James 1:18

James 1:18 ^ESV

“Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”

 

God has done what He wants to do: ‘He brought us forth’.

 

God has done what He wants to do through His own means: ‘by the word of truth’.

 

God has done what He wants to do for His own purpose: ‘that we should be a kind of first fruits’.

 

God has done what He wants to do with what He has made: ‘his creatures’.

 

There is no notion of ‘fairness’ mentioned at all.  The whole category didn’t even occur (apparently) to James.  But the question of fairness ought not occur to us either; for at least 2 reasons:

 

1.    We belong to God: you don’t ask a shovel if you may dig with it (though we are much greater than a shovel, we still belong to Him, and as you use a shovel for a purpose, God uses us for a purpose fitting with us that He created us to be—which is far greater than that of a shovel.)

 

2.   God’s will is ultimately for our blessing.  You wouldn’t necessarily ask someone if it is ok that you gave them $1 million (you might, the analogy isn’t perfect).  But God, in is sovereign position is both willing and able to give greater blessing than any cash boon.  There is no notion of ‘fairness’ here because what God is giving is not ‘fair’ in the sense that it is not ‘just’: He is giving us what we don’t deserve.  It is also not ‘injustice’ because He is not giving us less than we deserve; God is giving us far more than we deserve.

 

But you might say, “I don’t struggle with fairness when it is spoken this way, for my benefit; but does this mean I must also accept this kind of statement when the issue at hand seems to be less than what I desire?”  I’ll leave you to answer that; the fact that the question comes so easily to us shows us our self-centered (i.e. sinful) heart.

 

So, the point of this verse; the application so we can take something home is this: make use of the means God offers to secure the blessing He desires to give us and which he took great pains to secure for us.

 

In other words: read and trust the Word of Truth for the good of your own soul.

 

Praise You Father for choosing to bless us.

Praise You Son for securing that blessing.

Praise You Spirit for giving us enlightenment so that we may partake in that blessing.

 

Pursuing God together,

Pastor Greg