All’s Right with the World?
May 16 2010
The year’s at the Spring
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hillside’s dew-pearled;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven–
All’s right with the world!
As a whole, Pippa’s Song by Robert Browning may not be familiar to you. But I would guess most of you have heard those last two lines before: God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world! If you are like me, when you first hear this poem you might think, “Isn’t that nice — it mentions God!” But a closer examination reveals that this poem is little more than a sloppy, syrupy, sugar-coated view of the world and of life in general. In the poem, everything goes according to schedule. Nature is well-ordered. Springtime arrives. Morning comes at seven. Creatures all do what they should. The attitude seems to be that as long as things work out like we expect them to and follow their natural course, it can be attributed to God being in control. God is doing His job. A thoughtful consideration of the phrase “God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world!” might lead one to question what relationship one thing has to the other. What effect does God’s presence in heaven, if we can speak of Him as being in one place, have upon the events of this world?
God’s in his heaven. What does that mean? Are we to assume that things are in their proper order only if God is in some far away place, removed from man by an invisible barrier? I don’t think that is what Mr. Browning meant. He seems to think that God being in heaven is the reason for all being right with the world, or that God being in heaven is the same as saying that God is in control of all things. While this is most likely the attitude of Mr. Browning, it was definitely the opinion of Jehoshaphat. You’ve heard that name, haven’t you? What you may not know is that he was one of the kings of Judah. He is the one who spoke these words.
2 Chronicles 20:6. “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. (NIV)
These words are part of a prayer that Jehoshaphat prayed before all the people of Judah. He was asking God for help, since his kingdom was about to be invaded by an army that greatly outnumbered his own troops. His words leave no doubt that for him, God’s presence in heaven is equal to God being in control, God ruling over all things. Jehoshaphat understood that God rules not only nature, but also the lives of men. He rules everything. This attitude was not limited to Jehoshaphat.
- After he had safely crossed the Red Sea and escaped from Pharaoh, Moses offered a song of praise that concluded with “The LORD will reign for ever and ever.” (Ex 15:18)
- Job speaks of God’s as being able to topple the strong, make the wise man foolish, and nations prosper or fall according to His will (Job 12).
- In a sermon he preached in Athens, Paul spoke of “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth…”
Since we profess our faith in the Triune God, this supreme rule of God applies to all three persons. We usually speak of this rule as it applies to Jesus in terms of kingship. He is called a king repeatedly, and even claims his authority as such in his trial before Pilate:
John 18:37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
God’s sovereign rule continues to this day, and will continue for all time, as Paul stated
1 Corinthians 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
God does rule. God reigns. God’s In His Heaven.
So what about the problem of evil? How can we possibly think that All’s Right With The World? Look at the headlines. Wars. Flooding. Injustice. Violent crime being perpetrated by offenders who seem to be younger each day. And evil is present in your lives as well. You have personal problems and struggles in your life. You are constantly tempted to go against God’s will for you. All of this is the work of the Devil, who is an active, personal force in direct opposition to God. Many people come to the conclusion that the Devil rules this world. He is even called the Prince of this World by Scripture. But he is not in control. God is. Satan may be loose in this world, but He does not rule it.
This presents a problem for many people. They may agree with Mr. Browning that God’s In His Heaven, but they think that means He is hiding there while Satan runs amuck and does as he wills. But this is not the case. God’s rule is established. He has taken care of the problem of evil. God viewed the state of man from heaven and got involved. He didn’t stay away or remove his presence. When evil first entered the world through man’s sin, God promised to take care of it. He did that through the gift of Jesus to be your Savior. He came down from heaven and got involved. When Christ died, bearing the sins of all men, yours and mine included, He took care of the problem of evil once and for all. He defeated the Devil. It did not end with His death. Had He remained in the tomb, Satan would have been victorious. But Christ declared His victory by rising from the dead and showing that the Devil had no power over Him. Through faith in Christ, you share in this victory. You rule with Him.
Satan is still present in this world. He continues to tempt you. Although we cannot understand why, God allows him to continue to operate. While he has been defeated, it is still possible for men to follow him, to give him control of their lives, and be eternally damned. But by the grace of God, through the working of the Holy Spirit, you have accepted Christ as your Savior from sin, death and the power of the Devil. Jehoshaphat stated that no one can stand against God, and that includes the Devil. He challenged God’s authority and lost big time. God rules. God reigns. GOD’S IN HIS HEAVEN.
Yet can you really claim All’s Right With The World? The Christian must declare that this is most certainly true. Once you accept the merits of Christ as your own through faith, all is truly right with the world. More importantly, all is right in your relationship with God. Even when you sin and fall short of God’s expectations, you have the forgiveness of sins as sure as you know that God’s in His heaven. Jesus has already paid for sin, and you believe in Him. Therefore, when God looks down on you, he no longer sees men and women condemned to death. He sees men and women who are cleansed and saved for Jesus’ sake.
Here is an interesting point: You can never be more righteous than you are right now. Do you understand what that means? As a believer in Christ, you can never be more righteous than you are right now, because the righteousness that you have is not something you have accomplished or done yourself. Your righteousness is that which God has freely given to you through faith in Christ. Salvation is already yours. Your eternal life has begun. For many of you, it began at Baptism when you became a part of the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit worked faith in your heart. You shared in Christ’s victory over the Devil, renouncing all his works and ways. And it continues.
In the Sacrament of the Altar you are given the opportunity for communion with the fellow redeemed and with Christ Himself. You share the body and blood that Jesus used to pay for the sins of everyone in this special meal to assure you that your sins have been forgiven. Those with this knowledge and faith have no problem saying God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world!
Yet for those with whom Satan has been successful, those who do not believe in Jesus, all is not right with the world. Quite the opposite is true. Rejecting Christ leads to eternal torment in hell. And all of us know people who are in that situation. Happily, this situation can be remedied. God in His heaven has made it possible for all to be right with the world. The death and resurrection of Jesus has paid the debt of sin for all men. Even those who have not yet made this payment their own through faith can still do so. God’s offer of free salvation is still good. And that is where you and I come into play. We have the joyful knowledge that all is right in our world. Dare we keep this to ourselves? As men and women who have the Good News of salvation, we have the privilege and opportunity to be instruments of the Holy Spirit in sharing that knowledge with others. All’s Right With The World should be a goal for us. We want to make all right with the world for all men by sharing the message of just how much God loves them and what He has done for them through Jesus. And because of your faith in Jesus that looks to Him alone for your forgiveness and salvation, you can live with the assurance and confidence that Mr. Browning and Jehoshaphat spoke of: God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world!
