Contrasting God And Man - Pt 2 Series

Contrasting God and Man – Pt 2

Habakkuk 1:12-17

* If I could have one wish at this point in my life, I would wish that I go back in my life and began to serious study God’s word as a young man. There is an old gospel song entitled, “Wasted Years” which expresses my sentiments in this regard. Today, I continue to discover so many things that I “WISHED” I had recognized many years ago. I believe that God would have showed these to me, had I applied myself in His word.

* We continue tonight with the concept of “Contrasting God and Man” from Habakkuk 1:12-17. Turn with me and let’s read.

* Last week we focused on God which is always a good place to focus. As a Private Pilot, I used to love to take a “fly-over” to see how things looked from high above. Let’s pretend we are in a plane and take a fly-over of last week’s lesson.

1. An Appropriate view of God – He is not Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, or ‘grand-pa.” We mentioned 6 qualities

a. His Preeminence – This word means “over and above, excellence, and to be first.

b. His Permanence – Without taking a breath, Habakkuk says, “You will not die.” This affirms the Biblical truth that is spoken of in Revelation 1, “I am the alpha and omega,

c. His Plan - Habakkuk writes “You appoint” or “ordained” or “set the course”. Want to know personal happiness, joy, peace, love, and even fulfillment? Quit being so worried about your comfort and focus on His plan.

d. His Power – He is the one who executes judgment.

e. His Punishment – God has, does, and will punish sinful acts and a rebellious nature.

f. His Purity – God is so holy and pure that He cannot even “look” at sin, let alone tolerate it.

* There it is. Sovereign God sits on the throne and looks at His crown creation who chose sin instead of righteousness.

2. An Accurate view of Mankind – As we take a look at this concept, some of us will already be offended because we all know what mankind is like.

Yet, when we listen to people talk and discover that deceitful heart inside of them, we can easily discover two common truths about mankind; 1) We tend to overrate our goodness and, 2) We tend to underrate God’s holiness. When a man doesn’t have an appropriate view of God, generally he will never develop an accurate view of himself. When I read our text, I am convinced that Habakkuk has given us 4 snapshots of unregenerate mankind. That being said, it is important to know & recognize that the old man (self) continues to raise his ugly head in the life of a regenerated man. Some or all of these truths, we will find offensive. Just remember, when we discover truth, it is a discovery not a development. Let’s look;

a. He is pitiful in his walk – Let’s look at the first part of verse 14 together. Habakkuk prays, “Lord you have made mankind like fish of the sea.” Of all the things which fish are, they are food for a larger species. And the worse thing is this; as a general rule, fish are not very smart. (In fact, honestly I am about to get a complex. The prophet calls us fish which are not too smart and we are also called sheep—also not the sharpest tool in the box—is God trying to tell us something?) Candidly, it seems that God is attempting to communicate to us that left to our own ways; we are not very smart, in fact, as a race we may be called pitiful. He left Adam and Eve for a few minutes and disaster struck. He has Moses leave the Children of Israel for a few days and we know how that turned out. In fact, almost every time mankind has been called on to step up and choose righteous, he has fallen on his face. Candidly we are like both fish and sheep that need leadership.

b. He is powerless in his will – In the second part of verse 14 are three words which speak of pain. These words are; hooks, drag net and fishing net. Consider that Habakkuk has just said “Mankind are like the fish of the sea,” only to point the tools of a fisherman. Hooks and nets are designed to change the direction of the fish and make them go in a direction and do what the fish really doesn’t care to do. Focus first on the fishing net. A ‘fishing net’ is set out to catch fish who are generally unaware of the danger. They are just swimming around, living their normal lives, and all at once the net catches them. Although they struggle, they can’t seem to get away because the net is designed to not allow anyone to escape.