Tom Lowe
2/1/2021
Lesson 12 - EXPLANATION OF DIVINE INVOLVEMENT (1:17-18)
Text - James 1:17-18 (KJV)
17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Lesson 12 - EXPLANATION OF DIVINE INVOLVEMENT (JAMES 1:17-18)
17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
The writer addresses the dilemma concerning the existence of evil and suffering in the world. “Either God is not all good, or He is not all-powerful.” He assumes that God is all-good and that all His gifts to man are good. He does not attempt to justify the ways of God to man. Can we agree that all that is good comes from God?
Admittingly, there is a dark side to life: but that does not mean that God purposely brought evil to His children -- temptations and pain, and sin and suffering. His will is that everyone is saved and “come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). Moreover, what the question in verse 17 asserts is that goodness comes from above and not from below.
“Father of lights” describes God as the creator of both the spiritual and material worlds and, therefore, the Father of the sun, moon, and stars. The general sense here is clear enough; even the sun, moon, and stars change, but God never changes.
God’s children came into existence through no act of their own but owe their existence solely to God’s will exercised through His word of truth; they are thus set apart from all other men as a kind of first fruits. To Christians, this word of truth could only mean the Gospel (Col. 1:5); on Christians as first fruits (Rev. 14:4; 2 Thess, 2:13).
