In all of the messiness and craziness of life, we struggle to ‘make sense of it all’. Despite our best efforts, that ole lingering question, “Why?!”, lingers still as we are hard-pressed to comprehend the twists and turns, the jerks, sudden stops and takeoffs of this life.
In my own stumbling and ponderings on this topic, I consistently return to my belief, which on the surface, seems not to be evident, namely, that all life is orderly or better yet, ‘highly ordered’. It is as clear that this is not evident as it is apparent that, from our perspective, there is no orderly pattern to the universe. The problem with that view is one of ‘perspective’. With the proper perspective, we could clearly perceive the pattern, the order, the ‘method to the apparent madness’, so to speak.
There is indeed a method to the madness of life on planet Earth! We live within a highly ordered complex of existence governed by a God of Good, who Himself, is as extremely purposeful (strategic) as He is good and graceful. He is Sovereign over all. Moreover, He has given us important clues to His systematic creation, structure, organization, and operation of the complexities in which we exist. However, to understand His clues requires a major ‘perspective shift’ on our behalf, putting on what He refers to as ‘the Mind of Messiah’ (Christ).
One of my favorite meditative imaginations is purposefully shifting my perspective on problems that confront me - from looking at them within my heavily laden, tired, aging earth suit (my bod’), to looking at them across the right shoulder of Jesus, enthroned as God in Heaven. (Hebrews 1:8). From this angle, I have a totally different insight and understanding of the problems in the BIGGEST view possible!
Now imagine the insights and understandings that would emerge from a similar perspective shift about life on Earth. Well, this is not only possible, but also critical to surviving, even thriving in all the mess down here! In fact, God expects it of us. When we make this shift, here is what we will clearly see.
God, by His Spirit, through the administration of holy angels, is ‘in the Earth’. What’s He doing; what’s His game plan, you ask? He is ‘exercising loving-kindness (i.e., Grace and Mercy), judgment (justice), and righteousness’ (what He calls right). (Note this specific order outlined in Jeremiah 9:24) Carefully fine-tuning your dial on these God-frequencies will reveal this is how He elects to exercise His Sovereignty on Earth. Thus, from the God-perspective, literally everything (bar nothing) in the earth must fit in one or more of these three exceptionally broad categories. Mind you, this is NOT an invitation for you and me to go around trying to label and neatly fit all happenings in to one of these three categories. We can’t. It is, rather, a clarion call to recognize God’s self-declared modus operandi. With this key, we can begin to unlock our storehouses of TRUST and FAITH that there is indeed an apparent method to the madness and messiness of life.
Another important key, noted often in this blog, is God’s preference to apply the ‘seed-time-harvest’ principle to every facet of life, apparently including to exercising His above-noted modus operandi. This reveals Earth realm is a gigantic planting and testing field (as noted in many other posts), uniquely designed to reveal and bear fruit from DNA-bearing seed - physical and spiritual. The principle categories of seed governing life on Earth are God's Words, and our thoughts, words, and intention/motivation-laden actions. Our personal ‘seed factory’ is our heart - our spirit. The energy that operates our factory is .….our motives.
Integrating these two pivotal keys suggests the following about what God is doing in the earth:
1. Loving-kindness/Grace-Mercy: This is God’s FIRST ORDER of business with us humans. We have a general understanding of Grace and Mercy. Sovereign Grace allows all seed (good, bad and ugly) to be planted, bear its public fruit, and be harvested toward achieving its purpose. Grace allows you, personally, to sin and to reap the harvest of your sin seeds, as much as it allows you plant good seeds (thoughts, words, actions) and to reap the harvest thereof. God is not mocked. What ever a man sows/plants, that he shall reap/harvest. (Galatians 6:7) That is unless His Mercy intervenes. Mercy enables us to reap un-deserved blessings, even when we have sinned. We typically do not think of Grace and Mercy as allowing wickedness and evil to 'get by', but this is the other side of the two-sided coin called ‘allowing time to repent’. As parents, we are taught bad behavior of our children should be corrected quickly -- nipped in the bud, so as to not encourage or prolong it. God’s ways are apparently not our ways in this regard!
The Grace/Mercy element of God’s tripartite modus operandi is likely the longest, time-wise. For example, consider how patient He was before finally judging the sinful ways of the Amorites/Canaanites. A clue in Genesis 15:16 suggests it was much longer than 400 years (i.e., time of Amorites’ sinful ways before this conversation between God and Abraham + the ensuing 430 years before Israel was sent as God’s instrument of judgment). Why so long?? God gave Abraham a clear reason in second part of this verse! (check it out)
During the time of Grace and Mercy, God reveals He is testing mankind and allowing us to receive the fruits of our doings. (Jeremiah 17:10 and many other similar verses)
NB: It is instructive to study The Bible to perceive the nature and long/short-term objectives of God’s tests! It is also instructive to study to understand what Grace/Mercy extended to evildoers means for those who are righteous in God’s sight, and who tolerate and bear the presence and effects of wickedness as God extends Grace/Mercy. This is likely a part of what Paul refers to as 'persecution' in 2 Timothy 3:12.
2. Judgment/Justice: This is God’s SECOND ORDER of business with us humans. As the Ultimate Judge Potentate of all, once His period of Grace (whether to a person, family, tribe, community, society or nation) has elapsed without their repentance, He passes judgment. In doing so, He removes His protective hand, and allows destroying angels (holy and evil, alike) to have access to the offender(s). Their modus operandi, which He ordains, is summarized in Ezekiel 9 and Ezekiel 14:12-23, and is demonstrated throughout the Old Testament and The Book of Revelation. A perceptive, strategic study (by you who are wise) of these sections, and of the news in our world today will reveal this modus operandi has essentially remained unchanged! To the wise, CAVEAT!
We have a general understanding of justice and its judgments. As Sovereign, God has appointed Jesus to be the final arbiter or judge of all things in Heaven and across the universe. He is exercising many judgments daily -- we read about them in the daily news and often wonder what took so long; and He reserves His ultimate judgment following the last day on Earth as we know it – the Great White Throne Judgment outlined in Revelation 20:11. Fear not, He has a brand new Earth planned for every human who will have ever been created.
The Judgment element of God’s tripartite modus operandi is likely the shortest, time-wise. This is highly indicative of His overwhelming Grace.
3. Righteousness: This is God’s THIRD ORDER of business with us humans. Understanding righteousness is admittedly quite a challenge for us humans so hell bent on sinfulness. Righteousness may well be the scale on which God weighs and judges our motives -- the spiritual energy that produces the seed we plant, and from which we reap life’s harvests, i.e., ‘the issues of life’. (Proverbs 4:23) During relatively short, intense periods of justice and judgment, God sets the stage for righteousness to flourish. How?
Justice’s judgments often brunt or end the sinful careers or even the lives of those directly implicated. It also produces a rudely awakened remnant -- less innocent bystanders and onlookers who witness, up-close and personally, the judgments meted out on the worst offenders. Such experiences trigger this remnant to reflect deeply, and remember for quite a long time (hopefully the rest of their lives!) the wages of sinful ways. Thus, they are led/prompted to straighten up and fly right (righteousness), as we might say. They, in turn, become the foci of God’s subsequent testing of mankind, to see how they will do in light of their experiences, to know how they may teach their offspring, be better examples to on-lookers, and to ensure they receive the fruits of their doings, whether good or evil. Unfortunately, history and human nature reveal succeeding generations fail to learn key lessons from predecessor or even their current generations! Thus, the cycle of God’s modus operandi continues, and will conclude as is eloquently outlines in the final two chapters of The Book of Revelation.
In sum:
#1 Grace, sometimes with Mercy, is always protracted, with a generous supply of warnings
#2 Judgment always follows Grace, and ensures Justice, alas
#3 As intended, Judgment always intends to produce a Righteousness remnant who demonstrates varying levels and durations of right-living. As this remnant is watched and tested, the cycle repeats itself.
The quintessential purposes of The Bible are to reveal to mankind Who God is; what He's up to and what He considers as right-ness; and how we can both achieve and operate in these insights, all to our long-term (eternal) benefit. Since all that God does is righteous, ponder this: It must be righteous for God to extend Grace/Mercy and postpone judgment to allow long periods of time for repentance, and ergo allow evil and wickedness to persist and fester. I’d bet this may not fit your typical definition/understanding of righteous Grace. From God’s perspective, it is right to allow the Earth realm to perform/function according to His design, i.e., to produce in-kind whatever is planted therein, good, bad or ugly. He gives us a BIG clue of this when He says in Jeremiah 17:9-10:
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked; who can know it?
I, The Lord, search the heart, I test the mind,
even to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his doings.
Earth realm is, therefore, our proving ground, to expose and judge the motivational/spiritual DNA of our thought, word, and action seeds we plant, and from which we reap our harvests, in this life, and throughout eternity, revealing to us and all on-lookers…
What’s really going on (…inside)
