June 3: EXPECT CHALLENGES TO EVERY PRECEPT OF GOD
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
The beginning of what? The Bible provides an account of the creation of our little world. In relation to the other worlds that He has made (Hebrews 1:2), ours is the youngest. The Sovereign was not alone in His work of creation. He credits the Son of His love, saying, For by Him all things were created . . . through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:13b,16). The creating of this world of exquisite beauty was also for the shared joy of giving happiness to created beings.
In addition to giving us an account of this world’s beginning, the Lord also began teaching doctrinal precepts, that we may learn of His character and peer into the workings of salvation. We have always had a choice: to accept or to reject the reality of a Creator God who loves us. His government is founded upon love—His love for His created beings—and our choice to honor Him reflects trust and belief in His form of government—our love for Him!
The Bible also teaches that God had no beginning, for He is eternal. Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God (Psalm 90:2b). The laws of nature demonstrate the symbiotic interaction of every part of nature. Along with the moral law, given by the God of love as the foundation of His government, He communicates His desire for His intelligent creatures to serve Him because of love. He has no pleasure in any sort of forced obedience. But when they choose to align with the great principles of righteousness, the path to deep and lasting happiness is actively pursued.
In our world, our spiritual enemy has been allowed to push his ideas onto people, beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden. The sin of man has brought ruin even upon much of nature. The usurper’s purpose is to dispute the supremacy of the Son of God, to place the wisdom and love of the Creator in doubt, and to lead people to reject God’s law. It is interesting that right at the beginning of the time of the end (Daniel 8:17), Darwin’s theory of evolution began to circulate. Many embraced it readily, celebrating this challenge to the creation account of God’s word. Evolution has been taught to preschoolers, university students, and everyone in between. Additionally, theological seminaries teach it. This theory claims that trial and error, death upon death, and survival of the fittest is the ultimate explanation for our existence. Underneath its “scientific” cover is a denial of the reality of sin. By contrast, the Bible teaches that death came after sin (Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Romans 5:12).
Beloved, if you are a follower of the Lord, you must expect challenges to every precept of God in our fallen world. Build your faith upon the truths of God’s most trustworthy word. The building of your character depends upon it! King David came into full agreement with the God that he loved. Humbly admitting his sin, he forsook it and turned to the Savior: You established the earth. Unless Your law had been my delight, I would have then perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, For by them, You have given me life. Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts. Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:90b,92,93,97-100,104-105