Solomon's Folly

2009-06-07T10:47:00.003-05:00

"Cherish the lowliest thought you choose of yourself, but
unite it with the loftiest conception of God's All-
Sufficiency. Self-depreciation may lead to the marring of a
useful life. We must think soberly of ourselves, not too
lowly, as not too extravagantly. The one talent must not be
buried in the earth."- F. B. Meyer, Devotional Commentary on Exodus, p. 71

To some degree, every American Christian is a Moses. Not the miracle working, stubborn prophet Moses, but the before the burning bush Moses. The Moses of Egypt. The Moses that murdered (Exodus 2). Like Moses, we have been raised in a nation that offers us the best in education and civilization. As a part of Pharaoh's household Moses was offered the best of everything. I believe that Moses understood that God had placed him in a unique position to help his people. Note that the writer of Hebrews acknowledges the faith of Moses in Egypt long before his call at the burning bush (Heb. 11:24-27).

The murdering Moses, I believe, was a man of faith that had become so certain that he knew how God would use him that he trusted in the skills and blessings God gave him instead of trusting in God. Moses believed that God intended him to be a "ruler and judge" of the Hebrews (2:14), but he did not wait for God so his sincere desire to use his abilities to serve God's people led him to be arrogant, selfish, and immoral. Our sin nature is such that even the gifts that God has given us are corrupted when we use them on our own authority. When we make ourselves the active agent in our service to God that service leads us into sin and away from God. Proper Christian service only works when we allow God to work through us and use the skills He gave us on His authority. Moses was not wrong. God would make him a judge and a ruler, and God most likely used the skills that Moses gained in Egypt to make Moses the leader that the people needed. Moses in Egypt had too high an opinion of himself and his skills, so his attempt at leadership and service was disastrous.

In Exodus 3-4 we meet a different Moses. The Moses of Midian has been humbled by his experiences. The prince of Egypt is now a shepherd. He has the right view of himself, but the wrong view of God. His failure in Egypt has led him to the conclusion that he has no skills at all and that God cannot use him. I find it hard to believe that the Moses of Egypt saw himself as a man who lacked eloquence (4:10). Once again Moses places the emphasis on himself and his skills. He has rightly concluded that he cannot accomplish anything on his own, but he wrongly believes that that God can accomplish nothing through him. Once Moses allowed God to work through him he emerged as one of the most eloquent speakers and writers in all of Scripture. God is all sufficient to accomplish His purposes. When He chooses to work through someone God can and will accomplish whatever He desires. He can make a person's lack of skills in an area irrelevant, or, as the source and granter of all ability, He will simply ensure that the chosen servant comes to possess all the necessary skills, and often he or she by the grace of God and through the Holy Spirit will come to possess these skills abundantly.

The lesson that Moses had to learn is one that we must all learn. As sinners, we are so corrupt, weak, and lowly that we can accomplish nothing good on our own. Left to our own devices we are totally useless. Even if we have properly identified the gifts that God has given us and the purpose for which he intends our life, we will find ourselves to be completely inept servants unless our total reliance is upon God. We must learn to trust in the limitless giver and not our limited gifts. All that God asks of us is to be worshiping, willing servants regardless of where, when, and how He chooses to use us. God will give us our purpose. God will do the driving. All we have to do is devote ourselves to seeking after Him and worshiping Him. Moses got nowhere until he let God take the wheel. Moses stopped trying to find the road and just trusted God to take him on a wild ride.

Call me Dorian

2009-05-06T13:58:00.002-05:00

²¹So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being I delight in God's law; ²³but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Some of the most interesting reading I've done lately involved looking at different reactions to this passage from Romans 7. Frankly, I'm not sure why some people find it so perplexing. The light of Christ is meaningless if we refuse to admit our own darkness. Apart from God, I am a monster. Before I succumbed to Christ, I had lied with a straight face, dreamed of killing the man who raped my mother-though I've never met or seen him-, and committed countless other sins. Too many Christians I know speak of their sin nature in a philosophical tone. If our spiritual foundation is not built upon an intimate understanding of our blackness, then we risk our faith crumbling when we finally come face to face with evil in our lives. I am never surprised by the depravity of my "old' self, and as a result I never cease to be astounded by the love and grace of my Lord.

God the Recreator

2009-04-28T11:01:00.002-05:00

Recently I was reminded of an interesting interpertation of Genesis 1 in which the text is read as decribing two phases of creation. Initially God creates, out of nothing, the entire univese (1:1). Then, some unknown catastrophe occured and the earth, which had been thriving and supporting life of some sort, and the earth "became formless and empty" (1:2, see the NIV note on the verse). The following verses then describe God acting to undo the damage, reordering, restoring, and repoulating the earth in the seven days of creation. Now, this interpertation appears to me to have much textual merit, but it is beyond my purpose and skill to defend it here.

I am more interested in reflecting upon the implications of this interpretation. By this reading of the text, the first look we are given at God's character is of Him as not only a creator, but as a recreator. In many ways, this aspect of God as recreator is at the very crux of Christianity. After all, to truly accept Christ is to be "born again" (Jn. 3:3). It is essential for a Christian to acknowledge God as the recreator as well as the creator. Many people acknowledge God as the creator, the establisher of nature and its laws. However, a creator need not be concerned or active towards his creation. God was not merely an artist who painted a beautiful picture, saw hat it was good, and hung it up on the wall of some museum , and trusted others to maintain it. God as a recreator is a constant, active agent in His universe. To merely see God as the creator is a scientific statement about His existence. To see God as a recreator is a spiritual statement acknowledging His presence. By admitting God is the creator we honor Him as the giver of life. By accepting Him as the recreator, we worship Him as the Lord of our life.