The pain of God

Scripture Read: Eze 28:12-17 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 “You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. 16 “By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.

 

Application: I was brought to a thought that I had not considered at length Lord – How much You have been hurt. We all realize the pain You must have felt as You watched Your Son. But do we consider how much pain You have endured from other things. We think of You in terms of awesome and powerful so much that we forget how much you also feel. Then I thought about how much it must of hurt You when Satan betrayed You. He was one of Your greatest creations – that must have really hurt. We are also so use to thinking about Satan in terms of how evil he is and at odds with You. We forget that You created him to have fellowship with You and he was so beautiful and in Your presence. It must have really caused You pain to see him choose death and destruction. Your love allows freedom, but freedom misspent carries a great cost. Help us to spend some time today thinking about how Your heart hurts over sin. Lord help us to see this so we can hate sin more!!

Pain either way – But our choice

Scripture Read: Hebrews 12:6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons

 

Application:  If God is loving, then why would He cause us pain? For some reason this question is on the lips of every person I have met that does not want to admit there is a God. Yet I have never heard them accuse a parent that shows tough love of not existing. They understand that sometimes to love may include pain. Do we?     

Disciplines - παιδεία paideía – This is discipline from a parent’s point of view – it is always met to grow - not destroy. In reality, we need to understand, in the end it is about a choice of pain. What do I mean? Sin is like rat poison – it brings death (separation) – whether it be physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual. All are painful. So when we sin we can either experience the pain of the ramifications of separation or we can experience the pain of the loving hand of our Father – spanking us – to awaken us to the danger we are in. We can either desire the pain of sin and it’s end or the pain of God’s discipline, which in the end leads to maturity and life. Both may feel the same at first – but in the end are very different. Give us the pain that confirms we belong to You oh God – the other is a lonely and destructive end.