The Second Demotion

God created all that there is in six days. He saw everything He had made, and behold, it was good. That said, God created man and woman, and behold, it was good.

But it doesn’t stop there. See, “…God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). So man and woman were not just good, but they were in God’s own image!

Unfortunately, the serpent lied straight to their faces, by saying that this wasn’t enough, and that they just had to eat a fruit for ‘their eyes to be opened’, and that they will be ‘like God’ (Genesis 3:5). The thing is, they were already like God in the sense that they were in His image, and they were deceived to believe that they could be ‘like God’ more…

And we all know what happened next. Instead of becoming more like God, they became more of the dirt. Seeking promotion, we got demoted.

One of my youth leaders told me about a documentary he watched, that before the event at the Tower of Babel, all mankind was speaking a universal language, one so simple yet so complicated that it was easy for any and all men and women to converse with each other. Though much could be achieved, unfortunately they wanted to ascend – they wanted to make a name for themselves, literally touching the heavens… not knowing that the heavens were already watching them.

And what happened next left us the opposite of what was intended: “So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:8-9).

Instead of making a name for themselves, they got different languages, and therefore different lifestyles and cultures. Who tried to come up as one ended up back on the ground – dispersed. Seeking promotion, we got demotion – stressed as hell.

Observe the pattern here. We already had something good going, and when we were tempted into discontent, and into making a name for ourselves… When we were tempted to push ourselves to ascension, we ended up lower than when we started.

Isn’t this elaboration of what Christ said, when He said, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12, and then in Luke 14:11)”?

In our lives as Christians, we would do well to understand that we do not need to go through the stress of promoting ourselves, as the world would pressure us to do. No, we understand that by the grace of God, seen through Jesus Christ, we have all the attention we need, as we are accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). In other words, as Christ is so dearly loved and accepted by none less than the Creator of all, so we are also deeply loved and fully accepted.

Let us humble ourselves by avoiding focus on what we think we lack… Let us humble ourselves by appreciating the finished work of Christ, and the perfect and everlasting love God has for each and every one of us.

And as we wait on the Lord, we do not descend, nor are we demoted… as we wait on the Lord, we do not stay in a static location… No, on the contrary, as our minds wrap around the grace of God, we move from glory to glory; we are lifted up on wings like eagles; we are upheld by God’s righteous right hand… onward, and upward.

God bless  you.