Those of you who have studied science are probably familiar with the two laws of thermodynamics. The first is “the law of the conservation of mass and energy,” which observes that matter is neither being created or destroyed, merely transferred from one energy form to another.  The second is “the law of increasing entropy,” observing that as you pass from one energy form to another some of the usable energy is lost so that things run down and wear out  and become more random and less complex. These two laws, by the way, totally contradict the theory of macro-evolution which is taught as scientific fact in our public institutions!  But these two laws do support the biblical teaching of creation for Genesis 2:1,2 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.”  God rested, not because He was tired, but because His work was completed. He would no longer be creating, but sustaining what He had made. The Apostle Paul wrote in Col. 1:16,17, “For by Him (Christ) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth….And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”   The first law of thermodynamics is an observation of God’s completed, sustained creation.  Then, when Adam and Eve sinned, we read in Gen. 3:14-20 that God put a curse upon the earth resulting in struggle, pain, suffering and death.  Thus we see that the second law of thermodynamics is an observation of the curse placed on the earth because of sin.       The term “entropy” means “turning inward” or “inversion,” or “confusion.”  In science, entropy is a measure of disorder in any given system.  The universal law of increasing entropy states that every system tends to disintegrate into disorder, or confusion, if left to itself.  This tendency can only be reversed if energy is applied to it effectively from a source outside the system.
      This universal scientific law has a striking parallel in the spiritual realm.  A person turning inward to draw on his own strength and ability to “cope” will inevitably deteriorate eventually into utter spiritual confusion and death. In Prov. 14:12  Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote: “There is a way  which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”  In the New Testament, we read these words from Paul: “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.” (II Cor 3:5)
       The word “entropy” is from the Greek word entrope  (en-trop-ay’) which is used two times in the New Testament. The first is in  I Cor. 6:5 which reads, “I say this to your shame (entrope). Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren.”  The second is in I Cor. 15:34:  “Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame (entrope).”   In both verses, the word entrope is translated “shame.”   Evidently this special variety of shame is associated with taking controversies between Christian brethren to ungodly judges and also with failing to witness to the non-Christian community. Instead of bringing the true wisdom of God to the ungodly, such “entropic Christians” were turning to worldly wisdom to resolve their own spiritual problems. This inverted behavior was nothing less than spiritual confusion!
      The Apostle Paul bore witness to this fact as he wrote to the church at Rome, saying: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (Ro.  7:18).  When we turn within to find strength to deal with life, we are drawing upon our Adamic, sinful nature, which the prophet Jeremiah described this way: “The heart (old nature) is deceitful and desperately  wicked. Who can understand it (i.e., how bad it is)?” (Jer. 17:9).   But, when Christ enters the life, that person becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus (II Cor. 5:17).  Through the Holy Spirit and through the Holy Scriptures, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to  life and godliness” (II Pet. 1:3).  The law of spiritual entropy is transformed into the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Ro.  8:2).  We have a new power working within us. It is Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit (Gal. 2:20).  Now we can say with Paul,  “I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)  So, “we are not adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves (our old flesh), but our adequacy is from God (Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit)” (II Cor.  3:5).   
      If you are going to “turn within,” be sure it is to depend upon Christ, not upon your own abilities and strength. Don’t forget Jesus’ words in John  15:5, “for apart from me you can do nothing.”  
 
 Forever His,

     Pastor Dave
 
                                                                                   

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