What God Says Is True

Lesson Connection

You might remember your first dog. I sure remember mine. Pepper. A miniature snouser. She died when I was about eight years old.

I remember asking someone in my family, puzzled about this, if I would see Pepper in heaven. And the response I got was a resounding, “Probably not.”

“Why?” I asked. “Dogs aren’t people,” they said. “Why does that matter?” I answered. “Well, dogs don’t have souls.”

“Why don’t they have souls?” I demanded. That’s a pretty big oversight, I was thinking. Dogs have everything else. Why don’t they get souls???

I kept asking these questions and finally, this dear family member said, “That’s just the way it is.” I remember being both impressed and horrified with the world at this revelation.

And, at some point in life, we all see how indifferent the universe seemed to be toward our problems and sorrows.

For instance, I lost two grandparents in one month. And I thought that if the world should ever stop for just a moment to observe anyone’s death, it should have been theirs, but it didn’t. In my view, there should have been an eclipse of the sun. The stars should have sang. The trees should have bowed in the wind.

But none of that happened. A fifty-word obituary. A service. Then it was over, in the eyes of a young child. For all that they did in life.

“That’s just the way it is,” I could hear them say in my head. “That’s just the way it is.”

The course of the world seems to move forward with little regard for our lives.

But… the biblical record, however, testifies of a Messiah who didn’t simply accept the course of this world. When He came across things that seemed to be inherently indifferent and un changeable, He changed them anyway!

From the very beginning of the gospel story, God turned back the normal course of the world: an old couple miraculously conceived a child, and a virgin brought forth Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist Was Prophesied to Be the Forerunner of Jesus

He Would Be a Voice in the Wilderness Declaring the Coming of the Messiah

The angel Gabriel prophesied that Zechariah’s son, John, would “go before him [the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).

And indeed, when he came of age, he was first found in the wilderness: “the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness” (Luke 3:2).

The wilderness in scripture was a place of trial and testing, but it was also the traditional place where the word of the Lord was delivered to God’s special messengers (Moses and Elijah, to name a few). Therefore, it is important that John received the word of the Lord in the wilderness and preached repentance there.

And John “prepared the way”. The world was not ready for what was coming. The world was indifferent. So John prophesied and let them know!

God Often Uses Prophecy to Prove He Is God

Only God can know the future, so when someone prophesies of a future thing, and it comes to pass, then it is now evident that God has spoken to that person.

Those who hear the prophet will then know both that the prophet is true and that God is orchestrating events according to His will.

Ezekiel 2:4–5 NKJV

4 For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

So you can see that, sometimes God will use prophecy not only to show or tell people something, but also to show that He is there and He is in charge.

Zachariah and Elizabeth Had Faith in God and His Plan

The Promise Given to Zachariah Seemed Impossible

Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth, were long past child-bearing age:

Luke 1:18 NKJV

18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”

This world often will try to turn our minds against the solutions to our problems. And that’s why God’s promises are often hidden inside the impossible.

Has God ever made a promise that seemed impossible to you?

Zachariah Did Not Believe God’s Word Spoken by the Angel

The angel would actually then charge Zachariah with not believing the message:

Luke 1:20 NKJV

20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

And it’s often that we are like Zachariah. Like him, we learn the ways of the world and put more stock in “the rules” than we do in the Creator! We tend to cling to the way things have always been instead of holding to the hope that Almighty God holds in His hands.

Sometimes God’s Plan Seems Impossible

If we could go back to the time of Christ, we would hear voices struggling to get past their indifference.

There’s actually a whole philosophy that was born, essentially, from one man trying to reckon with “that’s just the way it is.” These philosophers were called Stoics. Their answer to the problem was to understand that the world works in a certain way, and the sooner we acknowledge it and go along with it, the better of we all will be.

“Don’t get so wrapped up trying to change unchangeable things,” they said. “Calm down, accept it, do the best you can - play the hand nature gave you. Then you will find peace, and perhaps joy.”

But there’s irony in the fact that these same philosophers were named after the Stoa, or the porches under which they sought relief from the hot Mediterranean sun. And their ideas were basically a quest for a comfortable place to hide from the indifference of the world.

If they were escapists, then it was a strong and noble escapism. But it seems the Stoic answers to the mysteries of life actually bear a suspicious resemblance to the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and then acceptance.

So that is it? Could it be that noble Stoicism of the past and present is little more than grief masquerading in the philosopher’s mask? Has the human race really gone through eons of struggle, wrestling in mortal combat with reality, only to arrive finally at the Stoics, whose only battlefield was the mind and whose answer to everything was to shrug your shoulders and say, “That’s just the way it is”?

This philosophy of Stoicism has been kept alive, and some have even managed to make it seem beautiful. The 18th century poet Alexander Pope offered this poem:

“All nature is but Art, unknown to thee;

All Chance, Direction, which thou canst not see;

All Discord, Harmony, not understood;

All partial Evil, universal Good:

And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason’s spite,

One truth is clear, ‘Whatever IS, is RIGHT.’”

- Alexander Pope

Now, if you have ever wanted to hear a beautiful lie, well, there it is. It’s a lie played on a golden harp!

If you stripped these words of their poetry, you’d know you were staring at the darkest dark. Eyes that see suffering and discord, but a mouth that says, “It’s not discord. It’s just harmony that’s misunderstood.” “There are no weeds; only roses by another name.”

It almost sounds like fake news!

A century ago, George Bernard Shaw said that the reasonable man looks out upon the world and adapts himself to it, while the unreasonable man looks out upon the same world but expects it to adapt itself to him.

And the Stoic worldview is still very much alive today. Most of the self-help industry and televangelism consist of warmed-over Stoicism. Underneath all of the hollow and heartless wisdom, the message is: the whole task in life is not fixing problems in the world; it’s adapting to the world.

But the Bible points us in a whole other direction than that! We have a High Priest who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. The New Testament story begins with God changing the status quo.

God Proved to Zachariah and Elizabeth That They Could Trust His Plan

Zachariah Was Silenced Until He Named the Baby

The angel gave proof of the truth of God’s word by silencing the priest.

Luke 1:20 NKJV

20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

Zachariah was silenced!

And this silence was somewhat symbolic. There had been many years in succession when there had been no prophetic words whatsoever. They are known as the “Silent Years”. They began during the generation of Zechariah (not Zachariah, John the Baptist’s father), and ended with the voice of John the Baptist.

The voice of divine prophecy was now returning with the birth of John! And in the process, Zachariah learned that God’s word can be trusted, regardless of the way things seem to work.

We often struggle in taking God at His word.

I Will Have Faith in God and Believe What He Says Is True

Image: The Fig Tree

Hearing the story of Jesus is refreshing. He consistently insisted God’s word is final. The course of the world is subject to God’s plan, and not the other way around.

For instance, Jesus once walked up to a tree in early spring expecting to find fruit, long before it would have been able to bear fruit. Not only did He expect fruit to be there for the picking in late March, five months or so before harvest, but when He was leaves and no fruit, He expressed frustration and cursed the tree.

Twelve disciples were with Him. Could this have been the moment Judas felt somewhat justified in what he was contemplating? We know the disciples were all thrown off by Jesus’ behavior because the record of the even reverted to a kind of respectful understatement. After Jesus cursed the tree, the text says, “And his disciples heard him say it” (Mark 11:4, NIV). It’s a little redundant, as if to say, “If we hadn’t heard it with our own ears.”

How could you expect a tree to yield fruit in March? It’s like blaming water for being wet or fire for being hot. But His disciples heard Him say it. Cursing the fig tree is akin to cursing two and two for making four. But His disciples heard Him say it.

But is this not just the sort of Jesus-of-Nazareth behavior the Gospel writers unanimously testified to? The Jesus they followed didn’t look at a human need and say, “That’s just the way it is.” The reasonable person says, “I can’t fix the problem; it’s too bit. But I can fix my attitude toward the problem. The problem is the constant; my attitude is the variable.”

But not Jesus of Nazareth! Jesus was not a Stoic who had learned to be compliant to inevitable things. He didn’t try to make peace with the world. He came to bring peace! His own peace!

Here’s another: We’re not supposed to make peace with the world! We’re here to bring His peace to the world!

All the evangelists, in their own ways, told of the kind of man who once compared a mountain and a mustard seed and said the seed was bigger. That may sound eccentric, but His disciples heard Him say it!

Oh, I’ve got more for you:

How about the law of the Hebrew elders? He said, “You have heard it said by those of old… but I say unto you!”

Someone said, “Master, there are only five loaves and two fishes, but a great multitude to feed.” His disciples heard Him say, “Give them to eat.”

Someone said, “They have no wine!” But His disciples heard Him say, “Fill the waterpots to the brim!”

“Hosanna,” the people cried. But the Pharisees said, “Master, rebuke these disciples.” And Jesus answered, “If they do not sin, the rocks will.” And again, this may seem very unreasonable, but His disciples heard Him say it!

“Lord, Lazarus has been dead four days and is rotting by now,” but His disciples heard Him say, “Lazarus, come forth!” And if He had not restricted this command to “Lazarus,” perhaps every grave on earth would have opened, and every corpse would have come out of every single grave on the planet.

The truth is: the strange occurrence at the fig tree is one example of the same shocking power of Jesus! Human sin needed the blood of God, and somewhere in eternity, the laws of reason said, “God has no blood to shed!” So God looked at reason, we can imagine, the same way He looked at that fig tree! And the next thing you know, the apostle heard the Spirit say:

Philippians 2:6–8 NKJV

6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

When Heaven saw what it would cost to save a single human being, a shudder must have shaken the stars. I think maybe Heaven must have experienced what we call “sticker shock.” Because it would not cost Heaven part of its savings account or its retirement. Our salvation would not require Heaven to sell its best properties and mansions. The price of our redemption was the treasure of the ages, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father, the Rock of Ages, the Good Shepherd, the Alpha and Omega!

The price tag for our salvation said: “the Son of God.”

God spared nothing to save you! He held not one thing back. And do you think such love, such profound expense of the Spirit could be daunted by your flaws? Do you think Heaven would go to such lengths to save you, only to be confronted by your sins and say, “Well, I guess that’s just the way she is”? Do you think such grace could ever be so easily defeated???

Internalizing the Message