It is interesting that neither Job nor his friends ever knew the real reason behind all the suffering which makes me think why would this contesting between Yahweh and Satan had ever stopped? Satan is the god of this age given that position by the Creator God. So, it would be reasonable to assume that the integrity of many godly believers is still being challenged, having nothing to do with sin in the camp! And we will never know about the reason for the suffering this side of eternity. The question is this; in light of never knowing, are we going to pursue Job’s path of trust disclosed in Job 13:15a,
Though
He slay me, yet will I trust Him?
Loving
and trusting in Yahweh with all of our being are critical to our spiritual
well-being, because it governs how we serve Yahweh, love our neighbors, and glorify
Him to avoid being at zero value in service to God. When we are left with no
rational or theological explanation for the suffering, we must trust God
through the unknowing, the pain, the suffering, and the loss even when it is unbearable and we cry out, “Why any of this!?”
Job
and his friends went to their graves never knowing that Job’s suffering was because
God was contending with Satan. So, all their arguments to explain the reason/s
for Job’s suffering are derived from a perspective of ignorance; Job and his
friends were clueless. Keep in mind Job’s spiritual resume! Why do we carry
this notion we are too godly to suffer? Job suffered all right because of his
righteousness! It comes with the territory.
EB&Z
were convinced that Job’s integrity had been compromised by sin; how else do
you explain all of these calamities in Job’s life, eh? Job defended his
integrity but had no answers to explain what happened to him and his family. He
maintained his innocence in spite of how it looked.
Job
finally took a position of trusting in the goodness and sovereignty of God, no
matter what (Job 13:15a). MacArthur made the point that “when there are no
rational or, even, theological explanations for disaster and pain, trust God”
(emphasis mine). This is very wise and godly advice to grab a hold of and own
it.
The
book of Job is considered by many to be the oldest book of the Bible provided
that Job was its author; some believe it was possibly written by Moses or
Solomon or others. Nonetheless, Job either lived before Abraham or was a
contemporary of Abraham (approximately 2100 to 1900 B.C.). In Job’s day, we are
talking about living in an era before the law was given. Moses composed
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (the Pentateuch or Torah) during
the time after the Exodus from Egypt (c. 1445 B.C.) and prior to his death (c.
1405 B.C.).
I want to interject here that holding others accountable to the Word is not a lack of
genuine love (agape) or an act of self-righteousness, but we must be
ever so careful to judge righteously (cf. Jn 7:24). Whenever we step outside of
love (agape), we have a love problem with God and others. I say that
because God views our love for Him through our obedience to His commands or
Word (cf. Jn 14:15, 21, 23). His Word is His will, yes? Disobedience to His
will breaks a practical relationship with Him (fellowship), which has
absolutely nothing to do with our positional relationship with God (salvation);
disobeying God as a believer is a family matter, not a judicial one.
Whenever there
is a break in our fellowship with Yahweh, it can often be seen in how we treat our
neighbors (see the parable of the good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37). With the
breakdown of the prime directive of loving Yahweh with the totality of our being,
seeking the highest good of our neighbor is no longer at the forefront because
of loving God less than with the whole heart.
This
is, in essence, tantamount to having left your first love (cf. Rev 2:11). One of
the consequences of having left your first love (Jesus) is found in 1 Cor 13:1-3.
We learn that apart from love (agape), our abilities and sacrifices for
God and others amount to nothing, nada, zero!
Our
love for God is seen in our obedience to Him (Jn 14:15). When our love for
Jesus tapers off, we go half-hearted or coldhearted for Jesus, including the
love for others. I am of the opinion that love (agape) for our
neighbors is not possible whenever we are not loving God wholeheartedly. How
can we help others by our example or assistance to be more like Christ if we
are not in love with Him and not acting Christlike ourselves?
Whenever
you or I make that descent from agape to human affections infected by sin, the standards
of accountability become compromised, mushy, subjective, inconsistent, and
unfair. Sadly, many believers in ignorance become convinced that human
affections, not agape, are the standard of how we love God and others
today: half-hearted with a cold-hearted twist of indifference. Even as
believers, we still have this sinful potential to act in an ungodly way even
though the Holy Spirit is living within our hearts.
(Eph
4:30) And do not grieve
the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
(Eph
4:31) Let all
bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with
all malice.
(Eph
4:32) And be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave
you.
Spiritual
regeneration is the only way we are able to love God and others in an
acceptable manner to Yahweh because the love of God has been poured out in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us at regeneration (Rom 5:5b). Our love (agape)
for others is governed by a love for God that is whole and unfettered by sin. This
is how we are to love Yahweh by seeking His glory in every avenue of our lives
in obedience to His Word. That quality of love is a benefit to those around us and others.
In
loving our neighbors, rather than asking God to help us love someone who is
unlovely, Rom 5:5b suggests that we need to be obedient by releasing the love
of God given to us by the Holy Spirit, not asking the Lord to give us love or more of it in order to love
others! Again, this outpouring of agape into our hearts took place at
regeneration by
the Holy Spirit who was given to us! Is this not part of the fruit of the Spirit
(Gal
5:22-23) – love
(agape)?
When
you read this Galatians passage, you see where love (agape) is in the
pole position or forefront of the nine characteristics of the fruit of the
Spirit.
When we walk
in the Spirit these
features are manifested (Gal 5:16). When we walk in the evil desires of the
flesh, the ungodly fruits are revealed (Gal 5:19-21); reading this dirty
laundry of fleshly appetites is quite a contrast to the fruit of the Spirit, yes! What is evident
in our lives is which man we feed and strengthen the most: the old man (the old sinful nature)
or the new man (our new nature)?
If
you read 1 Cor 13:1-3, you will understand why this selfless love (agape) is in
the starting field. It must be at the forefront of our thinking and doing in
glorifying God and seeking the highest good for others in helping them become
more like Christ in their thinking and doing. We must love God wholeheartedly
and love others as Christ loved us to avoid being at zero value in service for
God, otherwise, we are in the I am nothing mode.
To be of eternal value, love for God and others must be the motive driving all that we do for Him and our neighbors. With the absence of love (agape) as an agent of motion and good, there are no spiritual benefits realized. Therefore, all of our abilities (1 Cor 13:1-2) and sacrifices (1 Cor 13:3) are only of temporal value, deemed as nothing. I am nothing is not a statement of humility but a testament of self-love, “I am something!”
Based
on Rom 5:5, as born again believers, we are given the ability to love God with
every ounce of our being and to love others as ourselves. Human
affections, corrupted by sin, are insufficient and unacceptable in doing God’s
will for our lives, and yet we have many believers basing their worship and
service to God and others on human affections or putting others or things
before Yahweh, not agape which puts Jesus and others first and seeks the
highest good!
If
our love is less than full-throttled, full-hearted love (agape) for
Yahweh, a true and pure form of worship, service to God, and fellowship among
believers that bring glory to God can never be achieved. You may disagree, but
this is how I see it. Self-love amounts to nothing more than a half-hearted
believer soaked in human affection rather than divine love, out of alignment with
the teaching of Scripture, and honoring God with his/her lips but his/her heart
is far from Him.
You
know that we were not created to say or believe wrong things about our Creator
God; it’s called sin; Job’s buddies found that out, yes? We have general revelation
(creation); we have special revelation (the Word of God), the Holy Spirit, and
gifted teachers to help us to see and to understand who Yahweh is, what He is
about, and what is expected from us. Being born again, we have the Holy Spirit
to guide us in discerning the truth and to see the world as God sees it and
respond accordingly to glorify God in our thinking and doing according to the
Scriptures. This demands the Word of God to be an integral part of our lives: our compass and our rule of life.
If
there ever is a love problem between God and us, sin is in our camp. Yahweh
is incapable of sin so the problem always originates with us. As long as we are
out of fellowship with God because of sinning in knowledge, we are living on a horizontal plane,
thinking and doing this or that under the sun, that has the temporal value of
wood, hay, and stubble until resolved (1 Jn 1:9).
The
visitation of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar failed to glorify Yahweh because they
entered Job’s warzone-like world spiritually inadequate and unprepared. Their
treatment of Job was indicative of a love problem with Yahweh, and they ended up
saying things that were not right about God, putting their own lives in
jeopardy! Not only that, they came to
mourn and comfort Job; that was the tentative plan anyway, but they only made Job more miserable
during his pain and suffering and loss!
Their
service to God and Job was at zero value, yes? EB&Z were in the I am nothing mode because a proper
love for God and their friend Job was absent in their lives. If we follow their
pattern, we will find ourselves at zero value in service for Yahweh because we
put ourselves in that position (cf. Rom 15:4).
We are nothing and accomplishing nothing eternal as long as we are living in
the I am
nothing mode.
If what we are thinking and doing have no eternal value, we are definitely out
of the will of God, no doubt about it. This makes us prime candidates for being at zero
value in service for God! How important is love, the agape kind in avoiding this nothingness? We will
give the Apostle Paul the last word,
(1Cor
13:1) Though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have
become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
(1Cor
13:2) And
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but
have not love, I am nothing.
(1Cor
13:3) And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body
to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
(1Cor
13:13) And
now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
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