Is it True Love?

So, I had the song “Somewhere Out There” going through my mind for a couple of days, and it was in my mind again when I sat down to write. Some secular songs have a biblical theme to them and can be used both as a Christian or as a secular song, at least in part. But I saw no way this song could be used as a Christian song with a Christian message. Yet, I dutifully went through the lyrics, and I examined them in light of Scripture.

 

The words, “It helps to think we might be wishin’ on the same bright star,” were the words that were jumping out at me, which then made me think about the phrase, “wish upon a star,” so I looked that up. The origins of the phrase, as I suspected, had to do with foreign gods and foreign religions and superstitions. So, this is definitely not something that is of God.

 

And then I read that the Greeks believed that the stars represented falling human souls, so basically to make a wish upon a fallen human soul. And this then led me to think of “Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the Great.” And then that led me to think of Satan as a star that had fallen from heaven, which also paralleled over to the fall of Babylon (Is 14:12; Lu 10:18; Rev 9:1).

 

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Satan (or Babylon) is called a “morning star” who had fallen from heaven (Is 14:12), and Jesus is referred to as “the bright morning star” (Rev 22:16). And Satan wanted to be God, and he disguises himself as an angel of light, and his servants masquerade themselves as servants of righteousness (2 Co 11:14-15).

 

Now, I am not suggesting that the song “Somewhere Out There” has anything to do with Satan or with false gods and with false religion. I am not saying it doesn’t, either. I believe the whole point of this exercise was to illustrate a point in the following passage of Scripture. I was to see “wish” as “desire,” and “desire” can be for something good or for something evil.

 

1 John 2:15-17 ESV

 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

 

So, going back to the two “morning stars,” one being the character of Satan (or Babylon) and the other being the character of Jesus Christ. Whom do we desire? Jesus? Or the world and the flesh, which are of Satan? If our desire is for the world and the flesh, then we are wishing upon fallen man. We are putting our desires and our hopes and dreams in our flesh, not in God.

 

Many people are replacing love for God with the lusts of the flesh, and they are confusing lust with love, too. The two are not the same. In the song, “Somewhere Out There,” two people are separated from each other by physical space and something is keeping them apart from each other, and so they are hoping that they will find one another.

 

In the cartoon, they are brother and sister who are separated. But what if they are two people who are “in lust” with each other who are prevented from being with one another because one or both of them are married to someone else? This happens a lot, you know. They think they are “in love,” but it is really the passions of their flesh which have consumed them.

 

They have this idea of love as something which just makes them all warm and tingly inside them, which makes them feel good about themselves, even if they are steeped in sinful practices, including adultery. They don’t want to have to do what needs to be done to repair their marriages, and so they look for someone else who they think will “love” them better.

 

But their “wish” is upon a fallen star, i.e., Satan and the flesh, and fallen man. It has nothing to do with true love, because they reject true love in favor of the cheap substitute because the cheap substitute makes them feel good about themselves even in their sins, even if they are deliberately and habitually sinning against God and others, even hurting other people.

 

True and False Stars

 

But this isn’t just about two “lovers” longing for each other, hoping that one day they can be together and that everything will be rosy for them from that point forward. This is about people putting their faith in a false “morning star,” accepting him as their “light” and truth, and then following after him and his gospel while rejecting the true light, the true morning star. It is about them desiring the false Jesus and the false gospel over the truth.

 

And this is because their concept of love is all wrong. They want a Jesus like is being depicted in the TV Series, “The Chosen,” because he just goes around healing people and performing miracles and then hanging out with people and joking and teasing and winking the eye and just being a regular “joe” who never confronts anyone with their sin nor calls them to dying with him to sin and living to him and to his righteousness.

 

They don’t see that “love” is preferring all that God prefers, which is what is holy, righteous, pure, honest, faithful, and upright, and that love does no harm to its neighbor. It does not deliberately and habitually sin against others, knowingly hurting them, and then not care and not do anything to stop the habitual sinning. Love also does not stand by and say nothing when a loved one is caught in sin and needs to hear about the way out.

 

So, you see, the cheap grace gospel is a lot like someone you are having a romantic affair with. This is not true love. If you buy into it, this will not end well for you. If you chase after romance and feel good messages which do not confront you in your sin, but which allow you to keep on in your sin, that is not love. It may feel good for a time. You may feel all warm and tingly inside just thinking about it, but it will come back and bite you in the end.

 

The true Jesus is not the one being portrayed in “The Chosen.” That portrayal is blasphemy against Almighty God for it makes God altogether like us, and he is not like us. You may like the idea of a Jesus who just goes around making everyone feel good about themselves, but the true Jesus spoke the truth in love, and sometimes the truth hurts.

 

but whoever does the will of God abides forever

 

If you want to live with God for eternity, obey him. Do what he says. Follow in his ways. Don’t take the “easy” way out and give up on living a holy and upright life and therefore accept a cheap grace substitute in place of the true gospel. And no cheap substitutes for a loving marriage, either.

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

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