"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate..." Isaiah 24:5, 6
There is an order to the universe. That order is God's will. He communicates that will to us through His laws, ordinances, and covenants. They are boundaries and limitations set on the universe that keep the order that is His will. His order is boundaries, but not a prison, for outside the lines of His will is only Chaos and Night, and to be lost in them is the worst kind of slavery.
God's order is defined by hierarchy: animals submitted to humans, children to parents, servants to masters, wives to husbands, the Church to Christ, all men to God. Each submission differs in kind and not degree, but they are all still the submission of one to another. It is this hierarchical structure that makes up God's will, and it is the only way to keep peace and harmony in the universe.
Now, Sin is the breaking of that structure, the defiance of that order, the turning from God's will to self will. As Lewis put it, "It is the nature of evil to spread. Limitations and boundaries belong to the good." The pain and damage of Sin is caused because Sin breaks out of the structure, it steps out of God's will and into the void where God is not, and where He is not there is only negation and death, i.e., Hell. Sin brings the presence of Hell into a person.
When Adam sinned, the whole of humanity was separated from that structure, and hence from God's will, and hence from God Himself. This separation has altered our fundamental disposition: where once we were alive, now we are dead, and dead men are incapable of any action; therefore, we are unable to return to that order. Also, where once we naturally embraced life (which is the essence of God's will), now we naturally embrace death (see Romans 7:18-23). Therefore, we can no longer keep within that structure even if we somehow could get back to it as dead men. This whole mess is what Christ came to fix: to bring us back to the fellowship of God's will (for it is fellowship with Him), and give us the fundamental disposition (i.e., His own) that will keep us within it.
God's will can never be broken. It is never a question of breaking it, but whether or not you get with it, and Christ makes it possible for fallen man to get with it again. You can stay outside it if you like, but know that there is only outer darkness beyond the will of God, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
God's will is not some box that the universe is crammed into. God designed the universe to only work within the order of His will. It is the way it ought to be, the way it's supposed to work. There is no other way it can work. Outside of His will is not freedom, but slavery: slavery to chaos and insanity, to darkness and death, for there is nothing else out there.
The structure of God's will is the only way anything in the universe finds fulfillment, for it is not the mere keeping of creeds and rules. The will of God is kept because God is within you, and God is only within you when you commune with Him, so therefore the will of God is kept and fullness found only in communion with God: finding your place in the Trinity's great dance, your soul completely in tune with the movements of Love Himself. That is where peace and harmony are found, and they are found no where else. This is what Christ wants to do for you: bring your soul back into communion with God, to place it back in the structure of His will, to put you back in the place where you belong and where you find fulfillment.
It is a truism (I believe) that inconsistency breeds pain: inconsistent eating habits, weather patterns, or the workings of a day or week can all bring varying levels of pain to body and soul. Now, God's will is a structure, hence order, hence consistency (not monotony; God's structure is orderly as He is orderly, but it is also endless various as He is endless various: every sunset varies from another, but they all stay within the laws that they abide by). To step out of God's will is to step outside the consistency that is of God, which means the inconsistency that is opposite of God's will is the worse kind of inconsistency ("corrupto optimi pessima"), and therefore it brings the worse kind of pain, i.e., the pain of the chaotic soul. The Word (the very essence of structure and order) came to bring us back to that consistency, to bring our chaotic souls back to the harmonious order of God's will. That is salvation, that is the peace of our lives. Oh, to be fully swept up into the wonders of His order! How infinite are its pleasures, for His pleasures are infinite! Amen.
There is an order to the universe. That order is God's will. He communicates that will to us through His laws, ordinances, and covenants. They are boundaries and limitations set on the universe that keep the order that is His will. His order is boundaries, but not a prison, for outside the lines of His will is only Chaos and Night, and to be lost in them is the worst kind of slavery.
God's order is defined by hierarchy: animals submitted to humans, children to parents, servants to masters, wives to husbands, the Church to Christ, all men to God. Each submission differs in kind and not degree, but they are all still the submission of one to another. It is this hierarchical structure that makes up God's will, and it is the only way to keep peace and harmony in the universe.
Now, Sin is the breaking of that structure, the defiance of that order, the turning from God's will to self will. As Lewis put it, "It is the nature of evil to spread. Limitations and boundaries belong to the good." The pain and damage of Sin is caused because Sin breaks out of the structure, it steps out of God's will and into the void where God is not, and where He is not there is only negation and death, i.e., Hell. Sin brings the presence of Hell into a person.
When Adam sinned, the whole of humanity was separated from that structure, and hence from God's will, and hence from God Himself. This separation has altered our fundamental disposition: where once we were alive, now we are dead, and dead men are incapable of any action; therefore, we are unable to return to that order. Also, where once we naturally embraced life (which is the essence of God's will), now we naturally embrace death (see Romans 7:18-23). Therefore, we can no longer keep within that structure even if we somehow could get back to it as dead men. This whole mess is what Christ came to fix: to bring us back to the fellowship of God's will (for it is fellowship with Him), and give us the fundamental disposition (i.e., His own) that will keep us within it.
God's will can never be broken. It is never a question of breaking it, but whether or not you get with it, and Christ makes it possible for fallen man to get with it again. You can stay outside it if you like, but know that there is only outer darkness beyond the will of God, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
God's will is not some box that the universe is crammed into. God designed the universe to only work within the order of His will. It is the way it ought to be, the way it's supposed to work. There is no other way it can work. Outside of His will is not freedom, but slavery: slavery to chaos and insanity, to darkness and death, for there is nothing else out there.
The structure of God's will is the only way anything in the universe finds fulfillment, for it is not the mere keeping of creeds and rules. The will of God is kept because God is within you, and God is only within you when you commune with Him, so therefore the will of God is kept and fullness found only in communion with God: finding your place in the Trinity's great dance, your soul completely in tune with the movements of Love Himself. That is where peace and harmony are found, and they are found no where else. This is what Christ wants to do for you: bring your soul back into communion with God, to place it back in the structure of His will, to put you back in the place where you belong and where you find fulfillment.
It is a truism (I believe) that inconsistency breeds pain: inconsistent eating habits, weather patterns, or the workings of a day or week can all bring varying levels of pain to body and soul. Now, God's will is a structure, hence order, hence consistency (not monotony; God's structure is orderly as He is orderly, but it is also endless various as He is endless various: every sunset varies from another, but they all stay within the laws that they abide by). To step out of God's will is to step outside the consistency that is of God, which means the inconsistency that is opposite of God's will is the worse kind of inconsistency ("corrupto optimi pessima"), and therefore it brings the worse kind of pain, i.e., the pain of the chaotic soul. The Word (the very essence of structure and order) came to bring us back to that consistency, to bring our chaotic souls back to the harmonious order of God's will. That is salvation, that is the peace of our lives. Oh, to be fully swept up into the wonders of His order! How infinite are its pleasures, for His pleasures are infinite! Amen.
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