Is God a Control Freak? // Ty Gibson

well hello storyline wherever you happen to be tuning in from around the world and a special hello to storyline eugene oregon we've been asking a series of questions regarding the character of god now when we use the word character in this kind of context we're referring to the way god thinks the way god feels and the way god relates or the way god behaves in relation to others the character of god is vital for us to understand because it determines whether we relate to him out of fear or love adoration on the one hand is a motivation that could drive us because we perceive god as fundamentally good and having our best interest at heart or terror is another option if we perceive god as fundamentally against us in some sense and our world is haunted with misconceptions of the character of god that run directly counter to what scripture actually teaches regarding the kind of person god is so we've been asking questions regarding what god is like who god is how god relates to us as his creation and today i want to probe with you the question is god a control freak now this question naturally arises because as we look at scripture we encounter something called the law of god that word law sounds rather austere it sounds cold and calculated it sounds like some kind of externally imposed demand the bible speaks of the commandments of god specifically the ten commandments and the question becomes is god giving us his law and giving us his commandments as a means of exerting authority over us as a means of achieving control over us or is god aiming for something deeper and far more profound and beautiful in the giving of his law i have a friend who has a tesla and he's just raving about this thing and telling me what an amazing driving experience that is and i'm asking him what's so amazing about it and he says well you just have to experience it so of course he gave me the opportunity to drive the tesla so i could have the experience myself that's we're driving down the road and i'm in the driver's seat i'm thinking this isn't so amazing and then he tells me well take your hands off the steering wheel so rather nervously i take my hands off the steering wheel we're going 50 60 miles an hour down a highway with cars all around us and my hands are not on the steering wheel and then he says close your eyes so i close my eyes i am so nervous with my eyes closed and my hands off the steering wheel that i am feeling like we're going to crash any minute but we didn't because the car knows what it's doing and the car knows where it's going it is what's called a self-driving car because it has an internal operating system that remains within the parameters of the highway upon which you're driving to get you safely to your destination it was in fact an amazing driving experience now when we look at scripture we have one of two directions we can go with regards to the law of god is the law of god a mechanism of control or is it a mechanism of freedom my friend said to me at one point with my hands off the steering wheel and my eyes closed he could tell i was nervous he said the word relax the car knows what it's doing the car knows where it's going relax the car is programmed internally to do what it's supposed to do so the law of god i'm going to suggest to you operates more like a mechanism by which maximum freedom is achieved it is not the end goal of god's law to exert control over us but rather to liberate us so we can relax and operate by the principles of love that are inherent in god's law as our very own internal self-driving if you will experience on the highway of life so a person i'm going to suggest to you who is internally governed doesn't need to be externally governed now this is you know potentially dangerous because when the operating system of god's law is not intact and fully operational there is a sense in which god's law operates to externally govern us to the degree that we need it for as long as we need it so let's look at paul's understanding of the law of god as ultimately an internal operating system that is governed by love alone watch this in galatians chapter 2 and verse 16 the apostle paul says knowing that a man a human being a person is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of jesus christ now this is paul's premise in galatians that in christ we see something on display here called the faith of jesus christ that that justifies the human being that brings the human being to a condition of innocence before god and in conscience now that faith of jesus christ is the means by which god brings us to the place where we are justified or innocent in our conscience before him the law of god does not serve that purpose and that is not to say that the law has no purpose because paul is about to explain to us what the purpose of the law is but at the beginning here he simply wants us to understand that justification or what we sometimes call salvation or the the position of innocence before god and the promise of eternal life all of that is brought to us by the faith of jesus christ and not by the works of the law the law has a purpose its purpose is not to justify its purpose is not to save its purpose is not to redeem the human being from its sin jesus occupies that role so paul goes on and he says even we have believed in jesus christ that we might be justified by the faith of christ and not by the works of the law for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified again paul is emphasizing his point that justification salvation if you will is achieved by the faith of christ and that the works of the law play no part in the achieving of our salvation we skip then over to chapter 3 of galatians now where paul is going to in greater detail flesh out the role that the law actually plays in verse 19 he says what purpose then does the law serve now his context here of course is he has just negated the law as a means of salvation so naturally the question is if the law doesn't contribute to our salvation if obeying the law if complying with the law doesn't achieve salvation then what purpose does the law serve well then paul says something very fascinating he says it that's the law was added because of transgressions the law of god was added because of transgressions hold on to that language till the seed that's a capital s and that is a metaphor a symbol for jesus the messiah the christ he's the seed he is the one that was promised through the lineage of abraham who would come into the world as the messiah and savior jesus is the seed the law was added because of sin because of transgressions till jesus should come to whom the promise was made is the law then paul is asking against the promises of god is the law against the promises of god because it was added he just said because of transgression its purpose is not to save us what purpose does it serve then is it against the promises of god paul emphatically says certainly not for if there had been a law given if there had been a law given which could have given life well truly righteousness would have been by the law he's he's simply saying that it is not possible for the law to occupy a saving redeeming role if it could have occupied a saving and redeeming role well then it would have been given to us for that purpose but it wasn't given for that purpose because it can't serve our need for salvation ultimately but the scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in this version says actually the king james version and the greek indicates of jesus christ that the promise by the faith of jesus christ might be given to those who believe but before faith came by which he means before the covenant promise came in the person of jesus christ before the faith of jesus christ which he has emphasized now three times in a row before faith in the person of christ came we were kept under guard by the law so here's the first role that the law plays according to paul in this passage it's it's a guardian of sorts we were kept under guard by the law kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed so the law guards us and the law keeps us for our encounter with christ and the awakening of our faith in response to his faithfulness this is paul's point here therefore he goes on to elaborate on the law and its proper function and what it's not intended to do therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to christ that we might be justified by faith but after faith has come that is faith in christ the embodiment of faithfulness or covenant faithfulness embodied in the person of christ but he says after faith has come in christ we are no longer under a tutor and the tutor is the law this is fascinating so paul's line of reasoning moves something like this he says justification salvation redemption everything that the human being needs is contained within the faith of jesus christ not even our faith in him but his faithfulness covenantally toward us that is to say in paul's thinking god is a promise-making promise-keeping god he has entered into covenant relation with the human race and he has fulfilled he has followed through to keep faith that is to keep relational integrity to follow through and to be faithful to the human race in the person of jesus christ when jesus came to the world when he lived his life and he taught the gospel and he died on the cross and he was in the tomb and he resurrected and ascended the entire christ event is encapsulated in what paul calls the faith of jesus the covenantal integrity of god on display in the doing and dying of christ jesus is the savior the law is not but the law he says was added because of sin this is fascinating language if the law was added does that not imply that it didn't previously exist well let's see what paul says as we continue until the seed should come again the language of paul is the law was added because of sin which raises the question well if the law was added did it not previously exist it was added because of sin did god's law not exist prior to sin well paul says that the faith of jesus is the saving mechanism the law was added because of sin and the law was added because of sin until jesus would finally come as the savior then he says that the law is our tutor it's an educational tool he said it's a guardian a protector it keeps us it's like guard rails on a highway to keep us from completely spinning out of control and making a complete disaster and wreck of our lives the law is a guardian the law is keeping us until we encounter christ it's a tutor it educates us until we encounter christ and then he says that the law brings us to christ that is to say that the law exercises its proper realm and jurisdiction by causing us to feel our need of a savior the law doesn't have saving power in and of itself but it does show us our sin it shows us the things that are wrong with us so that we can feel our need for a savior that we might be justified by faith paul says but after faith has come this is pretty startling paul says we're no longer under the tutor we're no longer under the law now this raises the question of course what law is paul talking about here in galatians this is an important question because it has been taught by many that the law that paul is talking about must be the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings the passover it must be the ceremonial law it is reasoned because paul is saying that once we come into the faith of christ we're no longer under the law which was a tutor until christ would come that doesn't sound right to our minds at first glance because it sounds as though we're doing away with the law if it's the moral law so we reason it must be the ceremonial law yeah we can we can see how the ceremonial law is giving way to christ but we can't see how the moral law of god the ten commandments would give way to christ in in any sense because we know that the moral law of god is eternal but here's the thing the law that paul is talking about in galatians is in fact the moral law and we need to understand what he's talking about what he means when he says that that law is a guard and that it keeps us and that it's a tutor until christ comes and we experience in christ something that makes it so that we're no longer under the tutor how do we know that this law is the moral law well first of all we know from the text itself because within paul's reasoning he's talking about salvation he's talking about justification and he's talking about the works of the law not being a means of salvation it is in fact salvation he's dealing with and not merely the types and symbols of the ceremonial system but for those of you who are familiar with the writings of ellen white you'll find it interesting that ellen white specifically says that the law in this passage that we've been reading in galatians that the law in galatians is in fact especially the moral law she says in this scripture the holy spirit through the apostle is speaking notice her language especially of the moral law when we read about the tutor that brings us to christ in the book of galatians that law is specifically the moral law now this poses some very significant questions and problems for our thinking that we need to flesh out but this is an idea that is pervasive throughout the new testament the apostle paul for example in first timothy chapter 1 verses 8 and 9 says we know something i mean this is just a given for paul he's just saying that this is some kind of premise that all of us recognize so do we recognize this premise paul says we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully that's very interesting language the law is good if it is used lawfully which begs the question what would be an unlawful use of the law well in paul's thinking an unlawful use of the law would be to use the law as a means of salvation right so paul's thinking is do not impose the law as a series of hurdles that people must clear in order to have justification before god in order to have innocence before god in order to have salvation the law is not a means of salvation that would be a unlawful use of god's law to impose it as a condition for salvation so the law is good if it's used lawfully because we know this paul says this is fascinating that the law is not made for a righteous person but for the lawless dot dot now the dot dot dot he goes on and has a quite a list of sinful actions he is essentially saying that the law of god has its proper sphere of operation and that that sphere of operation is not salvation in fact paul goes a step further and he says the law of god in the form that we have it in the ten commandments the law of god is not even for a righteous person the law of god is for sinners well this loops back to his language in galatians where he says that the law was added because of sin human beings became sinners and then god gave the law in the form of the ten commandments so think about it hypothetically if human beings if adam and eve the human race had never sinned well then the implication is the law of god in the form of the ten commandments that we have in in exodus 20 on the tables of stone the law of god would have never been presented in that form there would have been no reason to say to unfallen adam and eve in an unfallen human race with no sin and no guilt and no experience in transgression there would be no rationale for saying to them do not commit murder why would we commit murder murder is nowhere in their dna it's nowhere in their operating system they don't need to be told don't murder because murder is nowhere on their radar this is fascinating the apostle paul says that the law was added because of sin the apostle paul says that the law is not made it wasn't given to righteous people it was given to lawless people lawless people need the law not people who are already in harmony with the law this is fascinating again quoting from ellen white in the book thoughts from the mount of blessings she reasons this idea through that we are encountering in the apostle paul's writings and she says in heaven watch this in heaven service is not rendered in a spirit of legality now the word legality of course refers to law in heaven that is among the angels service to god and to one another is not rendered in a spirit of legality the angels don't need to check a code of ethics or behavior and make sure they're in harmony with it because they are already in harmony with the principles of god's law without an externally imposed law being brought to them they just are already governed by the internal operating system of love so their spirit is not rendered in a spirit of legality i have to do this i have to do that i must not do this i must not do that well they don't think in that way the unfallen angels do not render service to god and one another in a spirit of legality now watch this she goes on and says when satan rebelled against the law of jehovah the thought that there was a law came to the angels almost as an awakening to something unthought of this is amazing this is exactly what the apostle paul is saying that the law was added because of sin that the law is not made for the righteous but for the lawless so so when satan rebelled when sin became an actual reality right then it was that god stepped forward and began to speak in terms of a law and the angels were essentially she is saying here the angels were essentially blown away by this they're like law what law where is it we've never seen a law we've never heard about a law the idea that there was a law was for the angels like awakening to a whole new idea something unthought of a law so what is the point that paul is making and that ellen white is making here does the law cease to exist when we encounter the faith of jesus christ and the salvation that we have in him alone apart from the works of the law does the law become abolished is it as the popular idea or notion of antinomianism is the law nailed to the cross is it abolished is it done away with are we now because we are saved by grace through faith alone in the faith of christ are we now free to sin is is paul promoting disobedience to the law of god or is there something else going on here does the law cease to exist well we could say that what paul is teaching using our tesla illustration that the law doesn't cease to exist rather it becomes our internal operating system this is what the apostle paul calls what scripture calls the new covenant the law of god written in or embedded in the hearts and minds of human beings internally embedded in our very thinking and feeling and relational process so the law doesn't cease to exist the law takes on a different form as the internal operating system of our humanity this is the idea the law of god is eternal in the form of love it's eternal in the form of love it had always existed as long as god has existed for all eternity god is love that is the law of the universe in a single word god is love when sin entered the universe the law of god had to be expressed in a new form that was unfamiliar to the angels that was in fact unfamiliar to human beings the law was then expressed in the form of ten commandments thou shalt thou shalt not so the law of god is eternal in the form of love but temporary in the form of an imposed code of conduct now this is what paul is saying and again it feels a little dangerous because are we saying is paul saying that the law of god is abolished and now we're free to sin because we're saved by grace what would paul's answer to that be certainly not absolutely not paul is simply saying that jesus is the savior not the law that we can't be saved we can't achieve our own innocence and our own salvation by law keeping the law is a guardian the law keeps us the law is a tutor or an educator to show us our need of a savior when the savior comes and we realize who he is and we begin to enter in to the faith of jesus christ as the saving mechanism of the gospel paul says well we're no longer under the tutor which is the law which is the ten commandments the moral law of god as we have seen is explicitly the case so the law continues to exist it always existed in the past for all eternity past before there was any sin among angels or humans the law of god always existed as love as as pure other centeredness as opposed to self-centeredness always doing from the internal operating system the right thing for the other above and before one's self god's law has always existed in that form and god's love will always exist into the future in that form but in the form of an externally imposed code of conduct the law of god doesn't cease to exist it just takes a different form a different location inside of us and this is why james in james 1 25 calls the law the perfect law of liberty god didn't give the law in order to control us but rather to set us free to liberate us from our inclinations and impulses toward self-centeredness so temporarily restricting forms of law give way to eternally liberating forms of law or think about it this way when i encounter christ as my savior and i receive him and and i see in him the covenantal faithfulness of god on display and then when i see the way he relates to me with covenantal faithfulness and i realize that i stand innocent before god through christ it changes me deep on the inside i begin to love and adore god rather than fear god i begin to think in terms of what might be done what i can do to please god to honor god to glorify god not as a means of salvation but rather as a manifestation of my gratitude for the salvation that i have as a free gift in the person of jesus christ so in conclusion i'm going to suggest to you that within the biblical narrative no only exists for the sake of yes god only ever externally imposes his law as guard rails in life as a as a guardian to keep us from total destruction preparing us for a vital encounter with jesus in which we begin to fall in love and experience liberty freedom deep on the inside so that the law of god which is eternal becomes our internal operating system god only ever says no looking forward to the fulfillment of his promises in us which is the ultimate yes or we could say it this way saying no to sin is saying yes to love so when i repent of sin in the light of god's love for me when i turn from sin i'm not turning from sin i'm not repenting of sin as a means of earning god's favor but as a manifestation that i already have god's favor everything inside of me is changing and i begin to say no to sin not in order to be saved but i begin to say no to sin because i'm saying yes to god's love manifested in christ all of god's prohibitions are actually promises pointing in the direction of better things god never says don't do x arbitrarily because he simply wants to have control over you and me god isn't a control freak if anything god is a freedom freak god is interested in liberating you and me at the deepest possible level not liberating us with a sense of freedom to sin and to violate people but liberating us with a sense of deep love for him in the light of his love for us so that we begin to actually move in sync with in harmony with the better things that we see in the person of christ if there's one thing that god almighty doesn't want it's control the entire point of the plan of salvation god's big goal for us is to to grow us up to mature us into responsible self-governance that is motivated by love and that's paul's point paul is not saying that the law of god is done away with paul's not an antinomian he has not said that the law is abolished he said no the law simply has its proper sphere of operation and that's not salvation the law guards me it protects me it keeps me to some significant degree it keeps my conscience alive so i can sense the difference between right and wrong it tells me what is good and what is evil preparatory to my living vital encounter with christ and when i encounter christ the law which has been guiding and guarding me as a tutor the law of god gives way at that point to a deeper form of relationship with god to a deeper form in which the law of god doesn't vanish from existence it takes on a new form as the internal operating system of my new covenant existence in relationship with jesus it's very much like a tesla experience in which you can relax take your hands off the steering wheel even close your eyes because you are in a vehicle that is self-driving you are experiencing something that is very new covenant when you're driving a tesla because there's a sense in which you're not driving the tesla the tesla is driving you and that's how it works in the gospel of christ you're not driving your salvation jesus is driving your salvation and you and i become new creatures in christ who begin to love the things that god loves and hate the things that god hates not because he's a control freak imposing upon us from the outside but because he's a lover of freedom and liberty and he has shown us in christ the way forward in love free of fear so that we can rest so that we can relax in the salvation that jesus has achieved for us and begin to live out the principles of god's law in the form of love god's not a control freak he's on your side he's in your favor all of his laws are intended to prepare us for vital encounter with christ so that we can begin to live out the implications of his law in the form of love father in heaven thank you thank you for your law of liberty thank you that the law keeps our conscience awake and alive helping us discern between right and wrong good and evil thank you that in christ you have redeemed us apart from anything that we could do apart from what paul calls the works of the law which can't justify anybody but thank you father for your law as a protector as a guardian and as a tutor pointing us to our need of christ we open our hearts to you we invite jesus in we ask lord that your law would become our internal operating system in jesus name amen

Channel: Storyline Church

Views: 2,863

Keywords: storyline church, ty gibson

Id: ibga89hDQHU

Length: 39min 32sec (2372 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021