Who You Serve

 Because the flesh desires to usurp God in prominence and authority, men constantly attempt to whittle Him down to their size. They know they can’t compete; there will always be the delineating factor of Creator and creation, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try. They attack His omnipotence, His omniscience, His inerrancy, and His supremacy, whether directly or indirectly, by their words and actions.

Everything the world does has the singular goal of diminishing God. Even the latest craze of people claiming to be born in the wrong body, to the wrong gender, with the wrong plumbing is rooted in the idea that a sovereign, inerrant God made a mistake with Billy because Billy believes he should be Betty.

It’s man’s way of convincing himself that God is fallible. Why would man go to such great lengths to make God fallible in their minds? Because if He is fallible about something as basic as one’s gender, then maybe, just maybe, all that stuff about eternal judgment can be ignored. Perhaps it is a bedtime story to scare the youngsters into brushing their teeth and saying their evening prayers.

Even those claiming to be of the household of faith need to be reminded about the God they serve, who He is, what He has done, what He can do, and what He will do. If God has declared a thing, then no matter how improbable to human intellect, it’s as good as done because there is nothing He cannot do. He spoke the universe into being, created man from the dust of the earth, and knew the end from the beginning without breaking a sweat.

That anyone would think their feelings or opinions take precedence over the word and will of God only goes to show man's hubris. You mean to tell me you can’t hold down a job for more than two weeks, but you can dictate terms to the Creator of all things? You live in a van down by the river subsisting on baked beans and Spam, but you have the temerity to declare that God was wrong and you are right, and one of these days, God will see it your way?

At the end of his short letter, Jude pens both an exhortation and a reminder of who the God we serve is. It is beautiful and poetic and ought to have the effect of lifting your head from the dust of the earth, standing up straight, and reminding yourself that you are His son, you are His daughter, you are counted among those He loved so much that He sent Jesus to die the death of the cross that you might be reconciled unto Him. Before you get a swelled head, God loved the world, not just a handful therein, so let’s not jump to declaring and speaking into existence quite yet.

We cling to memories we should let sink to the bottom of the sea of forgetfulness, but we allow time to dull the reality of who God is in our hearts and minds. We remember every insult, cross word, and offense to our person since we were in diapers but readily forget all the great things God has done for us. The shortest route to bitterness for any heart is to forget the goodness of the Lord and concentrate on the injustice and corruption of the world.  You can’t blame God for what the godless do. Free will is sometimes a fanged beast with poisoned talons, and consequences are an absolute that none can skirt around. We fail to see what the Lord has done but anxiously speculate on what He will do, and peace can never have a place in such a soul.

Jude 24-25, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”

Of all the things Jude could have ended his letter with, he chose to end it with a profound humility that reveals his understanding of man’s frail nature and his need to lean on God. He could have gone through the various attributes of God, but he chose to focus on the fact that He is able to keep us from stumbling and present us faultless before the presence of His glory.

Even as Christ’s younger brother and one who was committed to the way of truth, Jude understood that the continued presence of God in one’s life keeps one's foot from slipping, one's eye from wandering, and one's focus from shifting.

If you desire to remain in Him, God will keep you from stumbling. If His will for your life is your preeminent priority, He will finish the good work He has begun in you. Does this mean that men can’t fall away? Does this mean that once you wave a hand at a crusade, you’re grandfathered in no matter what? The answer is self-evident, given the epidemic of mega church pastors renouncing their faith in Christ and feeling the need to shout their renunciation from the rooftops.

Some men choose rebellion. Some men choose to run back into the arms of the world because they love it more than they love God. These are not the ones Jude is referring to. Jude is referring to those who walk humbly with their Lord and whose love for Him is consuming and consistent. They are the ones whom God keeps from stumbling as they navigate the snares and traps of the enemy.

No matter how strong you may think yourself to be, you would be felled without God's grace, mercy, presence, power, and aid in your life. Eventually, one of the fiery arrows would get through. Eventually, your foot would slip without Him keeping you from it. For all that He is and all that He does, for His love, mercy, correction, holiness, and grace, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.

Jeremiah 9:23-24, “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.”

With love in CHrist,

Michael Boldea, Jr.