"How then can a man be righteous before God?" Bildad rhetorically asked Job (Job 25:4).
That question is haunting. In fact, we spend our lives trying to find the answer. We either create our own gods, shrinking them down to our own moral size, or we amplify our own good works so our morality becomes "god-sized." Either way, we try to narrow the gap between our conduct and the standard set by the God described by Bildad as the One who "established order in the heights of heaven" (NIV).
Some people answer the question by saying, "There is no God." Others state, "God may exist, but we can never know for sure." Some will say, "God inhabits everything, and everything is god." These folks don't like the God described in the Bible, and they don't much like the Bible either. By constructing our own "God" we attempt to resolve the problem posed by Bildad's question because our created god will look an awful lot like us and therefore won't have much experience with absolute righteousness.
The real issue in this sea of swirling morality is "Who Sets The Standard By Which You Will Be Measured?" I attended the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles in 1984. Part of the track and field program included athletes participating in the Pole Vault. When I was a boy, Bob Richards had set the world record in the pole vault at 15 feet. Now, in 1984, the bar was set at 18 feet and higher. The standard had been raised year by year, inch by inch, as men became better and better at vaulting higher and higher.
Imagine the consternation of an athlete if a track and field official ordered the Pole Vault bar raised to 100 feet, or 500 feet, or 1000 feet. Well, that is the essence of Bildad's question: "How then can a man be righteous before God?" Mankind's response has always been concerned with inching our way toward what we believe is an attainable goal by being good, working harder, appeasing gods made by our hands, and so on. We set the standard and then we spend our lifetime trying to get there.
But, we miss the mark! The Standard has been set by the God Who Created, and that standard is so high that no person can ever attain the mark. The answer to Bildad's question is that "No man can be righteous before God." Just as no world class pole vaulter hoping to post a personal best 20' leap could ever dream of vaulting over a 1000' high bar, no man or woman will ever stand eyeball to eyeball with God and say, "I did it myself, I am righteous before God through my own efforts."
Well, here is some good news! There is a Pole Vaulter who jumps 1000' high standards and he made the jump for you when you were still in diapers. The Gospel of John says that (1) Jesus was there when the world was created and the standards were set, (2) that Jesus became identified with humanity and became one of us, (3) that Jesus lived a life that was 100% righteous before God, and (4) that Jesus made it possible for anyone and everyone to also become absolutely 100% righteous before God.
Paul the Apostle answered Bildad's question this way: "God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). Who sets the standard? God does! Who meets the standard? God's Son does. Who is righteous before God? Anyone who accepts and appropriates God's Son and his righteousness.
That question is haunting. In fact, we spend our lives trying to find the answer. We either create our own gods, shrinking them down to our own moral size, or we amplify our own good works so our morality becomes "god-sized." Either way, we try to narrow the gap between our conduct and the standard set by the God described by Bildad as the One who "established order in the heights of heaven" (NIV).
Some people answer the question by saying, "There is no God." Others state, "God may exist, but we can never know for sure." Some will say, "God inhabits everything, and everything is god." These folks don't like the God described in the Bible, and they don't much like the Bible either. By constructing our own "God" we attempt to resolve the problem posed by Bildad's question because our created god will look an awful lot like us and therefore won't have much experience with absolute righteousness.
The real issue in this sea of swirling morality is "Who Sets The Standard By Which You Will Be Measured?" I attended the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles in 1984. Part of the track and field program included athletes participating in the Pole Vault. When I was a boy, Bob Richards had set the world record in the pole vault at 15 feet. Now, in 1984, the bar was set at 18 feet and higher. The standard had been raised year by year, inch by inch, as men became better and better at vaulting higher and higher.
Imagine the consternation of an athlete if a track and field official ordered the Pole Vault bar raised to 100 feet, or 500 feet, or 1000 feet. Well, that is the essence of Bildad's question: "How then can a man be righteous before God?" Mankind's response has always been concerned with inching our way toward what we believe is an attainable goal by being good, working harder, appeasing gods made by our hands, and so on. We set the standard and then we spend our lifetime trying to get there.
But, we miss the mark! The Standard has been set by the God Who Created, and that standard is so high that no person can ever attain the mark. The answer to Bildad's question is that "No man can be righteous before God." Just as no world class pole vaulter hoping to post a personal best 20' leap could ever dream of vaulting over a 1000' high bar, no man or woman will ever stand eyeball to eyeball with God and say, "I did it myself, I am righteous before God through my own efforts."
Well, here is some good news! There is a Pole Vaulter who jumps 1000' high standards and he made the jump for you when you were still in diapers. The Gospel of John says that (1) Jesus was there when the world was created and the standards were set, (2) that Jesus became identified with humanity and became one of us, (3) that Jesus lived a life that was 100% righteous before God, and (4) that Jesus made it possible for anyone and everyone to also become absolutely 100% righteous before God.
Paul the Apostle answered Bildad's question this way: "God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). Who sets the standard? God does! Who meets the standard? God's Son does. Who is righteous before God? Anyone who accepts and appropriates God's Son and his righteousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment