“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,”- 1 Peter 3:18Slice of Infinity Snippets:
The biblical vision captured in the Westminster Confession in 1646 claims: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." To most modern people, the chief end of life is to provide freedom and as much pleasure as we can get forever. Interestingly, as we look back through the history of ideas, the question, "Where is God when it hurts" was not asked before the 17th century. The inquiry has a late pedigree in our making man the center and measure of all things in our considerations.
Yet the Bible clears up any ambiguity about who we are, who God is, what is wrong with the world, and what can be done. The possibility of freely chosen love means allowing conditions that permit freely chosen rejection, evil, or alternatives. Our lack of interest in God and our self-assured confidence excludes any normal or routine reflection on life. For many of us, pain is the very platform from which the imperative questions of life are asked and answered. C.S. Lewis put it this way, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
The question of God’s presence in the midst of evil is answered in the silhouette at the heart of a different question: Where was God at the crux of human history? As the disciples’ gazed at the Cross, their expectations were dashed, their hopes shattered, and they could not see God in the midst of the turning point of history. But at the Cross, what men at first could not see was the very triumph of good over evil.
Comments: Yesterday I saw a sign on a church that put many anti-theist arguments in a category for me. I think the next time I hear some argument from an atheist, I will likely pull out this perspective to analyze the comment: Our perspective as people is to use God. However, the reverse is actually the case; God uses people.
Prayer Request: John Harrinigton (fellow Cougar-he came up with the name COUGARS) had the first of two rounds of knee surgery yesterday. The surgery went well. Pray for John's complete healing and for encouragement of his heart/mind. Pray for his wife, Shannon, as she takes on extra duties while John is rehabilitating.
Fauth Quote: shared by Pat Castle on Life-Devotions: "For love. He chose the way of the cross where mercy triumphs over justice because of love." from fictional book The Shack by William P. Young
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