He Will Provide

In the second chapter of Genesis, immediately after God declares that "'It is not good that the man should be alone'" (v.18, ESV) and says that He "'will make a helper fit for him'" (v. 18, ESV), He first parades every single animal in the world before Adam, in what seems almost like an attempt to find this particular helper.

Now I understand that this event does provide the necessary opportunity for Adam to name all of the animals, which served as a demonstration of Adam's dominion over all of them (Genesis 1:28). However, the text seems to go beyond simply chalking this event up as some sort of grand naming ritual in which Adam establishes and exercises his authority over the rest of the creation. In fact, there is an implication that there was some intent, or expectation, to find a helper fit for him. I'm referring specifically to Genesis 2:20b:

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. (ESV)

No helper fit for Adam was found. None. They searched, they checked and tried ever possibility, and not one good match was found. Hm...

Now it goes without saying that God, of course, knew from the start that there would not be found a helper fit for Adam among all the animals. After all, before the 'naming parade' even kicked off, He flat out said that He would "make a helper fit for him." So God already knew that He was going to end up creating one more being to inhabit His creation. So why the almost-surprised-sounding statement, "But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him"?

In pondering this, one thought struck me: that God was working to instill something into Adam - an idea, an understanding: the understanding that God, and God alone, has the ability to know and provide what perfectly suits and satisfies Adam's (and, consequently, our) needs.

As I said, God obviously knew from the start that Adam would not be truly satisfied with any one of the animals He'd created. So, after looking over every possibility, Adam may have come to wonder whether anything at all would satisfy and suit him. Now hear me out, I'm not saying that Adam must have been anxious, panicked, frantically and hopelessly worried about being alone forever... but he likely thought, "Well, we've tried everything, and nothing's worked, nothing fits."

Then, suddenly, it seems, on His first attempt, God creates a woman, perfectly attractive and desirable and satisfying to Adam - the moment Adam sees her, you can just hear his tone: "THAT'S it! Yup! I'll take her!"

It seems, to me, that God wanted to send a message: that when things appear hopeless, as though everything has been tried and nothing has worked, God's limitless powers can do what to us may seem impossible. He knew precisely what Adam wanted and needed, and He was able to make her on His first try, with Adam unconscious, no less.

By perfectly making the perfectly desirable and suitable partner for Adam on His first and only effort, without any help or input from Adam, God sent a message: "I know exactly what you need, and I will provide."

Sadly, when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they sent a message of their own back to God: "We neither want nor need your provision. We'd rather take care of ourselves." We have all echoed this message with our own lives.

God knows exactly what we want and what we need.

Sadly, in this fallen world, the two very rarely line up - what we want is almost always harmful and destructive; and what we desperately need (God!) is often the last thing on our minds. We live in this fallen world because Adam and Eve failed to embrace, and trust, that God knew what they needed and would provide it.

Through Jesus Christ and His gospel, God has sent us the same message as He did to Adam and Eve: "I know exactly what you need, and I will provide."

Having heard this good news, let us not respond the same way that Adam and Eve did.

Praise God that, despite our blindness and ignorance (just like Adam was blind and ignorant to the fact that it was "not good for him to be alone," we are blind and ignorant to the fact that we need God), He has perfectly delivered precisely what we need - Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

My prayer is that we all would realize our deep need for Jesus Christ at every moment of every day. May we live, joyfully, in full awareness of this.

Your brother in Christ,
Alan

The Importance of Being Rooted

In my daily reading the other day, I went through Psalm 1. This Psalm is a relatively familiar one, but I continue to be struck by the portrait, or model, given to us in vv. 1-4, of a "blessed" man, and the contrasting "wicked."

¹ Blessed is the man

    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree

    planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

    and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

⁴ The wicked are not so,

    but are like chaff that the wind drives away. (Psalm 1:1-4, ESV)

So here we've been told that the blessed man:

• does NOT
  
  • walk in the counsel of the wicked
    
  • stand in the way of sinners
    
  • sit in the seat of scoffers
• DOES
  
  • delight in the law of God
    
  • meditate on his law day and night

It's valuable, when reading this, to understand a couple of things...

First, that "the law of God," a term used frequently throughout the psalms, refers not simply to the Ten Commandments, which is what people today commonly think of whenever they read or hear the term. Actually, within the context of the Old Testament, "the law of God" referred to all of the written words of God that were maintained and considered to be Holy Scripture at that time. So to the author, "the law of God" would be the equivalent of the modern Christian Bible.

Second, that wisdom literature commonly delivers information in "black and white" terms (e.g., Jesus talks of the wide path that leads to destruction, and the narrow path that leads to life - there is no third, medium path - you're on either one path or the other) – there is no gray area here.

In this instance, the message being delivered is that we are either delighting in and meditating on the Word of God, or we will stumble into "the counsel of the wicked… the way of sinners… the seat of scoffers" (v. 1).

The psalmist goes on to compare the man who is blessed to "a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither" (v. 3). Clearly, if we are the tree in this analogy, then the Word of God serves as our "streams of water." This picture is frequently given throughout the Bible – God is the source of life, often symbolized by water, an absolute necessity for life.

This is crucial for us, not only to observe, but to respond to: if, as Christians, we are not planted firmly and rooted deeply in the Word of God, we will dry up, shrivel up, bear no fruit, and be effective in nothing. An apple tree planted in the middle of the desert will not survive, will offer nothing valuable to anyone, and will be good for nothing (except for burning; see Matt. 3:10).

The psalmist says it like this: "In all that [the blessed man] does, he prospers" (v. 3), while others "are not so… but are like chaff that the wind drives away" (v. 4).

As Christians, we must constantly ask ourselves: "What is my source of life?" Ignore the immediate response that pops into your head – yes, we mentally know the correct answer; but stop and take time to examine your life, your moment-by-moment thoughts, your attitudes throughout the day, the consistency and passion in your prayer life.

Now ask yourself again: "What is my source of life?"

Sink your roots down deep into God by reading the Bible, memorizing passages, reciting them, and thinking on and over and through them often. This is perhaps the most straightforward means by which we can be transformed by the renewal of our minds (Rom. 12:2). 

I pray that your heart, mind and soul, as well as mine, would delight in the Word of God. I pray that He would make us to be firmly planted in Him, drinking deeply from His waters of eternal life, so that you might yield fruit in season, never wither, and glorify God in all that you do. 


With love in Christ,
Alan

A Brief Introduction

With this, my first post, and my first step into very new territory, I aim to simply give a brief introduction, more to my intentions with this blog than to myself personally.

I do not intend, in this post, to go into great detail about my beliefs - those you'll learn about as you (or should I say, if you) come back and keep reading. What follows here is one essential.

My prayer for this blog is that it will provide a medium through which I can share my thoughts, feelings, convictions, and understandings of Scripture with anyone who stumbles across it and desires to read them. Additionally, I do sincerely hope that people will feel open to pose any questions, ask for clarification of anything I say, present any opposing beliefs they may have (respectfully, I should hope), or simply speak their own mind.

I do all of this with one primary, ultimate driving force - I pray that in all of my efforts my heart and mind would be humbly unified toward the goal of glorifying God.

If I am certain of anything at all, it is that glorifying God is the central and foundational driving force of the Christian life. It is, in fact, the purpose of the entire creation; but what sets Christians apart is that we have been awakened to this - our one true purpose, the end for which we were created - and we have tasted the overwhelming joy found only in Him.

While I'm still a very young Christian, and my "vision" of any specific calling God may have on my life is still somewhat vague, I have no doubt that there is one inescapable and irrefutable calling for all Christians - to forsake all hope in worldly pleasures and promises; to trust in God's promise, that He is the infinitely desirable and infinitely satisfying Treasure of the universe, the One for whom we were created; and to serve Him, not begrudgingly, but joyfully.

God alone can satisfy our hearts, minds and souls, which are filled with endless cravings... and He wants to!

It is one thing to grasp a mental understanding of a fact as tremendous as that. It is something else entirely, an unforgettable and irreplaceable experience, to be struck with a sudden ability to truly feel that fact.


One other thing which I wish to emphasize here is that I pray that I will never stray - in all of life as well as in my efforts here -  from following Peter’s instruction to do all things “by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:11, ESV).

If I should ever learn or understand any truth, communicate and express anything understandably, or simply do anything that is in any way beneficial to anyone, through this or any means, then "it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me" (1 Cor. 15:10, ESV).

"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36, ESV).


With love in Christ,

Alan