In a recent post, I discussed how the redeeming work of Jesus sets us free from concerns of self-preservation. But what if God’s power to set us free is misused by us for self-promotion?
As long as we live in this body, the corruption of Adam at work in us will be consumed with itself. If we are not in the panic of self-preservation, then we will be consumed with ambition to exercise power over others and other things.
With great power comes great responsibility and there are two kinds of power: power for self-preservation and power for self-sacrifice.
Adam cast off the image of God (power to give one’s life for others) for the power of self-preservation. Now all power is consumed by all things selfish, self-centered, self-righteous (blind spots and double standards discussed in the next post), self-promoting, and the king of the social media age—the “selfie.” But power used for oneself is self-defeating. The most powerful person can gain the whole world by taking it from others and still lose his own life—in time and in eternity. Greed takes away the life of its owner. Lust is insatiable, so it makes us frantic, competitive, restless, and discontented. So we have circled back to the drowning model. The corruption of Adam is convinced that if we can only gather enough people and things to climb upon, then we can get up out of the water and be out of danger . . . but we can’t. Ecclesiastes is a summary of this fact.
The power of God is a function of the essence of His nature: God IS love. All of the power of the Son of God was and is always used for creation, redemption, and recreation—at the cost of His life. Which is the greater, more powerful experience: to take life away from another or to give one’s life to another? Who had the power at Jesus’ crucifixion: those who taunted Him or Jesus, who had the power to crush their taunts, yet could not because of His love for them.
Being at rest upon the living Word of God regenerates our soul in His image and animates our soul with His Spirit so we become agents of God’s power to love others and to give our lives away for the sake of others—freely, because the life of God for us is present and inexhaustible.