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The Order of Heaven
God's Peace: Dealing with the Disease of Sin
"For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:" - Titus 1:5
Order is a very important aspect to our Christian life. Without order things cannot flow as God would have them flow. There are conditions that lead to life where our choices require the order of God. Chance has never been part of God's divine order. And since we were created with a sovereign will, it is evident that our choices play a major role in how that divine order becomes present or absent in the course of our decision making. If we are to expect to see order worked out in us to where we experience the influence of God's perfect plan, then we must maintain a life that consistently exhibits surrendering our will to his will.
There is a place of order that God wants to bring us into. It is a divine order, the same sense of order that is exhibited in the universe itself. Think about the sun, the moon, the stars, the tides, even time itself. Each carries the order of God. They are a product of his master plan. When God created man he too was a product of that same divine order, but sin entered and disrupted the flow that was intended to keep man in the center of God's will. Such a choice to step out of God's order not only broke the flow of heaven as far as man is concerned, but it disrupted the order of God's creation (Romans 8:22).
Christ came to reestablish order in the heart of man. One day that order will be extended to all of creation and everything will return to the order that it was created to experience. Order is a direct result of the righteousness of God. When we accept Christ as our Savior his righteousness becomes the order that brings our spirit into union with heaven. When John wrote his first epistle he stated, "All unrighteousness is sin" (1 John 5:17). He could have said, "All disorder is sin," because that is what happens when we step out of the flow of the righteousness of God.
Any society that becomes wicked, impious, or immoral lives in a contradiction to the peace of God, and therefore, will unavoidably suffer the consequences of disorder.
The word disease is a compound word made up of two syllables: 1) dis -a Latin prefix meaning "pull apart," "put asunder," or "to do away with." It has a negative connotation that implies a reversing effect. Such uses of the words: disable, disarm, dislike, disown, each indicate this reversal. 2) Ease is an old French word meaning "a state of comfortableness," "to be free from pain or difficulty," "something that is effortless or without strain." Clearly, we can see how disease covers far more than just physical ailments. It describes anything that steals away ease or even pulls apart and removes ease from our midst. One of the purposes of righteousness is to establish peace (Isaiah 32:17; Romans 5:1). Peace is the opposite of disease. It seeks to pull everything toward the order of heaven so that we become free of pain, discomfort; so that we can experience a walk with God that flows effortlessly. Without peace the disease of disorder makes life hard and unbearable.
Divine order will always produce ease. It just seems to make things work better spiritually, physically, and emotionally. When Jesus ministered healing, he oftentimes would say, "Go in peace..." (Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50). If there is anything we know about disease it is the absence of peace. In fact, all impairment that causes an abnormal function, whether it is physical, spiritual, social, or domestic, is all part and parcel of a life separated from God's peace. Since it was the disease of sin that broke our fellowship with God in the first place, it only makes sense that for us to be rid of its effects we must submit ourselves to the righteousness of God. Through righteousness, God peace cures us from the disease of sin, sickness, and any other malady to life.
One of the great operations invested in the work of the Holy Spirit is to urge men to come to Christ so that they can be made righteous. It is in righteousness that we become connected to the influence of heaven's divine order where we can make right choices and continue to abide in God's peace.
Some folks have the mistaken idea that universal order automatically tends after itself. That everything that happens has a reason. All mishaps and calamity are a result of order making its own adjustments, and that the cycle of life corrects itself. Others have this philosophy that God has everything in control and that nothing happens that his hand does not cause to occur. For this reason, even insurance policies have stipulated that devastating storms are mere "acts of God." While it is true that God is the only Sovereign Lord - the creator and sustainer of the universe, we know that the Bible clearly points out that much of what happens with man is the result of his own choices and not some unseen hand directing everything behind the scene. We cannot assume that our lives are somehow robotically manipulated or that the things that happen in life are directed solely by God. He certainly has his own providential wherewithal to move in the behalf of man, but nowhere do we find where he makes men do what he pleases without their cooperation.
Any society that becomes wicked, impious, or immoral lives in a contradiction to the peace of God, and therefore, will unavoidably suffer the consequences of disorder. That is why we owe it to ourselves to submit to the righteousness of God and allow his peace to remove the burden of disorder and heal us from the disease of sin.
PRAYER
Father, today I choose to make Jesus Christ the center of my affections. I will seek to do your will and allow your peace to determine the order in my life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen
CONFESSION
I will walk in the order of heaven. I will experience the peace of God in place of the disease of sin. I purpose to follow the Holy Spirit in all my ways, and let him guide me through righteousness to where I carry God's peace everywhere I go.
DEFINING MOMENTS...
Choice is one of the attributes that God gave man in creation. We can choose life or we can choose death. We can choose blessing or we can choose cursing. All of it is contained within the laws God established in creation. If we follow after the order of heaven we will find God's laws working for our good. If we disregard his order we cannot blame God for the ills that we will suffer.
In the hour that we are living, it is very necessary that we seek out the order of heaven. We must find where the ease of God rests and let the Holy Spirit navigate our lives through whatever comes our way. This is our assurance of keeping his peace foremost in the path that lies ahead.
In His Grace,
Pastor David
Faith Harvest Church
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