Spiritual Warfare Pt. 2: Armor

SALVATION, ASSURANCE, & POWER

You have been looking at the enemy and you have seen his strength; you have looked at yourself and you are trembling in your weakness and in your ineffectiveness; well, now, he says, look at Him, "Be strong in the Lord".

—Martyn Lloyd-Jones

You can relax now, I won't be using the devil's perspective from now on.

Make no mistake, the devil does use truths and twists them into temptations. You probably noticed that much of what you read in the last post was actually true and Biblical, except for what was concluded—that you should give up all hope on salvation.

I tried my best to portray the temptation that we as Christians face when we feel the weight of the law upon us. I think it's a rather curious temptation, in that many Christians don't seem to even realize that it actually is a temptation.

How should one respond to his own failures? Two wrong ways to respond are (1) blame God, and (2) fall into despair. Yes, one should understand his moral responsibility, but that will do him no good if he does not understand the grace of God. But why don't we understand God's grace?

There is a lie that is deeply embedded inside all humans, which causes us even to refuse to come before God because of our guilty feelings. The lie is this: God's heart towards us is not good, but seeks to do us harm. In other words, we think that God is not benevolent, but malevolent. And if we came to Him in our sin, He'd only kill us.

Why is this important? Because it silently and severely cripples our spiritual fight. In fact, I would posit that the key factor that keeps us from spiritual victories is the accusation of Satan that we do not belong to God, and thus He is against us. And if God is against us, how could we possibly win? From the beginning, we have already lost hope, and we become enfeebled.

Keep this in mind as we continue.

In this post, I will particularly explore a familiar Bible passage. Let's look at the Word.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might."
(Ephesians 6:10)
 
We sometimes hear the encouragement to "be strong". What is being said here is not what people usually mean when they say it.

When people say "be strong", there is an assumption that we have a potential, intrinsic strength inside of us that we can actualize. Well, that is not the case. In fact, whenever the Bible says "______ in the Lord", it actually means that we do NOT have what it takes, and we need to rely on God for whatever we lack. For example, we rejoice in the Lord because we find our joy in God, not because we have it in ourselves. In the same way, we can be strong in the Lord because we find our strength in Him.

Knowing that God's own strength is available for us should be a tremendous encouragement. Although we often forget, God is the most powerful person in the universe. He created the world, and He could destroy it just as easily. His immense strength is infinite, boundless. Now, can you imagine what it would be like if you had that kind of power on your side?

Well, blessed you are! You do have access to that kind of power!

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."
(Ephesians 6:11)

Do you notice what is being said here? It says that there is such as thing that's called "the whole armor of God". And not only so, it says that we can actually put it on!

Wait, God has armor? Well, it seems so! Think of some of the Greek stories, where magical artifacts from the realm of the gods were coveted by people. People couldn't resist getting their hands on such great power. These were things that, if obtained, would give you the upper hand. Well, those are fictional myths, but this armor of God I'm talking about actually exists. It's as real as can be! 

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
(Ephesians 6:12)

Here, the reason is given as to why we need this armor. It's something I've tried to draw attention to and give a sense of in my previous post, where I tried to point out the great power of worldly things, fleshly desires, and demonic influences, by showing how easily these become deeply embedded in our lives.

What is it like to wrestle against "flesh and blood"? Try to picture a fistfight on the streets, or imagine the bloodiness of a world war. It's not a pretty sight, and I think most of us would agree that we would not like to get involved.

But you know what, Christians? We're up against something that's even more deadly than the U.S.S.R and the U.S.A put together. We're engaged in a conflict that, if we realized the truth of the situation, would make the two world wars look like skirmishes. That's unimaginable, isn't it? But it's true; we're up against "the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places".

You, Christian, you are fighting these forces. No man can face such a force even if they had all the martial arts training in the world, or mastered the tactics of war. I hope you're intimidated, because if you weren't, you'd probably never realize how much you need this divine armor. Because only God can defeat these forces. You can't, and you know it. You've experienced sin's death grip, and you've seen the devil's control over the minds of people, and you know that it's a devastating force. (If you haven't felt it, it's probably because you're still under its power and influence.)

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm."
(Ephesians 6:13)

Therefore, Paul says, take up the armor. Put it on and stand your ground. A dreadful conflict is headed our way (or is already here). Do not retreat, do not back away, do not surrender yourself to the rebel forces for fear of them! 

Don't succumb to your addiction, thinking that it's futile to fight the endless waves of temptation. Don't stop declaring the truth of God for fear of what men think of you. Don't retreat from your calling to take up your cross and die to yourself, because you think that it's too hard for you to accomplish. Don't shrink back into your comfort zone, and oh, God forbid, become a normal, mediocre, complacent "Christian"!

I know, Christian, I know that deep inside, you want to live for God's glory; all true Christians do. You want to pursue truth and holiness and love. But you often become faithless and scared when you envision the bloody battle ahead, when you see the waves closing in on you, and you lose sight of the One who loves you and has the power to keep you above the waves.

But do not be afraid, my brethren. Stand firm and fight, taking courage from the fact that you're armed from head to toe in divine armor.

What exactly, then, is this divine armor? And how do we put it on?

"Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation,"
(Ephesians 6:14-17a)

I can't do a detailed exposition of this text, but what I'm going to do is to point out that this armor we're talking about is, essentially, God's saving grace, and that we put on its power when we believe in Him.

The seven pieces of armor (people usually say six pieces, but I would agree with John Bunyan and count prayer as the seventh piece) are actually different aspects of our salvation.

Here, I will deal with five.

The fastening of the belt of truth is our assurance of God's truth, particularly the truth of the gospel. Truth is a powerful thing, because it is absolute. It is eternal, it cannot be changed, and it cannot be stolen or destroyed. Indeed, the characteristics of its nature are such that our postmodern age finds its existence to be almost mythical.

When we have Jesus, we have the truth, because He IS the truth. In fact, while we often think of truth as an abstraction, an impersonal law of sorts, I would argue that the very core of all truth, the truth that holds all other truths together, is a person, not a thing. God is truth, and truth is absolute because God is absolute, not the other way around. 

Jesus is our truth, even our gospel truth. And we have the power of the truth (in other words, we are securely guarded from Satan's lies), when we understand and believe the gospel and the Scriptures.

The breastplate of righteousness is the imputed righteousness of Christ. We put it on when we put our confidence not in our own merit, but in the perfect righteousness of Christ that has been counted to us.

It's becomes hard to believe that God is on our side when we see ourselves in all our wickedness. We can't imagine how God could love someone who is so terribly hardened and sinful. We lose heart and lose courage, and we give ourselves over to a humiliating defeat. Then we wallow in that condition, afraid to reach out for God because of our unclean hands.

But know this: "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Remember, Christian, always remember—because it is so easy to forget—that God didn't save those whom He "likes". He doesn't save you because you are good. He saved you because you were evil and could do absolutely nothing about it. You were powerless and dead, and you needed a Savior to remove your guilt. In pity and great love, He gave the perfect holiness of His Son to cover you. That's your breastplate, beloved; always wear it, for it is priceless.

Elsewhere, Paul refers to the "breastplate of faith and love" (1 Thessalonians 5:8). This reference gives us an interesting perspective. By "faith", Paul means faith in Christ and His righteousness. And "love" refers to faith in action, in acts of kindness and grace towards our neighbors. Because when we really believe in what grace Christ has towards us, we are moved to give grace to others as well. And when we do so, Christ's righteousness is manifested in us, and our deeds become an evidence that Christ truly died for us. And we are comforted by that. Thus, righteousness here not only refers to imputed righteousness, but also the infused righteousness that flows out of it into a Christian's life.

The readiness given by the gospel of peace is our pair of sturdy war sandals. "What does the gospel make us ready for?" you might ask. Well, to go wherever God wants us to go! It allows us to tread on rocky terrain that would be too uncomfortable for bare feet. And to explain this in context, it allows us to fight well. Imagine engaging in a sword fight without shoes! It's terribly difficult to fight when you're stepping on a thorn or a sharp rock every now and then.

Notice the connection that is given here; this readiness to go where God sends us comes from the peace that is found in the gospel. Our peace with God (Romans 5:1) gives us freedom. It frees us to conform to God's will and, if I may push the symbolism a little further, to follow in His footsteps even in hard places. Ironically, the peace of our conscience makes us ready for war.

There's a small implication I might draw from that. Sometimes, all that we do to motivate ourselves to live a holy life is to beat ourselves up and tell ourselves to pull it together. Now, that's actually helpful and even necessary, but it is made complete when we find our rest in Christ. We only truly become ready to fight the good fight of faith when we find peace with God, and thus strengthen our conscience. It's our relationship with God that results in killing our sin, not the other way around.

The shield of faith—specifically our faith in Christ—is what keeps Satan's little stinkers from getting to us. What I mean by "stinkers" and what Paul means by "flaming darts" are actually the accusations of the devil. What accusations, specifically? Well, the accusations of our sins, based upon God's moral law and our consciences. And man, are these darts fiery. And stinky. And painful.

Let us not be so accustomed to the aching of our consciences that we think it's "natural", and try to live with it. These spiritual darts are real. The devil really accuses you before God, and he is delighted to let you know what exactly you're accused of. I'm not exactly sure how he lets people know of these accusations (Is it a demonic, mystic thing? Or is it the seed of doubt that was first sown in Adam and cultivated throughout all generations? Or both?), but he really does it. And the thing is, it's even more dreadful because his accusations often ring true.

Yes, we really don't deserve God. We deserve eternity in hellish torment. The devil knows it, and we know it. But raise your shield, beloved; look to Christ. Again, you are wicked, and He is your righteousness. And every time you are shown what a defiled, perverted person you are, you must raise your faith, and reply the way Martin Luther did:

"Well, yes, I am. And, indeed, Satan, you do not know the half of it. I have done much worse than that and if you care to give me your full list, I can no doubt add to it and help make it more complete. But you know what? My Saviour has died for all my sins - those you mention, those I could add and, indeed, those I have committed but am so wicked that I am unaware of having done so. It does not change the fact that Christ has died for all of them; his blood is sufficient; and on the Day of Judgment I shall be exonerated because he has taken all my sins on himself and clothed me in his own perfect righteousness."

Finally, the hope of salvation is our helmet. I say "the hope of salvation" instead of "salvation" because that's what Paul calls it in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, and I believe that's what he means here too.

Some people are often inclined to think of salvation as that moment in time when God regenerates us or justifies us (myself included). But a lot of the time, Paul uses the word to refer to our salvation from death—the second death, specifically. And that work is only truly complete after we die and go into eternity.

Therefore, this is something that we look forward to. We hope in the salvation of God, and we wait upon Him to save us from eternal death and from the evil powers that drag us towards it. We anticipate the day when we are free from sin, and free from evil angels and evil men. We await the day when we bask in the glory of God forever.

Hoping and waiting are acts of helplessness and weakness. You only hope and wait when you could do nothing else. But God's power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and because of God, our hope has a great power to it.

In fact, it's a supernatural hope; it's not only us who are groaning in anticipation, but the Holy Spirit groans with us (Romans 8:26). This hope, this groaning—it is a powerful driving force, a desire for the consummation of our salvation at the end of time that keeps us clinging to Christ and fighting the forces of darkness with all holy determination.

That is, in short, what the five pieces of armor mean. To sum it up, all of the pieces refer to—prepare for a heavy sentence—the truth of the righteousness of Christ imputed to those who have faith, such that they have peace with God and have a secure hope of salvation. In other words, the divine armor is God's saving grace, and we put it on by believing in Him.

Come to God, beloved brothers and sisters. Come to Him in all your stupidity and weakness and sinfulness, and rebuke the lie of the accuser. Come to Him in your tears, and tell Him that you can do absolutely nothing for yourself and for Him. Tell Him that you're done, finished, and that you need Him so very, very much. Will you tell Him that, beloved? When you do, you will be ready, once again, to fight.

To refresh your memory, here's the passage that we just went through. I hope you read it slowly and deliberately and ask our generous Father to give you the strength you need.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation,"
(Ephesians 6:10-17a)

To conclude, the Christian warfare is not primarily about willpower or strength or intelligence. Instead, the key to spiritual warfare is to know God's heart, and to be assured that He's on your side. I hope that you see God's gracious and tender heart when you look at the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because as William Gurnall said, "He that has God's heart cannot lack his arm."

And a strong arm He has. And a merciful heart He has, a heart that led Him to the cross.

Now let's fetch you a sword, soldier.

Spiritual Warfare Pt. 1: Rebel Force

This has been a nine-month project, and I'm finally wrapping it up.

At first, I expected this to be a single blog post. But because of the bulk of material I accumulated over time, I will have to do it in several blog posts. Turns out, the subject wasn't as simplistic as I first thought it would be.

Ever since my experience at national service, I felt a need to fight. I felt like I'm too relaxed, specifically with regards to diligence in my faith.

Perhaps I also felt a deep lack of masculinity in myself which I wanted to somehow make up for. I know that men are created to be courageous fighters, but even from my childhood, I never really saw the shame of crying and running away. But slowly I realized that the calling to be a man was not one I could just turn away. It was a divine calling. I had to fight, somehow, against the things I was most afraid of.

I was always a coward. I still am, though I'm trying hard not to be. In Christ, I know that I am called to a spiritual kind of fearlessness. By thinking on this subject, and writing about it, I hope to claim this courage.

I write this series of blog posts, first and foremost, for myself.

Secondly, I write for my brothers and sisters in the faith. This is for you all. Don't give up.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."

—Ambrose Redmoon

* * * * *

THE WORLD, THE FLESH, THE DEVIL, THE GRAVE

Dear friend,

A Christian is a person who is set apart from the world, and has no love for it. A Christian lives in the Spirit, not according to the flesh. A Christian wages war against the devil and his demonic influences. And a Christian follows Jesus in His footsteps, all the way to the grave.

Does that describe you? Let's examine it in a little more detail.

Are you a person who is set apart from the world?

Do you love the things in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life?

Do you spend an excessive amount of time, energy, or money on things like food, clothing, entertainment, or more money?

Do you often think about how to fit in, how to impress your friends, or how to attract the opposite gender? Do you indulge in sinful sexual gratification?

Do you indulge in pride and narcissism? Do you find it enjoyable to think of yourself as intelligent, strong, beautiful, wealthy, interesting, or even pious or humble?

These are the things of the world, my friend, and if you love these things, the love of the Father is not in you. Instead of finding your joy in the Lord, you take pleasure in the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes. Instead of glorifying God and boasting Him, you are inclined to prove how capable or how good you are.

I mean, really, think about it; how often is God your boast? Does your heart overflow with praise for Him? Do you feel more excited when you worship God or when you do the things you love, like playing sports or shopping?

Perhaps you know of these faults, and they probably don't even bother you, because you think, "Yes, I know that these are my sins, but the Holy Spirit convicts me from time to time, so I know I'm safe in the care of God." What an irresponsible, nonchalant way to think about your sin. We're talking about sin here; we're talking about cosmic treason. Do you think God has any amount tolerance for any of your "small sins"? And yet you feel quite comfortable with your "weakness".

Even unbelievers occasionally feel pangs of guilt because of their moral consciences. Maybe you're just a person like them who feels guilty at times, yet deceives yourself by calling it "the Holy Spirit's conviction." Because if it is the Spirit's conviction, why is so hard for you to change? Why do you persist in loving some things of the world, instead of cutting them off? Do you think the work of the Spirit is something that's so powerless?

"But deep inside my heart, I know that I really love God and believe in Him!" Do you really? Let's examine that.

Are you a person of the Spirit or of the flesh?

The works of the flesh are evident: impurity, sensuality, idolatry, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, drunkenness, and things like these.

Well, then, are you pure of heart? Do you lust after the opposite sex? Do you regard some people so highly that you don't give glory to God? Do you become jealous when you see somebody better than you? Do you get mad easily? Do you often gossip about the people you despise? Are you frequently going about life without vigilance, drunk with the pleasures of life's moments, refusing to set your mind on the things of God?

On the other hand, can you honestly tell me that your heart is filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Does that describe you?

Judge for yourself.

Maybe you still take comfort in the fact that you had repented in the past, or that you still do good works today. But even that is meaningless, because you may simply be a hypocrite. Don't you often feel that? Don't you often feel fake? You know it, you know that very often your spiritual talk and your outward piety is just a cover-up, a facade. You return home from church, and you're a different person altogether, aren't you? You know what that is? That's hypocrisy.

A hypocrite is willing to change his behavior to some extent, but doesn't really have a change of heart. Therefore, a hypocrite struggles with addictions and hidden desires and narcissism. He feels guilty when he sometimes goes too far with his sin, but when the sin is safe to commit without dire consequences, he goes ahead without remorse.

And a hypocrite changes his behavior as far as it doesn't require too much sacrifice on his part. He is willing to go through a fair exchange, but sacrifice? No, no. I would willingly exchange my porn for a feeling of dignity and purity. I would do ministry in order to appear religious and godly. I would believe in God so that He'd let me into heaven. But I'm not willing to lay down everything, I mean... pfft, you've gotta leave some for yourself, no?

That's your attitude, isn't it? If so, you are of the flesh, and are a hypocrite to boot.

Are you a person who battles against the devil? 

Being aware of demonic schemes, do you do all that you can to live a holy life, so not to bring dishonor on God's name? Do you go the extra mile to help your brothers and sisters in Christ to resist temptations and overcome trials? How much do you even care about the souls that are being deceived at this very moment, and are going to hell? What are you doing about it? Or are your efforts feeble and halfhearted?

Or perhaps you're not even very aware of the things that evil spiritual forces are doing in this world. But in that case, how could you be so ignorant? You, a Christian, should be of all people most alert to the works of demons, because you know of the terror of an eternity in hell, and you know of the way God's name is being blasphemed in the world.

You know that fallen angels are doing all that they can to drag men into hell and bring dishonor on God's name. All the while, do you just kick back and relax, thinking that everything's fine, and that what's going on in the world is "natural"? Is that how a Christian thinks?

Why don't you fight these things with all your might? Why don't you study the word of God with diligence in order to battle the lies of demons? What are you doing with your life?

How much do you pray for God to give you victory over the devil's schemes? How much do you pray for your brothers and sisters to overcome temptations? And if you don't seem to care about these things at all, I can't imagine how you could even call yourself a Christian. You don't even care!

In fact, a lot of the time you probably even listen to the devil's lies. For example, you often believe the lie that God is someone who can be messed with, that you can commit sin and He will simply forgive you. And you've not only done that once or twice, but countless times. Not only you're not fighting against the devil, but you're helping him to dishonor God! Tell me, how can that be explained? Unless, of course, your true father is the devil, not God.

Oh, sure, you're willing to do some things, some good things, but you're never willing to go all the way for God, and it shows. You can't fake it.

You're not willing to wrestle with your hidden sins. You're not willing to do all you can to remove your pride and your temper. You're not willing to speak the hard truth among the people of the world. And the deeper reason behind your lack of commitment is your rejection of Christ. Which leads me to my last question.

Are you a person who follows Jesus all the way to the grave?

You know what Jesus said about those who are worthy to be his disciples. They must take up their cross and die to themselves. Do you even understand the weight of that? Do you understand what that means, how much it actually costs you?

People generally want to delay death, so to indulge in the enjoyments of this life for as long as they can. But Christians have no such option. To believe in Christ is to die with Christ. And that means giving up on the things of the earth for the things of eternity.

Are you ready to take the full power of death head on? Are you ready to give up on the things that death corrupts and rots away? Are you willing to give up on your worldly popularity? Are you willing to give up on your external appearance? Your money? Your dreams? Your security? Would you be persecuted physically or emotionally for the sake of the gospel? Would you be seen as the fools and weaklings in the world? Can you really take that?

Do you say yes and amen? And if so, do you do accordingly? Or are empty words all that you have? Again, if you say that you are willing, but still cling onto the world, gratify the flesh, and make peace with the devil, and you are but a hypocrite. Oh yes, you can muster your willpower today, and promise yourself that you will set things right, but how many times have you done that? And yet you didn't really change. What makes you think this time will be any special?

Admit it: you don't really love God the way you think you do. You don't really love God the way He should be loved. You have a ton of excuses, but the real reason is because you don't want to. Remember, sin is a choice, and you've made yours quite clear by the frequency of your sinning.

You're just cunningly trying to get the best of both worlds, by enjoying life now and by pretending that you're fit for heaven, even though you're stuck in your endless cycles of sinful indulgence and false repentance. Deep down inside, you really are selfish.

And how long has this gone on? Months? Years? And yet you still go to church and think that God loves you somehow. The truth is He hates you to the bone. He hates your singing that comes from an empty, praise-less heart, just as He hated the offerings of the falsely religious Israelites.

You come to his house and receive his blessings, you receive the knowledge of salvation, and yet you live in the flesh, repeatedly refusing to repent. After all that you've learned, after all the years, your spiritual growth is still stunted. You haven't become much more holy, loving, self-controlled, sincere, brave. He has given you countless chances, and you've repeatedly turned them down.

There is truly nothing one can say to someone who is so hardened, who is so confident in his self-righteousness that he couldn't truly feel sorry for his sins. Perhaps you've even read my entire letter and are still confident that I'm not really talking about you. Well, that only proves how self-satisfied you are, that you'd even lower God's holy standards to make yourself righteous. You're like the Pharisee who's become so deeply indulged in his legalism, his good works, that he cannot see the terrible sinfulness of his hidden sins.

Don't you see, my friend, why you've been failing recently? Don't you see why your spiritual life has been so dull and lifeless and fake? God's Spirit has left you, just like He left King Saul. And now, there is nothing for you to look forward to but the dread of coming judgment.

Face the truth. You're clearly not a Christian, and the Holy Spirit is obviously not in you to change you. You are sinning deliberately.

You will have no victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil without the Spirit of God. But see how you enraged Him by trampling on the blood of Christ so casually. I'm sorry, but you've missed your chance a long time ago. The Spirit allowed you to be deluded in your false religion, but all you have now is an empty shell. You can keep it if you want, but it'll be no use for you.

It's too late to make a change of heart. Only God can change the heart, but you deliberately hardened it. Remember the countless times when God's word seemed to call you to repent and obey Him in a certain moment, but you pushed His voice out of your mind and went ahead with your sin? Now it's your fault that you've pushed the Spirit out of your heart, and you will bear your own consequences. It's not God's fault. It's your fault that your heart is hardened beyond repair.

On that day, you will stand before God, and He will inquire of your faithlessness. Perhaps you'll argue and talk about all the things you've supposedly done for Him, but He will only tell you to depart from Him, because He never knew you. Then in a dreadful moment, you'd realize that what you thought to be your assurance of salvation for your whole life was just an illusion, a lie. And that regret will carry on for eternity.

And you deserve it, O wicked person.



- The Accuser

When Strivings Cease

A THOUGHT ABOUT WORK AND TOIL

I've been thinking about the subject of labor. Since I would spend a huge bulk of my lifetime working, I realized that I need to learn to commit myself to it with a deeply spiritual mindset, or I would risk building up my fleshly self-confidence in my daily work.

First, back to the garden. Even before the Fall, there was work to be done. Adam and Eve were to be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth, and have dominion over every living thing. So work, in that sense, is a natural thing. Humans were meant to do things.

After the Fall, what's the difference? The difference is that work now entailed suffering and vanity. Discomfort and tiresomeness became part of work, and the reality of death now seems to make work meaningless.

To summarize, labor is good, but because of the curse, it has become burdensome. In a fallen world, work is both good and bad (not with regards to morality, but to nature). Now, therefore, seeing it as it really is, we will be able to do it as it should be done.

What is good about work, then? To put it simply, legitimate work is good because it glorifies God. Creation, the first of God's works, declared His glory in the world, manifesting His goodness and power. Our work can also reflect God's glory in these two aspects. (1) When we expend our physical and mental abilities in our work, we are in fact reflecting God's powers, as people made in His image. The excellence of one's working ability shows us a "glimpse" of God's strength and wisdom. (2) When we work with a right attitude, with fairness, and with the goal of benefiting those around us, we exhibit the kindness and justice that is found in God's heart, so to speak.

To see it from another perspective, we must also understand that God's glory is not something that's static. It is dynamic, and it has a kind of explosive growth. And when we receive a revelation of God's glory, we must have an outlet for it, because it will overflow. How terrible it would be to be awed by God's glory but not be able to express it! The joy would be perpetually bottled up inside of us. But as it is, God gave us a variety of outlets, creating us to praise, to dance, to embrace, and also to work. Work is one of the ways that a Christian expresses his joy in the Lord. We take that happy energy, and we use our bodies and minds to glorify God.

What's bad about work, then? But before I answer that question, understand that when I say "bad", I don't mean that God created it as a bad thing. It is a good thing. But the effects of the Fall meant that work entailed negative elements. But as we will soon see, God meant it for good.

The first bad thing about work is that one necessarily suffers in doing it. "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread..." No kidding, all God-honoring vocations are tough. And if you want to do it well, you'd need to overcome spiritual, mental, physical, and environmental obstacles. You need to overcome selfishness in order to benefit those around you by means of your vocation, you need to overcome laziness in order to have a disciplined work life, you need to swallow your pride in order to accept the fact that there's room for improvement, and so on. You need to push your mind to the limit, and you have to strive in order to keep awake and energetic during work hours. And you need to face various problems that keep you from doing your job smoothly ("thorns and thistles").

The second bad thing about work is that—in an earthly sense—it is ultimately fruitless. "For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return." This matter is discussed at length in the book of Ecclesiastes. Death appears to nullify any earthly purpose that work could possibly have. If we work to feed ourselves and stay alive, we will still die eventually. If we work in order to hoard riches, we still die, and the fruits of our labor are left to someone else to enjoy. If we work in order to have a great name, we will still eventually be forgotten through the ages. If we work so that our posterity may enjoy what we've earned, even they will die in the end. The rewards that such hard work brings seem fleeting, temporal, meaningless. We taste a little of our vineyard, then we return to the ground. All the hard work, and nothing lasts.

Yet there is a hidden blessing in the curse, if I may put it that way. Because of this curse, God's glory can shine even brighter, rather than be obscured. Again, God's goodness and power is manifested in a new way because of these "bad" things.

Because of the existence of suffering, the love of Christ shines ever so brightly. The labors of our Lord on earth were beset with much pain, especially His atoning work on the cross. If there was no suffering, Christ's ministry on earth would merely be an enjoyable task, and we'd never know the extent of His love for us, how far He would go in order to reconcile us to God. But as it is, the hour of greatest glory in the history of mankind was when Christ suffered the worst suffering imaginable on behalf of those He loved.

As Christians, the body of Christ, we are called to manifest the same glory. In terms of work, we manifest that same goodness and love when we suffer the hardship of working, not for selfish reasons, but in order to benefit those around us spiritually and physically. In doing this, we reflect Christ, and also conform to His image day by day.

Also, the fruitlessness of man's work was meant to show the effectiveness of God's work. This aspect of the curse is quite ironic, I would say. When Adam ate of the fruit, he demonstrated that he relied on himself, thus declaring autonomy. In response, God, in a sense, let mankind rely on his own strength by removing him from the garden, thus forcing him to plant his own food. And yet in the end, man's strength proves to achieve nothing, as his hard labor would end in vanity.

Thus, in a sense, we are actually bound to fail in everything we do, whether in our spiritual lives or in our vocations. We will never do things perfectly, never achieve anything of eternal value, never be able to keep the moral law of God fully, never be able to do a flawless work in our respective jobs. There will always be room for improvement, always the realization will come that we haven't actually reached the standard.

But God does a perfect work. Christ kept the law perfectly, and His work effectively defeated the powers of sin and death. And when He comes again, everything that is wrong about the world will be done away with. There will be no more strategizing about how to stop crime, no more efforts to save the environment, no more concerns about incurable diseases, no more philosophical debates about what the truth is, no more critics of art. God will renew the world, and then there will be rest. In doing what we failed to do for thousands of years, He greatly glorifies His power. And that encourages us to rely upon Him.

Now, in case that sounds quite discouraging, my point is this: all flesh will fail, and only God's Spirit will do a lasting work. But we do have the Spirit. Therefore, not everything in what we do will end up as a failure, because the Spirit works through us to do good works. These good works please God and glorify Him because they are covered by the blood of Christ. Therefore, we will bear fruit of lasting value if we work by faith, in which case it is actually the Spirit who is working.

So, in conclusion, why do we work?

Because in doing work, we reflect and rejoice in God's goodness and power; in enduring the hardship of labor for the sake of others, we imitate Christ, the Suffering Servant; and in our failures, we are encouraged to find a sweet rest in the perfect works that God has done, and the works that He will do. In the end, we know that all of our labor, however imperfect, glorifies God somehow.

And that's all that really matters. Soli Deo Gloria!