We all know what it’s like to be humbled by a virus we can’t see, and that doesn’t even know it humbled us!
It’s impossible for Job to even begin to do any of the tasks the Lord gave him. Can he act like God, flexing His mighty arm? Can he speak like God, thundering out across the vast expanse? Can he adorn himself with the “majesty and splendor,…glory and beauty” of the divine (Job 40:10)? Or can he humble the proud creatures across the planet? If he could manage these few tasks, “then,” says the Lord, “I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you” (v 14). Herein lies the critical flaw in religion. If it’s a matter of sinful humanity DOING rather than trusting in what Christ has DONE, then there is no hope for us. If I could save myself, it’s evident I didn’t need to be saved. When a drowning man pleads for a rope, he hardly expects the whole rope! Someone, a savior, must hold the other end if he is to be saved. Job’s conclusion should be obvious, and two inferences follow. First, since God said of Job, “that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man” (1:8), anyone else would surely be included in the “can’t-save-yourself ” category. Second, it should also be evident that we are then shut up to God. If God doesn’t save us, we’re lost. The Gospel of John begins, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood [not because I’m related to Abraham or to my Aunt Maude who plays the church organ], nor of the will of the flesh [not because I try to keep the moral law], nor of the will of man [not because my priest has offered sacrifices for me], but of God” (Jn 1:12-13). We say with joy, “To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen” (Jude 1:25).