NO ONE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?

As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death.

As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

Ecclesiastes 8:7-8 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In a recent contemporary Christian song by Aaron Shust, the following proclamation is made:

There is no one higher

No one greater
No one like our God

(listen here: No One Higher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bIaesTlgjA)

The essence is simple. No one can rival God.

No one.

And yet, we find people always trying to be gods unto themselves - self reliant, self serving, and self sufficient. Overcome with a bold and sinful pride that infects with an attitude of arrogance and egotism, these people lord over others and think there is no one greater or more beautiful or better off than they are.

In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, we find an example of such a person in the King of Tyre. Once a man of wisdom who used the intellect that God gave him to build a thriving, wealthy city, the king was overcome by greed and selfish pride, so much so that he declared to others that he was a god, a statement that didn’t set well with THE God, the God who commanded that there would be no other gods before Him, the God who sent the following message to the King of Tyre through Ezekiel:

Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.

Because you regard your heart as that of a god, I am about to bring strangers against you, ruthless men from the nations. They will draw their swords against your magnificent wisdom and will defile your splendor. They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the sea.

Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you? Yet you will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who kill you. You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of strangers. For I have spoken. This is the declaration of the Lord God. Ezekiel 28:2, 6-10

The King of Tyre was not a god. He was only a man, a human king (lower case “k”) in the presence of the one true God, the King of all kings. A man who was going to die just like any other man would at the hands of an enemy.

There is no one like God. No one.

No president or prime minister. No king or prince or emperor. No CEO or other boss or supervisor. No human being on earth.

And if someone does try and assert themselves as a god, they will face the same judgment as the King of Tyre for God simply will not be challenged by mere mortals.

This theme of God’s greatness over all is at the heart of our scripture passage from Ecclesiastes as we continue our study in Chapter 8. Look at these words that remind us that there is no one like God:

Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?

As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death.

As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. 

Ecclesiastes 8:7-8 

God’s word is clear here in these four statements:

1. Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?

No one knows the future and what’s to come although there are any number of human beings who think they can tell you through a horoscope or palm reading or tarot cards. Woe be it to the people who dupe others into believing they have some insight into the future when they really don’t and woe be it to the people who seek and trust in these people. God will not be matched by anyone and only He knows our future. No one else does.

2. As no one has power over the wind to contain it.

Read your Bible and only one person ever controlled the winds. It was God’s only Son Jesus, the One who had all the power of God in Him as He walked among mankind. You’ll recall that the disciples were in a boat with Jesus who was asleep when a squall caused the winds to blow hard and the waves to build up to a point where the disciples became afraid the boat would capsize. They awake Jesus who rebuked the wind and calmed the storm. The disciples, astonished at what had just happened, said:

“Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Luke 8:25

Why were they amazed and afraid? Because no one else could do what Jesus did. That’s because there was no one like Him, no one with the power to control the wind and no one with the power to save. No one.

3. No one has power over the time of their death.

Answer this question for me: When will you die?

You don’t know, do you?

Even people facing death, really don’t know when they might die. There have been more than a few cases where people were given just days or even hours to live and somehow they miraculously survived and lived to testify about it. The truth of the matter of life is simply this: God brought us into the world at His appointed time and He will take us from the world when He deems it’s time. We have no say in the matter because no one has power over the time of their death.

4. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

We all are sinners and so we all have the propensity for evil and wickedness. When we allow our transgressions to dominate who we are, we become entrapped in iniquity and immorality, entangled in our wrongs with no power in and of ourselves to escape. For no one has the power to release themselves from wickedness. Only God can grant us that power through His righteousness, shining His light into our darkness as He illuminates the path for us to walk out of the trap of sin or throwing us a lifeline when we have slipped deep into the pit to pull us out and back into the glory of His presence and peace and love.

No one can help us escape sin except the One who strengthens us to do all things (Philippians 4:13).

Thanks be to God for that truth for no one can do what he can do. Today and every day, let’s give thanks to God for all He has been, all that He is, and all that He is yet to be. For He is truly the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He has no rival and the best news of all is that He is with us. All we need to do is trust Him and Him alone, now and forever.

Friends, there is no one like our God. No one.

Let’s proclaim it to the world today and in every day He blesses us with.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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