The Main Tests Of This Life?
Pardon me for considering a little theology in our super duper modern times on a holiday but… These are just a few rambling thoughts on some passages of scripture I’ve been considering lately. With the exception of the Isaiah passage, it’s all off the cuff, probably has spelling errors even though I proofread, but nobody has to read it or like it either. It’s just a perspective.
God is holy, just, and the giver of life. These are common descriptions throughout scripture. So, it’s very interesting and disturbing that the two first humans fell, for the same reasons perhaps, that Lucifer fell, also. They both coveted to be God.
We battle much the same today in life over God’s will in our life. You see? We even frame it as our life when it’s either His life or not. “No man can serve two masters.” We want to be God. That’s just all there is to it. We want everything to be our way all of the time. Much of our selfish prayers are even an vain attempt to twist God’s arm into getting what we want. Come on now. Maybe you pray better than I do.
Consider that the first and last of the ten commandments are practically synonymous, when it comes to spiritual things.:
1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me, and…
10 Thou shalt not covet.
Eve coveted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because she saw that it was a tree to make one wise, like god she thought. But, when both she and Adam ate of the tree they died, instead.
The fall of Lucifer is slightly more complicated and probably impossible to understand. A few verses to consider are Isaiah 45:6, 7 which say, “That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
Also in the New Testament Paul refers to the mystery of iniquity. That’s why I say it might not be possible to comprehend. Perhaps it was the removal of fear, or discontinuing the giving of grace, that eventually led to Lucifer having the ability to covet God’s position, which led to his fall. Anselm covers this topic pretty well.
At the end of Job God refers to Leviathan remarking that there’s none like him without fear. the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs also says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If I have one of those mixed up Psalms has the other reference.
The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil. Notice that evil is the word live backwards. The Bible does say that God confounded the languages at Babel. It’s entirely possible that someone capable of creating all that is material and immaterial, is able to drop truth on us through our language, giving subtle hints if he wants to. I mean, he makes the rules, after all.
It’s an interesting coincidence at least, because turning away from God, the author of life and focusing away is death no matter what subject it is that we lust after because we’re turning away from the Source of life. “In him was life and the life was the light of men…. I am the way, the truth, and the life…”
Notice also that Jesus description of Satan in the gospels is that “He comes to kill, steal and destroy.” These are all things counter to the will of God. They run opposite to what God is working. They are unproductive. Often, Satan tries to use craftily laid tricks to convince us that something we want or are doing is good when it’s actually going to cause much more problems and destruction than we realize. (Refer to “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”)
And three of the main rudiments that he uses against us are the world, the flesh, and the devil. Most times we don’t even have to worry about the third one since our sin so easily besets us. “In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.”
We see these same rudiments even attempted in the temptations of Christ, while in the wilderness in Matthew 4, for example. He was tempted with being given the world if he would only worship Lucifer (the world). Jesus was tempted with making food for himself (satisfying the lusts of the flesh). Jesus was tempted with destroying himself by jumping from the temple. (the devil). Now, I don’t think you can always have a nice and tidy demarcation of things like that, but another reason one might say the middle temptation (in Matt 4) falls into the devil category, is because scripture is misused to try and produce sin. It’s the same method used by the devil in the garden of Eden to destroy mankind.
The only hope or way to counter these rudiments are through scripture, as Jesus used; although with the flesh, fleeing the flesh is advised, in another part of scripture, because we’re so weak. We’re weak in that area, because going back full circle, it’s all about us when it’s about the flesh and we don’t want to deny ourselves. We desire to be God. “If any man come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” Also, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”
Two other considerations of the temptations in Matthew 4
Before this event occurred, God had just descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove while proclaiming “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased” as Jesus came out of the baptismal water. So his identity was not a mystery. That didn’t prevent the devil from trying to convince Jesus he wasn’t though. I only bring that up because he’ll do the same to you, even if you believe and are a follower of God. He’ll try to convince you you’re not a son of God because you’ll be too busy worrying over it to accomplish the work God has for you to do. Show me a place in scripture where the Holy Spirit tries to convince someone they’re not a son of God. It doesn’t happen. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” God wants you TO believe, NOT to disbelieve. God casting doubt would go contrary to everything ins scripture.
You look at how Jesus was tempted by the devil and tell me who’s trying to convince you of what.
Last point I’d like to make on this passage, is that he is a cruel adversary, and that as soon as the temptations of Jesus were over, and Jesus had passed through spotlessly, the adversary went to stir up trouble with John The Baptist, having John cast into prison and executed. Being Jesus cousin, it’s no doubt this was some sort of retribution, in whatever way that it could be achieved. “Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”
We all need to pray for protection, and for the protection of others. One of the defenses against the accuser is prayer. Job prayed for his children, and the devil was unable to reach Job or them until God made an exception.
If you think you do God a service by complaining about your rulers, by complaining about the leaders that God has appointed as ministers of the country, you’re in fact doing the devils work, by accusing. God never told you to do that. Romans 13 says to pray for those in authority. Another passage says to lift up holy hands praying for all men everywhere. You can pretend your pious all you want but with every accusation you make against your neighbor you open yourself to the judgment of God. “For with whatsoever judgment that ye judge ye shall be judged.”
I’ve come that ye might have life and have it more abundantly Jesus said. He said he didn’t come to judge, but if you’re such a spiritual person go ahead. You must be smarter than God. You want me to worship you too?
One time, when Jesus disciples asked if they could pray fire down from heaven to punish some people they thought were rude, Jesus rebuked them. Do you want to be rebuked? The people of God are the only ones who can pray for God’s grace and mercy, for the good of their neighbors, and nation. If you’re busy worrying and talking about stupid stuff you’re not doing the only function that is productive and worth the time. You waste your time the way you want to and I’ll be foolish as well, but the principle remains and we all will give an account with whatever time we had, “As it is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.” Put it to good use while you may.
One of the grossest sins of our country in these days is accusing each other all the time, and a lack of grace or mercy. It’s ungodly. Worrying over what the devil’s people are doing isn’t going to help things one bit but it will wear you down or render you unable to serve God. I encourage you to put away your pride, and your desire to be God, to serve him today and everyday for his glory.
You know if we really stopped playing games and just got out there and got on the offense, I think a lot more good would happen than say, what we’re doing now, which is little to nothing. Honestly. We need to get out an love on people, even the people that think you’re the problem with this country. Jesus said to love our enemies if we wanted to do something noteworthy. That comes at the cost of self though.
