All Things New

This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally some form of artistic mark to tie it all together. 

Today's devotional is taken from: Zacharias, Ravi. The Logic of God: 52 Christian Essentials for the Heart and Mind. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019. [E-Book] Chapter 26: All Things New

Opening Thought: There are two points that I found intriguing in this reading, points that I have pondered before, but I was good to return to them today. The first was an argument from the atheist side of things, a common position, if there is evil in the world and God exists, why doesn’t God do anything to stop the evil? Their conclusion is either God is evil or God doesn’t exist. The are a few problems with this dilemma, the main problem is that it assumes there are only two options to solve the question, but that is just not the case. For example, Leibniz (July 1646-Novemeber 1716) and German philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, theorized that the world exists the way (with evil) in is because it is the best possible of all worlds, meaning, that if God is omnipotent and omniscient, nothing can prevent Him from creating the best world possible, thus any reality we experience that is evil, must be permitted to secure that best world in its totality. Now this theory of Leibniz could be seen as a third option contrary to the two option presupposed by the atheist. With some analysis, we can see Leibniz's theory can hold its own, for example, if we consider that the spirit of a person is eternal, God permitting, and we know the expression ‘time heals all wounds’, then we could say that the trouble, pains, and even most tremendous evils could all fade away from memory in infinite time. Therefore, the pains of life may function a purpose within God’s over arching plan. This is just one explanation to why God could permit evil, another could be that He does not.

If we experience evil, how could God not permit it. Think of it this way if God exists, He is beyond time, space, and matter. If God is beyond time, that means that God is both before the fall of humanity and after humanities restoration. If evil is conquered in the restoration, then what we are experiencing in life, is a matter which is already solved. Since Christ is the restorative solution in time, (meaning He came into a particular time to save all of existence), that means our life is a living witness to the event of restoration and evil has already been vanquished, it is finished.

These are just two examples how the atheist premise does not hold up. 

The second point I found intriguing was a question posited by Zacharias, What might my new birth mean to me? […] Who was I before God’s work in me, and who am I now? Let’s sit with this as we ponder today’s scripture.    

The devotional begins with: 2 Corinthians 5:16-18

We regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

Second Thought: One of the wonderful things about a faith life, particularly a Christian faith life, is that we are constantly reviewing the problem of evil. It is hard to say exactly why God has us experience evil, but what we can say is that God calls us to walk away from sin and evil doing. That Christian relationship is about looking at the evil in the world, not being afraid and confronting it head on. We look at the evil in ourselves and ewe seek God’s strength to surpass and endure. We look at the evil in the world and we go out a face the struggles to heal, mend and defeat evil. And above all, we know that God is going to restore the world to the will of His kingdom. When we choose the faith, we choose to become people that oppose evil, sin and vice. Doesn’t mean we will always get it right, but we dedicate ourselves to living a life that is inline with a good, omnipotent and omnipresent God.  

Continual Work: Ask yourself the questions noted by Zacharias, What might my new birth mean to me? […] Who was I before God’s work in me, and who am I now? Have you ever felt a change in yourself as a person of faith, longing now for the living waters of Christ?

What Rev. Jacob is Working On: The traditional problem of evil is difficult for sure, but in a way what can we hope for better that a goodness so transcendent that all things will be held accountable to it. I will let these thoughts dance in my head today.  

Prayer for your day: God, help us find Your truth, let us be representatives of the faith, seeking justice and resisting evil. Amen.

Artistic Close: A great artist can capture the feelings of so many things, even evil. It reminds us why we should seek the glory of God and not the darkness.

And Bound Him a Thousand Years (1899) by Odilon Redon. Original from the National Gallery of Art. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.