Anchored in the Goodness of God - The Letter of James - James 1:16-18

Apr 23, 2023 • Andrey Bulanov

Text: James 1:16-18

Outline:

1. Be aware of the deceptive power of trials.

2. Look around, and see the total and unchanging goodness of God.

3. Look at the Gospel, and see his unstoppable goodness in a broken world.

Scripture references:

• James 1:13-18

• Job 2:9-10

• Romans 1:25

• Ephesians 2:1-3

Application

• Do you know the new life that God offers in Jesus?

◦ Turn to him, turn from sin and self, trust his Word

• Have you allowed deception to creep into your heart in the midst of trials?

• Do you teach your heart to learn to see the goodness of God in all of life?

• Do you find rest in God's sovereign goodness in your life?

• Do you understand your calling to live as God's "firstfruits" in the world?

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We are continuing our journey through the opening section of James.

Here he focuses on bringing wisdom and instruction to how we think during our trails and difficulties.

Right from the outset, he tells us he has in mind, not a specific kind of trail - but "trials of various kinds"

One of the interesting things about trails and difficulties in life is that they almost always bring our minds back to God.

One of the most common responses to deep fear - is praying and asking for help from God, even by people who are totally not religious or maybe even claimed to be atheists.

A similar thing happens when we experience pain, frustration and difficulty in life - a very common response is ANGER at God and blaming God - even by people who claim to be atheists.

As James comes to the conclusion of this section, he wants to focus in on our view of God in the midst of our trails.

Scripture repeatedly tells us two truths about God - that he is totally in control of all things - and yet also that he is perfect, holy and is not the source or author of sin and evil.

One of the great mysteries of the world is that God uses secondary causes and permits the existence of evil without himself being the author or creator of evil.

But the problem is that when we hit the hard times and difficulties - we tend to want to simplify the truth, to flatten the mystery that the bible presents and make it more understandable and simple for ourselves.

We don't do well with mystery in the midst of difficulty.

Trials stretch our faith thin - this is where our faith can grow. But it is also where we can fall into foolish and dangerous mistakes.

James tells us in this chapter that there is blessing in our trials because God is over everything and we can count it joy.

At the same time, James loops around and says,, No, God is not the source of your evil desires and God is not the one tempting you to sin.

We make choices to sin because we give in to genuine evil desires that live within our own hearts and habits.

We are tempted to do evil things because we find evil tempting.

What James is trying to do here is to realign our thinking in the midst of trails.

He says - don't blame God for your evil desires and your bad choices. Take an honest look inside and realize your own brokenness and your need - that your deepest and darkest desires come right up from your own heart.

At the same time, James says, take your eyes up and look around. Look around you and see what God is really like. Despite your brokenness, see his unwavering goodness.

and it is this second aspect that we want to explore today.

13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

1. Be aware of the deceptive power of trials.

How many people you know left God in the midst of trails and difficulties and became deeply hardened against the truth? deeply convinced of false ideas?

this is the danger of trails.

"do not be deceived" - this is a warning in the NT that is deeper than just a simple error.

The danger here is grave life changing error.

The deception of faith that we speak of here leads to grave errors and deeper sins and pain.

The words of Job's wife come to mind.

Job 2:9-10

9 His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

10 “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

why is it that we have the impulse to curse God and turn on him in the midst of our pain?

We feel the need to always find someone to blame for our problems.

This a constant flaw in our thinking - that whenever trials come upon a person - that we need to figure out the CAUSE.

Perhaps this is connected to our desire to feel like we are in control.

Understanding WHY something is happening gives us a sense of control.

This may happen in our approach to others as well - is God punishing them for something they did?

Trails can be a time of growth for us, if we learn to approach them with humility, if we allow God to do his work in our hearts.

At the same time there is a grave danger.

So many false ideas about God are created and internalized because people are deceived in the midst of their trials.

And it is often that people hold on to those convictions with a fierce and irrational stobbornness - as an expression of their rebellion.

That final thing you can do as a means of rebelling against God is to convince yourself of something about him that is not true.

"God has cursed me."

"God has abandoned me"

"God is done with me."

"God doesn't care"

Do not be deceived. Do not allow your heart to be captive to foolish and false ideas about God!

2. Look around, and see the total and unchanging goodness of God.

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows.

In contrast to the struggles and temptations of the previous section, James now focuses our attention to the good things and blessings that we have in life.

Literally "every good gift and perfect gift is from above"

Despite our trails and difficulties - James also points to the fact that our life is filled with so many good and excellent and amazing things.

One of the biggest misconceptions we have as christians is to divide the world into spiritual and physical things.

The spiritual things are good.

The physical things are bad, worldly and they will all burn away.

Its good to do spiritual things like ministry in the church, pray, read the Bible. Its good to enjoy God in those things.

But the rest of life, all the stuff, all the work - is all going to pass away. The reason why the world is full of so many good and appealing things is because it is a distraction to our spiritual lives.

"every good and perfect gift is from above"

ALL good things in life are not just here. They are sent - from above.

Creation theology - GOD MADE ALL THE STUFF, and he REALLY LIKES IT.

The problem is NOT that we enjoy creation - it's that we enjoy creation AS GOD.

Romans 1:25

"25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen."

In our sinful tendencies - we want to take the gifts of God and enjoy them apart from God - we want to make the gifts our ultimate source of joy and peace.

• Job

• money

• family

• house

• friends

C. S. Lewis - meditation in a tool shed - Just as the beams of sunlight that break through the cracks in the toolshed uniquely highlight the beauty and power of the sun, and ultimately point back to the sun - so our gifts and blessings are glorious because they are like shafts of love and light from the Father. We are to enjoy the good gifts as good gifts - AND we are to trace them back to the source.

"When we love God supremely, we are free to love creation as creation (and not as God). Because the divine excellence is really present in the gift, we are free to enjoy it for his sake. God’s gifts become avenues for enjoying him, beams of glory that we chase back to the source. "

Rigney, Joe. The Things of Earth (Kindle Locations 1532-1534). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Why is this so important?

You MUST learn to see and receive God's gifts - because it enlarges your heart to love and enjoy God more and more.

When you see the gift and glory of your Father in all of life - you will be happier - you will see the fingerprint of your Father EVERYWHERE.

ANND - your soul will CHANGE. It will get bigger and strongger - it will be fattened up by his love and his glory.

"coming down from the Father of lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows."

"The Father of lights" - the designer and Creator of the universe.

to the whole creation - he is a Father, he is the giver, he is the caretaker.

AND HE NEVER CHANGES.

everything he creates changes over time.

But he remains always and forever the same.

James is saying, "Don't let trials shrink your heart, don't let false ideas cast a net over your heart - look around - learn to see his goodness in all things - learn to let your heart be expanded and strengthened by his constant and unchanging goodness!"

What do you see when you look at your life and all the good things that surround you?

Is your ability to enjoy God growing over time?

Is your soul being fattened up by the blessings that God feeds you every day?

Do you take time to enjoy the beams of light that break into this dark world? And do you chase that light back to the source?

Parents - are you teaching your kids a life of delight in the gifts of the Father?

This is CRITICAL to arm your kids to face a world of trials and difficulty.

But he doesn't end there.

3. Look at the Gospel, and see his unstoppable goodness in a broken world.

18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth

so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

James dives for the very center of God's goodness.

What is God really like?

you want to see the pure will and work of God??

Look at his work with dead and fallen sinners.

James reminds the christian reader that to be a christian is to be a living miracle, a miracle that exists because of the pure goodness of God.

Of our own nature, we desire evil things. And we have no solution to fix our own hearts.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-3

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also."

One of the tests that you have ever been truly honest with yourself is that you have been willing to see your own brokenness and see the TOTAL hopelessness of your existence.

Have you ever been fully honest with yourself about the DEPTH of your own brokenness?

This is why the churches are full of prideful religious people - because its a bunch of people who want to talk about God's grace without really ever realizing how much they need it.

James says, "your own heart produces evil desires"

Paul says, "you are dead in your sins"

18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth

What is God's response to a world of broken selfish rebels?

The Word of Truth - the LIVING WORD - the Message of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

It is the message that knowing us in the depth of our brokenness, in the total freedom of his will - WHAT DOES GOD DO?

He pursues a plan to restore us, to give his own life, to pay with his own suffering for our sin and die the death WE should have died, to conquer and turn back death itself - so that he could take us back and give us new life.

What does God do when he can do ANYTHING?

He saves sinners. He chooses the path of justice - the path that wipes out evil - but he also chooses the path that costs him everything and opens the door for us to be restored.

You may say, "Sure your telling me to see the goodness of God in the world. But there is still a lot of evil in the world. Where is God in that?"

This is what James is trying to answer.

God is not just showering the world in the goodness.

God is in the world, giving new life - a new life that is pointing to the fact that he is working to destroy all evil and renew everything.

"so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

This is only the first-fruits. this is pointing to the full work that he is doing in the world.

"by his own choice..."

What is God really like?

James says to the christians, "Do you forget what you are? do you forget that your very existence as a believer in Jesus is a miracle that God has created."

You are not saved because you have figured out a way to be better.

You are saved by the sovereign, pure will of a God who loves to save sinners.

And when we look at our hearts - how broken we are, and yet how God chooses to save us and give us new life - James says this is the anchor of your thinking.

This is hope in a broken world. This is just the beginning. One day it will all be remade.