Job shmobe

Colossians 1:13
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

I heard this scripture read in church this morning and my eyes were opened. I had a revelation, an epiphany of sorts, about Job! That’s right, Job. This scripture is written for our benefit, by the Holy Spirit, to help us understand the goodness of God and the freedom found through Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:16).

I recently got into the book of Job in my daily reading. Talk about your early morning motivator! Poor Job had a horrible time. His family was killed, his health went sour, and all of his wealth disappeared, all at once! His wife told him to die. His friends told him he was a sinner. He was down and out, found sitting in ashes (the same word also conveys worthlessness), covered with boils. Yet Job continued to praise God. Sure, he had questions about his situation, but Job never wavered on his knowledge that God was just and right.

You know, it’s common practice to use Job as an example in our lives today of how to react to a crappy situation. It’s easy to use Job as an example of how God “allows” bad things to happen in our lives to teach us and show us that He is perfect and always right. But you know what? I think that’s an inaccurate way to use the Bible.

I think it would be more appropriate if we used Job as an example of what CAN’T happen to us. Am I saying that bad things can’t happen to us or our families or our jobs? Certainly not, but what I am saying is this: the Devil has no right or authority over the believer to cause bad things to happen.

This is the revelation I had today: we have what Job didn’t: Jesus Christ. Job had no one to stand in the gap between the Devil and God in the courts of Heaven. He had no Redeemer, Protector, Comforter, Advocate, and Savior. Job had Job, Job’s righteousness, and Job’s authority.

How much greater a blessing do we have today? We have Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father. We have the once and for all sacrifice for sin to bring us back to perfect fellowship and right standing with God (1 Peter 3:18). We have the security of knowing that His finished work at the cross fully satisfies the requirements of the Law. We have peace in knowing that He, Christ, has defeated the Devil. We don’t have to rely on our own righteousness (like Job); we have HIS (2 Corinthians 5:21)!

Christ has redeemed us from the authority of the Devil. He [the Devil] will never hear the same words from God about us that he heard when Job was alive (Job 1:12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”) because Christ has taken away the Devil’s power over us. He has removed us from the prince’s kingdom (John 12:31) and placed us in His kingdom (John 17:15-19). Rejoice in knowing that your enemy is defeated and has no power over you! By the Blood of Christ you are protected!