God’s Perfect Order

I’ve often heard it said that God is a God of order. For example, He set the planets in perfect alignment with the rest of the solar system. In doing so, we find that Earth is positioned exactly where it has to be in relation to the Sun and Moon in order to sustain life.

So precise is God’s perfect natural order that scientists have learned that the Earth’s axis is tilted at exactly 23.4 degrees relative to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. It is because of this precise angle of tilt that we have our yearly cycle of four seasons. [1]

If the Earth’s axis were to somehow tilt even a 10th of a degree more or less either way, life as we know it would cease. Seasons would change dramatically, plant life could not adapt in time before dying, and the Sun would leave much of the Earth in darkness for months at a time. [2]

Only God has the capability to prevent such such a catastrophic event from happening. Were He not a God of perfect natural order, our very survival would be jeopardized.

So it is with God in the spiritual realm. God is a God of perfect spiritual order. He is the Creator, we are the created. He is high and lifted up, and his thoughts and ways are higher than ours.

Just as the Earth cannot survive without God maintaining it on its perfect axis of 23.4 degrees, neither can we live the life that the Lord intends for us to have when our relationship with Him is out of order spiritually.

We need look no further than our own daily walk with Him to see this in action. We know that there is only One who’s judgments are true and righteous, yet how many of us are guilty of judging others based upon the outward appearance? When we see someone for example who is of a different color skin than we are, does prejudice or bias kick in immediately? Are we instantly suspicious of them?

Or what about the person we see on the street that is obviously homeless? Do we look the other way when they look at us? Do we find their smell repulsive? Do we think to ourselves that they should get a job like the rest of us and stop being a bum?

Let’s be completely honest here. There are very, very few of us that can truthfully say that we never think such thoughts about others. As holy and pious as we want to believe we are, the fact is we are still 100% human, with our sin nature still intact. Fight it though we may, it is still very much alive in all of us.

If we are not careful, we can find ourselves living our lives in a manner we were never equipped to do. What I mean by that is we will find that we have positioned ourselves as judge, jury, and executioner over those we deem as “not like us”.

This is an attitude that affects the church as much if not more than the rest of society. We take it upon ourselves to determine who is ‘worthy’ of our love. We decide who gets ministered to based upon our own very flawed criteria.

When these things happen it is because things are out of God’s perfect spiritual order. It is when we override our conscious and walk contrary to God Word that we set ourselves up in positions we were never created to assume.

The late Rev. Billy Graham was often quoted as saying that “It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to love”. [3]

Think about that for a moment. Our job is to love. That doesn’t mean that we have to agree with everything someone says, especially if we know it violates God’s Word. It also doesn’t mean that we are required to condone the immoral lifestyle that a person chooses to live.

What it does mean is that we are not God. We lack the capacity to see past the veil of this flesh in order to know the heart. It means that as a flawed child of God, I am not qualified to act as judge.

Our job is to love, which is why Jesus said that the two greatest commandments centered around Love.

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.   Luke 10:25-28

When God’s perfect spiritual order is established in the church, the end result is a community built upon Love.

Now that’s a community I want to belong to!

Be blessed,

Ron

[1] https://www.solarsystemscope.com/spacepedia/earth/orbital-and-rotational-characteristics-of-earth

[2] https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/q278.html

[3] https://relevantmagazine.com/god/14-billy-graham-quotes-helped-shape-american-christianity-update-new