2017 40 Days of Prayer, Day 20
The Abiding Presence of God:
A Life of Complete Dependence
Day 20
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope.” Romans 8:20
Creation Subjected To Futility
God directs all of human history and natural history to His own end. He created the universe and all things in it. He created all things as “good.” As the Scripture says, “God saw that it was good.” (Gen. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) However, He subjected the “good” of creation to the futility of sinful humanity. This futility was not the result of the actions of Adam and Eve. Rather, God Himself subjected the creation to the frustration. God placed the creation under the weight of sinful humanity. Adam and Eve’s rebellion, though completely evil on their part, has been used by God to bring about His greater plan and to bring about greater glory to His name. God made the creation and “behold, it was very good.” Humanity’s fall into sin damaged aspects of the “good” of God’s creation. Since then, the whole universe experiences the futility of the fallen world. As God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:17) This edict by God on Adam and by extension, the rest of us and the rest of the creation, may have been on Paul’s mind when He wrote this verse in Romans. “Cursed is the ground.” Cursed is the creation itself because of Adam’s actions. The result is Adam Himself will struggle under the futility of creation. This futility does not diminish the sovereignty of God nor does it thwart His purposes. Since the time of the initial fall by Adam and Eve, God has orchestrated the events of people, nations, and nature itself with the goal of maximizing His own glory and accomplishing His own plans. As Paul declared to the Athenians in Acts 17:25-26, God “Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.” Paul declared God’s sovereignty over creation in his statement about the futility of the creation. Paul declared the futility to be “because of Him who subjected it.” God knew that Adam and Eve, as our representatives, would rebel against Him. He also knew that in their rebellion He would put in motion His eternal plan to redeem humanity and all of creation. When we see the futility of creation, the natural consequence of our sinful and fallen world, we see the seriousness of our sin. When we see God’s plan of salvation through the life, death and resurrection of His Son, we also see the greatness of God’s own love for us. God’s love is greater than our sin. God’s redemptive plan is greater than creation’s futility.
How does this relate to us? When trials come, we know that God is sovereign and that He has a plan. He subjects us to the futility of a sinful world. He does this with great purpose. We are reminded of our brokenness and sinfulness. We are reminded that the creation, as it is today, is not as God intended in the original created plan. We are reminded of Christ and His sufferings for us. We are reminded that God is at work even in our trials to bring about His greater good and our greater joy. We are reminded of the hope that is ours in Christ. There is an abiding hope in the midst of the brokenness. God is sovereign over all things. He is the One who subjected the creation. He alone has such authority. In Paul's statement "because of Him", “Paul must be referring to God, who alone had the right and the power to condemn all of creation to frustration because of human sin. But this decree of God was not without its positive side, for the promise of God was given in conjunction with the curse, that ‘he will bruise your head.’ The creation, then, though subjected to frustration as a result of human sin, has never been without hope.” (Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, NICNT). God subjects His creation and us to futility. He does this because He continually works toward His desired end. The purposes of God are to glorify His Son. God glorifies His Son forever in His redemption of individuals, and the church, and even the rest of creation. This protects our hearts from despair, knowing that our difficulties come from the hand of a loving Creator, and He is working all of these things for His greater glory and our joy. He will not leave our trials unredeemed. He is in the process of sovereignly moving to bring our trials to a climactic end, whereby His glory is on display and our joy is maximized. Hope springs eternal even in the midst of trials.
Prayer Focus
Thank You, God, for the difficult times. Use these trials to strengthen my faith and to produce character in my life. I do not want to lose my joy because of my failure to submit my life to Your will. I confess that I have too often allowed bitterness or frustration to keep me from seeing Your goodness in all things. Forgive me for this denial of Your sovereign mercy. Help me to persevere under the various trials in my life.
From DL Moody’s Secret Power
FRESH SUPPLIES
Turn to Acts 4:31, and you will find the Holy Spirit came a second time, and at a place where they were, so that the earth was shaken, and they were filled with this power. That is, we are leaky vessels, and we have to keep right under the fountain all the time to keep full of Christ, and so have a fresh supply.
I believe this is a mistake a great many of us are making; we are trying to do God’s work with the grace God gave us ten years ago. We say, if it is necessary, we will go on with the same grace. Now, what we want is a fresh supply, a fresh anointing and fresh power, and if we seek it, and seek it with all our hearts, we will obtain it.
The early converts were taught to look for that power. Philip went to Samaria, and news reached Jerusalem that there was a great work being done in Samaria, and many converts; and John and Peter went down, and they laid their hand on them and they received the Holy Spirit for service. I think that is what we Christians ought to be looking for- the Spirit of God for service - that God may use mightily in the building of His Church and hastening His glory.
In Acts 19, we read of twelve men at Ephesus, who, when the inquiry was made if they had received the Holy Spirit since they believe, answered: “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” I venture to say there are very many, who, if you were to ask them, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” would reply, “I don’t know what you mean by that.” They would be like the twelve men down at Ephesus, who had never understood the peculiar relation of the Spirit to the sons of God in this life. I firmly believe that the Church has just laid this knowledge aside, mislaid it somewhere, and so Christians are without power. Sometimes you can take one hundred members into the Church, and they don’t add to its power. Now that is all wrong. If they were only anointed by the Spirit of God, there would be great power if one hundred saved ones were added to the Church.