I was subjected to another one of those sermons focused on a fantasy perspective of Christian victory. The implications were, if we would just believe enough, we could essentially control the powers of heaven for our benefit. I wondered if the preacher knew how much he sounded like the movie, Star Wars,. You know the scenario. There is this powerful force out there which is waiting for humans to activate it for good or evil. This particular messenger was calling that force, “faith.” It seems that even God is subject to this power. When we learn to harness it we can control the weather, the stock market, the health of the multitudes, and the destinies of countries.
Of course there are great privileges available to those who are in Christ. Yes, there are more than we yet know. Yes, we are designed to be God’s agents of rule on the earth—under his sovereignty. However, we must never forget that God’s design is for us to live in a dependent fellowship with him. He will not grant us an authority that makes independence easier than dependence. He likes the relationship. He enjoys showing his glory by doing for us and in us what we can’t do for ourselves. He has designed everything for intimacy with us. It is out of this intimacy that we exercise the authority to make disciples of Jesus and subdue the earth.
What hinders this kind of intimacy? Why do so many of us still hold God at arm’s length? Maybe we can find the answer in a vital text found in Genesis chapter 4. It is the story of Cain and Abel. The two sons of Adam and Eve have brought an offering to God. God accepts Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. Cain is downcast. God speaks to him and tells him that sin is crouching at the door like a tiger waiting to pounce. He must aggressively confront and conquer the crouching tiger, or it will capture him and rule over him. He doesn’t take the admonition and later murders Abel in the field. God says that Cain will be hindered in tilling the ground for fruit, and that he will wander over the land even living in the land of Nod (which means “wandering”).
This is the story of the human race. We have all been offended by God at some point in our journey. There is a shocking scene in the movie Open Range. The characters, played by Robert Duval and Kevin Costner, are cattlemen who still use the open range, but they are confronted by another cattleman who denies them that legal right. The story is about the conflict. At one point the “bad” cattleman sends his men to Duval’s camp, and they kill a young boy who Duval was mentoring, severely wound another boy, and kill their dog. At their hastily dug grave, Costner asks Duval if they shouldn’t pray or say some words over the grave. Duval responds, “You want to speak with the man upstairs, go on and do it. I'll stand right here and listen, hat in hand, but I ain't talking to that [expletive deleted].”
For those of us brought up with fear of God, there is recoil from such blatant anger and disrespect for God. I would never have been so bold (or reckless to me) to say such a thing about God . . . but I have felt it. Many testify of this common human dilemma. One tells of a marriage gone bad. He had done everything as right as he could, but she betrayed him anyway. Another tells of rearing her children with all the right parenting rules, only to have them go astray when they went off to college. Another tells of praying and fasting for the healing of a friend, believing with all her might, confessing all the faith-building Scriptures, only to watch her die. Another tells of giving his life in ministry, sacrificing for the benefit of those he served, only to be fired, dishonored by his church, and rejected by the body of Christ.
John the Baptist had to face this crisis. He was a unique great man. He represented the old economy and introduced the new one. He did things right. He stood on the truth of God’s word and wouldn’t be bought by Herod. He was thrown in prison. He was expecting Jesus to usher in such a revolution that God’s enemies would be defeated and God’s people (including him) would be vindicated. The crouching tiger was whispering to John that he had served in vain. John sent some messengers to Jesus to ask if he was the Messiah or should they wait for another. Jesus responded by pointing out the evidence that he was the One. The sick were healed, the lame were walking, and the gospel was preached to the poor. Then he exhorted the disciples of John, “Tell John, ‘Blessed is he who is not offended in me.’” What was the message? Jesus was saying that he was the Messiah but John would not get out of prison. He died there.
Is there victory in that?
God in his true nature is offensive to the descendents of Adam. Cain was offended because God acted on his own without consulting him. Much speculation has swirled around this story, as students have argued about why Cain’s offering was rejected and Abel’s accepted. Some speculate that it was because one was grain and the other required shedding of blood. Others say it was because the text mentions Abel’s as being his first fruits. Actually the text doesn’t tell us why God made his decision, just that he did. The New Testament reference simply says that Abel’s was by faith. God has his reasons and they are just, but he doesn’t always explain himself to us. His seeming arbitrariness is offensive. The implication from the text is that Cain’s offering has not produced sin, but that Cain’s response to the offense could be yielding to sin which would control him.
Since Cain was a child of Adam and Eve, he had that seed of independence they passed down. Remember! They yielded to the temptation to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They wanted to know like God knows and to know all that God knows. It should not surprise us that Cain was upset that God would favor his brother and not him without full explanation. All the children of Adam have been infected with “a need to know.” We just don’t like being in the inferior, dependent position. We are not content to walk with God. We want to be god. There are consequences. The crouching tiger really does pounce. Since we can’t take a swing at God, we usually just attack those he favors. Cain rose up and slew Abel. What had Abel done? He was just the recipient of favor. The children of Cain can’t rejoice in the blessings of others. They must be either eliminated or disqualified. We are familiar with the feeling. When others mention how great someone is, we find it necessary to add some negative tidbits to the resume.
Like Cain, we wander through life without a confident purpose and fight to make our work productive. With a God-offense weighing heavy on our shoulders, we can’t seem to make sense out of life. No place seems completely right, and nothing we do brings the satisfaction we had hoped. We shake our heads at the atheists who shake their fists in God’s face, but we suffer from the same malady. Like children who have been abused, we refuse to get close to Father. He must be responsible. He is God. If he would allow that kind of tragedy without explanation, how could we ever trust him? So we devise a system of religion that allows for some respect and some obedience, but not intimacy. Actually, we get offended by those naive souls who speak so freely of loving God and being loved by him. For many, God is kept on probation. If he will act better in the future, maybe we can learn to trust.
Some have tried to address this issue by developing a theological stance that denies God’s foreknowledge. They reason that if God foreknows, he is responsible for the terrible events in life. They conclude that he doesn’t foreknow what hasn’t yet happened but that he predicts well. This allows them to still believe in prophetic fulfillment. I must say that this approach though popular is not very palatable. In an effort to combat a caricature of reformed theology, they have redefined sovereignty in an unbiblical manner. Their “Openness” leaves the heart of the believer with some answers, but not much security.
The story doesn’t end with Cain. After Abel’s death, God began another blood line with Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve. This pointed to God’s ultimate solution to mankind’s dilemma—God would have another Son who would face the crouching tiger and defeat it. Jesus came as a full human, representing all of us. He submitted to God the Father without full explanation and made a way for us to escape the curse not just of Cain, but of Adam. Remember the event that took place just before the crucifixion. Jesus went to the garden with some of his closest disciples to pray. He was facing an unthinkable ordeal. He was approaching the cross. It would mean separation from God the Father. He would take the wrath of God on himself and suffer the pains of hell. He prayed, “Father if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me.” In other words, “Is there another way? Could you solve this without my having to do this?” I’m sure the crouching tiger of sin was whispering to Jesus about the unfairness of this request from the Father. Jesus had done nothing to warrant this kind of treatment. I’m sure he had some suggestions for Jesus that would seem more viable.
Have you thought about the answer Jesus received from the Father?
Silence!
Not even a response. It is the most offensive response we can receive. Does it mean that we are not worth answering? At least a “no” would acknowledge our dignity. Silence! It sure gives the tiger some time to talk. Speculation, rationalization, imagination!
Good news! The tiger of sin was defeated with this choice: “Not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus, standing in the place of all the children of Cain, defeated sin. He is our Savior. He represents us.
More good news! He lives in us. Though I don’t have the faith to trust God in the direst times, he does. He will work in me to believe beyond my ability. He loves beyond my capacity. He lives in me. We can have the same intimacy with the Father that Jesus demonstrated on earth. He is not cruel when he commands us to do that which mere children of Cain can’t do. He has started a new race, and we are in it. He is the first born from the dead. When he spoke to Lazarus who had been dead for four days, he was commanding a dead man to live. Lazarus surely had an excuse for not obeying Jesus. But when Jesus commands, he empowers. We can now obey because he is obedient and we are one with him.
This is not the kind of God you want to keep at arm’s length. He is for us. He desires to reveal his deepest love to us. It is our privilege to move beyond being children of Adam and Cain and embrace being children of Christ.
SYNERGY - Better Together: October 01, 2010 click for more > Five Pillars of New Testament Discipleship: : October 15, 2010 click for more > Family Reunion Retreat: December 03, 2010 click for more >
