking that we are not that bad (it's probably the other person)!
Verse10 goes further and says that the Lord searches the heart and tests the mind, so He must be able to tell more of what is going on in us than we can! Then God says that He will give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Scary verse if you think about how are hearts are desperately wicked! As the gospel tells us, we are all sinners. In the end we will only get God's wrath from "our doings", because He can't tolerate sin (Romans 1:18, 3:23). So, what do we do? We go back up to verses 7-8...more of the gospel. We are to trust in the Lord. Trust that when Jesus came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died and rose again, that it was enough to take away our sin and be made right with God the Father. Remember, verse 5, "cursed is the man who trusts in man"? We can't trust in man and God at the same time. Either I trust God to save me and then work in me or I trust that I am good enough in my own "doings" to be saved. There is nothing in between.
More in next post...
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