Are we ready for this ultimate union that scripture says is going to take place?

We are expected to be prepared by living in a state of readiness for Christ’s return.

Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life? For most people, it is simply about snatching moments of pleasure, trying to find happiness or meaning in various pursuits or relationships. Yet, there is a longing within the human heart for understanding, to be loved, and to find meaning and purpose in life.

If we are simply a cosmic accident, then life is reduced to surviving and trying to make the most out of our lives. But what if we were designed by a loving God who had a plan that would not only shape who we would become, but also live a life of significance and purpose?

Once we embrace that God designed us, life takes on a new purpose and direction. The question then becomes, if God created me, what does He have in mind for me? What we are about to hear from James is that God will shape the course of our lives. When we discover Him and then walk in obedience to His will, we embark on a journey of faith that is both challenging and rewarding, in a way we could never have imagined.

Last week, I focused on addressing the issue of pride in developing and maintaining healthy relationships. This arrogance, however, finds its way into our work world, in which we lose sight of the transitory nature of life itself. We often act as if we have all the time in the world when we do not know what tomorrow holds for us. It is the difference between a self-directed life and one that is lived with eternity before us, marked by a deep dependency on God and learning to embrace God’s designed task for our lives. The issue for all our lives is simply to do God’s will. However, we often struggle with what that really means. What happens when I ignore it or simply disobey it? What are the outcomes then? What happens when I exert my own sinful desires as the catalyst for living my life? I believe that in these few verses in James, we will discover something of the critical nature of embracing God’s will for our lives.

“In a certain pond on one of the farms in the East were two ducks and a frog. Now, these neighbours were the best of friends; all day long, they would play together. But as the hot summer days came, the pond began to dry up, and soon there was so little water that they all realized that they would have to move. Now the ducks could easily fly to another place, but what about their friend, the frog?

Finally, it was decided that they would put a stick in the bill of each duck, and then the frog would hang onto the stick with his mouth, and they would fly him to another pond. And so, they did. As they were flying, a farmer out in his field looked up and saw them and said, “Well, isn’t that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of it!”

The frog said, “I did …”

We can chuckle at this humorous little antidote, but it simply illustrates a profound truth, as expressed in the wisdom literature of the Bible. In Proverbs 16:18, it states: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

One of the most subtle temptations is the insidious nature of pride. It can easily rear its ugly head and capture those who have so much going for them. In the book of Daniel, we have a contrast between Daniel, a captive slave, and the king, who asks for an interpretation of a troubling dream he has had. King Nebuchadnezzar became the most powerful man alive in his time. He was a world conqueror. He amassed incredible wealth and power. One expression of that wealth was that he had built two of the wonders of the ancient world: the walls of the city and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This was a magnificent garden for his wife, as she missed the vegetation of her homeland.

One day, while strolling on his palace roof, musing over his own personal greatness, he was struck down by God, the Almighty. He lost his sanity and spent ‘seven times’ (a season of his life), groping about like an animal, without the capacity to understand and reason. The biblical text describes how his restoration occurred.

Daniel 4:34

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honoured and glorified him who lives forever.

God restored to him what his pride had stripped him of, which was the sanity needed to lead his people. He later confessed.

Daniel 4:37b

And those who walk in pride, he is able to humble.

What is pride? It is living as if God does not exist. It is believed that we can be self-sufficient. It is trusting in anything or anyone other than God. The only remedy is a deep sense of reverence toward God.

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In one of William Shakespeare’s great tragedies, Othello, one of the soldiers under his command, a man by the name of Iago, motivated by a wounded sense of injustice and jealous of his commander, plots to destroy Othello. He creates a misrepresentation that appears that Othello’s wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with another man under Othello’s command. While framing this innocent wife of Othello, Iago manages to convince Othello of his loyalty. The story concludes with Othello believing that his wife has been unfaithful to him. He kills her only to discover the truth and, in his grief, takes his own life.

What makes the works of William Shakespeare such great literature? It speaks to the transcendent nature of human relationships. All the struggles, joys, and tragedies of life are addressed, which speaks to the human condition. This is why the Bible is so relevant. Even more importantly, the Bible reveals something we would never know apart from its revelation: the very nature of God and His love towards us. While Shakespeare often leaves us looking at the pain and tragedy of life, the Bible moves us to the hope found in God. Ernest Marshall Howse, in his book, ‘Spiritual Values in Shakespeare, states, “In his last will and testament, Shakespeare wrote: 'I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour to be made partaker of life everlasting.”

So, what is the underlying reason for the great tragedies of life? What causes unrest, bad feelings, hostile and destructive relationships? What is at the root of these things? In James 3, we find the origins of why relationships deteriorate. Jealousy and envy lead to the desire to destroy another. That is why the religious leaders crucified Jesus. They were jealous and envious of Jesus.

Matthew 27:18

For he [Pilate] knew that it was out of envy that they [religious leaders] had delivered him [Jesus] up.

From the very beginning, we have the issue of jealousy and envy bringing about the destruction of a relationship, and even of life itself. Cain was envious of his brother Abel, and he killed him.

Therefore, the condition of the human heart is crucial for maintaining healthy human relationships. As we examine the landscape of our community, with so many relationships in jeopardy, what does that reveal about the condition of our hearts?

But what is even more important, what can be done about it? How can our self-centred and sinful nature be subdued? It takes a power greater than us. It is only as we yield to God’s Spirit in our hearts that we can have healthy relationships. One of the results of a Spirit-controlled life is that we live a life of submission, first and foremost, to God. It is only then that His purposes for our lives can be known and lived out. It is through this submission to God that we learn to value others and can learn to submit to them. Submission, then, is a key ingredient in healthy relationships.

What does the Bible mean when it speaks about submission? Often, we confuse submission with subjugation. Submission speaks of yielding to another. Submission can either be forced or willingly given. People who are forced to submit or who are being subjugated live in resentment, bitterness, and anger. There has been far too much exploitation and humiliation of people in our world. The result is nothing but resentment and rebellion. The biblical idea is willful submission. It is something we willingly give to another.

I love the distinction that Warren Wiersbe makes between submission and subjugation. “Subjugation turns a person into a thing, destroys individuality, and removes all liberty. Submission enables a person to become more of what God wants them to be; it brings out their individuality, giving them the freedom to accomplish all that God has planned for their life and ministry....

Romans 1:1-7

The hunger for freedom from oppression will drive people to rise in revolt against their oppressors. That has been the history of humanity over the centuries. We know that the Jewish people revolted militarily from Rome not once but twice. It was during the second revolt in 132-135 A. D., the Roman Emperor, Hadrian killed 580,000 Jews, destroyed 985 villages, forbid the Jewish people to enter the city of Jerusalem, what was left of it, and scattered many of the remnants of Jews people to other parts of the empire. It was under Hadrian that the land was renamed Palestine.

In contrast to this political and military uprising, Church historian Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) relates the impact that Jesus and his message had over human history in his book, The Person of Christ. He writes: “And yet this Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of any orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and sweet songs of praise, than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”

What an amazing contrast between the human approach to life’s problems and God’s approach in addressing the great injustices of life. While the zealots in Jesus’ day murdered and revolted against Rome, ultimately destroying themselves in the process, Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness prevailed over that very Empire. The kingdom that Jesus ushered into our world still captures the human heart today.

In James 3, we discover the difference between a wisdom that originates from God and a wisdom that defies God, whose origin is demonic and destructive. It is a wisdom that alienates human relationships, while Jesus’ message transforms them. James concludes chapter 3, which began with a challenge regarding our words, now focuses on the core issue of their origin, within the human heart. What is the condition of our heart? The state of our soul is affected by either wisdom that comes from above or wisdom that originates from below as we evaluate the nature of the two sources of wisdom that shape our hearts and affect our speech, which in turn brings either peace and harmony or conflict and strife. We are going to examine how wisdom affects the condition of our hearts.