"If God is for us..."

C. S. Lewis says people fall into two opposite errors regarding Satan and his demons: disbelief and obsession (Screwtape Letters, p. 3). Either extreme is fine with the Enemy; he wins big-time either when people snicker at the claims for his existence, or when demon-mania fills the minds of people who ought to be dwelling on the wonders of Christ.

The Word of God helps us avoid these extremes. First, the fact of Satan’s existence is acknowledged over and over by Jesus Christ. The wilderness temptation (Matt 4:1-11) isn’t shadowboxing; there’s a real opponent. Further, on numerous occasions during Jesus’ public ministry he’s confronted by broken souls disturbed or possessed by demonic powers. In one instance a “legion” of demons has driven a man out of his mind (Luke 8:30—in the Roman military a “legion” was a division of 6,000 foot soldiers). Of course, Jesus’ betrayal by Judas transpires with Satanic inspiration (Luke 22:3). You simply can’t read the Gospels and take them seriously without admitting the reality of Satan.

What’s more, the all-too-real Enemy is powerful, stealthy, and malicious: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith,…” (1 Peter 5:8-9). Satan is a clever, patient and devious foe who seeks to ruin your faith. That’s the hard reality.

But, if you know Jesus—if you’re trusting in Christ for his saving, sanctifying grace in your life—you need not live in fear of Satan. The Word of God speaks comfort: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The Son of God came into the world to destroy the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8). Christ triumphed over the “principalities and powers” of this world at the cross (Col 2:15). Does the prowling lion strike fear into your heart? Then “Cast all your anxiety on him [God] because he cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7). The Lord is my light and my salvation! Whom shall I fear? (Ps 27:1).

So where does this leave us? Satan is real and dangerous: stay away from him; resist the devil and he will flee from you (Jas 4:7-8). But Satan is no match for the almighty Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Rest in his care, depend on his grace, be assured of his power to forgive and protect. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear” (Ps 46:1-2a)!

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Sports Illustrated Sorrow

February is a sad season in the sporting world as it is the time for the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Of course, many would find this description jarring: sad? Who's sad? I'm sure millions of Americans greet the arrival of this publication with glee. A couple Februarys ago I remember a sketch on Letterman in which he chased the magazine delivery truck down the road, giddy to get his hands on the swimsuit issue ASAP.

But I say "sad" because this is the time when it's most vividly clear and "in your face" before the world that profit-driven people exploit sexual longings to increase their revenue. More than that, this is the moment when it's most obvious that sexually charged photos are finding a home in (what has been considered) mainstream media and not just in the shadowy world of adult book stores.

A news feature the other day showed a jet airliner with a huge image of a swimsuit model's body painted on the plane. It's pretty obvious there are a lot of people deeply invested in SI and CNN and various sports franchises and ad campaigns (etc.) who're working feverishly to get us all to accept the idea that gazing at near-nude swimsuit girls should be considered just one more form of innocent visual entertainment--just a little eye candy, nothing more...

Of course, among those profit-driven souls are the models who take their clothes off for SI. This is the saddest part of all: young women taught to separate themselves from their bodies, and to sell the sight of their flesh for visual consumption. I'm sure the pressure on these young women is tremendous--to be chosen for the SI swimsuit cover must be a mark of spectacular success in one's modeling career, a doorway to lucrative opportunities to be stared at yet more in the future. And I suspect many beautiful young women would find a certain comfort and ego boost in being the focus of hungry eyes--to be wanted, to be special (would they add, "to be loved"?).

TV morning show hosts this week were snickering about the infamous magazine in their "news" reports. The release of the swimsuit issue was given top story status alongside the latest on Australia's wild fires and President Obama's economic bailout plans. What's wrong with this picture?

Well, that's the world we live in. It makes me sad.

Some may think I'm "prudish" or that I don't want red-blooded men to have a little fun. The truth is, I want them to have the fullest, enduring satisfaction God has to give, a joy far deeper than the thrill of gawking at swimsuit beauties. I speak not only of the God-intended delights of sexual fulfillment within marriage, but ultimately of eternal joy in the company of the all-glorious, all-satisfying Christ.

The sad side of February reminds me that, as C. S. Lewis put it in "The Weight of Glory," we are far too easily pleased: "Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea."

May the Lord, in his powerful grace, grant that many--millions--would look past the eye candy this February and instead find true joy in the worship of Christ!

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple."

(Psalm 27:4, ESV)

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"God meant it for good"

The breathtaking story of Job drives home the point that affliction is not necessarily a punishment for sin (1:1; see also John 9:1-3). Nor is it helpful to say that Satan caused the pain, since Job spoke correctly (1:22) in stating, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away…” (v 21).

Isaiah 53 prophesies of God’s Servant, the Substitute who would bear the guilt of sinners: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53:6). This, of course, anticipates the sacrificial death of the Son of God who “gave his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Was Christ’s death the grim result of sin? Yes (Acts 3:15). Was it owing to the insidious schemes of Satan? Yes (Luke 22:3). But there’s more to say: at root, the cross was God’s doing. Isaiah 53:10, “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer…” (so too Acts 2:23).

In both cases of extreme affliction, ultimately it’s God’s hand we see in action. Same with Joseph (the guy with the coat of many colors). His jealous brothers abused him and sold him as a slave, and he ended up wrongly imprisoned in Egypt for years—all undeserved. But God was up to something—God, the key Actor behind the scenes; God, the initiator of good plans even though they lead through dark valleys. The Lord maneuvered Joseph into an influential office in Egypt in order to save countless lives from a coming seven-year famine.

This good end is recognized by Joseph (eventually!). In Genesis 45:5-9 he says four times that it was God who sent him to Egypt. Now, of course he remembers how his nasty brothers had shipped him off with traders. But he’s looking beneath the surface: who was really at work in all those years of pain? It was God. Same in 50:20, where Joseph says to his penitent brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” All that misery he’d gone through was intended by God to take place and (of course) lead eventually to God’s good goals.

There’s no shortage of pain and trauma to go around today, what with economic turmoil, crime, family breakdown, disease… The Lord is stretching our faith: are you willing to trust him to weave a beautiful fabric, in his time and in his way, even when it includes the black strands of your pain and suffering? Are you willing to let God be God, and to leave it to him to put things right in time or eternity?

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