I haven’t always linked these two matters together, but as I’ve matured and examined my own heart, I see the connection in a way I wasn’t able to before. All glory goes to God in using HIS Word and HIS Spirit to open my eyes to see this accurately. Let’s start by understanding the terms biblically. The Bible is not silent on these issues. The big question is, will we hear it and submit to it?
Authority issues are primarily a rebellion issue.
I’m one of those guys that think it’s better to rip the band-aid off quickly rather than prolonging the inevitable pain that is coming, so here goes. Biblically speaking, authority issues are primarily a rebellion issue. Genesis 1:1-2 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” God is ultimately over and above everything. HE is the author, the sustainer, and the finisher. Everything that exists would not exist if HE didn’t cause it to come into existence. Therefore, God calls the shots. HE is the sovereign King of the whole universe. In HIS infinite wisdom, that doesn’t always compute with our finite wisdom, God created angels and people to bring HIM the glory and honor HE was due. God created both the angels and people with wills to make choices. In other words, angels and people are not like robots. Lucifer was the first to rebel, we read about this in Ezekiel 28. He was a beautiful angel that God created and was as close to perfect as a created being could be. He had it all, but that wasn’t enough in his mind. He wanted glory and power for himself. Therefore, he rebelled against the God who created him and tried to overthrow him. The consequences of this cosmic treason cost him everything. He was cast out of heaven. Surely no one else would fall for something so foolish, would they?
Genesis 3:1-6 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.” God gave them everything they would ever need, and they fell into the same trap that Lucifer did. The irony that Lucifer was the serpent who deceived Eve is wild and very fitting, at the same time. This is why the famous comedian from the 1960’s Flip Wilson’s words, “The devil made me do it”, doesn’t get us off the hook. We are not mere victims, but active participants in rebelling against God’s authority. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
This is more about who we are than what we do. I’ve heard it explained this way, “We are sinners, therefore we sin. It’s not that we sin and that’s what makes us a sinner.” It’s in our nature. Think about it this way, you don’t have to teach your young children how to hit their siblings, throw a temper tantrum when they don’t get what they want, or lie about eating all their spinach when they fed it to the dog. These things come very naturally because it’s who they are. They come into this world as rebels. Not just rebels without a cause, but rebels with a cause, a cause to attempt to dethrone God and enthrone themselves. We want to do it our way and we rebel against anyone and anything that opposes that. James 4:6 reminds us of where this gets us, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” What does this have to do with addiction?
Addiction is primarily a counterfeit worship issue.
We established that our authority issue is the sin of rebellion, so what’s that connection to addiction? Addiction, biblically speaking is primarily a counterfeit worship issue. It is a worship disorder that needs to be brought into order. It’s idolatry. It’s a worship of creation rather than a worship of the creator. We will never be fully satisfied by worshipping anything or anyone outside of God, yet many of us spend our lives chasing these counterfeit gods/idols. This is not new. You see this play out in Scripture; if you’re honest with yourself you see it play out in your own life, and the lives of others. Perhaps one of the best illustrations of what this looks like is laid out for us in Isaiah 44:9-20. Listen to this timeless truth,All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
This might sound extremely silly, and it is, but let us not be blind to the fact that we are prone to wander down the same path. The tools that we use to fashion our idols may not look the same, but it’s just as foolish. The point is a very simple, rebellion and counterfeit worship coupled together will lead to a catastrophic collision. Is there a way out?
There is only one way out of the mess.
John Cougar Mellencamp said it well in one of his songs from the 1980’s, “I fight authority and authority always wins.” I used to love this song and I could relate to it. It was not a Christian song, but like a lot of secular music, there was an underlying, raw truth that was being communicating in it. Apart from Jesus Christ and having union with HIM, we are doomed and destined for the wrath of God and headed for hell. Our rebellion and counterfeit worship will lead to this end. Our only hope and remedy is found in the finished work of Jesus Christ. We must humble ourselves at the foot of the cross and turn away from our sins and trust in the Lord for the forgiveness of our sins and the hope of eternal life, repentance and faith in Christ’s penal substitutionary atonement on our behalf. Earlier I talked about the bad news that we must face in Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, but let me leave you with the best news ever that we read in the next wo verses, Romans 3:24-25 “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and justifier in the one who has faith in Jesus.” The question I will leave you with is this, do you truly have this kind of faith in Jesus Christ?