Lesson 4: Learning to Obey
Because God is God and because He is the Creator of the whole universe, He has authority over all things.
What do we mean when we say that God has "authority over all things"? We mean that God has the right to rule over all things and He should be obeyed.
Since God is so great and so good, you would think that everyone would love God and want to obey Him. But this is not the way it is. Some people do love God and want to obey Him, but others do not love God and do not want to obey Him.
From the Bible we learn that there are two ways by which people live their lives:
1. The way of rebellion.
The person who lives his life this way says in his heart, "I will have my own way; I will do what I want to do!"
2. The way of obedience.
The person who lives his life this way says in his heart, "I want to please God; I want to do what God wants me to do."
In this lesson we will see how Satan brought the way of rebellion into the universe. Then we will see how the Lord Jesus showed us the way of obedience.
The Rebellion of the Angels
The way of rebellion first started in Heaven. At one time every living creature obeyed God perfectly. But a time came when some of the angels rebelled against God.
God created the angels to serve Him. One of the angels which God created was named Lucifer. He was in charge of all the other angels. He was the most beautiful and most powerful angel that God ever created.
One day pride entered Lucifer's heart and he rebelled against God. He decided that he should be God. Lucifer said in his heart,
"I WILL ascend into heaven, I WILL exalt my throne above the stars of God. I WILL be like the most High." (Isaiah 14:13, 14)
Satan rebelled against God. One third of the angels of heaven followed Lucifer in his rebellion against God. As a result of his rebellion, Lucifer's name was changed to Satan, which means "adversary" or "enemy." Satan is God's enemy and he is our enemy also.
Satan and his fallen angels set up a kingdom opposed to God and His kingdom. Ever since that time there have been these two kingdoms — the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.
Before Satan rebelled against God there was only the way of obedience in the universe. Every living creature obeyed God perfectly.
But Satan brought another way into the universe — the way of rebellion. Rebellion is the heart-attitude toward God which says,
"I will not obey You! I will do what I want to do!"
The Rebellion of Man
God created the first man, Adam, and placed him in the Garden of Eden. Let us think for a moment about the relationship between God and the man He created. Should God love the man He created? Yes, He should. Should God tell the man what He wants him to do? Yes, He should.
What about this man who was created by God? Should he love God? Yes, he should. Should he worship God? Yes, he should. Should he obey God? Yes, he certainly should.
Would it be right for this man who was created by God to say to God, "I don't care what You want me to do; I will do what I want to do!"? No, it certainly would not be right.
But Adam did rebel against God. He did choose to disobey his Creator. He said in his heart, "I will do what I want to do!"
As a result of Adam's disobedience, his nature was changed. He now had a sinful, rebellious nature. Adam passed this sinful, rebellious nature on to his children and to the whole human race. Every person has this sinful nature within that says, "I will do what I want to do; I will have my own way!" The Bible says, "We have turned every one to HIS OWN WAY." (Isaiah 53:6)
In spite of man's rebellion and disobedience, God loved him and wanted to bring man back to Himself. God had a plan to do this. He would send His only Son, the Lord Jesus, into the world. The Lord Jesus would obey His Father perfectly. Then He would take our sins upon Himself and die for them.
The Obedience of the Son
The Lord Jesus is sometimes called "the God-Man." This is a good name for Him because He is truly God and truly man. What kind of man was the Lord Jesus? He was a man whose mind and heart were set on doing God's will. The Lord Jesus said,
"I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." John 6:38
Never once did Jesus go against His Father's will. Never once did He disobey His Father. Never once did He say in His heart, "I don't care what My Father wants Me to do; I will do what I want to do!" Instead, Jesus always did what pleased His Father. He said, ". . . I do always those things that please Him." (John 8:29)
Since it was the Father's will that He die on the cross for our sins, Jesus willingly obeyed His Father. The Bible says, ". . . He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:8)
Christ died a terrible death on the cross. He was buried in the tomb of a rich man. But God raised His Son from the dead and made Him the head of a new family — the children of God. We become a member of God's family when we take the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
What God's children are like
There are two main things about God's children that cause us to be different from unsaved people: (1) God's children are believers, and (2) God's children are obeyers. Let us see what we mean by this.
1. God's children are believers.
We believe in the Lord Jesus — that He is the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to be our living Savior.
2. God's children are obeyers.
We love God and we want to obey Him. Christ has come to live in us, and we are different from what we used to be. The Bible says, "We have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:16)
What mind did Christ have? His mind was to obey God. He said, "I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." God's children are not perfect. We often fail God and do wrong things, but we love our Heavenly Father and we want to please Him. Our heart-attitude is to obey God.
The two ways
At the beginning of this lesson we said that there are two ways by which people live their lives:
1. The way of rebellion:
"I will have my own way!"
The way of rebellion is Satan's way. It is the way unsaved people live their lives. The Bible speaks of "the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience." This is the heart-attitude which says, "I will do what I want to do!" This is the same heart-attitude Satan has.
Boys and girls who live their lives by the way of rebellion do not want to obey God. They do not want to obey their parents. They do not want to obey their teachers or others in authority over them. This is a terrible way to live your life.
The Apostle Paul thought about how he had lived before he became a Christian. Paul said, "For we ourselves were sometimes foolish, DISOBEDIENT, deceived, hateful and hating one another." How grateful Paul was that he no longer lived this way.
2. The way of obedience:
"I want to obey God."
The way of obedience is the way of the Lord Jesus. It is the way God's children are to live their lives. We were once rebellious and disobedient, but God saved us. Now we belong to Him. Our desire is to obey God and to please Him in all that we do. The Bible says that we are to live "as obedient children."
The wonderful thing is that God has made it possible for us to obey Him. When we were saved, Christ came to live in our heart. Because Christ lives in us, we can obey God. The Apostle Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)
(A story series written by Edna Menzies.)
When breakfast was over the next morning, Wendy and Susan hurried down toward the beach where Brian and Randy were waiting for them. Wendy had told Susan all about the stolen money, and Susan was just as eager as Wendy to hear more about it.
Wendy and Susan raced over to where the boys were standing. "Did you find out anything more?" Wendy asked breathlessly.
Brian shook his head. "Not very much. I did ask Pete where he got the ice cream cone I saw him eating. But he just clammed up and wouldn't tell me a thing."
"Too bad," Susan said. "What are you going to do now?"
"We don't know yet," Brian answered slowly. "We were trying to figure out something that Joey said. You tell them, Randy."
"Well, Joey is my buddy, you know," Randy began. "And his bed is next to mine. This morning when we were all supposed to be reading our Bibles, I looked up and saw that Joey had an open comic book on top of his Bible. He saw me looking at him, so he put it away quickly. On the way to breakfast I asked him if he was a Christian. He said he was and that he really did love the Bible. But the comic book was a new one and very exciting and he couldn't wait to finish it. So I asked him if he had brought it from home and do you know what he said?"
"What?" the girls asked in the same breath.
"He told me that Pete had sold it to him yesterday," Randy answered. "Brian and I can't understand where Pete got it. And Joey said that Pete sold some comics to a lot of other kids, too."
"If Pete did that, then he would have plenty of money for an ice cream cone," Wendy said thoughtfully as she smoothed back the dark hair from her forehead. "But where did he get the comic books?"
"There aren't any in the canteen," Brian told them. "We looked just now."
"Did Bobby tell his counsellor about the stolen money?" Wendy asked.
"Yes, he did. And Bobby said that his counsellor talked to them last night. He told them that the stolen money would be a mark against their whole cabin unless someone owned up to it and made things right. But so far no one has done so," Brian answered.
Just then the bell rang for the morning chapel hour, and the four of them rushed off toward their cabins to get their Bibles.
"Do you think we should check on Maggie and Cheryl?" Susan asked, stopping at Cabin 8 while the other children surged past them.
"I suppose we should this time," Wendy agreed. "But after this I don't think it will be necessary." They found Cheryl looking very cross as two of her cabin mates stood over her. They were insisting that she clear off her bed before leaving.
"You are going to make our cabin lose points if you leave your bed in a mess like this," Tracey Atkins told Cheryl loudly. "And it isn't fair!"
Susan put down her Bible. "I'm Cheryl's buddy, and I will help her clean up. You girls can go on to the meeting."
The girls watched for a minute as Susan opened up Cheryl's suitcase and began to take the things off the bed and put them into the suitcase as quickly as she could. Then, satisfied that Susan meant what she said, they ran out of the cabin.
"Oh, what pretty beads!" Susan exclaimed, as she held up a pair of blue and white beads before putting them into the suitcase.
Cheryl's mouth, which had been pouting, turned up in a smile. "I like them, too. I bought them just last night from a boy. I think his name is Pete Brown. He had a lot to sell, but I thought those were the prettiest."
Wendy had started toward Maggie's bed, but at Cheryl's words, Wendy turned and stared at Susan. Then, motioning for Susan not to say anything, Wendy went on down the aisle. She found Maggie sitting on her bed, looking half asleep. "Oh, Maggie, do hurry!" Wendy exclaimed, "or we'll all be late."
"Do I have to go?" Maggie asked with a yawn.
"Yes, of course. Didn't Miss Ardill tell you that?"
"Ummm," Maggie answered, rising and stretching lazily. "But I am so sleepy. I thought I'd go back to sleep after they all cleared out."
"You can't do that," Wendy told her, taking Maggie's hand and half tugging her along. "I'd think you would want to obey Miss Ardill after she gave you those nice clothes you showed me last night. That striped top looks great with those jeans, Maggie. It makes you look a lot slimmer."
"Does it?" Maggie looked pleased, and she began to move along more quickly.
Once outside, the four girls broke into a run and made it to the main building just before the doors were closed. Anyone coming later would be allowed in but a point would be deducted from his record card.
The happy singing and cheerful tone of the whole meeting soon roused Maggie from her sleepiness and took away the sullen look from Cheryl's face. Wendy and Susan looked at each other and smiled as they saw the deep interest in the faces of their camp buddies as Mr. Douglas got up to speak.
First Mr. Douglas showed them a beautiful Bible. "There will be a Bible like this for the girl with the highest points and one for the boy with the highest points," he told them. "By the way some of you are starting out, I'm sure we are going to have some stiff competition. So keep on trying."
Wendy's heart was fluttering with excitement. "I must win that Bible," she told herself. "Wouldn't Granny be pleased! And I do need one." She looked down at the small, worn Bible in her hand. It was just an old one that her cousin Janice had given her.
Just then Wendy glanced at Susan and was startled to see a big tear roll down her friend's cheek. Wendy looked away at once, an uneasy feeling growing inside her. Susan wanted that Bible too. She wanted it so much it even made her cry. And she certainly needed one. All she had was an old one of her mother's. The back was loose and many of the pages were torn and parts of some chapters were missing completely.
"We can't both win it," Wendy thought. "But I have just as much right to try for it as Susan has. And I will, too," she promised herself stubbornly.
"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing—" The words hammered their way in to Wendy's tangled thoughts as Mr. Douglas had the children repeat the golden verse over and over again. Then he gave them a little talk explaining that sometimes we had to choose between pleasing ourselves and pleasing the Lord Jesus. Wendy listened, but there seemed to be a hard lump deep inside her that did not want to go away.
After the meeting, the girls were told it was their time for swimming. They all dashed for their swim suits and were soon shouting and laughing as they plunged into the cool water of the lake. Wendy was surprised to see that Maggie was an excellent swimmer. Wendy watched in silence for a few minutes. Then she clapped her hands and called out, "Hey, Maggie, where did you learn to swim like that?" The other girls stopped to watch. Maggie was swimming, floating, and diving under the water with almost unbelievable ease and grace.
"Say, that's great! Who taught you to swim like that, Maggie?" Miss Ardill asked as she joined the group.
"Aw," Maggie said, growing embarrassed at all the attention. "We live near a lake, and my daddy taught me to swim when I was a baby, almost. It's nothing."
"It's a great accomplishment, Maggie," Miss Ardill assured her. "Would you be willing to help me teach some of the younger ones during part of your swimming period each day?"
"Sure, if you want me to," Maggie answered. Her eyes were glowing in spite of her embarrassment. It made Wendy feel happy just to look at her. "Maggie is beginning to grow," she thought. Then a wistful feeling swelled up in Wendy's heart. "I want to grow too, Lord Jesus," she prayed. "Please help me."
The next day passed quietly with special Sunday programs that all the children enjoyed. Maggie looked nice in a candy-striped dress Miss Ardill had found for her. And ever since the swimming triumph, Maggie had been making friends with others in her cabin. But Cheryl seemed quiet and unhappy. Wendy asked Susan about it when they went for a walk by themselves that afternoon.
"It's because of what happened yesterday just before supper," Susan explained. "I heard someone crying in cabin 8, and when I asked some girls who it was, they giggled and said it was the 'princess' crying for her mommy. So I went in and found Cheryl sobbing and saying she wanted to go home. I couldn't tell Miss Ardill because she had gone for a walk with some of the girls. But Cheryl finally told me that because of her pretty clothes the other girls teased her and called her 'princess.' She said that no one liked her or would play with her and she wanted to phone for her mother to come and get her."
"I'm not surprised that the kids are teasing her," Wendy said. "Cheryl is too proud of her clothes and can talk of nothing else."
Susan's blue eyes were troubled as she nodded. "I know, Wendy. But Cheryl is the only child in her family. She told me that her mother won't let her wear jeans to school and will only let her play with rich kids. It was her daddy who heard about this camp and insisted on sending her here. I feel sorry for her, because I think she would really like to be able to play with the other kids and have fun but she doesn't know how. At first I envied her with all those pretty dresses, but I don't now."
"I know!" Wendy suddenly exclaimed. "Let's ask Miss Ardill to find some jeans and tops for Cheryl. If Cheryl will wear them, she will soon mix in with the other kids and won't act like a dressed up doll."
"What would her mother say?" Susan asked doubtfully.
"Her daddy sent her here, didn't he?" Wendy declared. "I bet he was getting tired of a 'princess' for a daughter and would like a real girl for a change."
Susan laughed. "I guess maybe he would. I'll talk to Cheryl about it the first chance I get."
Wendy and Susan had been following a path that circled the inside boundary of the camp grounds. They were nearing the entrance gates when they were both startled by a loud "Psst!" A movement in the bushes just ahead of them showed Brian and Randy crouching down and motioning them to do the same. Ducking low, the girls ran over to the bush and kneeled down beside the boys.
"What is it?" Wendy whispered fearfully.
"Shh, look over there by the gate," Brian murmured. The girls peeked through the bushes. They saw an old man with a violin by his side. He was sitting near the entrance to the camp grounds. Pete was squatting beside him, hurriedly stuffing into his pockets the things the old man was handing to him. The last thing the man gave him looked like a roll of papers. Pete stuck it inside his jacket and with a wave of his hand, he ran back into the camp grounds and headed in the direction of his cabin.
"W-who is that old man?" Susan's voice trembled with excitement.
Randy shook his head, puzzled. "I don't know," he said, "but I think—"
"You think that Mr. Douglas should know about this, don't you?" Brian interrupted. "Well, so do I. And it's nearly time for supper, so we'll have to make a dash for it if we want to catch Mr. Douglas before he leaves his cabin. Come on."
The boys were off before the girls had a chance to ask any more questions.
"Oh," Wendy sighed. "I hope Pete won't get into trouble and have to go home, 'cause I don't think he has taken the Lord Jesus as his Savior yet."
"Maybe he will when Mr. Douglas talks to him," Susan said hopefully as they got to their feet and started on a run toward the dining hall.
