by God's Little Boy
© MakeshiftDarkroom.com 2014
Posted 9/20/14

Consider the idea of "being."

"I am," "you are," or "he is," are a few ways to express this thought. I would like to consider this subject in relationship to our unique individual essence that we possess within our new nature. "For in him we live, and move, and have our being;" (Acts 17:28a)

"But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10a)

This verse teaches that we have been made to be what we are. He has made us to be something and the result is that we are, in fact, that something. Does this seem too simplistic? It is wonderfully simple. We are what he has made us to be in Christ and this is not diminished by any transient human condition or experience. God's purpose would be incomplete without any one of us whom he has chosen and set in place.

And so we are!

It's in the can, it's a done deal, it is a certain reality, we are what we are. Regardless of how things appear, what others think of us, or what is said of us, there is an underlying reality of who we really are before God. Even if we should err in conduct and not act like our usual selves we are still who we are. The Bible is filled with examples of men and women who had a notorious record. Yet the scriptures declare and celebrate the value of their unique personal essence which God has set in place and brought into being. We are who we are by the grace of God. God has made us a new creation in Christ. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (1 Corinthians 5:17)

HAST THOU CONSIDERED MY SERVANT JOB?

"And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" (Job 1:8)

Perhaps the most important word in this verse is the word, "is." The phrase, there is none like him speaks of job's "being," and specifically of the character of his being. This was a reality concerning Job, and others knew this to be true of him. But when the hedge was taken away and his calamity came, the character of his "being" came into question. His friends came and sought occasion to minimize his being that they might exalt their own. There are those who purposefully surround themselves with "lesser" people to fortify their own sense of being. They need other people to be wrong within their world so that they can be right. But it didn't really matter how wrong Job behaved, under his great burden of grief and suffering. In God's estimation, Job was and would always be what he was. What he was never changed, and who he was could never be in any way diminished, for he was made to be what he was - a godly man. This may sound a bit too philosophical, but it is a profound way of understanding the actuality of our individuality which has been given by God and supported by imputation as well as impartation. Even in Job's negativity, he perpetually retained his title of "My servant Job" - so far as God was concerned; and it was the "right brothers" who were reproved instead. Job's "friends" didn't quite understand this particular idea of "being" let alone undeserved suffering.

There are instances in the Bible where the character and even the salvation of some seems in question, due to moral or spiritual carelessness. But this question is answered by this idea of "being."

Take Samson for example.

"For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." (Judges 13:5)

In the flesh, it could be said that Samson was a fornicator, but this was not what God made him to be. The shed blood of redemption made something else certain. In God's eyes, he was a judge and mighty deliverer of Israel - and this by grace. The question of Samson's "being," therefore, was settled from the beginning. It was said of Samson before his birth by the angel, "the child shall be a Nazirite unto God."

Remember we are talking about Samson, who swam in the practice of fornication. And the only reason he ceased to sin in such a manner is because the Philistines took him and gouged his eyes out with a hot iron. Nevertheless, he had still found favor in God's sight and was made to be a Nazirite unto God.

Let's repeat the words of the angel a few times and really get a hold of it:

"The child shall be a Nazirite unto God."

"The child shall be a Nazirite unto God."

"The child shall be a Nazirite unto God."

He was guilty of fornication and pride, but he was still a Nazirite unto God.

"The child shall be a Nazirite unto God." This was both a command and a declaration. God was speaking forth a certainty, and that certainty was this: What God had determined for this child Samson, would surely come to pass regardless of any human deviation. God made this declaration knowing the end from the beginning. God's foreknowledge about his future misconduct didn't seem to influence his willingness to use Samson and to set him in place as the next judge of Israel. God chose to use him regardless, and the Holy Spirit (that wary dove) came upon him mightily to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Samson had his being in the foreordained purposes of The Almighty God. The grace of God was glorified in this man's life. This is the glory of this Judges 13-16 account; namely, that God alone made Samson worthy to to be a judge (deliverer) of Israel.

Be careful Philistines! That man is a Nazirite unto God! You're going to do what? You're going to set Samson between the high pillars that support the house? You drunken fools! You should have killed him while you had the chance. This is still the same guy that walked off with the gates of Gaza upon his shoulders! (Judges 16:3) Be careful Philistines! His hair has grown back again and he is calling upon his God! (Judges 16:22) 

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