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Power Is Guarded by Problems
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An AI search on the phrase “power is guarded by problems” resulted in a singular source—Dennis Peacocke. Over the past forty years, Dennis has been a respected Christian thought leader and a spiritual father to many, including me. This is one of many aphorisms he teaches. So, what does he mean by this unique phrase?
Given the truth of the Creation Mandate (Genesis 1:26–28), mankind exists to serve as God’s ruling agents on earth. But because of the fallen condition of humanity (Genesis 3), mankind is, in and of themselves, unable to rule well. Hence, to begin to restore mankind’s ability to serve as God’s ruling agents requires divine empowerment.
God chose to redeem the fallen universe (Genesis 3:15). And he chose to use sin and death as redemptive tools to impart life to his people. The people of God are both saved (regenerated) and enabled to mature in godliness (sanctification) in preparation for the fullness of eternal life. And while in this existence, the regenerated mature in the power to live as servants of God.
Divinely empowered maturity refers to the grace of God extended to mankind to grow in potency to serve as God’s ruling agents through maturity in Christlikeness. Consequently, when humans engage in the battle against sin and death (the problems of life) in the power of the Holy Spirit, they can mature and progressively gain power to serve God’s purpose.
To describe this, Dennis uses the imagery of going to a gym for a workout to build muscles. Life’s trials and tribulations are like a spiritual gym for the Holy Spirit to build God’s people in their power (ability) to serve him.
The fallen world is the context for what Dennis calls “the war between two seeds.” This is the battle of the kingdom of light (controlled by the seed of the woman) against the kingdom of darkness (controlled by the seed of the serpent)—first prophetically mentioned in Genesis 3:15:
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I [God] will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (ESV)
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The offspring of the woman refers to Jesus and the offspring of the serpent refers to Satan’s minions. Everything in the universe is part of this war.
At the fall of mankind (Genesis 3), God could have ended mankind’s rebellion immediately. Instead, he sovereignly chose to redeem the fallen world through a metanarrative of redemption. This means that ultimately the kingdom of light will be victorious over the kingdom of darkness. But in the meantime, there will be many battles that will ebb and flow as the serpent’s offspring bruises the heel of the woman’s offspring. But in the end, the woman’s offspring will crush the head of the serpent’s offspring. Throughout the metanarrative, God will use these battles to prepare and strengthen his people—his ekklesia—for their various assignments in the battles.
The testing of Jesus in the wilderness is an example of how power is guarded by problems in the war between the two seeds. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tested. After fasting for forty days, Jesus was very hungry. Then the devil confronted him with three tests: Jesus’ identity, destiny, and loyalty to the heavenly Father. Here is Luke’s account:
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And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'" And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'" And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1–13 ESV)
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Jesus passed the test, which served to validate his nature and character. His power to serve as the Savior of his people was confirmed.
Jesus returned from his baptism full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1). Then he was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert (Luke 4:1), and he left the desert in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). This illustrates the laconic universal truth, "power is guarded by problems."
In the apostle Peter’s apologetic on the Day of Pentecost—the first day of the New Covenant era—he stated the purpose of signs and wonders to confirm Jesus’ role and his message. Peter said:
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Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:22–24 ESV)
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For fallen humans, trials and tribulations (sufferings) are used to serve God’s purpose in the metanarrative and to transform (purify) God’s people. Paul explained the purification of God’s people through sufferings:
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Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3–5 ESV)
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Sufferings build endurance and godly character in God’s people (the true ekklesia) to enable them to engage with progressively more effectiveness, serving God’s purpose as God’s people in the metanarrative of redemption.
God’s power is released in God’s people to serve God’s purpose through the proper response to the problems (sufferings, trials, tribulations, and tests) of life. As with Jesus, we are divinely appointed to these problems and divinely empowered to grow through them because the power to serve God well is guarded by problems.
May we learn to do this well and recognize that the spiritual gym of life will build us up in the faith for God’s glory. My heartfelt thanks to Dennis for this wonderful edifying phrase and teaching on how God uses life in the fallen world redemptively to empower God’s people to serve him.
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