Fit for His Service

I came across an article on Crosswalk about Genesis 16 in which the author claims is a chapter that shows God as “the real hero of the Bible” by revealing the foolish actions of Sarah, Abraham, And Hagar.

Now I’m not sure if the Bible refers to God as a “hero” but that’s not what troubles me about the article. It’s his explanation of why so many characters in the Bible have serious flaws. Here it is:

“During a radio interview I was asked why so many Bible characters had serious flaws. My answer was simple. That’s all God has to work with. All the perfect people are in heaven. The only ones on earth are the folks with serious weaknesses. The talent pool has always been pretty thin when it comes to moral perfection. God works with sinners because that’s all he has to work with. In heaven we will all be vastly improved–perfected by God’s grace. But until then, he uses some pretty ornery people who fall short in many ways, and he does some amazing things through them.”

While on the surface, it is true that God worked with what he had, but the author treads down a dangerous path by suggesting that God had to use us rather than choosing to use us. First, it presumes that God merely worked through these people because he was dealt a bad hand and, despite His divine sovereignty, He had to deal with each situation as it was presented to Him. Secondly, it presupposes that God created a fallen creation and had no choice but to work with the flaws of human beings.

Nothing could be further from the truth. We know that God created a perfect creation and Adam and Eve rebelled and sinned against their Creator (Genesis 3). As a result, humanity was cursed and God pronounced the death sentence over all of creation. God then intervenes and demonstrates his power by redeeming a sinful human being that, in the world’s eyes, seems, weak, unwise, and foolish. This is why Paul said in (1 Corinthians 1:26-31):

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

God CHOOSES to work out his good, acceptable, and perfect will through the humble, lowly, and weak. It’s not as if God looks down and finds a certain person who is qualified for His service…no…in fact, God looks down and finds no one that seeks after him (Psalm 14:2,3). And despite the fact that we have all become corrupt and sinful to the core, God saves, sanctifies, and transforms a sinner and makes him fit for His service. Why does he choose to do things in this way? So that He may get all the glory...and when the world sees this, there will be no question that it is the power of God in the man, and not the man himself, that deserves all glory and honor and praise.

So rather than simply working with the hand that was dealt to Him, God had a divine purpose in choosing the lowly...whom the world may not comsider wise, mighty, and noble. By despising worldly wisdom and revealing His eternal wisdom to the foolish, weak, and common amongst men whom trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, no saved sinner may glory in His presence...so if we may boast, let us only boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).