We are the informed, enlightened

So here we stand. We call ourselves “modern”. We are educated, informed, enlightened and have no need for ancient beliefs or religions. We are the “masters of our own destiny” and don’t need anything else. But, what do we really have, seriously. Solomon is considered to be the wisest, wealthiest man ever to walk this planet. He literally had everything. As he writes, this thought pierces through:

I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. (Ecclesiastes 1:16-18 ESV)

Today’s generation thinks itself wise and “all-knowing”. Now, for sure, some will argue they “don’t know everything”, yet their attitude and actions speak otherwise. Looking back at the encounter with Adam (yes, he was right there), Eve and the serpent we find these words:

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:4-6 ESV)

It in our nature to become wise, specifically, wise to the point where we believe we know all that we need to know. The problem is we cannot ever know the mind of God and what we do know, He has revealed to us. Granted, He has given us minds to think, to reason, to understand. However, He has always established Himself as the foundation of these abilities. So what does God think about our perceived learnedness? Paul opens his letter to the Romans like this:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:18-21 ESV)

Paul talks about man’s effort to become “all-knowing” and as a result, unable to even see the truth. Peter carries this thought one step further;

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:15-18 ESV)

God says it this way;

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’; (Isaiah 44:24-26 ESV)

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. (Job 38:4 ESV)

              Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:12-14 ESV)

There is so much more, where God demonstrates His authority and wisdom. I think about Noah, the tower of Babel, Moses, Nebuchadnezzar and the list can go on and on. Suffice it to say that God is God, sovereign Lord of all. All-knowing, all-powerful and ever present is He. We will discuss the bad things that happen to people at a later installment (I know some are already there). We need to understand that the old bumper sticker “God said it, I believe it, that settles it” doesn’t really apply. God said it and that is the end of the story. My belief at this point is irrelevant. However, my belief does come into play when I set aside what I think I know and trust God. Josh McDowell spent a large amount of time trying to disprove Jesus’ claims:

“Then my new friends issued a challenge I couldn’t believe. They challenged me to make a rigorous, intellectual examination of the claims of Jesus Christ—that he is God’s Son; that he inhabited a human body and lived among real men and women; that he died on the cross for the sins of humanity; that he was buried and was resurrected three days later; and that he is still alive and can change a person’s life even today.” Excerpt from: Josh D. McDowell & Sean McDowell. “More Than a Carpenter.”

This led him down a road to a real encounter with a holy God, His Son and the revelation of His Holy Spirit. We would be wise to consider the same. If we don’t believe in God or His Word, we should prove it, or Him, wrong, first.

Another problem with this idea that we are so intelligent that we don’t need God is that we find more and more that we really do need Him. We search for understanding why things happen the way they do. We stress over the things that we can’t control. We point a finger at the very God we don’t want to include in our plans when they blow up in our face. At the end of everything Solomon experienced, this is how he concluded:

Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 ESV)

Paul reminds Timothy (and us who would read this letter later) that we are to study to show ourselves approved, that we would not be ashamed. But our approval would come from God not ourselves. So let’s stop “patting ourselves on the back” and begin to search God’s truths and wisdom. Peace in all circumstances will follow as we lean on Him.

Solomon was pretty clear that we are to “fear God and keep His commandments” as our sole responsibility.

In His Name,

Scott