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Why does God have the right to tell me what to do? Why does he have the right to say to me how I should live or how I should view the world? Years ago, those would have seemed to be ridiculous questions. But, in our modern culture, some ask them.

David offers us an answer for what gives God the right to do with us whatever he pleases in Psalm 95.

Psalm 95:3-5

3 For the Lord is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

What catches my attention there is the claim that God has over the seas themselves. Why? Why does God own the oceans? The text in verse 5 says, “The sea is his, for he made it.” God owns the seas because God is the Creator.

Consider what that means. God created the world out of nothing. It is fully God’s idea. The planets, stars, and all the rest of the universe only exist because God chose to speak them into existence. The earth has material because God gave it material from his will. The world you and I walk on is full of resources because God placed them there.

I often like to illustrate the significance of this point to young ones by asking them about a picture they draw. I will ask them, “If you draw your own picture from your own mind on your own paper with your own art supplies, what then can you do with that picture?” They will usually let me know that, if they made their own picture from their own stuff, the picture is theirs; they can do with that picture whatever they want. Children grasp that, if they make their own art, they have the right of the owner of the art to handle that art as most pleases them.

That, of course is a miniature answer to the question of what gives God the right to tell us what to do. He made us. He created the world. And, according to Genesis 1:27, he created humanity too. We are his pictures, his works of art (c.f. Eph. 2:10). God has every right to tell us how he wants us to behave to accomplish his will and display his glory. God fashioned us for a purpose, and, as our Maker, he has every right to do with us anything he pleases.

But, in case that seems bleak, let us also remember that God has chosen to offer us the opportunity to be ultimately and eternally joyful. God has issued a command to the world that all people should come to him for salvation. God has also designed us so that, when we are forgiven by God, ,we can live to his glory. And God, who created us for his glory, will give us the greatest possible joy and fulfillment when we are actually doing what he designed us for. So the fact that God is our Creator and Owner has the benefit of being the only true path to our soul satisfaction.

What Gives God the right to tell you what to do? He made you and thus has the right of ownership over you. This is good news, as the one who made you is also the greatest, most loving, and most powerful one in existence. God is good. God invites us to be in his family and to find joy in him forever. He knows how to satisfy our souls, because he designed our souls to be satisfied in him. So may we stop fighting against our design and our Designer, and may we find our joy in the glory of our God.

Reading in Luke a dialogue between Jesus and some people opposing him, I see two very interesting truths about the way that the Savior responds. In the first, I see that Jesus had no room for the snowflake and safe-space mentality of our culture. I also see, in a second point, a glorious call from the Savior for us to be more gracious than we often are.

Luke 11:45-46 – 45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

In verse 45, a group tells Jesus that his words are hurting their feelings. They feel like he might possibly be saying that they have been or have done wrong. So they put up their hands and try to make Jesus back off so they do not feel further insult.

Jesus, in verse 46, presses on. The Savior was not giving them a safe space to sit in their sin without the conflict of being challenged by the word of God. Jesus did not pretend that these men who claimed the right to expound the law of God could hide from accountability. Jesus was not into providing a safe space for those who claim to know the word of God but who refused to handle it properly.

Now, none of us should use this truth to be extra insulting to others. We are never called to meanness. We are not supposed to revel in making others look bad. But we are certainly not to allow people who claim to have the truth to oppose the Lord without response. Jesus knew they were insulted by his claim that they were wrong. Jesus claimed it anyway.

Then, in verse 46, we see what Jesus actually said to these men. The Savior condemned these men for loading people up with burdens that they would not themselves help the people to bear. This is sweet and gracious on Jesus’ part. The Savior shows that it should be our goal in the Christian life to help others to live rightly, but not simply by loading them up with rules. Instead, to please the Lord, we must be people who live our lives together, helping each other along the way.

The truth is, there are believers who are really good at pointing fingers at each other. Some of us thrive on showing people everywhere they are wrong. But not nearly so many of us are good at helping people to actually walk under the burdens we place on their shoulders. But Christ is here telling us that a mountain of demands with no help in the walk is not pleasing to the Lord.

This is not to say that we ignore the word of God or refuse to tell other believers of changes they should make. We must. But we also must, with love and grace, join them in the task of growth. We motivate them, not with mountains of guilt and burdens, but with grace, friendship, hope, and the glory of God.

Consider, for example, how often you have had a pastor slam you with guilt over your lack of evangelistic zeal. From the pulpit, the man whose job is religious, swats you for not doing enough to get to know your neighbors for evangelistic purposes. Now, ask yourself if you have ever really been motivated by that kind of guilt toward lasting change? I would guess not.

Should you be evangelistic? Of course. Should you share the gospel with your neighbors? Of course. But is a burden of guilt atop all the other burdens you bear as a Christian going to make that happen? No way.

We need to learn to work together to relieve these burdens. We need to help each other along the way. We need to lend a hand to each other more than we need to curse each other for not doing enough. We also need to understand that different people are already bearing different burdens in their lives and these same people have a different capacity for different kinds of work.

What I think is beautiful here is that Jesus strongly speaks against us laying weight after weight on each other’s shoulders without offering a hand. Yes, I want you to share the gospel. But with that, I should be saying to you, “How can I jump in with you to help?”  

What should we pray for our nation? How should we feel toward our nation? This is and will remain for years to come a difficult question for many.

There is so much to be grateful for as a citizen of the U.S. We have been given, at least until now, the freedom to worship the Lord without hindrance. The government does not attempt to establish for us a state church or a required set of doctrines we must adhere to. This is good. Many men and women have sacrificed their lives and given of themselves to protect the freedoms we have in our nation and to protect other nations around the world from the attacks of others. So, in very many ways, we are children of a rich heritage.

Proverbs 14:34 – Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

The proverb reminds us, however, that what defines a nation is not necessarily its freedom or its past. Instead, what makes a nation great or what makes it a reproach is simply this: righteousness. If a nation can be defined as clinging to God’s righteousness, it is a nation that will be exalted. If it is a nation that embraces sin, it is reproached by the Lord.

With all of the great things that our nation has to offer, we still must ask ourselves the question as to which category in the above proverb our nation falls into. I do not believe that this is always going to be the same for all people across this great land. Nor do I think that this question would be answered the same way all throughout our history. But, for now, where you live, is our nation a nation of righteousness or a nation that embraces sin? What is valued by the people? What is promoted and embraced by the government? What do you see as the direction of the local leadership? What do you see in our national government?

No, I’m not going to go political here. Nor am I going to start sin-listing. What I am going to do is simply say, without qualification, our nation needs repentance. We, as a nation, embrace thoughts and activities that the Lord forbids. We as a people are given to the celebration of things that the Lord tells us we should turn from. We as a nation need grace from God in order to avoid his reproach and his judgment.

So, dear friends, let us add to our prayers today a cry that the Lord have mercy on our people and our land. We should not, however, simply ask for God to ignore our sin. Instead, we should ask him to help us, as a people, to see his kingdom come and his will be done right where we live. We should ask him to help our nation change her policies toward righteousness as defined by Scripture. No, we do not wish to establish a national religion—such has never changed human hearts. But we want to be a people defined as a nation embracing righteousness for the blessing of the Lord.

What things are to be present in the church? What has God commanded us to do? What has God told us is of utmost importance?

It’s funny, but if you compare Scripture to what many of us do, you will find that we are not always on the same page. Many of us fill our lives and our churches with activities so that we have no time for stillness. Many of our churches are so full of things that just have to be done that our workers are actually giving up time in worship, in silence, in study, or in meditation for the sake of the activities we feel are required to keep our churches growing.

Without going on a big rant about this topic, let me simply point us to a passage that I read in my daily reading that speaks to the concept.

Luke 10:38-42 – 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary and Martha were sisters who loved the Lord Jesus. They both wanted to honor him ,and in this instance, they both tried to honor him in different ways. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. Her desire was to worship and learn from Jesus. Martha was busy. She had work to do. She had things that just needed to be done.

Martha, frustrated at her sister’s stillness, called on Jesus to tell her to get up and start working. But Jesus responded in a way that surprised Martha. Jesus said that Mary had chosen what was better, and he would not take it from her. Mary had done what pleased Jesus far more than had Martha, even though Martha was working harder and accomplishing more.

I wonder, are you too busy for worship? Are you so busy trying to change the world for the Lord that you are failing to sit still in his presence? Are you too busy trying to make your church grow to actually focus your own life on the worship of the Savior? Jesus is not glorified if we develop big churches that are so rushed, so programmed, so intent on success that we forget to magnify the Savior in our own lives. God commands worship. God delights in his people focusing on his glory and enjoying his majesty. And if we miss this, we miss what church is about regardless of how big we grow or how big our impact is on our communities.

Of course the Lord is not telling us here to be lazy. This passage is not supposed to make us go monastic. But the Lord wants us to remember that he is not honored if we shape our lives and ministries so that we are too busy to worship. 

Some Bible stories have been told, and even mis-told, so that it is hard to learn from them what is true or what the biblical point is. One such story is the account of David dancing before the Lord. I have heard false facts and false applications from this passage, and we want to do better. God has something for us to learn, and we will not get it if we are focused on something God is not trying to tell us.

If you recall, the ark of the covenant was being moved into the city of Jerusalem. David had experienced a tragedy when Uzzah died during the move because of the people’s failure to obey the commands of God about how to move the ark. That disobedience put Uzzah in a dangerous place, he touched the ark, and he died.

Once the people began again to move the ark, this time in the way God told them to, there was a tremendous celebration. David and the people were overjoyed that God was finally allowing the ark to return to Jerusalem, as they knew this pointed to the favor of God.

2 Samuel 6:14 – And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.

1 Chronicles 15:27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. 

Now, think of what you have heard about the scene as the ark was moved. David danced before the Lord with all his might. And how was he dressed? If you have heard the story told  before, you have probably heard it at least hinted at that David was undressed, naked as he danced. But such is not at all what the Scripture says.

Where did people get this false idea?

2 Samuel 16:20-22 – 20 And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” 21 And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will make merry before the Lord. 22 I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.”

David’s wife was ashamed of how David was acting and how he was dressed. David dressed down, like a commoner, so as to celebrate and dance for joy. David’s wife, King Saul’s daughter, did not think David was being kingly enough. She thought that a king should not lower himself to celebrate like the common people, even in celebration of the kindness of God.

So, let’s fix a couple of wrong statements. First, David was not naked. He did not dance unclothed. He danced in linen. He danced looking like a commoner and not a  king. But he was not at all inappropriately garbed. He was not immodest.

Second, the dancing David did was as part of a joy-filled celebration. It was like a national holiday. David danced over the return of the ark in a way that might remind us of a city having a parade when their football team wins the Super Bowl. The people shout, dance, and basically go nuts with happiness. But, what David did was not a part of a formal and orderly worship service. Neither is dancing like David part of the biblical command for regular, weekly, New testament worship.

When David said to his wife that he was willing to be even more contemptable or undignified, he was not suggesting that being undignified , silly, or chaotic should mark Christian worship. He was telling his wife that he was willing to celebrate the victory of the Lord just like the common people no matter how much it bugged her to see him go nuts with happiness.

It is wise for us not to let ourselves go too far with a passage like David’s dancing. We need to see that he was dressed and he was celebrating a great happening with all his heart. But he was not giving us a model for New Testament worship that calls us to lack reverence or dignity when we serve the Lord. May we think clearly and interpret faithfully when we are inspired by biblical stories. And may we not allow ourselves to believe false things from the Scriptures just because they sound fascinating. 

The grace of God is a marvelous thing. To be under the grace of Christ is to be free to enter the presence of the Lord in safety, knowing that the perfection of the Son of God and the  full work of his sacrifice is there to protect you and to bring you into God’s family. We must rejoice in that grace. We should feel free and confident if we are in Christ.

But, I fear that we so often talk about the freedoms of grace that some forget the significance of the holiness of God. We must not forget that what makes grace so amazing is not just the benefit of joy but also the terror of the judgment we deserve for offending the holiness of God.

I thought of this while reading through 1 Chronicles 13. This chapter tells the account of David and the men of Israel moving the ark of the covenant of God. The ark, if you remember, is a gold-covered box that represented the presence and holiness of the Lord. In the process, a man named Uzzah saw that the ark was in danger of falling off the cart it was sitting on, and he reached out to keep the ark from crashing to the ground.

1 Chronicles 13:9-10 9 And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God.

That, my friends, is a frightening holiness. Uzzah had good intentions. Uzzah was trying to help. But, Uzzah came into contact with the holiness of God without proper protection. And when he did so, Uzzah’s life was forfeit.

Holiness is deadly. We cannot be in the presence of holiness while we are in our sin without our lives being destroyed. God is pure, and he cannot and will not allow his purity to be compromised by ignoring or accepting sin. He must punish sin properly, and that punishment is an infinite wrath which matches god’s infinite perfection. Even our good intentions leave us short of God’s perfection, guilty, and judged. This is why Uzzah died.

It is only if you grasp the significance of god’s holiness that you will grasp the significance of the grace of God in Christ. Jesus is our propitiation. That word means that Jesus is the sacrifice who can both cover our sins and reconcile us to God. The anger of God over our sins against him is fully satisfied in Christ’s offering and he can now look upon his children, those in Christ, with only favor that fits the perfect life that Christ lived.

So, holiness should terrify us. And holiness should make us unbelievably happy about the grace of God in Christ. Only in Christ can we enter the presence of God without being immediately destroyed as Uzzah was. Only in Christ can we live in the presence of God. Only in Christ can we survive for eternity in the joy of the Lord.

#END

Sometimes in my daily reading, I catch myself wanting to be sure that I’m “going deep.” I want to find those big and hidden truths that make me feel like I’ve really spiritually gotten somewhere. I want to feel smart. I want to feel like I have discovered something.

But, if I am really going to be a faithful reader of Scripture and a wise believer, I have to learn to let the simple truths of Scripture, especially the ones that God clearly has made prominent, stand out to me. I must not let the quest for depth cause me to miss the incredible significance of the simple and yet eternal points of the text. And one of those hit me as I was reading through Luke 9.

Luke 9:23-25 – 23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Jesus calls on those who would follow him to do so with a cross. Following Jesus has never promised to be an easy life. Jesus repeatedly tells believers that this is a hard path, a road through suffering and death to glory. Jesus promised his followers persecutions, hardships, betrayals, and eternal life.

But, the big point, the big truth behind it all for me this reading was the simple, obvious, we’ve-seen-it-a-thousand-times-question: For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? This is a pretty binary, on or off, kind of question. Where do you want your life to be? Do you want to fight for comfort and ease in the here and now, or do you want life that lasts forever? Do you want a moment of peace with an eternity of pain? Or can you handle a moment of pain with an eternity of joy to follow?

Like I said, that is so obvious. But, it is also the actual point of the Savior. He wants us to think like this. He wants us to realize that our lives are either about this temporary life or the eternity to come.

How differently does this all make us think about our present circumstances? We are not made to try to get the most out of this short, shallow, sin-filled life. That does not mean that life here is irrelevant. It does not mean that we are not allowed great pleasures and tremendous joys. What it means is that, if you make this world during this lifetime your focus, you will miss the point. We are created for eternity.

Also, recognize that you will exist eternally no matter what choices you make. However, your eternal condition is determined by whether or not you are under the grace of God. If you want life and peace forever, you must be reconciled to God. We have rebelled against our Creator, and we must be forgiven and made clean before him or we will face his eternal wrath. The way to be cleansed and forgiven is to trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus and to turn your life over to him. Jesus has perfection to cleanse us and he made himself a sacrifice to forgive us. He is our only hope.

Following Jesus contains joys. But following Jesus can also lead us through hardships in a godless world. But, in the end, following Jesus is about our eternal lives. We want to be forgiven. We want the grace of God. We want eternal joy. And that is found in Jesus, not in the petty pleasures this world has to offer.

2 Timothy 1:6-7 – 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

The call to fan into flame the gift of God is for all Christians, you and me too, because the same Spirit of God who gave Timothy his gift for ministry is the Spirit of God who lives within all of us. Every last one of us has the Spirit in us that Timothy has in him if we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:9 – You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Ephesians 1:13-14 – 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

1 John 3:24 – Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Stop and truly let this truth sink in. If you are a Christian, God has made his Holy Spirit to come and live in you. You have access to the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-sufficient, all-perfect Holy Spirit of God. God lives in you if you are his.

If you are a Christian, you have a Spirit given to you by God that is not a Spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

1 John 4:18 – There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

When you feel the grip of fear coming on, trying to prevent you from doing what God wants you to do, as a Christian, the first thing that you should remember is that your fear is not from God. God has given you a Spirit that is not one of fear. In fact, the perfect love of God drives out fear. So when you feel fear, stop, pray, and say both to God and to yourself, “Lord, I know that the fear that I am feeling is not coming from you. When I fear man instead of obeying you, I dishonor you and I dishonor the Spirit you have sent to dwell in me. Please forgive me for this fear, and drive out that fear with your perfect love.”

What does Paul mean in the book of Colossians when he uses the word “firstborn” to refer to Jesus? That is an important theological question. Is Paul suggesting that Jesus is created by the Father? Is Paul suggesting that a time in eternity exists when the Son of God did not exist?

Colossians 1:15-16 – 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

That phrase, “firstborn of all creation,” is a tough one if it is lifted out of context without biblical light shined upon it. If a person from a religious cult lifts that phrase out on its own, they make an argument that the Son of God does not exist in eternity past. But there are many reasons not to think that the phrase means that Jesus was created.

Simplest among the reasons not to be confused by “firstborn of all creation” is the fact that the next lines from Paul’s pen indicate that all things that have been created are created by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus. If Jesus created all things, if nothing was created that he did not create (c.f. John 1:1-3), it makes no sense to call Jesus created. If he created all, he cannot himself be created.

The other argument comes from the differing uses of the word “firstborn,” and it was this thought that came to my mind during my daily reading. You see, I was reading through Psalm 89, and was reminded of another biblical use of the word.

Consider the fact that the same word or phrase can mean multiple things in our language. What does the word “run” mean? It might be how you move quickly. It might mean to try to be elected to an office. It might mean what your nose does when you have a cold. It might mean that your car’s engine is on or your refrigerator is working properly. It might mean how you oversee your business. It might be what a river does. It might mean a number of different things, though it is actually only one word.

If we can easily understand that a word can have more than one meaning, we can be content not to let the word “firstborn” throw us for a loop. Yes, in my family, when I think of my 3 children, I know who the firstborn is. And, in my family context, that means that my firstborn is the first child to enter our family. But there is another biblical use of that phrase that has nothing at all to do with coming into existence. An alternative biblical use of the phrase firstborn means to be of the highest rank.

Psalm 89:27And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

In Psalm 89, God speaks of David. He says that he will make David his firstborn. He says this, though David had clearly already been born. What does he mean? He means that David will be given the highest rank among the kings of the earth. David will be given a special rank in the relationship between God and national Israel. It has nothing to do with David coming into existence. It has everything to do with the position that God will allow David to occupy.

Similarly, when Jesus is called firstborn of all creation, it has nothing to do with Jesus beginning to exist. Jesus is eternal, the Creator God. But Jesus is also the firstborn, the highest ranking human ever. Jesus is the number 1 human even as he is eternally God. Jesus is not a creation of the Father. Jesus is, however, granted by the Father to be the one who rules over all creation too. That is what it means that Jesus is “firstborn of all creation.”