Common Grace - Isaiah 28:23-29

"When a farmer plows for planting... when he has leveled the surface... does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in it plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way... Grain must be ground to make bread... all this also comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom."

- the prophet Isaiah (In his twenty-eight chapter, verses twenty-three through twenty-nine)

This is remarkable. Isaiah tells us that anyone who becomes a skillful farmer, or who brings an advancement in farming 'science,' is being taught by God. What appears as a discovery (the proper season and conditions for sowing, farm management, rotation of crops, etc.) is actually the Creator opening his book of creation and revealing his truth.

What an incredible insight into life! Could God really be much more apart of the world then we realize? Is he really active inside and outside of church?

I believe Reformed scholar Louis Berkhof would explain it in terms of God's Common Grace which, "curbs the destructive power of sin, maintains in a measure the moral order of the universe, thus making an orderly life possible, distributes in varying degrees gifts and talents among men, promotes the development of science and art, and showers untold blessings upon the children of men.”

Is this section in Isaiah saying that God is a part of everyone's life, no matter if they 'believe' in him or not? Does every good thing indeed come from his hand?

I think that is what it is saying. What we have held up as our own achievements in scholarship, innovation, and all other aspects of life cannot be claimed as our own. Everything comes from the Creator! There is nothing that the creation (us) can claim as our own. There is nothing that we can give God that was not already his!

And if God imparts knowledge everywhere then it is indeed 'grace' since it is undeserved and bestowed on who He chooses. This does not mean that we stop working hard for excellence, but it does mean that we should take ourselves and our achievements a lot less seriously. We are not as great as we think we are! It is good to let that sink in!

If there is common grace in our greatest achievements in science then God is at work much more then we realize in life. If you accept this notion you might find yourself with new motivation, inspiration, and awe in the discoveries and achievements in life because they are, all of a sudden, not just about you but about something much deeper and beautiful...

We have to Understand the Cost

What do you think about this old illustration by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones? Do you see the connection to Christianity today?
If you came to see me and you said, "I was at your house the other day and you weren't there and a bill came due and I paid it." I would really not know quite how to respond. I would want to know something about the size of the bill. Was it a package with postage due and you spent a couple of more bucks? Well, then I could say thank you very much and that that was very kind of you... But what if it was that thing I was afraid of getting from the IRS with hundreds of thousands of dollars due in back taxes and you paid that...

I wouldn't know how to respond until I knew how big the debt was!

Humanity must understand the cost of the price paid on the cross to be moved by it. You will respond to the cross in the same manner as you see the greatness of your debt.

Do you owe Christ the amount of a few postage stamps... or do you owe him your life?

How must we come to God? Like a Child (Luke 18:15-17)

This creation that we are so crazy about has a limit. It does not satisfy our deepest longings. Regardless of the amount of awe stirred in you by creation, it will one day disappear. It will betray each one of us, leaving us wanting something new or wanting something more. No matter how great of a family, husband or wife, friends, or parents you have, they will some day die.

No life ever lasts, something new is always needed and nothing created ever satisfies...

We are blind according to (2 Corinthians 4:4). We cannot see the glory, or, in other words, the significance that God can have in our lives, that our very purpose is to be satisfied only in Him.

We walk in darkness and are dead because of our inability to see this.

(John 15:5)In saying we can do "NOTHING" Jesus is not saying we cannot do ANYTHING, because we of course can. I can get married, move to a different city every 6 months (j/k), go on a bike ride, give money to the poor, live an altruistic lifestyle if I wanted...




But nothing that is going to survive will be accomplished by myself. The only things that will live on after me are those things that are rooted in Jesus, our God who saves. No good or right act lives on into eternity apart from Jesus. Apart from him I can do nothing. Outside of Jesus, we are blind slaves, under a death sentence, that cannot do anything about it.

That is bleak.





Luke 18:15-17 with emphasis on 17.

Babies are born helpless, blind, powerless, in need of saving, in need of an identity, in need of protecting... they are in complete and desperate need of salvation or else they get death. If someone does not intervene and provide the baby will die!

I think the helpless nature of small children is more of what we should be thinking about when we read these verses in Luke. We are not asked to be ignorant or naive in our faith. Is mindless faith honoring to the Creator who gave us our very minds (which are capable of so much)? Is God unable to handle the weight of our questions? I am afraid that we are too fixed upon a child's innocence rather then their helplessness when we read these verses in Luke.

The reality of life is that we are as helpless as little children. We need to accept this if we are going to find a way out of life's dark realities.

We need to receive the Kingdom of God like a child... But how? By feeling the weight of our desperation, just like a child - we need to be saved, to be forgiven, to be healed, to be provided for, to be cared for, to be protected, to be given an identity...

We must come to God like a child comes to a parent - open-handed, filled with hope, trusting that the God of the Universe will do the things that will sustain us.

He has to save us or we are done for, because we cannot save ourselves. We are completely dependent on Him.

We often see faith in adult-like complexity. 'You are too slow God in this so I am going to handle it!' And because of this we do not submit and cry out to God, 'I will trust you! I will obey because I know that you know what is best for me. I am finding what I need in you... you define me.'

Our hope, faith, and trust must be in Him.

How do we get there? Like a child.

There is a lot of crying in the first few years of any life. If the bottle is not gotten there quick enough, if they sit in a dirty diaper for too long, if they get hurt there will be crying. There was a lot of crying at my old job as a Preschool teacher and still some as I meet children in Oakland schools (some are young, others are older, but I still see crying in them all when their most basic needs are not met).

These screams are primal example of how we have to come to the Kingdom of God.

I am hungry, help me!
I hurt, help me!
I am dirty, help me!
I don't know where to go, help me!
I don't know how to fix this, help me!
I am scared, help me!
This is not working, help me!