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Commentary on "Joyous and Thankful"
Day 5: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - Doing What Paul Would Do (1 Thess. 1:6, 7)
Overview
This lesson for today looks at the power of following a Godly example from each other, and ultimately from Christ. Dr. Paulien makes several good points on how, even though it is dangerous to follow the example of others who are always fallible and can let us down. However, we still need role models. We need others for guidance and counsel, and all of us have been blessed in this way.
The Thessalonians had recently heard the word of the gospel, and now needed a mentor to help them through hard times. They were being persecuted for their faith, and suffering had made them more joyful, not bitter. In this, they had imitated Paul.
Observations
Reading Paulien’s commentary today, I want to agree with everything he is saying, and on this topic, I generally do. In our individualistic culture we celebrate youth and marginalize the elderly, and as their replacement, we embrace glitzy, self-destructive celebrities. As a psychologist at a high school, I see the tragic results of young men who have no fathers, and who fall into destructive, even criminal identities. That is the reality for many of my students. Their tragedy both mirrors and influences the general culture, and their plight is just a symptom of our disease. These kids so badly need Christian examples who can work and even live in their midst. I think that Pauien and I pretty much agree on these things. I also agree with the author on the supremacy of Christ as our example in integrity and holiness. All others are weak and stained imitations.
Not to take away from the positive things I just said above, I am also aware that Adventist thinkers can use many of the same words that other conservative Christian thinkers use, and mean very different things. When many Christians, and most Adventist writers talk about the power of the gospel, they mean the following: Jesus died for our sins and rose again so He could send the Holy Spirit and give us the power to overcome those sins. After an initial forgiveness, however, Christians then set themselves to the daunting task of obeying the Ten Commandments and becoming “fit for heaven.” This quest for heavenly fitness can lead to apathy, feverish legalism, or to seeking after ever more powerful signs from the Holy Spirit.
Sanctification that does not stay continually grounded on the eternal promises of a sovereign God feeds a self-defeating cycle. A focus on either the law or on supernatural signs will set us adrift into man-centered thinking. Like Moses and Paul, we need to stay intoxicated with awe-struck wonder at the immense sovereignty of God over all of nature and history. That is not possible if you are immersed in the great controversy world view, where God is definitely not in charge of history, who’s hold on His universe is very tenuous, and who’s battle with the demigod Satan keeps Him on the defensive. Our God must be truly King, the kind of king who is able to rule over all of our realities. For many Adventists and a host of other religious people, however, His position in their universe is very shaky.
What we need today is to feel and know as Isaiah did when he saw God on His throne. When Isaiah beheld the glory and majesty of God in His temple, he was filled with awe and wonder:
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Isaiah 6:1
The King of kings was lifted up, high above all other powers, including the powers of evil that Christians fear. The angels attending Him kept shouting to each other (vs. 3),
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
We can never move beyond the sense of God’s greatness and holiness that Isaiah had. So quickly we want to drift off into a man-centered perspective, and place ourselves into a universe that is not filled with His glory. God rules over history, and does not submit Himself to any man’s judgment. He doesn’t share His glory. Truly, as the humbled monarch Nebuchadnezzar said (Daniel 4:35),
“…all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised July 24, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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