All We Have

This morning I was reminded of some really vital truths, and at the same time I realized and saw some new truths.

First, regarding free will, it was explained to me that the free will which Adam and Eve experienced is no longer available to us except through Christ. I will attempt to unpack that statement a little, as it may not make a lot of sense otherwise. When God created Adam and Eve and the garden, he gave them reign over everything and the ability to choose freely what they desired to do. The ONLY command that he gave them was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As you probably know, the serpent (Satan) tempted them, and ultimately they chose to disobey God and eat the fruit. It was in this instant that they and all of mankind were tainted. Now, left to our own devices, we will always choose evil. We doubt God. We doubt his commands. We want to be in charge, to rule our own worlds. And we choose evil every time. Only in Christ can we now uphold the law, because he has upheld it for us. This is important to get right: the take home truth is not that we can obey the law through Christ; the truth is that Christ obeyed the law for us, therefore we can uphold the law by faith in him and the work that he has done already.

Secondly, God is all we have. In Deuteronomy 5, where the ten commandments are first written, we find the first commandment: You shall have no other Gods before me. I have always seen this in what our pastor this morning called a “limiting” view. And in reality, there are limits imposed by the command, there are things that are forbidden. What we tend to miss is the limitless promise that is wrapped up in that command. The promise is that in God we have protection, redemption, salvation, freedom, and a whole host of limitless blessings. What we often don’t see in the command is that not only is God jealous for our love and loyalty, but there is NO OTHER god that accepts us and offers us anything even close to those promises. All the things and people and entities that we want so desperately to trust in will fail us. They will leave us hanging out to dry. They fall short. God commands us to place Him first because He knows that we have no other viable options. Wow, what a wonderful new perspective! It seems so obvious to me now, but I really didn’t see this before. It is the same with all the other commandments: they are limitless, not limiting. Think back to Adam and Eve. If they had simply trusted in God’s wisdom, not questioning why they should have a “limit” imposed on them, embracing the unlimited world around them, we would all still be enjoying the paradise of the garden of Eden.

Thank God that when we have nowhere else to turn, we have Him. I wish I believed that and embraced His promises every day. Unfortunately I am just like Adam and Eve, questioning my limits and looking for alternative sources of hope and joy. It is God’s grace that I come up empty handed at every turn, and He is always there waiting to provide for every need.

Bebo Norman, one of my favorite songwriters, has a beautiful song that acknowledges the very fact that God is all we have:

Nothing Without You

Take these hands
And lift them up
For I have not the strength to praise You near enough
See, I have nothing
I have nothing without You

And take my voice and pour it out
Let it sing the songs of mercy I have found
For I have nothing
I have nothing without You

And all my soul needs is all Your love
To cover me, so all the world will see
That I have nothing without You

Take my body and build it up
May it be broken as an offering of love
For I have nothing
I have nothing without You

And all my soul needs is all Your love
To cover me so all the world will see
That I have nothing
That I love You, yeah
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
And all the strength I can find

Take my time here on this earth
And let it glorify all that You are worth
For I am nothing I am nothing without You