The Messenger's Lesson

*A short work of fiction by BEL friend Jamie Schofield tells the story of two men, two sons of God who have never met but unexpectedly spend a day together.  One of them - one of the last people on earth you'd expect to need to learn a lesson about God's wisdom - ends up learning a lesson of cosmic importance, one that he will never forget.  But, even stranger, the author puts you in the story as the one learning the lesson.

Today, for a few minutes, "You are an angel of the Lord... a son of God."

Today's Resource: Watch our beloved DVD, Get out of the Matrix! Bob takes on a college professor and her philosophy class in a debate regarding God and absolutes. Who wins? The students have been taught that nothing is absolutely right or wrong, so Bob asks them if that is absolutely right. And they've been taught that they can only know that which their five senses have told them, so Bob asks them which of their five senses told them that. Is the lack of intellectualism in this college class representative of American higher education? You can decide as you view this video, one of Bob's most extraordinary presentations!

The Messenger's Lesson

by J. Schofield

© 2009

You … are an angel of the Lord, a son of God.  You have lived for thousands of years, witnessed the creation of the universe, were there when God laid the foundations of the earth, and you saw Him stretch out the heavens. You have never experienced earthly needs like hunger or weariness, and have never been burdened with corruptible flesh, sinful flesh that is constantly at war with your mind.  Whether figuratively or literally, you have a body like peridot, a face like lightning, eyes like flaming torches, arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and a voice like the sound of a multitude.  You wield a mighty sword.

You have witnessed incredible events of human history, have watched stars and galaxies forming, and have seen volumes of words written into the very book of life known as DNA, transcribed onto a piece of organic matter invisible to the human eye.  You have personally helped destroy cities at the command of God Almighty. You have freed apostles from a prison. You have had the distinct honor of singing in a chorus of your heavenly brethren, high above a handful of shepherds, as you sang a hymn heralding the birth of God’s Son as He was born into the world, to be the savior of the world.  You have witnessed awesome and mighty miracles, and in some cases, you have carried out those miracles with supernatural power delegated to you by the Lord of Hosts, Himself.

Today, after battling an angelic principality known as "the Prince of Persia," you look across the earth, and your eyes fall on this little human man named Will.  This puny, meek, human creature who, if you were to appear to him, would most likely fall to his knees and cower in fear until you assured him with the words "Do not be afraid."  Today, your given task is a simple and humble one.  This broken little man who was born into sin, who repented and called upon the name of the Lord but who still ambled around on earth in his broken body, his sinful flesh always warring with his mind… this man who suffered chronic ailments, weakness, frailties, at times even collapsing and ending up in the hospital… this man who was cursed with wealth in his birth and upbringing, and with all of the moral burdens that such materialism brings… this man who had so many reasons in life to weep, to fear, to resent, to lose hope, even to hate.  This man's earthly life ended today, and you are called by the Lord to escort this man into the highest of the heavenlies to meet his mighty and graceful Creator, and to finally take him home to the place of his citizenship and his hope and promise.

And yet this mere man, this broken man named Will... you examine the course of his earthly life, observing that he almost daily experienced joy in the midst of his tribulations.  Out of that joy and hope, his heart sang praises to his Lord, and often he would lead others to sing, even in common, public places.  He gave generously, even sacrificially, to those in need, despite the temptation and burden of his family's wealth.  But, most of all, despite weakness, physical ailments and his ever-present curse of sinful flesh, he dedicated his life to work long and arduous hours to liberate the oppressed, to ease the suffering of the wrongfully maimed and imprisoned, to give hope to the hopeless, disheartened and bitter souls who did not yet know the freedom and grace of Jesus Christ.

You look at this man, William, and you see this meek and meager man's service to the Lord, for years and decades, struggling and battling in a war not of the flesh but of the spirit, against dominions and principalities and powers that he didn’t comprehend or could even see... even against demonic forces you yourself have fought directly against in mighty and terrible angelic battles invisible to his human world!  And you see this William find victory in ending the abominable practice of slavery in his corner of the world.

With all of the massive forces arrayed against him, both human and demonic, with his incredible human limitations, a body cursed with illness and frailty, he gave his life over to the Son of God, the Angel of the Lord, who used this William to work a mighty victory against the forces of darkness and evil in the world, to proclaim God's truth to believers and wicked alike, to reconcile many to their Creator to come to know His grace and forgiveness, and to serve as a tireless workman in service to his Lord, with humility and agape love, right to the end of his earthly life.

And you witness all of this… you, this mighty and awesome angel of the heavenly hosts, because it is now your humble privilege to take this amazing human creature by the hand, and lead him on to glory, to ascend into the heavenlies, to take him to be face to face with his righteous and merciful Maker.

You consider your own adventures, the amazing sights and wonders you have witnessed in almost six millennia of existence, the angelic war campaigns you have fought and won, all with the terrific might and terrible power granted to you by your master, the Lord of Hosts.  You stop to consider the mission and purpose of angels in God's heavenly kingdom – to worship Him, to proclaim His truth to the world, to battle in a war not of flesh but of spirit against dominions, principalities and powers, and to serve as workers approved in the eyes of God, both on earth and in the heavenlies at His throne.  Every one of these things this human William excelled at in his meek and weak earthly life as a mere human being, as a member of the Body of Christ.

And you ask yourself which victory is greater; which one's service brings greater glory to the Lord?  That of an awesome and powerful angel of the heavenly hosts?  Or that of this seemingly insignificant earthly creature?  In His weakness, God’s strength was manifested, all because of this man’s free choice to choose Christ over the world and its god – the “angel of light” that rules it with a wicked and ravenous lust.  This tiny human did not have supernatural command of earthly elements, a sword of devastatingly destructive force, the ability to move at the speed of light, or a voice that could be heard across a galaxy. 

Instead, he had a broken body that was continually at odds with his mind, and which sometimes completely debilitated him. He had two feet and two hands that were weak and usually empty or holding nothing more than an inked quill.  He had a couple of bits of muscle in his throat that would vibrate at a narrow range of sound frequency – a human voice channeled through a mouth that could form crude words.  And he also had a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit, a new heart given to him by his Maker, a heart that could barely contain his agape love for his fellow mankind.  And he had a self-chosen faith, expanded and added-to by his Creator, faith that could move mountains and overcome human governments and whole hosts of demonic forces in the world.  Simply put, he was armed with nothing more than truth and love against armies of enemies far greater than he knew or even imagined.

He could do all things, through Christ who strengthened him.  And the victory was the Lord’s, but it began with this man’s freely chosen step of faith, and his continued act of faith.  After all, the Lord does not call men to be successful.  He just calls them to be faithful.

You think of all the times you have watched Lucifer walk down the streets of heaven, a smug and hungry smile on his face, the book of God’s law in his left hand – something he wields not as a blessing but as a weapon to use against the human creatures he despises and seeks to devour.  You consider the angels who followed him in rebellion, thinking they knew better than their Maker.

But you know better than they.  As you escort William to the place of his citizenship, you know, after witnessing the beautiful service of this humble, tiny human being, that you will never follow those demons into rebellion.  From such a little one as this, you have learned a lesson of cosmic importance.  That the smallest of creatures in God's kingdom can give themselves over to be instruments of the almighty God to achieve victories against the enemy, victories that shall never be forgotten in the ages of ages to come.  Victories won not with mighty power but with only truth and love.

You don't know what faith feels like; you have always been deprived of the ability to have faith, having known the God of the universe face-to-face from the moment of your new creation.  But you know from this mere William that faith can be the mightiest weapon of all.  Mightier than any angel's mighty sword, a voice louder than Gabriel's trumpet, a worker's dedication like unto that of the very angels who minister at the Lord's throne.  And you take a moment to thank your Lord for the subtle but beautiful lesson you have learned in witnessing the life of just one human member of the Body of Christ.

Ephesians 3:8-12

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the many-fold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

To the intent that God’s many-faceted wisdom might be made known by the Body of Christ… to the angels in heaven.

Amen.