Ah! Tis good to be perfect

If we can define clearly ‘exactly who
God is’ – we’ve probably missed the boat. The
more we follow Him, the more we acknowledge His infinite
greatness, leading to inevitable surprises as we journey on
towards eternity in His Presence.

After a quick browse through the early section
of the book of Genesis one quickly grasps the idea that things
could have been quite different had it not been for a couple of
bad decisions made on the part of our earliest predecessors.
Alas, gaining access to the forbidden knowledge of good and evil
has brought with it some very harsh realities we could have
gladly done without… The tears from our pain and
suffering, physical and mental illnesses contributing to shorter
than necessary life spans. What a shame - we are here for such a
short time, and then we fade away…

What about this tree of the knowledge of
good and evil? A creation of God? Surely not! And yet in
Genesis 1:31 we read “And God saw everything that He had
made and, behold it was very good”. But how did perfection
bring forth imperfection? Why would a good God allow
‘bad’ to bud and sprout from within His creation? An
all knowing God, who allows less than flawless excellence
to exist…within those created in His image.

Still another twist, God chooses to remain
‘in touch’ with the imperfect! I know that for a
fact. He allows me to maintain regular contact - which is very
humbling in the light of what I know about myself. Some years ago
I was attending Bible College in Sydney. Late one Friday night
after witnessing to the heathen of Kings Cross (I was a
commissioned ‘Christian Commando’) I found myself in
the awkward position of being stranded an hour away from home
with only enough money for my train fare. The problem was that
the train system stopped at 2am before resuming it’s
morning service a couple of hours later. Fatigued and feeling a
little ‘put out’ as I trudged my way out towards
Bankstown I asked the Lord for a sign, even a miracle – and
it came in the form of a taxi, which stopped without me even
attempting to wave it down. Climbing aboard I immediately
commenced my witnessing ‘system’ and forty five
minutes later, within a block of my home I said “Stop here
driver”. I slipped my hand into my pocket in anticipation
of the miracle. I served the God who caused money to be
found in a fishes mouth – so this should have been fairly
straightforward. After all, I was out labouring in the fields,
ripe and ready for harvest. To my dismay – Nothing!
Nothing? I felt like Jacob (the sneaky bible character God
put up with, and even used) as I found myself running along a
narrow lane – too narrow for the pursuing taxi with
it’s irate driver. Pre-meditated? I don’t
remember… To this day, whenever I visit Sydney I keep an
eye out for that taxi driver (I have a feeling he’s doing
the same…). Maybe something I said got through to him and
we’ll meet in Heaven…

Mistakes – character flaws and downright
sin…God is aware and has somehow made provision for those
of us who are less than perfect – that we may find
forgiveness. I love Psalm 139…once you know that
‘He’ knows what you know, the fear of covering
up the flaws disappears. 70’s and 80s gospel great Andre
Crouch wrote a song which says it for me “I don’t
know why Jesus loved me – Oh but I’m glad he
did”.

Gnostic teachers sought to accommodate the
problem of the ‘existence of evil’ by completely
separating God from His creation – anything which was
‘matter’ was evil, God – the Deity, alone was
good. The two problems I see with this argument is that:

1. Jesus is God manifest in the ‘flesh’ –
   meaning He (God) would’ve become tainted by evil matter! I
   believe it is for this reason that in today’s New Age
   world, many can accept God as the Source, or Creator, or
   Originator – but can’t handle this Jesus character!
   He is an offence.
2. And of course the fact that God persists in maintaining
   relationship with imperfect humans raises issues. It has taken me
   years to begin to understand that God loves ‘people’
   not just ‘good people’.

This gnostic rationale colours certain church
thinking today – where the humanity of Christ is
down-played, and the spirit of man is elevated above the soul and
body. This is a very convenient doctrine for those who wish to
find licence to pursue certain lusts of the flesh, arguing that
“provided we keep our spirit right with God…”
we remain righteous. Within this persuasion we find gluttons,
wine bibbers and lusters of all descriptions who excuse
their lack of discipline and moderation with this argument of
convenience! I find traces of this belief popping through from
time to time in my own experience. Isn’t it wonderful to be
given opportunities by God to re-align our thoughts with His own
as we journey on. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us; If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:8-9.

So we are forced to acknowledge that
Perfection has indeed brought forth imperfection. And that
life in all of its fullness will include the principles of:
sowing and reaping, sin and forgiveness of sin, grace –
unmerited and without the possibility of repayment…and
even times where God rewards us when we do not deserve anything
whatsoever! We learn that as a father pities His children, so
the Lord pities those who fear Him.

As I sit reading Hebrews 8:7, I scratch my
head in wonderment “For if that first covenant had been
faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second”. What? How could a law designed by God be found to
be erroneous or faulty??

“The real voyage of discovery
consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new
eyes” Marcel Proust. Ah! The tip of the iceberg…
that’s our understanding of the Word of God!