2011-11-25
Good Morning Loved Ones,
You may remember that PR 9: 10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Solomon’s wisdom here is directly from the Lord; and, of course, the meaning of “fear” in this proverb is “having reverence for.” We’ve looked at the things that lead to spiritual death; now it’s time to look at what leads to everlasting life. One of the most poignant stories from the Bible isn’t told often enough, although every other story hinges on it in one way or another. Long before there was ever any contest between Satan and God for a man’s soul, there was a beloved angel in heaven, one who was in charge of worship in heaven and was much beloved by the Father Himself, Who created him. His name was Lucifer.
The big question we will examine in this segment of the “Our Covenant” messages is: Are things going on in a covenant relationship on God’s terms our ours? Now back to the story of Lucifer. In EZK 28: 11-17, he is referred to as the “king of Tyre,” but make no mistake, it’s Lucifer who is being described here. “The word of the Lord came to me [Ezekiel]; ‘Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says, ‘You were a model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of your before kings…’” Ezekiel was not the only prophet to write about this monumental series of events and God’s feelings tacit in them.
IS 14: 11-15 also takes it up. “All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you. How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascent to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascent above the top of the clouds; I will make myself the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” The key phrases in these two passages are “your heart became proud…” and “I will raise my throne above the stars of God…” The message should be loud and clear about Who is really in charge, and what caused “Satan and one third of the heavenly hosts” [REV 12: 9] to be summarily tossed down to earth. Lucifer, the once-beloved angel in charge of worship is now called Satan, which means “accuser.” The prophecy of his eventual fate is made, and it’s as early as in the OT that we see this. We can even go back further to the Protevangelium, GN 3: 15, [God speaking to the serpent in the Garden of Eden] to see the entire layout of the Scriptures [minus many important details] before us. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” If we ever wanted to understand the anger and angst Satan has, look at REV 12: 12, “Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Something, or more accurately, Someone, is limiting his time. We don’t have to think long Who that is. As we can see, the death of Christ on the cross was not the first time God was acutely disappointed in a being of His creation.
In the matter of a covenant relationship, it has to be clear that we are the lesser parties to it-lesser in authority, lesser in wisdom, and lesser in power. Now, let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of this. Our God wants for us to make good decisions within the realm of decision-making He gives us. He doesn’t want us to exceed that realm, for very practical reasons. He knows we are stained with sin, first the original sin we inherited [GN 3:1-6] and from the sins we, ourselves, commit. He also knows that we don’t have His lofty perspective [IS 55: 8-9]. Moreover, He gives us the ticket to having the greatest wisdom we can have [by being reverent toward Him and by study, prayer, and action concerning applying His teaching to the circumstances of our lives]. But He knows we can never have the same or more wisdom than He has. HE 4: 13, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” And then, there is the question of power. IS 46: 9-10, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times , what is still to come. I say, ’My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” Can we truthfully make a claim like that? Of course not! One more issue is God’s ability to be in all places at all times. Can any human do that? Of course not! AC 17: 25-27, “And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth, and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men should seek Him and, perhaps, reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” Even the proud and accusatory Satan, once the most prized of all angels and God’s once-perfect creation, can’t make such a claim.
PRAYER: O Lord, we stand before Your mighty throne in awe of Your wisdom, constant presence in our lives, and power. We can find it a relief that You are always consistent in Your words, thoughts, and deeds. You gave us the joy and privilege of a covenant relationship with You, not holding back on the blessings You give us, not holding back on the lessons You give us for our lives and for building our strength of faith. Each day, You work to improve us, “renewing us in Your own image, so that we can have a greater knowledge of You” [COL 3: 10]. We can find relief that You alone can be the Paradigm for our lives by the example Your Son, Jesus Christ set for us. We were never made to be proud, so proud that we, like Lucifer, would set our heads above Yours, think our wisdom is beyond Yours. How can we not think of people who have comfort in knowing they were not created to hold high office? The relief they must feel at knowing this and being able to pray to You for wisdom to select the right people for this responsibility! And those who are natural-born leaders must understand they are never more important, powerful, wise, or compassionate as You, that they are held to a higher standard by You than ordinary people. We pray for wisdom in knowing our limitations and in working to be the best You created each of us to be. We offer You our love, praise, glory, honor, and thanks for all You are and all You do. In the holy/mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit leads me to continue with this segment of our messages, “God’s Terms Or Ours?” Next week, we will look at MK 8: 34 [LK 9: 23] to see what this means to our lives and our covenant relationship with Christ. There are some advantages to be the lesser party in our covenant relationship with God. And yes, I’m using Christ and God interchangeably here, because we must understand that these are two of the three personalities of the same Being, our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Father is the more mysterious Personality of the Godhead, the One we can’t see but Whose accomplishments are seen. Christ, of course, is the One we did see and Who is easier for us to know. Sadly, more of those who saw Him than didn’t denied His deity. The net result, one that God preplanned before the creation of the earth [1 PET 1: 20-21] was that Christ was crucified, died, and rose again, so that mankind would have the opportunity for salvation [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 14-15; HE 8: 12; RO 9: 29] and the hope of the resurrection. What love our God has for humankind! No man could equal this. Our God deserves our eternal love and praise! And we should show our gratitude by willingness to be obediently faithful to Him.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15