Glimpses of the Holy Spirit's work 1

I have a friend who has recently started attending New Covenant. She has more enthusiasm and energy than many people I know. She is also full of great questions about the Bible. Her enthusiastic desire to know and understand more about her faith is so refreshing because it is evidence that the Holy Spirit is working inside of her. It is a glimpse of His power at work in her heart, so I rejoice!

She recently handed me a list of questions. I am working through them and wanted to share what I believe the Lord has laid on my heart in response.  Please feel free to add thoughts or questions to the discussion.

Question #1: "Obviously there is evil in the world. Why does God bring evil into this world for his greater purpose? Or perhaps is the evil and bad in this world a test from God to see if we will trust him without knowing the “reason why” for everything?
 
I am not comfortable saying that God brings evil into the world. In my view God allowed for the possibility of evil the moment that He created beings who were free to make choices for themselves. This opened up the door for evil. We see this in Genesis 1-3. God created Adam and Eve and everything else and it was “good”. But in Genesis 3 Adam and Eve fell, and it was at that point that all evil entered the world. I would also say that Satan was the agent through whom evil first entered the world.

Does God allow evil? Yes, to accomplish His larger purposes. Does He cause it? No, in the sense that He is not the one perpetrating it. We see this with Job. God allowed Satan to bring evil onto Job. But it wasn’t God who directly brought the evil into Job’s life. Why does God allow evil? I’m not sure we can answer that question entirely. Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things (even evil things) together for the good of those who love Him. So God uses evil for good purposes. Ultimately I believe the reason that God allows evil is to bring Himself glory through it.

Question #2: Where did Satan come from?

Satan is a powerful angel who held a privileged position before God. (Isa 14:12, Ezekiel 28:12-15) At one time he was called Lucifer, and he walked in the very presence of God. But he sinned, and was cast down from his position. (Ezekiel 28:15-16, Revelation 12:7-9). Isaiah 14:13-14 describes his sin as saying in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.” (emphasis added) Satan is identified in Revelation 12:9 as “the ancient serpent who leads the whole world astray.” Satan was the serpent in the Garden of Eden who tempted Adam and Eve to sin. He will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:10) Other references to Satan/demons (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12, Luke 4:1-13,Romans 16:20, Ephesians 6:10-18,

Glimpses of the Father in Vaccination

Annabelle Marie just turned two months old last Friday. As you can see, she is adorable! But what you can't see is that her daddy thinks that she is the most adorable little girl in the history of little girls. I am absolutely enthralled with my daughter. When she smiles it melts my heart. When she coos and talks to me it is the greatest thing in the world. When she cries I want to do whatever I can to make it all better for her.

But she is two months old which means that today she is going in to get her vaccinations. I remember her crying when they gave her a shot on her first day of life. I know that today will be no different. She will be hurt. She will not understand. She will cry, and Rebecca will rock her and hold her and assure her that we love her. But we will do this, we will purposely allow the doctor and nurses to inflict pain on our precious little girl, because we believe that it is what is best for her overall health and well-being. At the heart of this, we will do it because we love Annabelle, and yet she won't be able to see it that way for quite a long time.

I'm reminded that in many ways I am like my little girl in relationship to my Heavenly Father. Like me with Annabelle, He has the overall larger picture in view. In fact He knows everything, while I in the larger scheme of things know very very little. He knows what is best for me, while most often I am like Annabelle, able to only perceive my own pain or pleasure. He, like me, is willing to see His child go through painful experiences because He knows that it will result in great good in my life.

Scripture is filled with this imagery. One of the clearest explanations is Romans 5:2b-5.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (NIV)

Paul tells us that suffering can be much like our vaccination of Annabelle; it can result in our greater good if we allow it to draw us closer to God rather than to push us away from Him. My prayer for myself is that I will see the hard and painful things of life in this way. May they draw me closer to my Heavenly Father who loves me even more than I love and adore my baby girl. May I refuse to turn bitter towards Him, and stop trusting His goodness and love no matter what my circumstances may be.