“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” (John 10:34)
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10)
There is great wisdom in these two verses, wisdom that I do not believe I can pay justice to. We are gods because we have free will, we have the ability to choose nearly every avenue in our lives, there is very little that can hinder us. A man who does not like his position in this life, whether it be in the corporate boardroom or in the far reaches of North Korea needs simply to walk away from that which he has either not seen as beneficial to him, or a deterrent to where he wants to be. Simply start walking and leave everyone and everything behind.
Our free will was first expressed through Adam, Eve was deceived, yet still punished, but Adam, by the free will that he had before he made that fateful decision used his cognitive, deductive reasoning skills to make a decision. We have the exact same free will, the corporate head may end up on the street, the man in North Korea may be captured or killed, but the decision we have made will always have consequences, sometimes good, sometimes not so good.
This free will is what makes us gods, and please notice the lower case “g” there, only the Almighty signs His name with a capital “G.”
I have noticed in my life that almost everything has an inverse, a statement that speaks truth when spoken in either way, but our verse in 2 Corinthians 12:10 cannot hold to that construct, to say “When I am strong, God is weak,” is absurd, but there is validation to these two verses in that respect to a degree. Our free will, that which makes us gods, when applied with pride can and indeed does hinder the work of the Holy Spirit within us, as I have stated numerous times, God does not force virtue on any of us. When we attempt to be strong, when we try to perform deeds for the glory of God while employing what strength we may presume to have, we will fail, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13)
The truth of Galatians 2:20 stands as a clear banner here, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” My friends, you cannot crucify yourself, you may be able to drive the spikes through your feet, and if you do not pass out from the pain, perhaps one of your hands, but you cannot nail the last remaining hand to that cross yourself. You must submit yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ, He alone can put you up on that cross to begin the journey of the fellowship of His sufferings.
When we are weak it is because we choose to be so.
Our free will must learn humility, our flesh must be kept under subjection, we must acknowledge the truth of John 15:5 without question, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” That weakness cannot be feigned, it cannot be partial, it must in complete and unmitigated totality give the reins of our lives over to the Lord, without questioning His plans for it.
Weak people trust in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” They believe without a shadow of a doubt Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” And they understand Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
When we are weak God is strong, not because when we are strong He cannot use us for His glory, but He chooses not to, pride follows alongside that type of strength a man envisions himself to have, and the Almighty will have no part in that. Those that humble themselves He will exalt, He will lift them up, in ways the strength of no man can comprehend.
