A Cold, Dark, Dusty Morning with the Inconceivable One

Ah, the week of Daylight Saving Time. I said “week.” I have no idea why it takes me that long to adjust to a single hour’s change to the clock, but it does.

Our Berkhof group met early this morning at a coffee shop in town, and I’m exceedingly glad the fellow there makes good, strong brew. With the time change, the sun didn’t even rise until we were ready to leave. It was a dark, cold, and dusty morning in the high desert.

But the fruit of our fellowship was filling.

We discussed Berkhof’s analysis of agnosticism this morning. Toward the end of his critique, the theologian defends Barth against charges of agnosticism. He then makes this comment: “God reveals Himself exactly as the hidden God, and through His revelation makes us more conscious of the distance which separates Him from man than we ever were before” (Systematic Theology, Part One, II.B.)

I scribbled several verses in the margin of my copy of the “big purple brick” (a slightly more honorable title than the usual “big purple sleeping pill”) that highlight this truth from Scripture. God is knowable to us, but only through His self-revelation in the Scripture, and Scripture’s illumination by the Holy Spirit to those who receive it by faith. The more we know of Him, though, the more aware we are that He is not like us, and that the gracious revealing that makes Him known to us is exceedingly gracious because of the distance between us and Him. The closer He comes, in other words, the more we become aware of how far away He is and gracious He is in drawing near.

And we become ever more aware of the fact that we need a Mediator because of that distance-revealed-in-nearness.

“Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, ‘Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.’ But the LORD said to him, ‘Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.’ Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, ‘The LORD Is Peace.’ To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. That night the LORD said to him, ‘Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down’” (Judges 6:22-26).

“And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, ‘If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.’ (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, ‘What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?’ And the angel of the LORD said to him, ‘Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?’ So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the One Who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, ‘We shall surely die, for we have seen God.’ But his wife said to him, ‘If the LORD had meant to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these’” (Judges 13:16-23).

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for’” (Isaiah 6:1-7).

“On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’” (Luke 5:1-8).

Other than His self-revelation by the Spirit and the Word, God would be unknowable to us. But in knowing Him, we become more and more acutely aware of just how inconceivable He is. He is not us. In every scriptural account I just mentioned, the revelation of God (or even just His messenger!) made those receiving the revelation aware of God’s holiness and the incompatibility of that with the sinful human being. Atonement must be made. Substitutionary sacrifice must be offered. The infinite gap must be closed or we will not live before Him!

Jesus Christ Himself, in addition to being the full and complete revelation of God (John 1:18; 14:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4,6; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3), is also the mediating Sacrifice that allows us to receive the knowledge and Presence of the Inconceivable One and live. Not live in the small way we usual consider it from day-to-day, but really and truly and abundantly live eternally to His glory and our unimaginably great joy.

Believe what God has revealed, repent of the sin that revelation reveals, and put your faith in the only Mediator that reconciles the knowledge and inconceivability of God.

He Preserves Through Hearing in the Gathering

“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge delighteth thy soul, then shall counsel preserve thee, and understanding shall keep thee...and it shall deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. Surely her house tendeth to death, and her paths unto the dead. All they that go unto her, return not again, neither take they hold of the ways of life. Therefore walk thou in the way of good men, and keep the ways of the righteous” (Proverbs 2:10,11,16-20, Geneva Bible).

The connection between hearing (2:10,11) and doing (2:20) is found in the assembly of the saints in Christ: Wisdom, knowledge, counsel, and understanding are to be found in fellowship with “good men” and “the righteous.” Gather with the Church today, friends, and hear of Him Who alone saves you from the one(s) who will only lead you away from Him (2:16-19). He preserves and keeps you through hearing in the gathering.

* * * * * * *

“My son, if thou wilt...cause thine ears to hearken unto wisdom...then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:1,2,5,6).

Discipline yourself to hear the Word of the Lord as it is proclaimed in the gathering of the saints. He speaks His wisdom in Christ through the Scriptures by the teachers He gives His Church: “My son, if thou wilt receive my words...” (2:1; cf. Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:2,24). This is the only means of His grace by which we “understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”

* * * * * * *

“...He preserveth the way of His Saints” (Proverbs 2:8). Notice that though there are many “Saints,” there is only one “way.” Walk together.

The Means of God's Knowledge, Life, Presence

“But thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 2:14-17).

• “...knowledge of Him...” = “...the word of God...”
• “...from life to life...”
• “...as from sincerity, as from God, we speak Christ in the sight of God...”

This is how He manifests His knowledge, life, Presence: through His Word proclaimed. It is unbiblical (against what He has said & commanded, "the word of God") to seek these things from Him elsewhere. Gather to Him and hear Him unto knowledge, life, His Presence. And give Him thanks!

Our High Priest of Theology

I've been reading "Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way," by J.I. Packer and Gary A. Parrett (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2010). The authors suggest that our question in evangelism and discipleship these days is not "what has the God of grace revealed that his servants should learn in order to honor Him?" but "how much (that is, how little!) do I need to know in order to be saved and live for God?" (pgs. 68-69). We have Vacation Bible School coming up in a few weeks. Our denomination's material has - for over a decade - used the acronym A.B.C. in presenting the Gospel to children. Based on Romans 10:17, "Admit you're a sinner," "Believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins," and "Confess Jesus as Lord" is a good start, but it's not the end of knowledge of God. Sadly, by the way we hear theology bad-mouthed these days, it would seem that "A.B.C." is not just the starting point, but the only point. "Just love Jesus - theology's just divisive trouble that gets in the way of that." This seems to overlook the risen Lord's final command to His disciples in Matthew's Gospel: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (28:18-20).

"A.B.C." or "just love Jesus" may be a good start (though "just loving Jesus" omits our sin and the Gospel's command to "repent"), but we are not obeying the Great Commission with these things alone. There is a "teaching" that is involved that never ends. This "teaching" does not start with our "felt needs" or "life situation" or us at all, but with the One Who "has been given...all authority...in heaven and on earth." He is Commander, there are commands, and we are to be the commanded. This is the fullness of obedience to the Great Commission. It starts with knowledge of God and His will for His servants.

Despise not theology, beloved. Jesus Himself, in His "high priestly prayer" in John 17, identifies theology as the key to eternal life: "This is eternal life, that they may know You [theology], the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent" (17:3). The fullness of evangelism and obedience to the Great Commission goes far beyond a bare and basic confession. It continues to be taught and grows in knowledge of the Father and Son through the instruction of the Holy Spirit, Who teaches in and through His Church.

Jesus, as He prays for the apostles and "those also who believe in [Jesus] through their Word" ("the entire number of the elect, all those who have been, who are, or who shall be gathered into one under Christ," 17:20). This prayer is not just for a bare confession, but for knowledge of God - theology:

• "...they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You have Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me" (17:7,8). Jesus' giving of the Father's words to the disciples was considerably more than a presentation of "A.B.C." For Jesus, the foundation was to be built upon over an extended period of time - our whole lives from regeneration to the first death. Otherwise, why would the "Spirit of truth" (not the "Spirit of pragmatism") be promised to the Church?
• "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth" (17:17). This is a prayer request for the Father - through the "Spirit of truth" by His Word, see 1 John 5:6 - to take the disciples beyond the initial bare confession of faith.
• "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me" (17:22,23). "Knowledge" is key to evangelism. What knowledge? The fullness of knowledge that the Father gave the Son and the Son taught to the disciples.
• "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known; so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (17:25,26). There's a lot of "knowing" going on here for us to just dismiss theology (the science of knowing God).

Packer and Parrett, in analyzing the waning of the Anglican Church around 1600, give two reasons: "...the poor spiritual quality of many clergy plus the obstinate certainty of many parents that learning the Faith with precision was really needless..." (pg. 65). May we avoid both of these weaknesses as the Church, "the pillar of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Let's "A.B.C." our children (and the adults, as well) all day long, but also teach them theology (which assumes we're growing theologians in Spirit and truth ourselves) continuously. Parents, demand spiritual richness from the leaders of the Church and become growing teachers of theology to your children through catechesis.

This is what Jesus, "the High Priest of our Confession" (Hebrews 3:1), prayed and continues to pray before the Father.

There's Just Something About That Name

“The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: Surely I am more stupid than any man, and I do not have the understanding of a man. Neither have I learned wisdom, nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son's name? Surely you know! Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him” (Proverbs 30:1-5).

Hear and believe:

• Learn wisdom, understanding, and knowledge through a Person: “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God...Christ...in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 2:2,3).
• Learn of the One Who has descended and ascended: “Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He Who descended is Himself also He Who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:9,10).
• Learn of the One Who controls the wind and sea: “They became very much afraid and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’” (Mark 4:41).
• Learn of the One Who is the tested Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being...He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called ‘The Word of God’” (John 1:1-3; Revelation 19:13).

Know His name, called by His relationship to His Son (and by His Son His name describes His relationship to us through the Spirit): He is Father (Matthew 6:9; John 20:17; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Know the name of His Son: Jesus.

• “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
• “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
• “...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved...” (Romans 10:9).
• “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).

Be ignorant no longer.