Archives for May 2016

Drops of Infinite Love

“And being in agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). When we think of the greatest temptation of Christ we might think of His forty days without food in the wilderness, culminating in the Devil’s appeal to Christ at His weakest points as a man. So difficult was the temptation that angels came to minister to Jesus at its conclusion. Yet, despite the harsh circumstances in the wilderness, His trial in the Garden of Gethsemane put Him to His most severe test. So challenging was His experience that He pleaded with the Father to deliver Him from the terms He accepted in eternity past when the persons of the Trinity agreed on how He would purchase His bride from sinful humanity. In the depth of His torment, Christ prayed that God the Father would remove the bitter cup He was about to drink if the purchase of His bride could be accomplished any other way. What, then, was the essence of Christ’s temptation in the Garden, and what did He encounter that produced such horrible anguish?

The Longest Day
Having voluntarily agreed to undertake His role as substitute, mediator, and sacrifice for the salvation of sinners, Christ was hours away from completing His earthly ministry. Resolute in His purpose to display God’s infinite excellence by saving the infinitely unworthy, Christ struggled with the weight of what He was about to endure. The last day of His three-and-a-half-year earthly ministry would be the longest and most terrible, while His temptation in the garden would prove to be the most difficult.

A Clear View
As eternal God, Christ fully understood what He volunteered to do when He accepted the plan of redemption in eternity past. From the overflow of His boundless love He resolved to satisfy the requirements of God’s justice with full knowledge of what He would suffer to purchase His bride a gown of righteousness. As a man, the concentrated weight of what He would suffer was brought to bear on His understanding with full force as He contemplated the cost.

Infinite Humiliation
The infinitely honorable Son of God and Man was about to be humiliated in one of the most hideous ways known to mankind, a fate so cruel that Romans spared their own citizens its indignity. He would be dishonored before His own chosen people, before those He created, who lived and enjoyed His countless blessings by His grace alone. The humiliation of infinite glory and dignity exceeds our ability to fully comprehend, but Christ understood it perfectly.

Physical Suffering
Additionally, the physical torture would be excruciating. Roman solders knew their craft well, and Christ knew that He would suffer the full extent of their sadistic skill. The humanity of Christ recoiled in horror at the thought.

Infinite Wrath
Nonetheless, as terrible as the humiliation and physical torture of Christ would be, it did not compare to bearing on His own person the full weight of God’s anger for the sins of the world. The God-man was given a full and undiluted view of the penalty owed to the One who created the universe and cursed it for a single sin. He would suffer the fury of God’s righteous and boundless power, whose honor and goodness were insulted and spurned to an infinite degree, while eternity in hell is the appropriate and just deserts for such an offense. The full weight of punishment for countless sins of countless sinners would fall on Christ. The clear view of drinking this bottomless cup of suffering to the full produced in Christ His agony in the garden, while His desire to avoid the terrible wrath of the One with whom He shared perfect and eternal love for all of eternity (if sinners could be saved any other way), constituted His greatest temptation.

Infinite Love
God’s answer to Christ’s prayer affirmed the intent of the eternal plan of redemption: love and justice must meet at the cross. The Savior of His beloved must past through the fire to bring her to His eternal abode in heaven. Thus, “for the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2 NAS). His descent into the fiery furnace of infinite wrath purchased for us infinite happiness in His presence forever. For the unbeliever, indifference to such an immeasurable gift is pure contempt. For the believer, however, the great drops of agony from the brow of our Savior flow as tokens of His infinite love for His bride.

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Passing the Buck

“That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, ‘See this, it is new’? Already it has existed for ages which were before us” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 NAS). And so it is with the tendency of the fallen heart to try and escape responsibility for its actions.

Blame Sown in the Garden
Having been warned by God to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve chose to place the word of the serpent over the word and will of their benevolent Creator and plunged themselves and the human race into ruin. And having died spiritually, Adam and Eve were alienated from God as their benevolent Father became their Judge. “‘Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ And the man said, ‘The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:11-13 NAS). Everyone, it seems, was guilty except those who actually committed the crime. But notice the reply of Adam, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” It appears that Adam laid the guilt of his sin at the feet of God.

Like Father Like Son
The essential nature of every sin can be found in the first sin in the garden, including the exaltation of our own personal preference and authority over God’s will and authority, and the impugning of God for the results of our own choices. In Adam’s response we see a template for fallen people to absolve themselves of responsibility for the problems of the world and a justification for unbelief. When we pass the buck, it doesn’t always stop with our spouse, neighbor, co-worker, or every tyrant in the history of mankind; it usually finds its way to God.

Understanding this most fundamental aspect of our fallen nature is critical for a proper understanding of our own heart. Moreover, it gives us great insight into the nature of unbelief and many of the arguments used by unbelievers that impugn the nature of God in order to justify rejecting His authority and existence. Indeed, “there is nothing new under the sun.”

Freedom from Restraint and Responsibility
Proverbs puts it this way, “The foolishness of man subverts his way, and his heart rages against the LORD” (19:3 NAS). One of the many contradictions of unbelief involves the affirmation of freedom to pursue personal desires, even while blaming God for the trouble it brings. The well-known use of the “problem of evil” argument is a case in point. Somehow, as the claim goes, it is impossible for a God of infinite power and perfect holiness to exist in a universe that includes the consequences of the free choices of created beings (i.e., Lucifer, Adam, and Eve). So, in the convenient but confusing world of rebels passing the buck, God either gets the blame or is defined out of existence because of the troubles we have produced. The former mimics Adam blaming God for giving him Eve, while the latter imitates the attempt of both Adam and Eve to hide from God and escape accountability and judgment for their sin. Neither was successful in the Garden, and neither will be successful for anyone attempting to escape the consequences of their sin before God apart from Christ.

Responsibility and Holy Sovereignty
The existence of evil in a world created by a perfect God is not without its mysteries. But, as created, finite, and dependent upon God for all things, including knowledge of Him and his universe, we will always be confronted with great mysteries before an infinite God. He has told us all we need to know, but He had not told us everything. After all, if we knew everything and could solve every mystery we would be God. At the same time, God has clearly revealed to us that He hates moral evil and can never be its cause, that he tempts no one to sin, and that we are fully responsible and blameworthy for our own evil actions. Behind every denial of the God of Scripture lurk not only a desire for independence from God and an exalting of personal preference over the authority and will of God, but also a denial of responsibility for our sin and our desert of God’s judgment for it.

Embracing the Buck in Christ
As believers, we need not pass the buck or attempt to hide from the all-knowing eyes of God. Not only is it an exercise in futility, the penalty for our sin has been paid in full and we are blessed when we acknowledge our sin before God (1 John 1:9). Indeed, the all-knowing and righteous Judge of the earth has become our advocate, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Romans 8:33-34 NAS). When we come to Christ in saving faith, our repentance involves an admission of our sin before God. And as redeemed in Christ, we grow in grace and experience the comfort of God as we acknowledge our sin and bask in the love and forgiveness that is ours in Christ, a comfort we deny ourselves when we pass the buck.

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Jacob Goes to School

Having stolen the blessing of Esau by deceiving his father Isaac, Jacob quickly left his home and family to avoid the retribution of his brother. On his way to Haran, he had a dream in which God reaffirmed to him the promises made to Abraham, including a land, descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth, and blessing to “all the families of the earth” through him and his descendants.

The Vow
Fearful but excited by his encounter with God, he set up and anointed a stone pillar and made a vow to God, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house; and of all that Thou dost give me I will surely give a tenth to Thee” (Genesis 28:20-22 NAS). Jacob was young and clever, and had managed to appropriate both Esau’s birthright and blessing. And judging by the content of his vow to God, he was not yet ready to be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. His attempt to strike a deal with God reflected a heart in need of a proper perspective and attitude before his Creator, to whom he owed all things, and apart from whom he would have nothing.

A Taste of His Own Medicine
Jacob’s schooling began in earnest as he fled from Esau, and the lessons would be difficult and long. He met his match in his first teacher, Laban, the father of Rachel and Leah. Upon completing his seven years of work for the privilege of marrying Rachel, Laban deceived Jacob and gave him the less attractive Leah under the cover of darkness. Rachel would still become his wife, but at the cost of another seven years of service to Laban. Nonetheless, God was with Jacob on account of His promises, and Jacob eventually left the service of Laban with a large family and great riches.

A Better Prayer
Twenty year after his flight from home, Jacob’s attitude toward God appears to have matured. Fearful and “greatly distressed” at the news that Esau was about to meet him with 400 men, an omen of the retribution he once escaped coming upon him at last, Jacob no longer sought to make a deal with God. His prayer to God for deliverance from Esau included these words,

O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who didst say to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which Thou hast shown to Thy servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau (Genesis 32:9-11 NAS).

Appealing to God’s lovingkindness, faithfulness, and promises, he confessed that he was unworthy of God’s blessings. Gone was the “you’ll be my God if you bless and protect me” attitude of His earlier prayer and vow. Time and trouble, in addition to recalling the gracious promises of God, produced a greater maturity and humility in Jacob in his approach to his Creator.

More Medicine
Nonetheless, Jacob’s schooling continued. He would again fear for his life after the murderous response of his sons to Shechem’s rape of his daughter, Dinah, and he would feel deeply the terrible pain of his sons’ deceitful report of Joseph’s death. In many respects, Jacob reaped what he had sown. Yet, through it all, God remained faithful to his promises and upheld and blessed Jacob. In the end, He brought Jacob and his family to Egypt for the happy reunion with his son Joseph, preserving the lineage and nation through whom God would display His glory, and through whom all of the nations of the world would be blessed through the Messiah.

Lessons for Us
The life of Jacob teaches us many things about the providence and faithfulness of God, including how He executes His perfect plans through less-than-perfect people. And while we may know little of the specific ways our present troubles will bring greater usefulness and the accomplishment of God’s purpose for us and others, we know that He works all things for our good and His glory. We grow in grace and wisdom when we forsake our bargains with God and come to Him as unworthy of His blessings, even as we boldly approach His throne of grace as redeemed, cleansed, and adopted into His family by the saving work of Christ. Our graduation day is coming, but not without a great many lessons. May we grow in faithfulness and fruitfulness, by His grace, until the arrival of that marvelous day.

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