Craig Clouston

 

No Equal, No Opposite

October 11

Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord…you alone are God.

Psalm 86:8, 10

Jenna was searching for a way to help eleven year old Niles understand the concept of physics, “Your textbook says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” She decided to use an illustration to help explain, “Do you remember when you tried to move that big rock in the back yard by yourself?” He nodded, she continued, “No matter how hard you tried you couldn’t budge it.”

“Yah, so?” He wasn’t sure of her reasoning but remembered wrestling with that rock.

“Dad showed you how to use a big stick to move it, right? The stick provided the power you lacked.”

As understanding dawned Niles exclaimed, “Yah! Dad called it a lever!”

“That’s right!” Another illustration came to mind, “You really like the space shuttle, right? Well…in a similar way, it needs a lever to break free of the earth’s gravity to reach outer space. Rocket fuel is its lever.”

Niles’ animation told Jenna that she’d succeeded, “I get it now! There’s always somethin’ stronger than what you need to move if you can figure out what it is!”

“That’s right,” she said, thankful for the breakthrough. “Just remember the term, ‘equal and opposite.’”

†

Newton’s third law of physics says there are an equal and an opposite for every action. Spiritual laws work the same way. For instance, the opposite of light is darkness. The opposite of good is evil. The opposite of saved is lost.

But what is the opposite of God? Most people ardently respond, ‘Satan!’ And to that end we spend our days fending off an enemy we regard as God’s equal. But that is not true.

Ezekiel 28:13 tells us Satan is a created being; “Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.” Verse 14 reveals that Satan’s equivalent, his peer, is the arch angel, Michael; “You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.” Created by God, Satan is in no way His counterpart.

God has no equal; no opposite. And hopefully this gives new meaning to 1John 4:4, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Prayer

“You, O Lord, alone are God. Amen.”