Throwing Off Rebellion

The Parable:

A writer orders his paragraphs in unity with the thesis statement and his words in unity with his paragraph theses.  What if the paragraphs came alive and decided to order themselves according to their own idea of what was good?  What if the sentences re-arranged themselves within the paragraphs?  What if the words re-arranged themselves within the sentences?  It would be nonsense and chaos!

Rebellion—the first sin—plunged mankind into a nosedive of mutiny and questioned God’s veracity.  Satan knew that all it would take is rebellion against one commandment to set the course.  All we have to do is doubt the authority, even a little.  “Did God REALLY say?” (Genesis 3:1) Oh the ramifications in our everyday lives!  People of God, Bride of Christ, I don’t know about you, but I’m fed up with Satan’s whispers in my ear or the prickling up of my heart when I hear an authority tell me to do something I don’t want to do or to not do something I do want to do.  Oh the remnants of that cursed mutiny!  Why does 1 Corinthians 11 tell women to wear head coverings?  (I’m not here to make a case for head coverings—just a case for what they represent.)  Why does Paul tell Timothy and Corinth to instruct women to remain silent in the churches?  “The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says” (1 Corinthians 14:34).  “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness” (1 Timothy 2:11).  We know from the context of Scripture that women are equal to men in their dignity.  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).  Indeed, both men and women have been given gifts of the Spirit.  Certainly Jesus is equal to the Father in every way, yet He submitted Himself to the Father.  Why?  “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).  “Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?’” (John 10:32)  “Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me’” (John 10:25). “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me” (John 10:37).  The Holy Spirit is God, yet He also speaks only what He hears.  Why?  “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26).  “He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:17).  “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13).  The authority structure that God has set up is everything.  He uses it to order His world and His people—and even His own godhead—for the perfect unity and function of all things.  A writer orders his paragraphs in unity with the thesis statement and his words in unity with his paragraph theses.  What if the paragraphs came alive and decided to order themselves according to their own idea of what was good?  What if the sentences re-arranged themselves within the paragraphs?  What if the words re-arranged themselves with the sentences?  It would be nonsense and chaos!  “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’” (Revelation 1:8).  “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host” (Psalm 33:6).  “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isaiah 29:16).  “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).  “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).  “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50).  We see here that God the Father is the source and orchestrator of all truth, which includes the true and perfect purpose for which we exist in every aspect of our being.  “For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring’” (Acts 17:28).

While those who are part of the Kingdom of Heaven are seeking to live in and under the authority of God through Jesus Christ, those in the kingdom of Satan are buying into his lies about God and undermining God’s authority by creating for themselves their own authority.  Women have thrown off the authority instituted by God under which they are to live as submissive to their husbands.  Employees have thrown off the authority of employers as far as they can get away with it.  Men and women have thrown off the authority of government.  Government has thrown off the authority of God as revealed in Scripture—all justified by this one line: “What is truth?” (John 18:38).  Let’s paraphrase: “If it suits me best, then it’s my truth.  If it helps me most as I see it, then it’s my best.  The authority doesn’t understand my situation.  The authority isn’t working for my good.”  But when we use these excuses, we forget or deny that God is actually in control of the authorities—yes, sinful—even evil—authorities.  Think King Pharaoh.  Do we believe God?  “And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God” (James 2:23).  So if we really believe God, then we believe that the authorities over us are actually being guided by God to lead us where He wants us.  Is the following favorite of Christendom just a nice ditty for our verse plaques, or does it mean something to us?  Do we believe God?  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

It’s all about truth.

“For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13:8).

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

This is not just a nice thing to know for those who love God; this is the heart of the gospel!  This is what John 3:16 is all about.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  What does it mean to believe in him?  It doesn’t mean to say something with the lips alone; Jesus makes that clear.  ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  Hmm, we’re back to authority, aren’t we?  We reveal who we believe by who we follow.  If we believe Jesus Christ, we will follow Him and all His commands.  If we believe the devil, we will continue our own way.  Period.  “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Those who are born again, out of Satan’s kingdom and into the Kingdom of Heaven are working day and night to shake the remnant of Satan’s kingdom from their flesh and to learn and obey God’s truth.  That is why reaching a greater and greater level of maturity has to do with finding God’s truth—and applying it.  And if we desire to do that, it’s a good sign we have truly believed God, we have truly been reborn with a heart of love for Christ, and we are being led by the Spirit of Christ.  “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14).  Meanwhile, God is purging us from our own rebellious desires through pain.  If our perfect Lord and Savior had to learn obedience through suffering (Hebrews 5:8), then how much more do we?  “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16).  “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Luke 9:23).  This is why James looks like a book of salvation by works.  If we are truly converted from following Satan’s lies and believe God in Christ Jesus, then we will no longer follow the pattern of the flesh; our works will follow our mouth.  Faith without works is dead, because by works, faith is revealed to be genuine.  But don’t be fooled: it’s easy to produce works out of false motives or by fleshly effort.  Those works will dry up because they aren’t rooted in the good soil of love for Christ and by Christ (Luke 8:4-15).  We can produce counterfeit light for God, but without the oil of the Holy Spirit, we will be like the five virgins whose lamps had gone out at the coming of the Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-12).

So I conclude with this question: saints of God, do you believe God—enough to follow and submit to the authorities He’s placed over you?  Our culture is all about self-gratification and throwing off authority and absolute truth.  Why?  Because the Father of Lies is the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2).  It’s time we revolt—the other way!  We revolt by living our lives with the authority of Christ and of God the Father, who has absolute control over who we serve.  That means reading His Word, and asking Him to apply it to us by putting His finger on what needs to be sanctified in us.  Let’s throw off rebellion, Bride!  We serve our Bridegroom, who Himself submits to the Father.