New Thoughts (12/31/03-1/1/04)
Before I turn to this passage, I want to pick up the thread I was on in the last section, regarding 1Ti 4:4-4:5. There, as I noted, we are told that everything God created is good, and ought not be rejected. Rather, we ought to receive His creations with gratitude, sanctifying it to our use by God's word and by prayer. That, I think, is the gist of it. In regards to this passage, I came across something interesting in Thayer's dictionary entry for Logos. He writes that in this particular passage, the 'word of God and prayer' indicates the use of prayer incorporating the language of Scripture. Given the context, Scripture, in this case, means specifically the Old Testament Scripture. However, I think we can open that up to include the whole of the Bible.
I am thinking perhaps what I wrote in my last study needs a bit of balance. What Paul writes to Timothy needs a bit of balance, which he himself offers in another place. I am certain he would also have included it here had he thought Timothy needed the reminder. The argument goes like this: God is good. What He creates cannot be but good. He created everything. Therefore, everything is good. This is approximately where the text at hand leaves off. Paul knows there is a 'however,' though. Yes, all things are good, but not all things are necessarily edifying. This is the message Paul had to deliver to Corinth (1Co 6:12), because they had stopped at the conclusion that if everything's good they could do as they pleased. Perhaps, being less familiar with the Scriptures, they did not quite understand that factor of sanctifying prayer.
This concept goes well beyond simply quoting Scriptures at God. As Scripture shows, even Satan can do that. Certainly, we could find some portion of Scripture that does not mention our particular choice, and offer that as a prayer of thanks, but this is no more than the empty mouthings of the heathens which Jesus told us was not for us to pursue. I return to a favorite phrase of my pastor's: "The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart." The thing is sanctified by prayer and thankfulness - both from an honest heart. Can we honestly give thanks to God for this choice to use whatever it may be? Can we honestly declare that we use it to His glory? If we indeed pray from Scripture, do we offer that prayer with a full awareness of the whole message?
All things are good. They cannot be otherwise, for they are the creation of Him without whom nothing that was created came into being. The things are not the issue. Indeed, we can - and probably should - find it hard to accept that all things are good. It's difficult to look upon instruments of torture and death and think them good. But, it's not the things that are really evil. It's the heart which opts to fashion such things, which opts to use such things. It's a matter of the heart, and the heart is desperately wicked, wholly corrupted unless and until the loving Creator refashions that stony organ into a heart of flesh, a heart filled with the waters of Life. All things are good, and work together for our good, as they train our hearts to seek first His kingdom, as they train us to serve the kingdom to which our fealty is due.
Now, to turn our attention to this passage. There is a fundamental point John is making here, one that is made repeatedly and clearly in the New Testament. Still, it is amazing how much debate raged amongst the people of God - still rages in some circles, I suppose - regarding this very issue of just how it is God and Christ relate. There are those who attempt to make of the Christ a lesser divinity, greater than man or angel, yet not quite at the same status as the Father. No, John says, He was God. Is this support of a polytheistic view, then? No, although this passage does not make that as clear as the general message of Scripture. It doesn't make that point clear for the very simple reason that it was not a point that was at issue at the time. John is dealing with other popular misconceptions, and right here in the opening verses, he lays out the errors these misconceptions have taken as truth.
Here's a key factor, belabored in these opening lines because it is so critical to understanding the whole issue: Christ was there at the very start - in the beginning. Those who lowered Jesus' position in the heavenly ranks did so largely on the erroneous grounds that He was as much a created being as the rest of us. Not so, says John. Go back as far as you like, before the earth was formed, when the void was all, and He is there, God with God.
He is not 'a' god, as the cultists make Him out to be in vain hope of evading His Lordship. First, this would indeed be supporting a polytheistic view that simply cannot be maintained with the God who is declared to be One. Yes, He was with the Father from the outset. This begins to put aside the possibility that He was created, doesn't it? He was there before creation started. Yet, the opposition might still argue that fine, He was the first to be created, but still, He was created. John puts an end to that line of thought with his next statement. Everything that ever was, was created by Him. OK, John, but that still doesn't rule out His own creation. John's not finished yet. Of created things, there is not one He did not create. Now, if He is a created thing, then this statement would leave Him creating Himself, which is clearly foolishness. No, the case is closed. Just as God has existed throughout all eternity, so also the Son has existed. Never was there a time, not even the briefest of moments, when the Father was Sonless.
Now, lest we mistakenly think this is just some ancient controversy settled way back in the first millennia, I should note that this same issue was at the heart of the Unitarian movement back at its start, and this event is but a few centuries old, younger than our nation. It is a difficult matter to come to grips with the Scriptural declaration of God. This is what remains such an insurmountable problem to the Jews when faced with their Messiah. The Lord our God is One (Dt 6:4)! This is the heart-cry of Israel, a cry they defended long years against their polytheistic neighbors. They are not about to give that distinction up. There is only one God. How, then, is this Jesus to be perceived? This is one of the greatest challenges faced by the authors of the New Testament - to show that Jesus is indeed God, yet not another God, but the same God as is the Father. Men to this day struggle to find the words and concepts to explain this, though they know it to be true.
Here, John says that the Word (Jesus) was with the God (the Father), and the Word was God. So it has been from the beginning, the Two together found to be the One True God. Paul confirms this: He is before all things (Col 1:17a). In the 'is' of that statement Paul confirms the eternal status of Christ, thereby equating Christ and Father. Paul continues, in that verse, to confirm another of John's points - that He is the source, the fountainhead of creation. In the preceding verse, he lays out for us the extent to which creation is the work of Christ: not only the earthly creation, but also the heavenly; not only those things we perceive, but also those that are beyond our perception. Indeed, every power, every spirit, in short, everything without exception (apart, of course, from Himself) is His handiwork, made by Him. And, by the way, not only made by Him, but also explicitly for Him, designed for His explicit purposes (Col 1:16).
The combined testimony is sufficient to lay aside any thought that the Christ is the creation of the Father. Yet, it is John's own words, later in this very chapter, which throw off the careless reader. He speaks of the Christ as 'the only begotten from the Father.' This is not a word familiar to us, and our reaction is to equate it in our thoughts with birth. Hmm. It would seem, then, that the Christ was born to the Father. But, that is not the significance of this word. There is a distinction between the begetting and the bearing. The father begets, but the mother bears. The child is born to the mother, but begotten of the father. The point is lineage, that critical factor in Jewish thought in that time. Which tribe are you from? There are restrictions that must be observed for which the tribal line must be known. From which of the twelve did the Christ trace? We will see, as we progress, how the apparent lineage through Joseph perplexed those faced with His immediacy. It didn't seem to fit. John solves the puzzle for us. His lineage proceeds directly back to the Father. It is He who begot the Son. What remains unsaid is that in the heavenly estate, there was no accompanying birth.
At risk of getting ahead of myself, note, that John makes clear that no other can lay claim to being begotten of the Father. No other has ever walked the face of this earth who can lay claim to Godhood, and no other ever will. Oh, many will make that claim, whether on their own behalf or on behalf of another. This is part of what John needed to counter in his writing. There were those who tried to put John the Baptist forth as Messiah, as God. This thought would have driven John the Baptist to distraction, but in his absence, stories cropped up. John the Apostle was subject to similar stretching of fact into fantasy. This, he counters near the end of his account. Yes, Jesus had made some comment about his remaining, but He was not suggesting that John would not die.
Back to the point. There is that to be found both here and in Paul's words that seems to confuse this issue of the One God. If they are one and the same, how is the Word with the Father? And what are we to make of Paul's strange statement to the Corinthians? (1Co 8:5-6 - Even though there are many gods and lords, both heavenly and earthly, for us there is but one God: the Father, source of all things, for whom we exist; and one Lord: the Christ, maker of all things, through whom we exist.) Paul, one and one is two, right? Elsewhere, Paul reminds the Corinthians that there is only one Spirit. Now, we're up to three! What to do? No wonder the Jews were so upset with him! There is a resolution in that last, though. There is only one Spirit, yet Paul occasionally refers to Him as the Spirit of God [the God?], and at other times as the Spirit of Christ. If there is one Spirit, and He is the Spirit both of the Father and of the Son, then, though we speak of Father and Son separately, they remain One, for how could two beings share one Spirit?
This is the great mystery of the Trinity, the Tri-Unity, Three in One. This is a battleground that has raged in Christian circles for millennia, and rages still, as men seek to come to grips with something greater than themselves. If one looks back through the councils of the early church, the debate is seen coming up again and again, especially as it speaks of the relationship of Father and Son. With each clarification made came a new attempt to muddy the waters, a new heresy seeking to unseat the Christ from His rightful throne. So, again councils had to be held, a more precise declaration made to make plain that the Three are One - unique in their offices, yet of one common essence; arranged in orderly rank, yet in all ways equal in power, in honor, in deity, for they are One. To this day, there are those who cannot look upon the Trinity and see one God. Yet, to this day, it remains the only word capable of approaching the mystery of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, who is One.
So, we are presented with the Christ, begotten but not created, subordinate but not inferior, the essence of God made flesh in our midst. This is one of the fundamental points that the Evangelists labor to establish. Truly, this Man was God. Consider how this relationship has been laid out repeatedly in the creeds adopted by the Church over time. The apostle's creed, perhaps the earliest attempt to succinctly state the fundamentals of faith, declares belief in the Father, the Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth; and in the Christ, is only begotten Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. After the Nicene Council, this was adjusted a bit: Belief consisted in one God, the Father, the Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, only begotten Son of God, begotten before creation. Now, note the clarification made of Jesus' statues. He is God of God, very God of very God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father.
Conflict wasn't over yet. So Athanasius added further clarifications against later heresies. Sensing the depth of the problem, and seeing its historical intractability, he spends paragraphs declaring as precisely as he knows how, the truth of the matter. "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance." There are assuredly three distinct persons, yet "the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal." Whatever the Father can be said to be, so also the Son and the Holy Spirit can be said to be. He also, in the course of this, clarifies for us that odd statement of Paul's to the Corinthian church, which no doubt had led to any number of misunderstandings in the ensuing centuries. "The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet they are not three Lords but one Lord."
The other great battle in the early post-apostolic history of the church was whether or not Jesus was truly man in the flesh. This, too, the creeds addressed more thoroughly as time progressed. For our purposes, though, two verses, I think, will suffice. First, we look forward once more to a later point in John's text. The Word, which we have sufficiently established in His divinity, became flesh, and lived in our midst (Jn 1:14a). Paul's declaration is this: He existed in the form of God, yet He did not consider His equality with God (which we have already established) as something to grasp. No, but He emptied Himself, becoming a servant, accepting the humiliation of being made in the likeness of men, found to be a man, obedient to the Triune purpose even to the point of suffering death as a man, that most painful and degrading form of death which is crucifixion (Php 2:6-2:8). This factor is what made it so necessary that there be an eye witness. This was the primary prerequisite for being declared an apostle: one must have been there to witness the Man, and also to witness His Ascension, the seal of His Godhood. It is a fact bordering on impossible to accept, as (we will see) was just about everything He said while He was here, yet it is fact. We saw Him, John concludes in that verse. As he opens his letter, he writes almost in amazement at his privilege. I saw Him, I heard Him, I touched Him, shared His life for three years! He who was the very Word of Life! This is what I am declaring to you! How can I not proclaim what the Father has made manifest before my own eyes (1Jn 1:1-1:2)!
Here, in the Gospel, John establishes a firm connection between the Old and the New: In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning, Moses lays down in Genesis 1:1, God created the heavens and the earth. John, along with the other authors of the New Testament, invites us to behold Him through whom that creation happened. Behold your Creator! Behold the Light of Life!
So, we have in this declaration of who Christ is, established before His earthly life was. We also have a very quick summary of the import for man, the crisis of choice which the manifest glory of God brings upon us. The Light shines in the darkness. Purity and righteousness is brought into the very midst of the dark consequences of sin. Into fallen and corrupted nature steps One who is uncorrupted. "And the darkness did not comprehend it." There are so many shades of meaning to that word 'comprehend,' and all of them seem to apply here. One can imagine John searching for something that would embody all that he meant to say, and rejoicing to find this word at hand!
Righteousness stepped into the midst of corruption, and that corruption could not overwhelm Him. He was not taken down by the surrounding evil, but maintained His course in perfection from start to finish. Indeed, the darkness sought to destroy Him, but could not. This is one aspect of that inability to comprehend. There is another, more sorrowful significance, though. The Light of righteousness, the light of moral and spiritual understanding, shone upon mankind, and mankind could not understand it, refused to understand it. This is the other aspect, and it is the one which we must take to heart for ourselves.
The coming of light into our darkened state is a crisis point. When once the light has come, we are forced to make a decision. We must declare ourselves one way or the other, and the casting is of eternal import to us. Light comes. Darkness can choose to give way to light, becoming light itself, or darkness can flee, retreating from the light so that it can remain its dark self. This is the choice. We were created moral creatures. For better or for worse, our earliest ancestors partook of that which gave them comprehension of the distinction between good and evil. With that comprehension, any possible claim of ignorance as excuse was gone. Though it seems we have almost incessantly chosen evil, we have done so in full recognition of that choice. We have preferred the darkness. That is, as John tells us in John 3:19, the judgment which is upon the world. We have preferred darkness so that we can hide away with our evil acts, can hide the horror of our choices from ourselves, can live in denial.
But Light shines into that darkness in which we have hidden away. What will we do as the Light comes near? Will we play the man and stand, allowing the Light to burn away the darkness, allowing Purity to wash away our corruption? Or will we scuttle away into deeper shadow, retreat into a deeper darkness, lest He see us as we truly are? Adam and Eve sought to hide from God, realizing what they had done. It didn't work, though. God is not to be hidden from. If we insist upon hiding away from Him, we only fool ourselves, for He sees. But, in fooling ourselves, we insist that He deal with us in His Justice, rather than the Mercy He so freely offers. It comes down to the same crisis which Joshua proposed to Israel: Choose you this day whom you will serve. Will you stand in the Light, or will you suffer forever in your darkness?
The Light is the life of man. In darkness there is only death, and worse than death. Over and over again, men have shown that they prefer darkness, even when informed of what must lie ahead. They refuse to understand. I am in mind more and more of late of a coworker who, whether seeking to belittle or because of some other motivation, asked that I pray for him, 'because I am going to hell.' His demeanor at the time did not suggest any honest appeal, but only an attempt to be humorous or some such. I have no doubt that there are those who fully feel the weight of the darkness upon them, who don't understand the Mercy that walks with Justice in God. Such men will, no doubt, earnestly beseech those they see walking in God's grace to put in a word for them, feeling that they cannot do so for themselves. When the heavens are brass above us, we are quick to call on those for whom communications seem to be open. This did not strike me as such a case. This was a case of darkness refusing to understand. Clearly, this man is aware of the due penalty. It's apparently been explained to him to some degree at some point, but he counts it as nonsense. Having rejected the diagnosis, he rejects along with it the Cure. Indeed, I will be praying for him. Yet, in the end he must face the crisis for himself, must choose to understand what his Creator has made plain.
This is our role and our purpose. We must declare that the Light has come. We must do our utmost to make clear that the propitiation for every mans' sins has been made. We cannot, however, drag men all unwilling into the Light, they must come of their own accord. The heart of the matter, once again, is the matter of the heart. Coming to church will not save you. Mouthing empty words at the behest of another will not save you. Salvation is not in the words of "the Sinner's prayer," it is in the motivation of the heart. If we come before God with any other purpose than repentance for our sins and a desire to worship Him to whom alone all glory is due, we come in vain.
Father, I come to You even now on behalf of this lost soul. I have been where he is. I have known those times when You were nothing to me but a matter for ridicule. This is hardly news to You. You know. Still, You have shown me mercy. You have made Yourself as manifestly evident to me as You did to the disciples so long ago. You have come to me with proofs such as You have known would make things clear. You took my charade and made it reality. Holy One, I know You are no respecter of persons. There is nothing in this acquaintance of mine which prevents Your reaching out to him with that same Mercy You showed towards me.
Is there no room in the house You are building for him? Oh, my Brother, my Jesus! Can You find it in Your purpose to draw Him to Yourself? You are sovereign, and I don't fool myself into thinking I can change Your divine purposes by my words, no, nor would I want to. You, Lord, work all things for good. Your ways and Your understanding are so far beyond my own as to be unreachable. Still, I know You hear, and I know You hear beyond my words, You hear the heart. I am thankful in this moment to know that Your own sweet Holy Spirit bears my prayers to You, correcting what I may word wrongly, giving to You an offering holy and acceptable. I am thankful, as well, to know that You are there, pleading my own case which so desperately needs pleading, and bearing my requests to the Father in Your own hands.
Hear my cry, then, oh Lord! Give heed to my prayers, and bring salvation to this one. Where now there is darkness and denial, shine Your light. Lord! You desire that no man be lost. You do not glory in the punishment that Justice demands You mete out. Show, then, Your mercy! Make from this lost life another beacon on the road to Your kingdom. Nevertheless, not my will but Yours, oh Lord.
A final note on a favorite theme: I find I really like the way Young translates verse 3 of the text. "All things through him did happen, and without him happened not even one thing that hath happened." If ever there was a declaration of Divine Providence, this is it! It is not, after all, only the things which owe their existence to Him who created all things. His sovereignty extends far beyond that, right down to that not terribly earnest request of my coworker. The events of our lives are as much a matter of His Providence, His purpose, as are our lives themselves. He has prepared particular good works for us to do beforehand. He has ordained circumstances to guide us to our assigned tasks. Was this stray comment just such a guiding circumstance? It is that declaration that there is no such thing as coincidence which finally broke through my own shrouds of darkness, yet it is so difficult to hold to that truth.
In this age of intelligence and reason, we are, oddly enough, trained to think that rather a lot has actually depended upon coincidence. Indeed, the modern (post-modern?) scientist would insist that we accept that our very existence is but a coincidence, a chance meeting of an incredibly unlikely set of circumstances leading to a chain of even less likely events leading eventually to the most improbable juncture of two specific evolutionary paths, and the random selection of one of millions of sperm from the one to be joined with one of hundreds of eggs from the other, to beat the odds and survive to become a living organism. All to no purpose, all just the working out of a random series of events. And this is deemed reasonable, and intellectually honest. This is the mental environment into which we have been born, and this is the mindset to which we have been trained. But, Light has come, and the light of Life insists that chance had nothing to do with it. How easy it is to slip into that trained thought. How easy to brush things off as coincidence. But the God of Creation insists that we come to grips with the fact that nothing is coincidental, nothing is devoid of His Purpose.
Lord, remembering this, remembering that that chance comment was no chance at all, I beseech You to guide my words, my prayers, and my actions in such a way that the good work You have prepared for me in this situation will be accomplished according to all Your desire. Amen, and let it be with Me as You will it.
