Monday, March 4, 2013
329 - It's Tempting to Dismiss God
Spirituality
Column #329
March 5, 2013
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville
Even people who are not especially close to God are often quick to blame God when things – health, relationships, jobs, money, dreams, etc. – fall apart in their lives.
“If God loved me,” they lament, “He wouldn’t let this happen …”
Conversely, believers are quick to blame Satan when things fall apart in theirs. “The enemy is attacking me,” they piously claim.
And while I am convinced that both angels and demons – good spirits and evil spirits – exist and are active in this world (they appear frequently in the Bible), it is important to get a biblical handle on what God and Satan do and don’t do; who they are, and who they aren’t.
God is Creator (Genesis 1:1), God is love (1 John 4:8), God is good (1 Timothy 4:4), God is light (1 John 1:5 ) God is justice and righteousness (Isaiah 9:7), God is eternal (Genesis 21:33), God is eternal life (1 John 5:20), God is Father (John 1:18), Son (John 1:49), Holy Spirit (John 4:24) and sovereign (Daniel 4:25).
Satan is created (Revelation 12:7-9, Ezekiel 28:14), is the tempter of Jesus (Matthew 4:1), is the tempter of man (1 Thessalonians 3:4), is our accuser (Zechariah 3:2), is our tormenter (2 Corinthians 12:7), is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), wants control of this world (1 John 5:19), is the enemy of man (1 Peter 5:18), is the founder of sin (1 John 3:8), and the coin of his realm is death (Romans 6:23).
What’s critically important to understand is that God is not the God we want him to be … God is the God HE wants to be. Goodness and righteousness are best defined as “what God actually is” (see Psalm 23). Our human mistake is thinking ultimate goodness and righteousness should reflect our human opinions and experience founded in earthly pride and power, rather than in the humility and service of Jesus Christ.
And that mistake is precisely the flashpoint of Satan’s evil lordship on earth.
Satan – born of heaven as an angel who fell of his own pride (Ezekiel 28:17) – battles God by suggesting sin, not by inflicting it. Satan suggested sin in the Garden, and he continues to suggest sin to us today. He tempts us to dismiss God’s truth and accept his lies of fleeting earthly glory. Way too often, we agree. Willingly.
God is nobody’s enemy, and Satan is nobody’s friend. The solution to life’s challenges is neither to blame God nor curse Satan, but simply to pray – earnestly – to be closer to Jesus Christ. God never dismisses those prayers.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) wonders if anyone else remembers Flip Wilson’s character “Geraldine” saying, “The devil made me do it.”
March 5, 2013
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville
It’s Tempting to Dismiss God
By
Bob WaltersEven people who are not especially close to God are often quick to blame God when things – health, relationships, jobs, money, dreams, etc. – fall apart in their lives.
“If God loved me,” they lament, “He wouldn’t let this happen …”
Conversely, believers are quick to blame Satan when things fall apart in theirs. “The enemy is attacking me,” they piously claim.
And while I am convinced that both angels and demons – good spirits and evil spirits – exist and are active in this world (they appear frequently in the Bible), it is important to get a biblical handle on what God and Satan do and don’t do; who they are, and who they aren’t.
God is Creator (Genesis 1:1), God is love (1 John 4:8), God is good (1 Timothy 4:4), God is light (1 John 1:5 ) God is justice and righteousness (Isaiah 9:7), God is eternal (Genesis 21:33), God is eternal life (1 John 5:20), God is Father (John 1:18), Son (John 1:49), Holy Spirit (John 4:24) and sovereign (Daniel 4:25).
Satan is created (Revelation 12:7-9, Ezekiel 28:14), is the tempter of Jesus (Matthew 4:1), is the tempter of man (1 Thessalonians 3:4), is our accuser (Zechariah 3:2), is our tormenter (2 Corinthians 12:7), is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), wants control of this world (1 John 5:19), is the enemy of man (1 Peter 5:18), is the founder of sin (1 John 3:8), and the coin of his realm is death (Romans 6:23).
What’s critically important to understand is that God is not the God we want him to be … God is the God HE wants to be. Goodness and righteousness are best defined as “what God actually is” (see Psalm 23). Our human mistake is thinking ultimate goodness and righteousness should reflect our human opinions and experience founded in earthly pride and power, rather than in the humility and service of Jesus Christ.
And that mistake is precisely the flashpoint of Satan’s evil lordship on earth.
Satan – born of heaven as an angel who fell of his own pride (Ezekiel 28:17) – battles God by suggesting sin, not by inflicting it. Satan suggested sin in the Garden, and he continues to suggest sin to us today. He tempts us to dismiss God’s truth and accept his lies of fleeting earthly glory. Way too often, we agree. Willingly.
God is nobody’s enemy, and Satan is nobody’s friend. The solution to life’s challenges is neither to blame God nor curse Satan, but simply to pray – earnestly – to be closer to Jesus Christ. God never dismisses those prayers.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) wonders if anyone else remembers Flip Wilson’s character “Geraldine” saying, “The devil made me do it.”
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