I agree with Dr. Tozer that our all-powerful God has all power, controls all power and there is no power apart from Him. It doesn’t matter what it is – electricity, earthquake, raising Christ from the dead or anything else, there is no other source of power. Even the power to do evil must first have come from God. This jarred me, even though I believe it. I was deeply troubled – I couldn’t get my mind around it. I asked the Lord to show me what was missing. We have heard it said that certain people abuse their power. That would not be possible if there were two sources of power – one good and one evil. Whatever a person did would depend on his chosen source of power, so if he acted accordingly, he would not be abusing his power.
Evil source – do evil – NO ABUSE
Good source – do good – NO ABUSE
BUT every day we see many people abusing their power – in government, society, business, family and personal relationships. So, what is going on, where does that leave us? I wrestled with it most of the night – going over it with the Lord - - sleep would not come. Then, just after 4 a.m., God spoke to me, and everything fell into place. Just one word, “JUSTICE”. That was all He said.
Come with me away back in time or before time when sin was never heard of or mentioned. Look into Heaven and see Lucifer, the light-bringer, son of the morning. He walked on the sapphire pavement and led the worship, his voice was so beautiful that his words sounded like beautiful music, he had more beauty and wisdom than any other created being.
Where did Lucifer get the power to make a choice that transformed him to become Satan? Even to-day Satan has only what God gave him.
Now let us go back to Planet Earth to visit the Garden of Eden. We gasp, overwhelmed by the exquisite loveliness, the fragrance, the provision, the scope and everywhere the tangible, personal Presence of God. Certainly Adam had the power not to eat from the forbidden tree and that is the MAGNIFICENCE.
However since he had the power not to eat, it only follows that he would have the power to eat the forbidden fruit and that is the TERROR.
With one quick choice he yielded dominion to Satan and made him prince of this world. He sold all the billions of humanity into the kingdom of darkness. Each and every one of us as we are born into this world are born into spiritual death.
What hope could there be for us? Would there be even a slight possibility of a second Adam? Does our Creator have a dilemma? It certainly looks like a dilemma with no escape because God is so holy, he dwells in blinding light where we dare not approach.
You can share my time machine as we travel billions of years backward in time to before the foundation of the world. When we arrive and step out it seems that no mortal has been there before us. We are trembling because we know instinctively that we are on holy ground. We try to hide ourselves behind a large rock and huddle down, shaking and silent and try to eavesdrop. We hear voices, 3 voices talking and planning and we hear an astounding fact GOD LOVES US! The Holy Trinity, every Almighty Person in the Triune Godhead loves us. In spite of all that has happened God loves us – that is why He created us in His image. Although that image is defaced, it is not erased and we almost faint when we hear God’s stupendous plan to bridge the horrendous gap between His holiness and our sin.
The Psalmist wrote “Mercy and Truth have kissed each other” but the truth about me is that God cannot forgive me and remain holy. So what will God do, what can He do?
The second Person of the Trinity, who will be called Jesus in the far distant future, will lay aside every attribute of Deity which is incompatible with humanity and clothe Himself with humanity. He will become a real human man and live on earth a perfect life of total obedience to God, His Father. Then He will become the Perfect Sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. How can that be possible? Remember the one word God spoke to me – JUSTICE! All the fury of righteous indignation. All the wrath of Divine outrage will thunder down upon Jesus and there will be no relenting until justice is fully avenged.
We cannot speak. We climb into our time machine and follow Jesus across the many centuries until we get to Gethsemane. We need to spend much time at Gethsemane and Calvary but for now I’ll condense it. We watch – listen – learn. The stress of His agony is so fierce the blood vessels in His temples burst and Covenant Blood pours down His face mingled with tears.
Never before – never since – never ever was there any human sorrow like the sorrow of Jesus.
Not even believers in the Persecuted Church know anything near this depth of sorrow and suffering. They are precious jewels, being beautified in the fire, suffering unspeakable horrors designed in the heart of Satan.
BUT
No believer will ever feel the crushing, suffocating, beyond nauseating stench and weight of sin.
No believer will ever be in that deep, dark pit of total aloneness, aloneness far beyond any use of the word lonely to describe the complete, absolute aloneness which is Hell. No believer will ever be abandoned and cursed by God.
ONLY JESUS!
So what did He accomplish, if anything?
The MAN Christ Jesus by His amazing faith became the atonement for the sin of the world. He paid the full ransom and purchased us out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of Light. He made the reality of Incarnate Deity true for every believer. He restored all that was lost in the first Adam. He opened the way for the fulfillment of every plan and purpose in the mind of God before the foundation of the world.
Our time machine shoots us ahead and we return to the present time. It has been a long journey and it has changed me.
Now, I more fully understand that even the smallest sin is extremely wicked. If I use my magnificent gift of free will and CHOOSE to sin, I am abusing, defiling and violating the holy, righteous power God has given me.
The loving Giver of power is also JUST and the righteous JUDGE who guarantees that He will administer consequences accordingly, based on the USE or ABUSE of His holy power.
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God has given all of us a time machine. I’m sure you know it is our imagination which should be sanctified and devoted entirely to Him.