Our Point of View vs. God's Point of View
By Buddy Hanson The Covenant News ~ October 16, 2010
From a strictly logical point of view it is not very difficult for a
person to conclude that it isn't such a bad idea to profess a belief
in God. After all, who wouldn't rather spend eternity in heaven than
in hell? Such a half-way serious person would probably also stop
participating in some "bad" behaviors, and begin some "good"
behaviors. But, as we all know, we can't con the triune God of
Scripture, and even if we could what kind of God would that be? As
Scripture makes clear being a Christian means doing our best to
completely transform our former non-Christian lifestyle, not merely
make a cosmetic moralistic makeover.
One way to describe the process of living as a Christian is that it is
a transition from living according to our point of view, to living
according to God's point of view. As imperfect individuals, this means
that instead of viewing the world and our responsibilities through
God's clear eyes, we occasionally find ourselves behaving with a
muddled view of life by rationalizing that it's OK to compromise in
certain situations and do things our way, instead of God's way. What
we're really attempting in these situations is to erase the line of
God's sovereignty, or to at least move it farther from us so we can
attempt to take control over certain circumstances. However, to
attempt to live like this is to put ourselves in great peril, because
while our ethical line may be in some ever-shifting sand, God's
ethical line is in never-shifting concrete.
God doesn't tolerate this self-centered attitude, and we can praise
Him for that. After all, how comforting would it be to know that God
"missed it" on how we should behave in a particular area of life?
Indeed, if a person considers that he is smarter than the god he
worships, shouldn't he be worshiping himself? Of course, this is what
non-Christians do, but we're Christians, so what's our excuse?
Since I'm an optimist, and since I know that we're all "works in
progress," I would like to think that our occasional efforts to erase
the line of God's sovereignty, or to at least move it a little farther
from us, is in no way meant to disrespect God, but rather represents
an aspect of our lifestyle in which we have not yet fully understood
how we should be serving Him. When Paul says he regrets that he does
not always "do the good" that he sets out to do but rather "the evil
that he doesn't want to do," (Rom. 7.19) he is describing the
sentiments of all of us. Who isn't frustrated at our inability to
consistently "put off" former unholy behaviors, and to "put on" new
holy behaviors? (Eph. 4; Col.3)
The daily process of sanctifying our lifestyle is quite different from
attempting to move God's line of sovereignty. We, like the apostle
Paul, know all too well those occasions when we don't behave as we
should, and we repent and give our best efforts at doing better the
next time. But in those particular situations and circumstances where
we attempt to take sovereign control over some circumstance, we should
realize that we are disrespecting, and insulting God. May we all
repent and become more consistent others-serving members of God's
family and Christ's Kingdom by recognizing that since His Word is
truth, submitting to it and living according to His "point of view" is
the best way to live!
Unless and until we we get serious about our faith and cast off
meaningless and irrelevant religious jargon, replacing it with the
true and relevant content of God's Word, we should not expect for our
triune God to act favorably toward us. Our motto must be: "To the law
and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it
is because there is no light in them!" (Isa. 8.20)