A Box God will never fit into

Genesis 26:12-16

Have you ever tried to put God in a box, so that you and those you hangout with can easily understand Him?  If so, I bet the God in your box has total distain for people who lie, as Isaac has done about Rebekah being his sister.  I also bet the God in your box is the one who gives all blessing and also brings curses on those who lie and are dishonest.  So as we turn to verses 12-16 the God of the Bible may not fit into your box.

“And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold.  The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.  He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.”  Isaac, the man who was the blessing of God, had clay feet just as his father Abraham; both of them lied because of the fear of man, but both obeyed God and did what he told them.  And I believe you and I would be very wise to agree with Scripture, that all blessings come from God, and that it was God who was abundantly blessing Isaac, so much that the King asked him to leave his Country.

Everyone has a box that we try to fit God into, and it is not a new thing, in fact the early church and the apostles also dealt with the issue of how one enters into their own Christian experience or relationship with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and God the Father.  Gene Getz, in his book Men of Character, list four facts that we need in our box to have biblical truth.  I believe most peoples’ box has a place in it to earn the favor of God, or they have been taught that they must do some act, to earn the grace of God.  And often the ones who believe it is a free gift, put rules in their box, rules to keep themselves saved, and those rules are based on a life of performance.  I’ve come to believe that even the faith to believe in Christ came from God, I did nothing, not one thing, to earn salvation, it was all God’s grace and His only, and if that be true, then how could I lose what I did not earn?

The following four points are important for every Christian’s box.

1. To what extent do you understand and believe that your salvation is a free gift from God – something you cannot and did not work for?
2. To what extent do you have the assurance of your salvation and that God is the one who keeps you eternally saved?  In other words, to what extent do you understand that your eternal redemption is not dependent upon your own efforts?
3. When you evaluate your Christian lifestyle, what evidence do you see that you are truly saved?
4. When you look at how you live your Christian life, what evidence is there of legalism – either in your view of how you were saved or what keeps you saved?  On the other hand, what evidence is there of license – that is, living your life in such a way that you are taking advantage of God’s grace?  (Page 138 of Men of Character by Gene A. Gezt)

We all have a box that God will never fit into, and it is important to go back to the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to clean out your box; most of us have stuff in the box that’s not biblical.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice