Newsletter
#61
The Consequence Engine
We
physicists often remind ourselves that there are no uncaused effects in the
universe. Even in very ordinary events going on around us, there is always a
preceding chain of linked causes. In flipping a coin many times, one averages
50% heads and 50% tails. But the outcome of each single throw of the coin has
been determined by a multiplicity of very real variables. Fluctuations in the
stock market are all caused though no one has yet unraveled all the
contributing variables. Thus there is no entity in the universe called
"chance" which is causing coins to fall as they do. (1) According to
the Bible, God is behind the Laws of physics (and the moral Law). Nothing
happens that God does not permit, and ultimately nothing happens that He does
not cause to happen. Ephesians, Chapter One says "[God] works [energizes] all things
according to the counsel of His will" (1:11).
All of us have had some sample, some contact, some
encounter with the power of nature -- we are awed by the mighty thundering of a
storm that breaks upon our heads suddenly, or by the power of breakers dashing
upon the shore. In some way, we find demonstrated to us the power of nature.
God is a God of power, and that power indicates to us a force behind nature.
Nature is alive with power. We are told that everything is in motion -- the
atoms that constitute this pulpit are constantly in motion. And behind the
motion is the pulsating force of energy. Nature is one great mass of energy. It
bespeaks, therefore, of mighty power that tells us of the existence of God.
But, more than that, all of us have experienced
some knowledge of the sovereignty of God in nature. We don't play around with
the laws of nature. Have you noticed that? When we discover a natural law, we
are careful to observe it because, oftentimes, our very lives are at stake.
You don't go fooling around with the law of
gravity. You don't get on top of a 15-story building and shove your hands in
your pockets and nonchalantly stroll over the ledge to show people how superior
you are to the law of gravity. You won't break the law of gravity -- you'll
just illustrate it. They'll just scoop you off the pavement!
We don't play around with the laws of electricity.
When a wire is charged with 10,000 volts, we know that it will operate
according to a strict and precise law, and we are careful to observe that law
because one little mistake is enough to cause us to forfeit our life. Nature is
sovereign. It has the right to do what it was made to do, and in that we see the
sovereignty of God -- his right to be God, his right to choose, and his right
to set up nature according to his idea, not ours. This, if acted upon, is the
minimum basis man needs to know God -- and every man knows this. This is what
Hebrews 11:6 says. But I stress the words if acted upon. It is not enough just to
know about God's sovereignty: It must govern us. It must control us. It must do
something to us. (Ray C. Stedman, http://raystedman.org/romans1/0006.html).
Just
as there are great "natural" (built-in) laws at work in the material
world, so there are also even more important laws at work in the moral sphere.
The God of the Bible is a Just God, as well as a loving and merciful God: He
rewards the good and eventually punishes all evil. No detail escapes His
attention.
Many
people suppose that God, being good, grants general amnesty to people, adding
up our good deeds, subtracting the bad, and throwing in extra mercy so that
most everyone gets into heaven somehow. Actually this is a long way from the
truth one finds in the Bible. Every human choice and every action has
consequences, whether good or ill. We are all affected by the choices others
make as well!
The
Consequence Engine in Every Day Life
It
is obvious that ordinary daily life is full of consequences. Driving over the
speed limit can lead to an expensive traffic ticket. Driving under the
influence can have more severe consequences. Not paying the rent usually causes
a renter to loose his residence. Not showing up for work on time can get one fired.
The slightest disobedience to the Drill Sergeant in military basic training can
prove painfully costly.
"Sensible"
people who are law-abiding and "moral" cause less trouble for
themselves in this life, and are better off as long as they live--compared to
the person who is irresponsible, or promiscuous, who abuses booze and drugs and
can't hold a job. Neither type of individual may end up in heaven, but this
present life is better off for people who see the intrinsic order in the world
and who follow it as best they can, even if their motives are self-serving, and
even if they do not know God.
A
common humorous expression goes, "no good deed goes unpunished."
Actually God takes note of everything going on--nothing escapes his notice.
Very often we do not know who among us has a relationship with God and who does
not. Seldom do we know the motives of another man's heart--let alone our own
motives. But God knows and God sees:
Jesus looked up and saw the rich
putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow
putting in two mites. So He said, ÒTruly I say to you that this poor widow has
put in more than all; Òfor all these out of their abundance have put in
offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that
she had.Ó (Luke 21:1-4)
The
Consequence Engine and the Non-Christian
The
vast majority of people in the world are uninterested in knowing the real God.
They are actually enemies of God. (Our general animosity towards the real God
is the main reason for the invention of earth's many religions). God grants
everyone enough knowledge of His existence and of His attributes so that all
men everywhere are without excuse, (Romans 1:18-21). When people hear, but
reject, the gospel of Jesus Christ, God ordinarily leaves such people alone and
they live out the rest of their lives--often in relative peace and even
prosperity. There seem to be no immediate obvious negative consequences to
their unbelief. Because the silent, invisible wrath of God rests upon all men
who reject Him, there is gradually increasing emptiness in the lives of those
who refuse God's grace and mercy (John 3:36). In Ecclesiastes, Solomon states
clearly that enjoyment in life is a gift from God given only to those who
please Him--and
not obtainable any other way!
"There is nothing in a man than
that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor.
This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have
enjoyment, more than I? For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who
is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and
collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity
and grasping for the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)
Nonbelievers do not cease to exist when they die, nor do they pass
into limbo or purgatory. After death they end up intact and conscious at the
"last" judgment (2) described in Revelation 20:
Then I saw a great white throne and Him
who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there
was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing
before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the
Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things
which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and
Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged,
each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake
of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of
Life was cast into the lake of fire. (20:11-15)
The record books of life are being kept every day by recording
angels who miss no details. Judgment is totally fair and just--even for the
lost. Punishment is appropriately proportional, following the great principle
outlined in Romans 2--God weighs the motives of the heart as well as behavior,
and He takes into account the individual's actual knowledge of God.
It may seem to some harsh and unfair, but no human being can enter
heaven on his or her own merits. It is only by trusting in the work of Jesus on
our behalf that we are qualified.
The
consequence engines of life, inexorable and unavoidable though they may be, do
not usually bring immediate consequences in response to our actions. An old
Proverb says, "The mills of God's justice grind exceedingly slow--but they
grind exceedingly fine." Because we often do not see the negative
consequences of our bad choices right away, we are often persuaded to make
bigger and more foolish mistakes. Because God's judgments are usually long
delayed in time, many think the Lord never judges anyone at all.
The
Consequence Engine and the Christian
Non-Christians
are said to be "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2) and
therefore they are quite unable to do anything which pleases God. However for
the individual who has entered into a personal relationship with God,
everything one does matters! The consequence engine runs full time and at full
tilt--both in regard to good and to ill--for those who follow Jesus with a
committed heart. Christians are not judged for their sins (3)--which have been
paid in full by Jesus--but certainly we are thoroughly evaluated for all our
choices in life--like everyone else. All of our choices in life have negative
or positive consequences.
The
Negative Consequence Engine
Negative consequences in time and eternity occur when a follower
of Jesus Christ does things in his or her own natural energy and strength. A
number of New Testament passages highlight this:
Now the works of the flesh are evident,
which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery,
hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions,
dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of
which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those
who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians
5:19-21)
One of the features of the negative consequence engine at work is
that we do not get to choose the consequences of our sins. All sin is
forgivable but all sin has consequences. (4) Negative consequences can involve
lost opportunities for service, increased vulnerability to the same bad choices
the next time we are tempted, and in some cases even an early death. (5) Some
forms of life-style behavior exclude a person from entry into the kingdom of
God altogether, thus revealing that many who say they are
Christians never were in the first place (Matthew 7:21-29)! A list of these
moral absolutes in the universe is found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and yet
another in Ephesians 5:1-6.
"The wages of sin"--which is death--are inevitable,
inexorable, and unavoidable. Sin pays us back with boredom, guilt, shame,
loneliness, confusion, emptiness, loss of purpose, and, in the end, with physical
death itself--then final separation from God--unless we have laid hold of the
saving life of Christ.
The negative consequence engine for the Christian should not be
considered as punishment for sins--because Jesus has already been fully
punished for the believers sins--all of them. Consequences of our bad choices
is not the same thing as punishment for sin. God's corrective discipline of his
wayward sons and daughters is also a separate matter (Hebrews 12:6-17).
The Positive Consequence Engine
Like negative consequences in life, the effects of the positive
consequence engine at work in our lives do not usually show up immediately.
This is frustrating for folks who want instant gratification and who expect a
daily rewards balance sheet. The big pay off for followers of Jesus is in the next
life--not here and now.
ÒDo not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where
thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)
"But recall the former days in
which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with
sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and
tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so
treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the
plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring
possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your
confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that
after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 'For yet a
little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just
shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.'
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to
the saving of the soul." (Hebrews 10:32-39)
Positive consequences of knowing God include wonderful inner
qualities of wholeness, fulfillment and contentment: Over time we become all we
ever dream of being as whole men and women. "Éthe fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
This
great principle--the law of sowing and reaping in life--has never been revoked,
altered, or amended. The consequence engines connected with sowing and reaping
run with 100% reliability century after century in every generation.
"Do not be deceived, God is not
mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his
flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of
the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." (Galatians
6:1-9)
(In reality, most Christians find we may still be reaping the
unpleasant long-term consequences of past bad choices and at the same time, as
forgiven sinners, we are probably also sowing to the Spirit for a future
positive harvest).
As
explained in Romans, Christians have only two daily choices. We are all
servants (slaves), and there are only two choices of which master we choose to
serve:
Do you not know that to whom you present
yourselves slaves to obey, you are that oneÕs slaves whom you obey, whether of
sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be
thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from
sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the
weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of
uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present
your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves
of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then
in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is
death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God,
you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (6:16-23)
Yet another New Testament description of the consequence engine at
work in the life of the Christian is described as that of building a house out
of two different types of building material:
"According to the commission of God given to
me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is
building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other
foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now
if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
hay or stubble--each man's work will become manifest (openly visible), for the
Day (of the Lord) will disclose it, because it will be revealed (unveiled) with
fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work
which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be
saved, but only as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
"For we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he
has done in the body. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade
men..." (2 Corinthians 5:10-11) (3)
Christian
Dynamics
What
counts in life--actions that lead to positive consequences, are the works Jesus
does in and through us when we make ourselves available to God. God does not
want our best efforts on his behalf! The basic rule of Christian life is
"nothing coming from me, everything coming from Him." We are not to
give God our very best efforts. Self-improvement programs are of no avail.
"Trying harder" doesn't cut it.
However,
it is by trusting and acting on what God has promised
that we unloose the power of God working in us so that the consequence engine
runs in our favor. (6) Jesus is more than willing to live through us whenever
we give Him permission. Someone has said, "There is no limit to what God
will do through any individual, if that person doesn't are who gets the
credit."
Usually
when we come to know the Lord we abandon those bad habits which everyone agrees
are socially undesirable--such as getting drunk, living in a life style that is
sexually immoral, being dishonest in business, lying, stealing, cheating--and
so on. These actions do spring from that fallen humanity we all have inherited
from Adam. Actions which lead to sin arise within us from what the Bible calls
"the flesh." (The flesh is another name for the totality of our
fallen nature inherited from Adam.) Nothing good can ever come from the flesh
and so our entire "old nature" had to be nailed to the cross when we
were identified with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection--that is, when
we came to Christ and were spiritually reborn. (7)
What
is harder to recognize and deal with regarding the flesh is its
"good" side. (A perfect example of not dealing with the "good
side" of the flesh is laid out before us in the story of King Saul's loss
of his throne in 1 Samuel 15). In God's sight, there is nothing at all in
us--in our natural lives--that is able to please God. We must die and be
replaced by Christ living in and through us day by day, year after year. (8, 9,
10)
Jesus said to His disciples, ÒIf anyone
desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains
the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange
for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and then He will reward each according to his works." (Matthew
16:24-27)
ÒFor I through the law died to the law
that I might live to God. ÒI have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I
who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ÒI do
not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law,
then Christ died in vain.Ó (Galatians 2:19-21)
Identifying
the "flesh" in our lives is a life-long task--the flesh will do
anything to avoid being put to death. We do not readily recognize the flesh in
ourselves apart from our daily obedience to Jesus--and our ongoing feeding on
the Word of God. Hebrews offers key insights into our day to day walk in the
Spirit.
"Éhe who has entered His rest has
himself also ceased from his works [self-effort] as God did from His [in
creation]. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall
according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His
sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must
give account." (4:10-13)
God
and Community
American
rugged individualism would have us believe that our private actions do not
affect others. Not so. The Biblical God is a personal God who builds families
and communities of which He Himself is a member. Everything we do--whether
public or private--affects others--affects the community. As a participating member
of the community, God seeks to move the individual and the community towards
wholeness and well-being. Those who will not cooperate with His program will find
themselves left out entirely. Consequence engines work for groups of
individuals, and for entire nations. By the way, Jesus Christ is Himself the
appointed personal judge of all mankind (11).
Deeply
engrained within all of us are the world's notions that each of us on his or
her own energy is capable of having a lasting effect on our generation. The
Bible has clearly teaches that only what Christ does through us will last. The
Bible speaks of a coming time of great shaking "Not only of the earth but
also of the heavens" (Hebrews 12:26). Only that which God has built will
remain. Ray Stedman comments,
We have already noted that heaven is the realm of
invisible realities, of forces and principles which actually govern human life.
The word translated "created things" (pepoiemenon) means "things
made," but 11:2 reminds us that behind the visible things are invisible
forces. This shaking of heaven and earth is both of the visible and of the
invisible. Isaiah also declares: "Therefore I will make the heavens
tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD
Almighty, in the day of his burning anger" (Isaiah 13:13). It is this
greater shaking from which there is no escape. That shaking began with the
preaching of Jesus (Haggai 2:6) has been continuing through the Christian
centuries, and will culminate in the great judgments described in Daniel and
Revelation. The earth and heaven will flee away and be replaced by the new
heavens and the new earth.
There is something chilling about the thought of a
shaking of heaven and earth. The twentieth century has watched the crumbling of
much which we once thought to be stable. Faith in human government has been
widely shaken; confidence in science as the savior of the race has waned as the
problems of pollution, urban decay, biological warfare and existential despair
increase. Long-accepted moral standards have disappeared under the onslaught of
divorce, unmarriages, sexual explicitness, homosexuality and abortion.
But there are some things which cannot be shaken
and which will remain forever. That which is shaken and removed is so done in
order that what cannot be shaken may stand revealed. Such an unshakable thing
is the kingdom of God into which those who trust in Jesus have entered. It is
present wherever the King is honored, loved and obeyed. The present active
participle ("are receiving") indicates a continuing process. We enter
the kingdom at conversion, but we abide in it daily as we reckon upon the
resources which come to us from our invisible but present King. Such unbroken
supply should arouse a continuing sense of gratitude within us and lead to
acceptable worship of God. What renders such worship acceptable is the sense of
God as incredibly powerful and majestic in person, and yet loving and
compassionate of heart. (http://raystedman.org/hebrews2/heb2comm2.html)
References:
1.
No Such Thing as Chance! http://ldolphin.org/chance.html
2.
The Great White Throne Judgment, http://ldolphin.org/Gwhite.html
3.
The Judgment Seat of Christ, http://ldolphin.org/Jseat.html
4.
The Scars of Sin, by Ray Stedman, http://raystedman.org/scars.html
5.
Deliberate Sin, and Sin Which Leads to Death,
http://ldolphin.org/deliberate.html
6.
The Power You Already Have, http://raystedman.org/misc/4308.html
7.
How God Saves Us, http://ldolphin.org/howsaved.html
8.
Jesus is our Sabbath Rest, http://ldolphin.org/sabbathrest.html
9.
Entering God's Rest, http://ldolphin.org/Rest.html
10.
Elaine Stedman on the New Covenant, http://raystedman.org/newrs/newcovenant.html
11.
Jesus, Judge of All, http://ldolphin.org/judgment.html
Note:
I first hear the term "the consequence engine" from Glenn Miller,
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/. Glenn denies being the originator of this
term.
Other News: A major summer project our team is working
on in is the addition of all of Ray Stedman's books to his new web site,
http://raystedman.org/. Ray's high-quality mp3 files are very popular and can
be downloaded quickly to your desktop or iPod.
My current
Sunday morning class at my home church, PBC of Palo Alto, is the book of
Leviticus. We are following Ray Stedman's newly-released book, The Way to
Wholeness
(http://raystedman.org/leviticus/). Our class is Podcast by iTunes and also
available weekly in mp3 audio on my web site, http://ldolphin.org/leviticus/.
My friend Mark
Walker and I spent a wonderful week in August with Elaine Stedman, family, and
friends in Medford, Oregon. Barry and Penny Setterfield provided lavish
hospitality for us in their new Grants Pass home--next door to dear friends Stu
and Sue Mendelson. Barry's work in astronomy and physics is featured on his web
site, http://Setterfield.org. It is a wonderful treat to sit down in person
with Barry and get a personal
briefing on his yet-unpublished findings.
Contributions: Friends who want to help
out with my expenses may send contributions directly to me by means of the
PayPal or Amazon.com links on my web site. For those who'd like to contribute
for tax purposes, checks may be sent to Peninsula Bible Church, 3505
Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306. Please include a note designating my
support account. I do not always receive a list of those who send in
contributions so I can not send thank you notes in most cases.
Lambert
Dolphin
July 29, 2005.