Get the Order Right
Order in the Garden
“God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.” — Genesis 2:15, “The Message” Bible translation.
From the very beginning of God’s creation, we see that He is a God of order. In fact, when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them the authority to preserve His created order in the Garden of Eden.
In Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth, he reminds them of this same truth, that our God does things in a well-ordered way, and that He wants His people to keep things in His household in proper order. In chapter 14, Paul writes,
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people,” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
In the Gospel of John, chapter 1, we see that Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, is called the Logos of God. In the cultural and philosophical context of the time, Logos held deep significance. It represented not just a spoken word but the principle that brings order out of chaos in the universe. In understanding Jesus Christ as the Logos, we see that “keeping things in order” is an essential aspect of God's very personality.
You’ve often heard Pastor Mike say, “Get the order right!” What does this mean? It means that our God is a God who does things in a certain order. Often we do not experience the abundant life God has for us—not because He hasn’t given it to us—but because our lives or way of living are not in proper order.
Order Is Essential to the Logos
In ancient Greek philosophy, before the birth of our Lord, the concept of Logos as the principle of order in the cosmos was already being explored in depth. Many scholars believe that this philosophical background was known to the apostles. We see, for example, Paul mentioning Greek poets in Acts 17. Therefore, it would have been likely that John was drawing on this Greek notion of Logos in the first chapter of his gospel.
What John was trying to show the Gentiles is that this Logos they had been philosophizing about was not just some impersonal force or mathematical ordering principle of the universe, as the Greeks thought. Rather, this Logos was actually a Person—the very Person of Jesus Christ. Much in the same way that Paul argues in Acts 17, John is impressing upon the Gentiles that Truth is ultimately a Person, not a principle, force, or set of propositions, like the Greeks had suspected.
How We Get the Order Wrong
Let me try to explain some common ways that we as Christians get the order wrong.
It seems contradictory to say, “Stop pursuing holiness.” When I say this, some Christians think I am saying that holiness is not important to God. “The Bible tells us to pursue holiness,” they argue. “Who are you to argue against what the Bible teaches?”
Let me state up front: I am not saying that holiness isn’t something that God desires. Sanctification—the process by which God purifies us of sin and evil and makes us more like Christ—is very important to our Father. What I am emphasizing is God’s order for manifesting holiness in our lives. When we get the order wrong, we fail to manifest the life of God within us. God is not a God of disorder (1 Corinthians 14:33); He does things in a certain way, following certain principles. When we don’t get the principles—or first, foundational truths—right, we actually block many of the blessings of abundant life God promises us.
For example, we already saw previously that God opposes the proud (James 4:6). We saw that the root of pride is self as a point of reference. That is, when we rely on our self-effort to accomplish the will of God, we are actually acting in pride. We are getting the order wrong. No matter how good our intentions are, if our intellect, willpower, strength, good works, intentions, or emotional desires are the point of reference for holiness and obedience to God, we operate in pride. What we find, much to our dismay, is that God opposes these efforts. We often find ourselves becoming less holy and falling into more sinful behavior. We become bewildered. We think, “Lord, I desire to obey you. Why can’t I stop [insert whatever besetting sin you struggle with here]? You know my heart, Lord. You know I want to serve you. Why aren’t you empowering me to do it?”
Why does this happen? Because we got the order wrong. The Logos is Christ Jesus. He is the Alpha and Omega. We always must begin and end with our eyes fixed on Him and His holiness.
One day, Pastor Mike and I were talking about the following verse: “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” (Matthew 20:28). In discussing this verse, it was as if we both heard the Spirit say: “I never intended for you to serve me. In fact, you can’t serve me. I never intended for you to try in your own effort to make yourself holy. And as long as you keep striving, I let you, until you come to the end of yourself.”
We were beginning to understand the meaning of “getting the order right.”
Once I get this revelation of order in my spirit, however, things begin to change. I become aware of a new Source of power flowing in me and through me. I come to grasp the truth Paul stated in Philippians 2:13: “… for it is God who works in me, to will and to do according to His good purpose.” I stop striving, as self-effort is no longer my point of reference. Then, I begin to notice besetting sins falling off me, with little to no effort!
It is truly miraculous as I begin to let Jesus live the life through me. I wake up one day, without even having noticed that I’ve gotten more holy (in the seen, temporal) by accident. It wasn’t really by accident; God knew exactly what He was doing, and the gracious Father doesn’t do things purposelessly. But when I peek “below the line,” I notice, much to my pleasant surprise, that I’ve matured in the Lord without any merit on my part.
How To Get the Order Right
But before we get to the end of ourselves, we are always fighting. This is because we’ve gotten God’s order wrong. Let me explain by looking at a few commonly-quoted Scriptures:
“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:12-14).
“For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7).
“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
“Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34).
“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
“…even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him…” (Ephesians 1:4).
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:5-=10).
“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11).
“…but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,16 since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (2 Peter 3:14).
“No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6-10).
“Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God” (3 John 1:11)
Which Comes First: The Outward or the Inward?
These any other passages express the importance of holiness and godliness to the Father. We read passages like these and we think, “Oh wow! I gotta get my act together. I better start disciplining my body and soul. I better figure out how to get rid of these habitual sins I commit. I need to make the pursuit of righteousness top priority.” So, we go out and try to do it. We try to produce the holy life of God on our own effort. We pray harder. We join accountability groups. We attend healing and deliverance services. We go to confession every Sunday and beat our chests or we say 100 Hail Mary’s or we pray the Rosary.
If we’re really “religious,” we do things like rigid, legalistic fasting. Or wearing chastity belts that cut into our skin, like Opus Dei in Da Vinci Code. We talk to priests and ministers and ask for penance. We grovel on our faces before the Lord, even.
But what we find is that none of these outward acts really do the job. The more we do, the more we have to do. If we stop doing all these works, we find sin creeps up on us and beats us over the head even worse.
When I don’t know God’s proper order and priority, I can’t walk in His authority. I will think the Christian life is more about me serving God than it is about Christ serving me. That sounds heretical. But that is just what Christ says. Of course, we are servants. Each of the the Apostles introduced himself as a “bondservant” of Jesus Christ in their letters. Yes, we serve God, but you’ve got to get the order right! First, Christ serves us—so that we can serve God through Him.
Not to Be Served But …
See the difference? You are not the point of reference anymore. Christ is. Whether it is in loving, or praising, or serving. As long as we think we are the point of reference, then the Christian life will be all about our serving God. We will get the order wrong, and the abundant life, which starts as an inside condition, will elude us. We will tumble off into self-condemnation, fear, anxiety, depression. Our self-esteem will suffer because we will be drawing our identity from our performance instead of from Christ’s righteousness. Pride or self-pity will begin to rule and reign in our hearts, and God will oppose the proud-hearted. Life will quizzically get worse and not better, and we will fall into confusion, resentment. We may even become angry with God. This is not the abundant life our Lord promised.
But when we get the order right, we see that the truly victorious Christian life is about Christ serving us.
During one of Jesus’ last meetings with His disciples, this story is recorded in the Gospel of John:
“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. … so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13: 1-8).
Are You in Order?
We’re often so busy trying to “serve the Lord” that we don’t even realize that the Lord first needs to serve us. Peter was adamant that His Lord Jesus wasn’t going to serve Him. This was all about serving Jesus to Peter. Isn’t that how we think? But our Lord told Peter that if Peter didn’t allow Him to serve Him, Peter had no part with Him. Foot washing has to do with cleansing and serving. Jesus was not only saying, “I must cleanse you in order to be in union with you” (“You have no part with me”). He was also saying, “You must let me serve you before I can even cleanse you.”
In other words, our Lord was telling Peter to get the order right!
