A couple years ago I had a sort of a mini crisis of faith. It wasn't that I was out there doubting Scripture or anything like that, but I had come to realize that my understanding of Scripture just wasn't sufficient. And so I spent a lot of time asking a lot of questions.
One passage that gave me trouble was Acts 14:14–19. Here we have Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, and they perform a miracle, so the people of Lystra decide they must be gods and begin to worship them. Paul reacts as we'd expect him to, and tries to set them straight. It's a story I've known since I was very young. But what caught my attention was v. 17
he did not leave himself without witness, doing good, and giving to you from heaven rain and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.
And it got my attention, because I realized my personal theology (if I can use that expression) didn't fit in with a God who'd bless pagans, "filling [their] hearts with food and gladness."
See, the dispensationalist in me was insisting that God could only be pleased in New Creation. I was convinced that a man cannot see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. I recognized that Christ's death brought about, in a sense, the end of Adam's race. He is not only the second Man, He is also the last Adam. And I had no idea how to fit God's blessing idolaters with food and gladness into that.
And bear in mind, Acts 14:17 is Paul speaking. This is after the Cross, after the Resurrection. This is clearly not something we can push into the "not for today" category.
Well, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this verse, and I've come to a conclusion I find surprising. Acts 14:17 has been giving me trouble, because I have allowed myself to forget that God is kind.
It's so easy for us to fall into various brands of puritanism that make God out to be mean, demanding, even unkind and unloving. When I think about puritanism, the first thing that comes to mind is the Calivinistic variety, maybe somewhere in New England. But there are other flavors of puritanism too. Dispensationalists have their own varieties, including several centered on "brethren."
One of my daughters has expressed concern about a friend who "doesn't seem to think that God actually likes her." I think a lot of us have experienced that one.
God is kind. Let's not allow ourselves to forget that. God isn't the creditor who demands the last farthing. He gives freely because that's who He is. He pours out blessing on all of us, regardless of what we deserve.
It seems to me there aren't too many sins worse than thinking ill of God. Let's be vigilant.
4 comments:
In Genesis ch 2 God spoke to the man. In Genesis ch 3 the serpent spoke to the woman. Had she directed the serpent to speak to the man, and had he in turn directed the serpent to God, there would not have been a Fall.
However in her opening sentence, she said, ‘ We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden’. Genesis 3:3
She omitted two words that God spoke to Adam - ‘every’ and ‘freely’. And she thereby showed that she did not appreciate the kindness and generosity of God. That lack of appreciation allowed Satan to suggest that God was withholding from her and the man an altogether higher life than that of Eden - ‘ye shall be as gods’.
The same assumptions allow Satan a gateway into many lives today.
She also ADDED five words that God did NOT say:
"...neither shall ye touch it...". (Genesis 3:3)
Imagine what the serpent MIGHT have said:
"Really? Don't touch it? Look here, I'm touching it!
Nothing happening, right? Come touch it yourself.
Nothing happening, right? See, God was clearly
lying to you!"
Every word of God is pure:
He is a shield unto them that
put their trust in Him.
Add thou not unto His words,
lest He reprove thee, and
thou be found a liar.
(Proverbs 30:5-6)
Incidentally, there were two trees in the
midst of the garden, not one.
(see Genesis 2:9)
Concerning your (always) thoughtful comments,
Mark, a particular verse immediately came to mind...
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,
as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9)
What a wonder! That our God is not only kind
beyond what we can grasp but, in full recognition
of His unwavering holiness, is longsuffering regarding
not only we who know Him, but the unsaved as well.
Psalm 136
Darby Translation
136 Give ye thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good; for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever:
2 Give thanks unto the God of gods, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
3 Give thanks unto the Lord of lords, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever.
4 To him who alone doeth great wonders, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever:
5 To him that by understanding made the heavens, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
7 To him that made great lights, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
8 The sun for rule over the day, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
9 The moon and stars for rule over the night, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever:
10 To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
11 And brought out Israel from among them, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
12 With a powerful hand and with a stretched-out arm, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
13 To him that divided the Red sea into parts, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
15 And overturned Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
16 To him that led his people through the wilderness, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
17 To him that smote great kings, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
18 And slew famous kings, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
19 Sihon king of the Amorites, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
20 And Og king of Bashan, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
21 And gave their land for an inheritance, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever,
22 An inheritance unto Israel his servant, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever:
23 Who hath remembered us in our low estate, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
24 And hath delivered us from our oppressors, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever:
25 Who giveth food to all flesh, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever.
26 Give ye thanks unto the God of the heavens; for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever.
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