“A TRIUMPHANT TRIAL” (A STUDY OF GENESIS 22)

A POWERFUL MESSAGE ABOUT TRUSTING GOD!!

In both the Old Testament and in the New Testament, believers have been told that God knows our hearts (I Samuel 16:7, Luke 16:15). He not only knows what we at thinking at this moment, but he also understands our inclinations and desires. God knows each of us better than we understand ourselves. He knows whether we have chosen to follow Him or to follow Satan.

Yet, If God already knows where we stand, then what is the purpose of the trials of life – those pop quizzes of God – which He sends our way? Who is it that benefits from these tests? Consider this story:

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly, which he carefully brought home. Several days later a small opening appeared. He sat and watched several hours as the butterfly struggled to force its body through the tiny opening. After hours of struggle, the butterfly stop making any progress in its escape. It appeared as if it had gone as far as it could.

The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and carefully enlarged the hole. The butterfly was then able to exit the cocoon easily, but like a newborn infant, it looked misshapen. Its body was swollen and its wings were small, shriveled things.

“Surely, at any moment, the wings would expand,” the man thought as he continued to watch. But nothing happened. The body remained swollen and the wings remained crippled. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required of the butterfly to emerge through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings. Once it achieved its freedom form the cocoon, it would be ready for flight.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in out life. If God allowed us to go through our life without obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been.

We are the ones who benefit from the trials of life. We may claim a firm belief in Christ, our Savior. We may think we would follow Him no matter where the road may lead. But until we have to stand with Him in the face of severe trials, we cannot be fully sure of ourselves.

Consider the testing of Abraham in Genesis 22 when he was told to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. The writer of Hebrews, in Hebrews 11, said that Abraham considered the command a death sentence for his son. As we read the chilling story, we realize that Abraham had every intention of carrying out God’s command. He journeyed three days knowing he was about to kill his son. Abraham was sure Isaac was required to die, but he was sustained by his belief that God would raise Isaac from the dead.

God knew the strength of Abraham’s faith before putting Abraham through this severe test. However, until Abraham raised the knife to plunge it into his son, would Abraham have understood if he could put his God before his son? Could we have understood the strength of faith that God requires of us, if these events did not happen for us to read about?

When God told the Israelites to enter the land of Canaan and take possession of it, He could have delivered it into their hands with no effort required on their part. If God wanted to, He could have sent a great plague through the land and decimated the entire population of Canaan. The Israelites could have simply walked in and taken possession of the empty cities. There would have been no risks of battle, facing enemies fighting to protect their homes and families. However, God wanted each man’s faith to be tried, so he would know and appreciate where his new home came from. It could not have been easy for the Israelite soldiers to face larger armies with better equipped soldiers on their home turf. Even if they believed God’s promise of victory in the end, would there not have been some nagging doubt regarding if they, personally, would survive the next battle. Each could ask himself, “Will I be able to enjoy the promise land?”

If God just handed the land of Canaan over to the Israelites, they would not have known for sure how valuable the land was to them and their children. They could not have fully appreciated the care of the God on whom they had to rely.

Most of the religious world sees no necessity for the rite of baptism. After all, God already knows the condition of each man’s heart. When we say that we believe, is that not enough to prove our willingness to follow God? Yet, over and over we see that simple affirmation is not enough. Abraham had to act on his faith to show where he stood in the sight of God. Each Israelite soldier had to face the enemy troops to let it be known where he had placed his trust. We must act on our faith, to perform what may seem to be an unnecessary act, to receive our salvation.

Abraham could have declared his faith in God from every housetop, but if he had failed to sacrifice his son, he would have shown the world that his word was worthless. We too may declare our faith in Jesus Christ, but if we cannot perform the simple obedient act of baptism for the remission our sins, then we too will have failed the test.

The testing of our faith only begins with baptism. Each day, in many ways, Christians must face the daily battle of life and declare his faith in the Son of God by standing firm with Him, come what may. If an Israelite’s faith failed him in battle, he may have died from a mortal wound. If a Christian’s faith fails in his struggles with evil, he may die a spiritual death; losing the salvation of his soul.

When a Christian passes a test, he is made stronger. Even failure to stand rock solid in the faith can be a benefit, if he will only learn from his mistakes. Failures show a Christian his true condition, his need to rely on God, and the absolute need to grown strong in the faith. If a Christian will ask God for forgiveness and try again, then God will make him stand. In this way, the trials we face purify our lives as fire purifies gold by burning the contaminants out of the ore.

“These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (I Peter 1:7)

Trials are never easy or enjoyable. View them as opportunities to show where you stand. Learn from them where your weaknesses are, so you can shore up your defenses.

There are some who are reading this, who have yet to obey God’s calling to become a part of his people. I cannot see into your heart. I don’t know why you are hesitating. Perhaps there is some sin in your life that makes you think you are not good enough for God. I would rather not know what that sin is, but I do know this: There is no past sin that God cannot wipe away for an obedient child of His and there is no future temptation or sin that is not easier to deal within the loving body of His people. Will you not join us this day?

 

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT OUR SUFFERING

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

How often is your life visited with a bad day or bad news? How often do we suffer in this world? One specific area that I know visits every family at one time or another is sickness. Yes, ailments come and sometimes they bring an end to a loved one’s life. Some find themselves asking if it was God’s will that this individual would stay sick or even die. Many of us whether we fully admit it or not fall prey to the mindset that says, “What have I done to deserve this?”  We immediately turn to God with questions as to “Why?” or “What have I done?”

We need to examine more closely the Word to see if God has given us any indications to help us understand. We need to understand the things we consider to be “bad things” especially when they happen to “loved ones”.  Let’s take the time to look at ending some of the improper assumptions concerning bad things, sickness, and death.

Things That Do Not Cause Suffering

We Do Not Suffer Because of Some Hidden Sin.

It is remarkable just how many people think that bad things or illnesses are punishment for wrong-doing. Even if it is not directly admitted, many of us have a twinge of conscience that provokes us into thinking, “Maybe this is what I deserve”. In the days of Job his friends assumed this “punishment” scenario concerning his troubles. They witnessed what he was going through and assumed it was because of sin in his life. We can read the various indictments spoken by these three men: Eliphaz (Job 4:8, 9), Bildad (Job 8:6), and Zophar (Job 11:5, 6).

I know that this thought is still common. I hope that no one here takes on those thoughts. I was told that my Dad’s great-grandmother died of cancer. His grand-mother would not tell anyone that fact. She was ashamed and embarrassed, afraid her mother had committed some horrible sin that caused the cancer. Job’s friends were wrong and my great-grandmother was wrong. Consider what God had to say concerning Job (Job 1:22; 2:10)—“in all this Job did not sin”. God emphatically states that Job’s friends had not spoken correctly (Job 42:7-9).

Granted, sometimes sinful choices result in illness (STD’s; IV drug users). These illnesses are not punishment for the sin, as it is merely the consequences of their actions. If illness were punishment for sin than no innocent people would have sexual transmitted diseases like AIDS today. Sin does not cause physical disease—the action involved in some sins may result in conditions that such diseases require. The truth is that sin is not punished by disease, sin is punished by separation from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23).

We Do Not Suffer Because God Lacks The Power To Help.

For someone to come to this conclusion they must not know God at all. Some, however, do come to this conclusion. We know better, don’t we? God is not limited by any mortal illness. God was able to extend Hezekiah’s life (Isaiah 38:1-5). Jesus Christ worked great wonders and healings: Mark 1:38-42 Healed a leper; Mark 5:25-34 Healed a long-term illness; John 11:39-45 He raised Lazarus from the dead.

God created us (Acts 17:26). His power is limitless within His will. Those who turn against God are just looking for someone to blame.

We Do Not Suffer Because God Just Doesn’t Care.

Again, to come to this conclusion we must not know God at all. We are commanded to cast every care on God because in fact He does care for us (1 Peter 5:7). We must trust in, and rely on, God (Matthew 6:25-33; Hebrews 11:6). The Bible makes us aware of the fact that Jesus was the full expression of the His Father (Colossians 2:9; John 14:8-9). He acted in the same manner as the Father and we know that Jesus was continually moved with compassion over the situations we face in this life (Matthew 9:36, 14:14; 15:32; 20:34; John 11:35).

What we have learned so far.

Ailments are simply part of mortality. We must understand, however, that we are mortal and the fact is that we will know illness and death—both are part of being in this mortal body.

Is it God’s will that any one would become sick or die? In a manner of speaking, I suppose.  God created us with mortal flesh; sickness and death are ways of life as we know it. We need to be reminded that we are not here forever.

There is an even more important illness that we all need to be aware of. We have an immortal soul housed in this mortal flesh. A soul that needs to be freed from the bondage of sin to be prepared for the life eternal after this temporal life is over. Our caring God has willingly offered us hope through His Son Jesus Christ. Do you want to take hold of that hope today?

Things That Do Cause Suffering

We Suffer Because of Our Ability To Choose.

God created us in such a way that we have free will. We are intelligent and able to reason and choose for ourselves. God desires that we, His creations, would use our freedom of will to choose to serve Him. God did not create robots. God desires that we would by choice seek Him and love Him (Acts 7:24-28; Psalm 100). We are free to choose whether or not we will serve our Creator.

Our freedom to choose can result in bad things happening.  We could choose carelessly resulting in injuries from accidents caused by self or others. We could choose ignorantly, for example taking a prescription or eating a food—not knowing that you were allergic to it. We could choose lustfully, pursuing some illegal or immoral satisfaction. This carnal choosing may result in STD’s or innocent third party infection. We could choose irrationally: doing without thinking through to the results. We could choose maliciously: seeking to directly harm others. Because everyone is free to choose, they may choose poorly and may affect you or me.

Sometimes We Suffer Because We Are Effected By Natural Calamities.

Natural events that are destructive such as tidal waves, floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes, are consider “bad things”. It has been reasoned that natural calamities bring our minds back to the perspective that life here is uncertain. This world is not the permanent home of our soul (Hebrews 11:13-16). There is a better land prepared (John 14:1-6). There is a place in the presence of God (Revelation 21:22-27). We are clearly told that our life here is short in comparison to eternity and that we have an uncertain amount of time (James 4:14).

Natural calamities do not have reasoning abilities. By design nature follows cycles. It is well noted that some of the great pine trees must have fire to open their seed cones in order to reproduce. To us a forest fire may be a bad thing destroying houses and property but to the pine tree it is part of a necessary cycle. We cannot change this cycle and sometime we may be adversely effected by it. Because of natural cycles we might have a flooded yard or house or maybe we will not have any water at all. We suffer these things because we live in a natural realm.

There will always be times of high water and low water as long as we live in this nature material realm. No storm purposely chases you God does not send lightning down from heaven to zap sinners.

Much Of Our Suffering Is From Our Mortal Bodies.

It has been a long time standard of super heroes to be immortal—bullet proof—able to withstand any punishment. Why do we like to depict our fictional heroes that way? We, who are stuck in reality, are not immortal or bullet proof. We all must face the fact that by God’s design our flesh is not designed to function forever (Genesis 3:19; Psalms 139:14). Hebrews 9:27 is a statement of our reality: It is appointed unto men once to die. There is a time to be born and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:20). Consider this picture in words (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7): Vs. 1 Difficult days are coming when it will be hard to move about and we will not feel well. Vs. 2 The fall and winter of life (No more spring chicken) will meet all of us who live to see those years. Vs. 3 even our dependable tools like our hands, arms, and legs will become weakened over time. The teeth become few, eyes fail. Vs. 4 Struggle to keep lips shut to retain food. Sleep even a chore, rise early, ears fail. Vs. 5 Fear of moving around, and heights, hair become white, small things become burdens. Physical desires, even eating fails. Vs.6 the silver cord represents our spine and nerves. The golden bowl represents our brain. Pitcher and wheel: blood and heart all fail— man’s life ends. (Based loosely on Adam Clarke’s Commentary). When our bodies are no longer fit to house our soul we will depart. We are just not meant to live forever. This life is temporary (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Conclusion:

We need to understand that sickness, disease and death happen. These bad things happen through poor choices, or natural cycles or just because we are mortal. We have spoken about physical ailments but before we end this lesson I need to mention spiritual ailment. The greatest disease facing mankind is inflicted on our immortal soul by our mortal choice to sin. Sin separates us from God and results in a life without Him here and separation from Him in eternity to come. Are you willing to settle for that? The opportunity is yours right now to cleanse your soul. Consider the chart below. Please take the time to examine the passage and obey God’s plan today.

 

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT “WHY GOD ALLOWS EVIL”

Why Does God Allow Evil?

There is no doubt that sin, and the evil that accompanies it, exists in this world. When atrocious examples of evil come to our attention, people commonly wonder why God allows such evil to happen. Atheists will use the very existence of obvious evil to argue against God. “If God were so good,” they smirk, “why is there evil in the world?” Since evil exists, these people conclude that God must not exist.

Have you ever thought about reversing the argument? If evil is so prevalent, why is there righteousness in the world? Since righteousness exists, should we conclude that evil does not exist? Obviously the existence of one extreme does not preclude the existence of the other extreme.

Yet, still the question needs to be addressed. As Christians we are to have a ready answer for every question regarding our faith (I Peter 3:15). Perhaps you have studied this question in the past, but given the tragedies of recent days, it will do each of us good to review the Scriptures so we may answer the questions that are bound to come up.

But, before addressing why evil is allowed to exist, we need to define what is evil. We don’t have to look far to find recent events that most people agree are evil. There is no doubt that the taking of thousands of innocent lives in New York, Washington, D.C, and Pennsylvania is a prime example of evil at its worse.

In fact, we can go farther and note that evil always involves sin. The two are equivalent: Sin is evil. Some sins are much more abhorrent than others. The loss of thousands of innocent lives strikes us as more evil than an individual’s lie. Yet, we must understand that both are wrong. Both are different facets of evil.

John defines sin as the breaking of law (I John 3:4). The very existence and recognition of evil argue that a law or several laws are being broken. The tragedy of September 11, 2001, was evil because innocent people were murdered. This means that we recognize the fact that murder is wrong. In other words, we acknowledge that a law exists making murder sinful. If such a law did not exist, then there could be no violation of that law (Romans 4:15).

Recognizing this, some have foolishly argued that here lies a quick way to remove evil from the world – remove every law! Too hard to believe? We all recognize that this nation has a drug problem. What has been touted as a solution to the drug problem? Why, legalize the drugs! As if this would solve the problem!

It was once against the law to have sex outside of marriage. Those laws have been dropped from the books as being unenforceable. Has the sin of fornication therefore disappeared with the removal of the law? Has it even decreased? No, the exact opposite effect has been recorded. People are living together in staggering numbers and the rate is increasing phenomenally.

The problem we must face is that evil still exists even when we do not acknowledge it in our laws. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned – for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses …” (Romans 5:12-14). Notice that even before God gave the law to Moses, sin was still in the world. Yet, God did not impute the punishment for sin against mankind.

Consider the age-old exclaim, “I didn’t know that was illegal!” Does our ignorance of a law mean the law doesn’t exist for us? Obviously no. We are still held accountable to uphold a law even if we did not know of its existence. Yet, if we truly had no way of knowing the law, the judge might be lenient in passing sentence.

In a similar vein, though people sinned (broken the law) before God gave the law to Moses to record, he did not count the sins against the people who broke the law. Yet, the consequences of sin, in this case death, remained even though sin was not imputed.

To summarize, sin exists even when the written laws do not acknowledge a particular action as sinful. Putting on blinders to avoid seeing evil does not make the evil go away, nor does it make it any less evil. In other words, laws do not create evil.

Where, then, does sin originate?

If we come to a fork in a road, we must choose which direction we will take. Because a decision must be made, I can guarantee that everyone approaching the fork will not choose the same path. Even if I put up a sign explaining the desirability of one direction over the other, I can still guarantee that the less desirable path will still be used.

James 1:12-18 explains that sin comes from people making the wrong choice. Sin comes from man and not from God. We all have desires that are necessary for us to live. Satan uses these natural tendencies to put us in situations where the satisfaction of our desire would cause us to break a command of God. It is a trap, but it is a snare that we willingly walk into because we want what is offered.

Not only does Satan tempt us, but our fellow men, already caught up in sin, will use our desires to gain their own goals (II Peter 2:18-19). Temptation is so prevalent in this world that none are immune to sin (I Corinthians 10:12). Yet, the situation is not hopeless. God remains in control, even when we are tempted to violate God’s laws (I Corinthians 10:13).

Yet, if evil exists, and people will choose to do evil, why did God bother giving men a law? Paul explains that the law does not cause people to sin, but it does clarify our sins (Romans 7:7-12). The law, being from God, is holy and good. It defines for man what God sees as sin. It helps us understand the nature of sin and of evil.

Unfortunately, the law is also exploited by Satan. By defining sin, it lets us know about options we might not have considered before. Every parent faces this dilemma. We want to warn our children against the dangers present in this world, but we don’t want our children to lose their innocence toward life. Paul spoke of this same problem in Romans 7. He, by nature, would not be one to covet what belongs to another man. But when he learned about coveting through the law, he faced the temptation to covet from the simple fact that he was now aware of the possibility.

This does not excuse our decision. We have been warned in advance by the law. Hence, the law leaves us with no excuse when we violate the law.

Perhaps now we can address why evil continues to exist in this world. Sin exists because people want it (Jeremiah 5:30-31). God tolerates its existence because it creates a distinction between the righteous and the wicked (Romans 7:13). When we sin, and we see the affect of evil on our lives, then we learn, however reluctantly, that God was right. We are forced to see that God’s laws are actually the best path because we see the devastation caused by people who sin. The existence of sin and the existence of people willing to commit sin show us just how bad off mankind is (Ecclesiastes 3:16-18).

When we battle against sin, we are strengthened by the effort (James 1:12). What kind of shape would I be in if I laid in bed all day? Many of us work out in some type of physical exercise. Yet, why do we bother? Simply because we understand that exercise, even when we don’t fully enjoy it, helps us to enjoy life more fully. What kind of shape would I be in if I never exercised my faith? Even though the choices are not always enjoyable, I need the opportunity to make them so that I may be better able to serve God.

We must also acknowledge that evil continues to exist in this world because we refuse to recognize sin. This is the trap the Jews fell into (Romans 2:17-24). When you don’t pay a bill, are you not stealing? If you leave out some of your income at tax time, are you not lying? How can a person lead others out of sin if they wallow in sins that they feel are not so bad?

This was a major point in Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Murder is awful, but it is preceded by the sin of anger (Matthew 5:21-22). Adultery is evil, but it is preceded by the sin of lust (Matthew 5:27-28). We cannot make a half-hearted stand against evil. Evil will not go away if we accept some sins but reject others. This is an all-or-nothing war. Evil cannot be defeated if we allow sin to continue to exist in our own lives.

Where do you stand in this battle against evil? Either you are for righteousness and God or you are against him (Matthew 12:30). There is no middle ground.