Tuesday, April 16, 2013
EE14 - EPH 3:14-21 : AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER [6]
We now look at the last part of Paul's first petition in this profound prayer (you will recall that it contains three petitions): He prays that the Father may strengthen the church at Ephesus so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith (Eph 3:17a).
This petition may seem strange at first sight. Did the apostle not a moment ago pray for the work of the Holy Spirit in the inner being of the Ephesians? Does Christ not in any case live in the hearts of all believers? Moreover, does He live in our hearts, or in heaven (1:20)? And what does the Bible really mean when it says that Christ lives in our hearts?
A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR TEXT
❏ Firstly we should keep in mind that Paul is writing to people who are Christians already.
One reason why it is important to emphasise this point, is that the dictum "you must invite the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart" is quite commonly used in the world of evangelism - as if our Lord is too much of a gentleman to enter any heart uninvited!
It is based on Rev 3:20: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock..." But remember, this letter in Revelation was written to a church - one made up of many believers. It has very little to do with evangelism and initial conversion.
❏ Secondly, there is a close connection between the inner working of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of Christ – in other words, between v. 16b and v. 17a.
We should never contrast the activities of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. No, they always work together.
The Holy Spirit lives in God's children (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19); and Christ lives in us through the working of the Holy Spirit (Rm 8:9-11; 2 Cor 13:5; Hb 3:6); so, also, God the Father lives in his children (2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:22; 1 Jn 4:12-15).
As will be seen below, we should see this indwelling as a relationship and not in terms of locality.
❏ Thirdly, we gain a better understanding of the issue if we take note of the Greek word translated as "dwell".
In Greek the word "to dwell" is oikeo. Two further meanings can be given to this root word by adding two different prefixes: paroikeo means to stay over, as would a traveller, while katokeo means to live somewhere as a permanent resident. Paul uses the latter word in our text.
There are, therefore, different degrees to which Christ can dwell in our hearts. It is the prayer of the apostle that Christ may dwell permanently in the hearts of the Ephesians or, to put it differently, that they may experience his indwelling intensely and continuously.
This could perhaps best be illustrated by the following example. You buy an old house, which you then begin to restore. As you make progress, the feeling of ownership grows, until it eventually becomes your home.
The apostle therefore prays here that Christ may move into the house of the Ephesians fully - that He may "settle" there and so change their lives. The heart is, after all, the centre of your personality.
❏ Fourthly, we must understand what Christ's indwelling really means.
As children, most of us understood this expression spatially. As we grew older, we realised that this could certainly not be so. After that we probably stopped thinking about it at all. But now our text forces us to consider it again.
• Let us start with an illustration. Have you ever been really in love? When that happens you think about your beloved constantly in one way or another. Even when you are busy he or she is never really out of your mind. You dream about the love of your life constantly. The apple of your eye lives in your heart! And if the two lovers were to marry and after many years the wife should go overseas to visit the children, would it not be something very special to hear her husband say at her return, "You were in my heart every hour of every day!" This is what Paul is talking about.
I would not dream of diluting Christ's indwelling to a mere emotion. It involves so much more. But when the Bible talks of the indwelling of Christ in my heart, the essence lies in my love for Him. If someone lives in your heart, he or she is the object of your constant affection, devotion, loyalty, adoration and love.
• So, what does it mean to have Christ dwelling in your heart in the way that Paul means?
Christ will often be the object of your meditation and reflection. Your mind will be filled with the awareness of the wonder of his person. You will marvel at the fact that He is the unfailing answer as Prophet, Priest and King in your every need - and in every need of every single person who belongs to Him. You will delight in his promises and wise commands. Above all his sufficient and eternal mediatory work will create in you a feeling of security that no money can buy.
He will be the centre of your entire life; you will not be able to imagine a life without Him; your greatest wish will be to get to know Him even better and more fully. To grow in obedience and praise will become the consuming passion of your life. And, of course, you will become passionate about getting others to love Him just as much.
Time and again you will experience what the disciples of Emmaus termed, "our hearts burning within us" (Lk 24:32), because you have, as it were, lost your heart to Christ for all eternity.
• Now one can understand why the Apostle says that this indwelling of Christ comes "through faith". Surely it is impossible to feel this way about Him if you do not believe in Him. He will dwell in your heart, and your love for Him will grow, to the same extent as your faith grows.
But there is yet another key: knowledge and insight. Without knowledge, faith is impossible. Like conviction and trust it is an essential element of faith. That is why we read in Rm 10:14-15: "... And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"
❏ The connection between v.16b and v.17a now becomes crystal clear. The working of the Holy Spirit is an irreplaceable prerequisite for our faith, as well as for our insight into our inheritance in Christ. Without His involvement in our lives we will remain strangers to that for which Paul is praying here.
A COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE
In our consideration of what the apostle has to say about the indwelling of Christ, we have thus far focussed on the experience of the individual believer. And certainly Paul had every individual member of the church in mind. However, we need to remember that the apostle wrote this letter to the Ephesians collectively and certainly had in mind the church as a corporate body.
This gives rise to the question: How does Christ live in the heart of a church? If we remember how the individual experiences this, the answer is simple: A church experiences the indwelling of Christ if and when He becomes the centre of its existence.
Whenever such a church talks and prays and proclaims and sings, the focus is on Jesus Christ.
This is where the preaching is so important. Is it always Christ-centred? Do you hear, Sunday after Sunday of his glory and great deeds as Prophet, Priest and King? Is that the preaching in which the members delight and upon which they insist? Do they find man-centred and moralistic preaching boring and empty? Do they go home dissatisfied when Christ is not preached?
Truly, there can be nothing more beautiful in the world than a church in whom Christ dwells. This is what the apostle means: a church which is "built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" (Eph 2:22).
More precious than gold is the church which spreads the pleasant fragrance of Christ. The extent to which God grants such churches to a nation is the extent to which that nation enjoys the blessing of the Lord. It is in churches like these that true conversions take place. And there can be no greater benefit to a community than great numbers of true, devoted, radical, serving, law abiding and loving Christians in its midst – in other words, people in whose hearts Christ dwells.
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. This summum bonum for a church and its members does not just happen.
Paul is beseeching God to lead the Ephesians ever more deeply into experiencing Christ's indwelling. Let us not for a moment think that we too will experience it and keep on experiencing it without serious and persistent prayer.
Olevianus and Ursinus were indeed correct when they wrote that "God will give his grace and Holy Spirit to those only who with hearty sighing unceasingly beg them of Him and thank Him for them" (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 116).
Let us pray this prayer in Eph 3 very often, especially this petition in v. 17a, because the extent to which we experience the answering of our prayers, will determine the extent to which we are the church we ought to be and long to be. That is also the extent to which we will make a difference in our town and in our country, give due praise to God, and bear eternal fruit. It will also determine the extent to which our faith will be the joy of our lives.
Do you know why people become bored in a church? It is because they do not experience that which the apostle is talking about. They do not apprehend what it means to lose your heart, as it were, to Christ for all eternity. Because when that does happen to you, your life is turned topsy-turvy.
2 Prayer does not release us from the responsibility to pursue knowledge of and love for Christ in every possible way.
Ongoing study, meditation, discussion and reading! Certainly! But nothing fixes this burning love for Christ more firmly in your heart than saturating, as it were, your prayers with it. Tell Him in a thousand different ways how you love Him! And just as important, share it with everybody around you!
3. Let us not think that Christ will live in our hearts if we don't obey Him.
This point is so obvious that we need hardly motivate it. Jesus said it all in Jn 14:23: "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him".
Can there be anything more profound and more glorious in life?
Nico van der Walt
EE113 - JOHN 1:14 : GOD'S SUPREME REVELATION [8] - ... full of grace and truth. [2]
We have seen that the Word, that is God the Son, came to mankind as God's supreme and ultimate self-revelation. And what is the essence of what He came to show us? He is full of grace and truth!
We have seen that John probably alludes to the Old Testament word-pair, chesed and emeth, used over and over to describe God. In the light of this we then looked at the first of these two concepts and saw that God's chesed is his merciful covenant love.
What then does his "truth", his emeth, stand for?
"TRUTH" IN THE OLD TESTAMENT (Hb. emeth)
In Greek thought, truth (Gr. aletheia) was an intellectual quality indicating realness as opposed to falseness, unrealness or mere illusion. The Hebrew concept of truth contained in the word emeth is, however, much richer.
It certainly includes the Greek meaning of the factual. For instance, in a Jewish court it was of cardinal importance to establish the truth (emeth) before judgement could be pronounced (Dt 13:14; 22:20; etc.).
Mostly, however, the word had a moral tone to it, namely that of integrity, dependability, loyalty. Hence it could be used with reference to a witness, a friend, a slave, or a husband. Someone who acted with emeth, was a person who could be trusted. He was honest and loyal, you could depend on him (Gn 24:49; 42:16; Jos 2:14). The word of an emeth witness was totally trustworthy (Pr 14:25), you could accept as the truth anything he said.
The Old Testament uses the word over and over again to describe the Lord. He can be trusted. His conduct is never unpredictable. His actions are always in harmony with his character and his promises. One can depend on Him completely. His resolves are firmer than a mountain.
"Emeth" speaks of God's total integrity. He keeps his word; you can depend fully on it. He is a God of covenant loyalty!
"TRUTH" IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (Gr. aletheia)
We must look at the Lord Jesus, John tells us, if we want to see what God's essential nature is. He did, after all, come to this earth as God's self-revelation. And what do we see if we look carefully? We see his covenant love (considered in our previous discussion). And we see, in the second instance, God's "truth" - His absolute integrity, dependability and trustworthiness. We see His covenant loyalty!
Now we can understand why John repeatedly uses the concept of "truth". His Main Character is Jesus Christ - and how can he talk about Him without continually referring to God's covenant faithfulness as revealed in Hm? In Him we see who and what God is like. Listen to the words of John: He is "the true light" (1:9); He is "the true bread from heaven" (6:32). And listen to the Lord Jesus Himself: "I am the way and the truth and the life" (14:6). "I am the true vine" (15:1).
Indeed, when we talk of these things we stand on holy ground! And the more clearly we see these attributes of God, the more they fascinate us. And the more we are touched by it, the more we grow to love Him. The Bible truly addresses an incredibly wide range of matters, but you gradually read everything in the light of these vital attributes of God. Sermons without this at heart simply do not satisfy you anymore. And when you yourself are a preacher, this is what you want to preach more than anything else - in a thousand different ways, over and over. This was also the experience of the apostles. That is why Paul said that he wanted to preach nothing except Jesus Christ (1Cor 2:2).
Should this come as a surprise? Certainly not! When we concern ourselves with God's merciful grace and covenant faithfulness we are really at the heart of who and what He is. And does the essence of our sanctification not evolve around searching for an ever-deepening knowledge of God? And is this not the essence of life everlasting (Jn 17:3)?
GOD HAS PLEASURE IN EXERCISING HIS COVENANT LOVE AND LOYALTY
Every one of us has a personality and gifts that we simply have to satisfy and express. Writers write, mothers hug their babies, boys climb trees.
We should take the shoes off our feet when we ponder these things, but we can truly say, according to His Word, that God also has an essential nature, unique to Himself, which He must express.
The Son's advent in merciful grace and covenant faithfulness was one such expression of His essential nature. And the ongoing working out of the implications thereof - through the centuries and to eternity - is a continuation of it. With respect, God cannot help but act in covenant love and faithfulness. Nothing is more characteristic of his nature. Nothing gives Him more pleasure and fulfilment. And never is it expressed more gloriously than in Christ's mission of salvation and his ongoing work of redemption.
And why does the expression of these attributes please God? Because it glorifies Him like nothing else. And the glorification of God is what His eternal plan is all about.
This should not mislead us into ignoring the austere side of God's character. There are many instances in the Bible where God released the curse of his covenant over his people due to their persistent sinning. But this too is covenant faithfulness and grace, because it is aimed at the conversion and ultimately the salvation of his people.
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. God has pleasure in the care and preservation of those to whom He shows grace - by realising his promises in their lives.
This follows necessarily from what we have seen above. Herein lies the most wonderful comfort for us, his children. By calling on the Name of the Lord in times of hardship we are neither troublesome nor intrusive, because in doing so we are simply taking his promises and self-revelation at face value. Only too often we are too hesitant about trusting the Lord because we feel that we do not deserve His kindness. But if the Lord's covenant faithfulness had to be dependent on our merit, not one of us would have qualified for the tiniest morsel from Him. Too easily we think that we might bother Him with trivialities. But to the Almighty it is totally irrelevant whether a problem is large or small. What is important to Him is the true disposition of our hearts.
Therefore the only thing that really matters to our Father is that we worship, love, trust and obey Him. That is the essence of what He demands from us. And those whose lives are governed by this, do experience again and again his love, His benevolence, His care and His faithfulness.
Let us never grow tired of reminding one another of these things: It pleases our heavenly Father when, on the strength of his Son's merit, we drink again and again from the fountains of his salvation. He is, after all, a God of merciful grace and covenant faithfulness.
Now we can probably understand better than ever why the Lord insists so uncompromisingly that our salvation, from A to Z, must come from Him, devoid of any human merit whatsoever.
Furthermore, do you now understand that anxiety about the future, worries over your future care, and fear of death are votes of no confidence in the Lord? It is to question the self-revelation of God in Christ. At the very least it shows lack of faith and trust.
Surely, all of us have much to confess in this regard! Let us humble ourselves before the Lord!
2 The deeper the truth about God's covenant faithfulness anchors itself in our hearts, the more it sets us free.
If we keep in mind what we have discovered in the foregoing, Jn 8:31-32 becomes all the more fascinating. The Lord Jesus says, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." In both cases "truth" is the translation of the word at which we are looking (Gr. aletheia, covenant faithfulness).
To stay faithful to the Lord's words is to obey Him. This in turn leads to an ever increasing experience of his covenant faithfulness. And to the extent that we experience his covenant faithfulness, to that extent we are freed from all kinds of fear and the hold this world has on us. So we grow in our realisation that we can totally depend on Him.
Many preachers think that it is necessary to preach do's and don'ts to their flock in order to make them grow in holiness. The very opposite is true! Nothing has the same uplifting effects as God-centred and Christ-focussed preaching. Nothing makes Christians grow as much as preaching that rejoices in God's great deeds of salvation in Christ. Nothing leads to such steadfastness, because this is what feeds our faith.
That is how the apostle Paul closes off the first half of the letter to the Romans, that wonderful portion that talks about God's salvation in Christ like no other part in Scripture: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen" (Rm 11:36). Only then he continues to set out our responsibilities as Christians - in the light of God's mercy (Rm 12:1-2).
Zechariah 8:3 is a wonderful verse. When God returns to Zion in order to dwell in the midst of his people, Jerusalem will be called "the City of Truth" (Hb. emeth).
3. If our Father is called a God of covenant faithfulness, we have an inescapable responsibility to be people of faithfulness ourselves.
In the first place it should characterise our relationship with our heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Israelites were called upon many times to live in covenant faithfulness. People who fear God are people with emeth (Ex 18:21; Neh 7:2). In Jos 24:14 the Lord makes this appeal to the nation that has just settled in the Promised Land: "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness (Hb emeth)".
In the second place we have the inescapable responsibility to live with our neighbour in an alatheia relationship. Let us therefore be steadfast and trustworthy. Let us be people who can be depended upon, people of unwavering integrity, people whose "yes" does in fact mean "yes", and whose "no" is a definite "no".
A PRAYER EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD OFTEN PRAY
Oh Lord, make your church to an ever increasing extent a city of truth (Zech 8:3) - people who live in unwavering integrity before You and in their relationship with others, people who live lives that are faithful to their confession, people of covenant faithfulness.
And, dear Lord, start your word in me!
Nico van der Walt
We have seen that John probably alludes to the Old Testament word-pair, chesed and emeth, used over and over to describe God. In the light of this we then looked at the first of these two concepts and saw that God's chesed is his merciful covenant love.
What then does his "truth", his emeth, stand for?
"TRUTH" IN THE OLD TESTAMENT (Hb. emeth)
In Greek thought, truth (Gr. aletheia) was an intellectual quality indicating realness as opposed to falseness, unrealness or mere illusion. The Hebrew concept of truth contained in the word emeth is, however, much richer.
It certainly includes the Greek meaning of the factual. For instance, in a Jewish court it was of cardinal importance to establish the truth (emeth) before judgement could be pronounced (Dt 13:14; 22:20; etc.).
Mostly, however, the word had a moral tone to it, namely that of integrity, dependability, loyalty. Hence it could be used with reference to a witness, a friend, a slave, or a husband. Someone who acted with emeth, was a person who could be trusted. He was honest and loyal, you could depend on him (Gn 24:49; 42:16; Jos 2:14). The word of an emeth witness was totally trustworthy (Pr 14:25), you could accept as the truth anything he said.
The Old Testament uses the word over and over again to describe the Lord. He can be trusted. His conduct is never unpredictable. His actions are always in harmony with his character and his promises. One can depend on Him completely. His resolves are firmer than a mountain.
"Emeth" speaks of God's total integrity. He keeps his word; you can depend fully on it. He is a God of covenant loyalty!
"TRUTH" IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (Gr. aletheia)
We must look at the Lord Jesus, John tells us, if we want to see what God's essential nature is. He did, after all, come to this earth as God's self-revelation. And what do we see if we look carefully? We see his covenant love (considered in our previous discussion). And we see, in the second instance, God's "truth" - His absolute integrity, dependability and trustworthiness. We see His covenant loyalty!
Now we can understand why John repeatedly uses the concept of "truth". His Main Character is Jesus Christ - and how can he talk about Him without continually referring to God's covenant faithfulness as revealed in Hm? In Him we see who and what God is like. Listen to the words of John: He is "the true light" (1:9); He is "the true bread from heaven" (6:32). And listen to the Lord Jesus Himself: "I am the way and the truth and the life" (14:6). "I am the true vine" (15:1).
Indeed, when we talk of these things we stand on holy ground! And the more clearly we see these attributes of God, the more they fascinate us. And the more we are touched by it, the more we grow to love Him. The Bible truly addresses an incredibly wide range of matters, but you gradually read everything in the light of these vital attributes of God. Sermons without this at heart simply do not satisfy you anymore. And when you yourself are a preacher, this is what you want to preach more than anything else - in a thousand different ways, over and over. This was also the experience of the apostles. That is why Paul said that he wanted to preach nothing except Jesus Christ (1Cor 2:2).
Should this come as a surprise? Certainly not! When we concern ourselves with God's merciful grace and covenant faithfulness we are really at the heart of who and what He is. And does the essence of our sanctification not evolve around searching for an ever-deepening knowledge of God? And is this not the essence of life everlasting (Jn 17:3)?
GOD HAS PLEASURE IN EXERCISING HIS COVENANT LOVE AND LOYALTY
Every one of us has a personality and gifts that we simply have to satisfy and express. Writers write, mothers hug their babies, boys climb trees.
We should take the shoes off our feet when we ponder these things, but we can truly say, according to His Word, that God also has an essential nature, unique to Himself, which He must express.
The Son's advent in merciful grace and covenant faithfulness was one such expression of His essential nature. And the ongoing working out of the implications thereof - through the centuries and to eternity - is a continuation of it. With respect, God cannot help but act in covenant love and faithfulness. Nothing is more characteristic of his nature. Nothing gives Him more pleasure and fulfilment. And never is it expressed more gloriously than in Christ's mission of salvation and his ongoing work of redemption.
And why does the expression of these attributes please God? Because it glorifies Him like nothing else. And the glorification of God is what His eternal plan is all about.
This should not mislead us into ignoring the austere side of God's character. There are many instances in the Bible where God released the curse of his covenant over his people due to their persistent sinning. But this too is covenant faithfulness and grace, because it is aimed at the conversion and ultimately the salvation of his people.
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. God has pleasure in the care and preservation of those to whom He shows grace - by realising his promises in their lives.
This follows necessarily from what we have seen above. Herein lies the most wonderful comfort for us, his children. By calling on the Name of the Lord in times of hardship we are neither troublesome nor intrusive, because in doing so we are simply taking his promises and self-revelation at face value. Only too often we are too hesitant about trusting the Lord because we feel that we do not deserve His kindness. But if the Lord's covenant faithfulness had to be dependent on our merit, not one of us would have qualified for the tiniest morsel from Him. Too easily we think that we might bother Him with trivialities. But to the Almighty it is totally irrelevant whether a problem is large or small. What is important to Him is the true disposition of our hearts.
Therefore the only thing that really matters to our Father is that we worship, love, trust and obey Him. That is the essence of what He demands from us. And those whose lives are governed by this, do experience again and again his love, His benevolence, His care and His faithfulness.
Let us never grow tired of reminding one another of these things: It pleases our heavenly Father when, on the strength of his Son's merit, we drink again and again from the fountains of his salvation. He is, after all, a God of merciful grace and covenant faithfulness.
Now we can probably understand better than ever why the Lord insists so uncompromisingly that our salvation, from A to Z, must come from Him, devoid of any human merit whatsoever.
Furthermore, do you now understand that anxiety about the future, worries over your future care, and fear of death are votes of no confidence in the Lord? It is to question the self-revelation of God in Christ. At the very least it shows lack of faith and trust.
Surely, all of us have much to confess in this regard! Let us humble ourselves before the Lord!
2 The deeper the truth about God's covenant faithfulness anchors itself in our hearts, the more it sets us free.
If we keep in mind what we have discovered in the foregoing, Jn 8:31-32 becomes all the more fascinating. The Lord Jesus says, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." In both cases "truth" is the translation of the word at which we are looking (Gr. aletheia, covenant faithfulness).
To stay faithful to the Lord's words is to obey Him. This in turn leads to an ever increasing experience of his covenant faithfulness. And to the extent that we experience his covenant faithfulness, to that extent we are freed from all kinds of fear and the hold this world has on us. So we grow in our realisation that we can totally depend on Him.
Many preachers think that it is necessary to preach do's and don'ts to their flock in order to make them grow in holiness. The very opposite is true! Nothing has the same uplifting effects as God-centred and Christ-focussed preaching. Nothing makes Christians grow as much as preaching that rejoices in God's great deeds of salvation in Christ. Nothing leads to such steadfastness, because this is what feeds our faith.
That is how the apostle Paul closes off the first half of the letter to the Romans, that wonderful portion that talks about God's salvation in Christ like no other part in Scripture: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen" (Rm 11:36). Only then he continues to set out our responsibilities as Christians - in the light of God's mercy (Rm 12:1-2).
Zechariah 8:3 is a wonderful verse. When God returns to Zion in order to dwell in the midst of his people, Jerusalem will be called "the City of Truth" (Hb. emeth).
3. If our Father is called a God of covenant faithfulness, we have an inescapable responsibility to be people of faithfulness ourselves.
In the first place it should characterise our relationship with our heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Israelites were called upon many times to live in covenant faithfulness. People who fear God are people with emeth (Ex 18:21; Neh 7:2). In Jos 24:14 the Lord makes this appeal to the nation that has just settled in the Promised Land: "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness (Hb emeth)".
In the second place we have the inescapable responsibility to live with our neighbour in an alatheia relationship. Let us therefore be steadfast and trustworthy. Let us be people who can be depended upon, people of unwavering integrity, people whose "yes" does in fact mean "yes", and whose "no" is a definite "no".
A PRAYER EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD OFTEN PRAY
Oh Lord, make your church to an ever increasing extent a city of truth (Zech 8:3) - people who live in unwavering integrity before You and in their relationship with others, people who live lives that are faithful to their confession, people of covenant faithfulness.
And, dear Lord, start your word in me!
Nico van der Walt
EE112 - JOHN 1:14 : GOD'S SUPREME REVELATION [7] ... full of grace and truth. [1]
God sent his beloved Son as His supreme and final revelation to us, one in whom we see the essence of who and what God really is.
What do we see when we look at the Son? We see that He is "full of grace and truth", and therefore we may also say with certainty that this is true of the Father as well. In fact, we may accept that these are the essential attributes of the Father, since John has chosen them rather than any of the other divine characteristics.
It is significant that the word "grace" (Gr. charis), which lies at the heart of the New Testament revelation, appears only 4 times in the gospel of John, namely here in verses 14, 16 and 17. We should therefore deduce the exact meaning that John attaches to the word firstly from its use here, and then from elsewhere in Scripture.
On the other hand the word "truth" is one of the outstanding concepts in this gospel. John uses it 25 times, loaded with meaning. Yet we must not try to explain these two words separately from each other. They go hand in hand and together convey one very precious message.
OLD TESTAMENT ROOTS
❏ As we have already seen (when we considered the fact that John describes the Word as having "tabernacled" among us), our text deals with God's self-revelation to us in the Person of the Word, and more specifically with the display of his glory in wonderful love, humility and servanthood. It inevitably reminds a person of one of the most outstanding moments in the whole of the Old Testament: Exodus 33 and 34.
After the tragedy of the golden calf, Moses expresses the wish to get to know God better (33:13). More particularly he wants to see the glory of the Lord (33:18). Eventually it leads to the Lord descending to Moses and proclaiming about Himself, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation" (34:6-7).
Although the Lord also talks about his wrath over sin, it is his indescribable love that stands out in this stirring self-revelation. This is especially true of the fact that He abounds "in love and faithfulness".
These two concepts, translated in the NIV with love and faithfulness, are combined in many places in the Old Testament (Hb. chesed and emeth). If we compare these two Hebrew concepts with the words in our text in John 1 - "grace" and "truth" - we see that the two expressions to all intents and purposes have the same meaning. Many commentators in fact accept that in Jn 1 the apostle is alluding to Ex 34:6.
What do these two Old Testament words mean? We only have time here to discuss the first (chesed). Next time we can look at the second (emeth).
GOD'S CHESED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
❏ This is one of the most brilliant concepts in the Old Testament, where it appears 240 times. It is used as an attribute of human godliness, but is particularly one of God's own and outstanding characteristics. In every verse of Psalm 136, which has as its main theme that there is no end to God's love, it is stated that His chesed endures forever.
The word is translated in various ways in the different English translations: as "mercy", "steadfast love", "lovingkindness", and "love". But this is a very specific type of love. It is not just an impersonal love (love at a distance, as it were), it is a love associated with a relationship, with a covenant. With God it is his covenant love for his chosen people - and specifically for those within the nation who are serious about the covenant.
The term implies personal involvement and dedication extending beyond the demands of duty, convention or law. One dictionary emphasises that it is a love which involves strength and perseverance - strength to heed the demands of love, and perseverance to keep on in the face of whatever obstacles that may be encountered.
A study of the concept shows furthermore that it also conveys the idea of God's grace, which is probably why John uses the Greek word for "grace" in the text. And who can deny that the concept of grace does indeed lie at the heart of the New Testament? In fact, if we were to remove grace from the gospel, everything would collapse.
Chesed therefore signifies God's unwavering and determined devotion to the people with whom He stands in a covenantal relationship. J.I. Packer puts it as follows: "it is essentially a matter of faithfulness to the covenant promise whereby He bound Himself to be Israel's God and to use all the resources of deity to bless them." The best translation would therefore be "covenant love".
THE NEW TESTAMENT : GRACE
We can define God's grace as follows: God's grace is His free, unmerited and unforced gift of love in granting life everlasting to guilty sinners - who not only don't merit it, but in fact deserve the opposite, namely eternal condemnation.
God's grace therefore entails his sovereign, spontaneous goodness and saving mercy towards sinners, which finds expression in the fact that He (on the basis of Christ's atonement) saves them from his wrath. In the process He loves "the unlovely, making covenant with them, pardoning their sins, accepting their persons, revealing Himself to them, moving them to response, leading them ultimately into full knowledge and enjoyment of himself, and overcoming all obstacles to the fulfilment of this purpose ... "
GRACE UPON GRACE
In John 1:15 John interrupts himself as it were. The mind-boggling statements that he makes in v. 14 are not exaggerated. The respected John the Baptist said similar things about the Word Who had become flesh: He was truly God from all eternity!
And should the readers wonder if they are not perhaps dealing here with two eccentrics, John reminds them that all true believers know from their own experience that what he says is true. Because (Gr.) "from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another" (16).
Take note, John is not talking about a trickle. The expression is loaded with meaning. Literally it means "grace in the place of grace". In other words, the blessings from His grace come like never-ending waves rolling out on a beach.
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. Nothing is more typical of God's character than to show chesed - or in other words, to show grace.
Of all the many wonderful things that are true about God, He has chosen to reveal to us these two character traits, grace and truth, as first and foremost true of Him. First He revealed this to Moses. And then He reveals it to us in His Son.
The first of these is his chesed-grace. In this you and I need to rejoice over and over again. Our walk with our God should be permeated with it. Let us not be satisfied with a watered down, third rate Christianity. Let us lay hold of the Lord in prayer so that his covenant love may roll over us like waves, day after day.
Nothing pleases Him more than his children drinking from the fountains of his grace again and again. There is no better way to glorify Him. There is no better way to adorn the gospel. There is no better way to make the church attractive. Therefore, stay off the treadmill of religious merit at all costs!
More than that, a life under the shower of God's grace is a life of incomparable adventure. It is a life of an ever deepening experience of the presence and blessing of the Lord.
2. Let us in times of tribulation cling like drowning men to God's chesed-grace.
Let us not panic and forget about God's covenant faithfulness. Remember the Past Tense used in v. 16: we have already received it! The Lord will carry his children through. He has done it innumerable times before and He will do it again.
Even if our hands do happen to slip, He will not abandon us - because his covenant faithfulness is not dependent on my faithfulness. It is not dependent on anything! He has promised and He will stand by his promise. My faithlessness cannot rob Him of this character trait. That is why Paul could assure Timothy with the words, "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself" (2Tim 2:13).
3. We must imitate the Lord by showing chesed-grace ourselves.
Although this is in the first place a character trait of God, it is not limited to Him. We, over whom his faithful favour washes like waves, must also show undeserved grace to others (cp. 2Sam 9:1,7). Like Him, we must practise that which people consider to be impossible. I must consider irrelevant the question whether the other person deserves it or not. How will I achieve this? The Lord's chesed-grace will equip me if I trust Him fully to do so.
4. Last but not least, what encouragement this character trait offers to sinners!
Let them know that the merciful God finds joy in saving people. His Word teaches us emphatically that He finds no pleasure in the death of sinners. It is his will that they should repent and live (Ezek 18:23, 30-32). That is why I can, with the full mandate of the Word, call upon every sinner to cast himself or herself on Christ: "Admit that you are a sinner who deserves eternal damnation. Take a stand against your sins, confess them and beg God on the strength of the mediatory work of Jesus Christ to forgive you and save you from their hold over you, and their consequences!"
Nothing gives the Lord more joy and glorifies Him more than to save the worst of sinners! Therefore each and every sinner may come to the Lord and know for certain that He will show mercy, and that His chesed- grace will embrace him or her like the father did his lost son!
Nico van der Walt
What do we see when we look at the Son? We see that He is "full of grace and truth", and therefore we may also say with certainty that this is true of the Father as well. In fact, we may accept that these are the essential attributes of the Father, since John has chosen them rather than any of the other divine characteristics.
It is significant that the word "grace" (Gr. charis), which lies at the heart of the New Testament revelation, appears only 4 times in the gospel of John, namely here in verses 14, 16 and 17. We should therefore deduce the exact meaning that John attaches to the word firstly from its use here, and then from elsewhere in Scripture.
On the other hand the word "truth" is one of the outstanding concepts in this gospel. John uses it 25 times, loaded with meaning. Yet we must not try to explain these two words separately from each other. They go hand in hand and together convey one very precious message.
OLD TESTAMENT ROOTS
❏ As we have already seen (when we considered the fact that John describes the Word as having "tabernacled" among us), our text deals with God's self-revelation to us in the Person of the Word, and more specifically with the display of his glory in wonderful love, humility and servanthood. It inevitably reminds a person of one of the most outstanding moments in the whole of the Old Testament: Exodus 33 and 34.
After the tragedy of the golden calf, Moses expresses the wish to get to know God better (33:13). More particularly he wants to see the glory of the Lord (33:18). Eventually it leads to the Lord descending to Moses and proclaiming about Himself, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation" (34:6-7).
Although the Lord also talks about his wrath over sin, it is his indescribable love that stands out in this stirring self-revelation. This is especially true of the fact that He abounds "in love and faithfulness".
These two concepts, translated in the NIV with love and faithfulness, are combined in many places in the Old Testament (Hb. chesed and emeth). If we compare these two Hebrew concepts with the words in our text in John 1 - "grace" and "truth" - we see that the two expressions to all intents and purposes have the same meaning. Many commentators in fact accept that in Jn 1 the apostle is alluding to Ex 34:6.
What do these two Old Testament words mean? We only have time here to discuss the first (chesed). Next time we can look at the second (emeth).
GOD'S CHESED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
❏ This is one of the most brilliant concepts in the Old Testament, where it appears 240 times. It is used as an attribute of human godliness, but is particularly one of God's own and outstanding characteristics. In every verse of Psalm 136, which has as its main theme that there is no end to God's love, it is stated that His chesed endures forever.
The word is translated in various ways in the different English translations: as "mercy", "steadfast love", "lovingkindness", and "love". But this is a very specific type of love. It is not just an impersonal love (love at a distance, as it were), it is a love associated with a relationship, with a covenant. With God it is his covenant love for his chosen people - and specifically for those within the nation who are serious about the covenant.
The term implies personal involvement and dedication extending beyond the demands of duty, convention or law. One dictionary emphasises that it is a love which involves strength and perseverance - strength to heed the demands of love, and perseverance to keep on in the face of whatever obstacles that may be encountered.
A study of the concept shows furthermore that it also conveys the idea of God's grace, which is probably why John uses the Greek word for "grace" in the text. And who can deny that the concept of grace does indeed lie at the heart of the New Testament? In fact, if we were to remove grace from the gospel, everything would collapse.
Chesed therefore signifies God's unwavering and determined devotion to the people with whom He stands in a covenantal relationship. J.I. Packer puts it as follows: "it is essentially a matter of faithfulness to the covenant promise whereby He bound Himself to be Israel's God and to use all the resources of deity to bless them." The best translation would therefore be "covenant love".
THE NEW TESTAMENT : GRACE
We can define God's grace as follows: God's grace is His free, unmerited and unforced gift of love in granting life everlasting to guilty sinners - who not only don't merit it, but in fact deserve the opposite, namely eternal condemnation.
God's grace therefore entails his sovereign, spontaneous goodness and saving mercy towards sinners, which finds expression in the fact that He (on the basis of Christ's atonement) saves them from his wrath. In the process He loves "the unlovely, making covenant with them, pardoning their sins, accepting their persons, revealing Himself to them, moving them to response, leading them ultimately into full knowledge and enjoyment of himself, and overcoming all obstacles to the fulfilment of this purpose ... "
GRACE UPON GRACE
In John 1:15 John interrupts himself as it were. The mind-boggling statements that he makes in v. 14 are not exaggerated. The respected John the Baptist said similar things about the Word Who had become flesh: He was truly God from all eternity!
And should the readers wonder if they are not perhaps dealing here with two eccentrics, John reminds them that all true believers know from their own experience that what he says is true. Because (Gr.) "from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another" (16).
Take note, John is not talking about a trickle. The expression is loaded with meaning. Literally it means "grace in the place of grace". In other words, the blessings from His grace come like never-ending waves rolling out on a beach.
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. Nothing is more typical of God's character than to show chesed - or in other words, to show grace.
Of all the many wonderful things that are true about God, He has chosen to reveal to us these two character traits, grace and truth, as first and foremost true of Him. First He revealed this to Moses. And then He reveals it to us in His Son.
The first of these is his chesed-grace. In this you and I need to rejoice over and over again. Our walk with our God should be permeated with it. Let us not be satisfied with a watered down, third rate Christianity. Let us lay hold of the Lord in prayer so that his covenant love may roll over us like waves, day after day.
Nothing pleases Him more than his children drinking from the fountains of his grace again and again. There is no better way to glorify Him. There is no better way to adorn the gospel. There is no better way to make the church attractive. Therefore, stay off the treadmill of religious merit at all costs!
More than that, a life under the shower of God's grace is a life of incomparable adventure. It is a life of an ever deepening experience of the presence and blessing of the Lord.
2. Let us in times of tribulation cling like drowning men to God's chesed-grace.
Let us not panic and forget about God's covenant faithfulness. Remember the Past Tense used in v. 16: we have already received it! The Lord will carry his children through. He has done it innumerable times before and He will do it again.
Even if our hands do happen to slip, He will not abandon us - because his covenant faithfulness is not dependent on my faithfulness. It is not dependent on anything! He has promised and He will stand by his promise. My faithlessness cannot rob Him of this character trait. That is why Paul could assure Timothy with the words, "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself" (2Tim 2:13).
3. We must imitate the Lord by showing chesed-grace ourselves.
Although this is in the first place a character trait of God, it is not limited to Him. We, over whom his faithful favour washes like waves, must also show undeserved grace to others (cp. 2Sam 9:1,7). Like Him, we must practise that which people consider to be impossible. I must consider irrelevant the question whether the other person deserves it or not. How will I achieve this? The Lord's chesed-grace will equip me if I trust Him fully to do so.
4. Last but not least, what encouragement this character trait offers to sinners!
Let them know that the merciful God finds joy in saving people. His Word teaches us emphatically that He finds no pleasure in the death of sinners. It is his will that they should repent and live (Ezek 18:23, 30-32). That is why I can, with the full mandate of the Word, call upon every sinner to cast himself or herself on Christ: "Admit that you are a sinner who deserves eternal damnation. Take a stand against your sins, confess them and beg God on the strength of the mediatory work of Jesus Christ to forgive you and save you from their hold over you, and their consequences!"
Nothing gives the Lord more joy and glorifies Him more than to save the worst of sinners! Therefore each and every sinner may come to the Lord and know for certain that He will show mercy, and that His chesed- grace will embrace him or her like the father did his lost son!
Nico van der Walt
EE111 - JOHN 1:14 : GOD'S SUPREME REVELATION [6] - ... the One and Only ...
The single Greek word for "the One and Only" (NIV), "the only Son" (ESV), or "the only begotten" (KJV; NASB), has caused considerable controversy in church history.
Early in the 4th century a certain Alexander was bishop of Alexandria, the leading church in Egypt. On one occasion he was delivering a lecture on the dogma of the Trinity. Suddenly he was interrupted by a young elder by the name of Arius who accused the older man of underplaying the distinction between the three Persons of the Trinity. He argued that the Son had been created by the Father - admittedly before the beginning of time - and was therefore not eternal. Arius was quite prepared to admit that the Son was exalted above man, but (more or less like the Jehovah's Witnesses) insisted that He was below the Father in rank.
Arius immediately began to spread this viewpoint and soon had a substantial following.
The one and only?
❏ Every heretic has his text!
Central to Arius' view was the concept we are looking at, namely the Greek word monogenes. In many versions of the Bible, to this day, it is still translated as "only begotten" (KJV, NKJ, NASB, Ampl, etc.). This is a good example of how one can stray if you allow yourself to be lead primarily by the etymology of a word, without looking at it in the light of its use elsewhere in the Bible. Mono quite correctly means "only". The problem lies with the rest of the word (genes). It was accepted that it is derived from the word gennao (beget, or procreate), hence the translation of monogenes as "only begotten". But in actual fact genes is derived from the Greek word, genos (kind or type). John is therefore really saying that Jesus is one of his kind or type (He is therefore unique) and not that He was begotten by the Father.
❏ Confirmation of this can be found from the way the word is used elsewhere in Scripture.
It is used four times with reference to ordinary human beings. This is important, because it highlights the meaning of the word - and therefore the uniqueness of Jesus' sonship. It is used every time to emphasize a deep and loving relationship between a parent and a particular child. The widow from Nain was on her way to bury her only son, whom Jesus then resurrected (Lk 7:12). Jesus raised from the dead the only daughter of Jairus (Lk 8:42). A man begs Jesus to cast out the demons from his only son (Lk 9:38). And Abraham had to sacrifice his one and only son (Hb 11:17).
The use of the word in the last example proves that it does not necessarily mean an only child, as Abraham had another son, Ishmael. But Isaac was the apple of his eye.
It reminds one of Gn 22:2 where Abraham is commanded to offer his son, his "only son" (cp. v. 12). The Hebrew word yachid conveys the idea of intense tenderness and attachment (cp. Pr 4:3, Jer 6:26, Amos 8:10, Zach 12:10). This word is obviously the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek monogenes. These children were therefore not necessarily their parents' only children, but their most loved ones.
The word is used five times with reference to our Lord, each time by John (Jn 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1Jn 4:9). The above meaning given to the word opens up a wonderful new perspective. This is true in particular of Jn 3:16 and 1Jn 4:9, where the apostle talks of God's love for sinners: God so loved sinners, and so important was there salvation to Him, that He was prepared to offer up his monogenes - the deeply loved apple of his eye - as ransom for them.
❏ This word emphasizes therefore Christ's unique sonship. Many others may also become God's children, but the sonship of Jesus is different. The Son, while truly man, still remains truly God. He remains the Creator, while the rest of God's children are his creatures. This is where Arius missed it.
God's man for the moment
❏ Arianism gradually stirred up so much unrest in the church - even threatening to tear it apart - that the emperor, Constantine, called a council in Nicea in 325 (near Constantinople) to get clarity on the issue once and for all.
Alexander took with him as his secretary a brilliant young deacon, Athanasius, a man destined to become a giant in church history. Although he did not have the right to speak at the council, Athanasius was the real mind behind the powerful arguments and speeches delivered by Alexander.
In the end a strong resolution was passed against the view of Arius. In this - the first formulation of the Nicene Creed - the deity of Christ was strongly emphasized. The Creed was subsequently finalised at the Council of Constantinople (in 381).
A single tiny letter
❏ A key emphasis in the Creed is that the Son is "of one being" with the father. Behind this lies considerable intrigue. The conflict with Arius centred around two Greek words which have become famous in dogmatic history: homoousios (of the same nature) and homoiousios (of a similar nature). The difference lies in the two prefixes, homo- (the same) and homoi- (similar, of the same kind). The only difference between the words is the Greek letter, the iota, a short and single vertical line, the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. Arius was quite prepared to admit that the Son was homoiousios (similar) to the Father, but not that He was homoousios (of the same nature). But the Council realised the importance of the difference between the two views: if Christ is not of the same nature as God the Father, He is not truly God. Therefore homoousios (of the same nature) won the day.
A merciless battle
❏ This was alas not the end of Arianism.
Three years later, in 328, Athanasius became the new bishop of Alexandria - and so became the spearhead of the fierce fight against Arianism. In fact, it was to dominate his life to a large extent. The battle over the next five decades reads like a thriller. Several times it looked as if Arianism would triumph, but Athanasius kept on fighting tirelessly for the truth. For this he paid a severe price. He was banished several times, and once had to flee for five years in the desert before the emperor's soldiers. This, however, did not deter him from proclaiming the true gospel at every opportunity.
Finally, 8 years after the death of Athanasius in 373, Arianism was finally defeated at the Council of Constantinople.
It is generally accepted that Arianism would have triumphed had it not been for the heroic struggles of the Bishop of Alexandria.
Of vital importance
❏ Why is this such an important issue? Why did Athanasius give his all to defend something which is in any case a mystery to us? Because he realised what was at stake - the purity of the gospel and the reality of our salvation!
Exactly who and what Christ is, is of vital importance. Only someone who is in the fullest sense both God and man can be the Saviour of sinners! The Christ of Arius is not truly God, but a created being. As such it would not be possible for Him to bear our sins without perishing himself.
Throughout his life Athanasius was concerned with one thing only: the honour and the glory of Christ. And he knew that the Gospel would stand or fall by the deity of Christ.
Application
❏ A pure and exact formulation of the truth is important. Too many people take the view that you can be a mature Christian without holding to doctrine. An organisation or a church that holds the view that it is possible to function properly without clear doctrine, is really saying that it does not have the faintest idea what the Christian faith is all about.
Faith has content and genuine faith has genuine content. And sometimes a small and very short vertical line can mean the difference between life and death. Then it is not unchristian to fight tooth and nail for the truth. This Athanasius understood. And this is why the New Testament is so adamant in its warnings against false teachers.
❏ If our text teaches that Jesus Christ is God's supreme revelation to us, we can be sure that this revelation is anything but vague. The Word that became flesh was in the fullest sense of the word the eternal Son of God and also himself God. What we see in Him is exactly how God is. Admittedly, He did not reveal everything to us, but that which He did reveal, is absolutely pure and trustworthy.
Reflect for a moment on how the Bible depicts Christ for us. Whom do you see? Has there ever been anyone so pleasant, so attractive, so lovable? Was there ever love like his? Who has ever been so perfect? Now, that is exactly how God is - and for all eternity!
❏ We see clearly in the life of Jesus the love-relationship between Him and the Father!
One cannot read the gospels, especially that of John, without gaining the impression that nothing played a bigger role in the life of the Lord Jesus than his relationship with his heavenly Father.
The Father addresses his Son twice from heaven, and both times it is a declaration of his love. During Jesus' baptism there came a voice from heaven saying, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" (Mk 1:11). Again, on the Mount of Transfiguration we find a similar declaration: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (Mt 17:5).
This love between the Father and the Son is an eternal and indescribably intimate one. The final verse in John's prologue states that the Son is "in the bosom of the Father" (Jn 1:18; NKJV). In Pr 8, which is commonly regarded as a poetical description of the Son in his eternal state, it is beautifully expressed as follows: "Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence" (v30).
❏ In conclusion, in the Father's declaration of love on the Mount of Transfiguration, He states explicitly what we must do to please Him: we must obey the apple of his eye! And that is what true love really is: it always desires that the object of your love be honoured. Even the Father experiences his love in this manner. If his Son is in the centre of our lives, it pleases Him more than anything else.
Let us pray passionately that the Father will be pleased and honoured by the nations as never before - by loving and serving the Son!
Nico van der Walt
Early in the 4th century a certain Alexander was bishop of Alexandria, the leading church in Egypt. On one occasion he was delivering a lecture on the dogma of the Trinity. Suddenly he was interrupted by a young elder by the name of Arius who accused the older man of underplaying the distinction between the three Persons of the Trinity. He argued that the Son had been created by the Father - admittedly before the beginning of time - and was therefore not eternal. Arius was quite prepared to admit that the Son was exalted above man, but (more or less like the Jehovah's Witnesses) insisted that He was below the Father in rank.
Arius immediately began to spread this viewpoint and soon had a substantial following.
The one and only?
❏ Every heretic has his text!
Central to Arius' view was the concept we are looking at, namely the Greek word monogenes. In many versions of the Bible, to this day, it is still translated as "only begotten" (KJV, NKJ, NASB, Ampl, etc.). This is a good example of how one can stray if you allow yourself to be lead primarily by the etymology of a word, without looking at it in the light of its use elsewhere in the Bible. Mono quite correctly means "only". The problem lies with the rest of the word (genes). It was accepted that it is derived from the word gennao (beget, or procreate), hence the translation of monogenes as "only begotten". But in actual fact genes is derived from the Greek word, genos (kind or type). John is therefore really saying that Jesus is one of his kind or type (He is therefore unique) and not that He was begotten by the Father.
❏ Confirmation of this can be found from the way the word is used elsewhere in Scripture.
It is used four times with reference to ordinary human beings. This is important, because it highlights the meaning of the word - and therefore the uniqueness of Jesus' sonship. It is used every time to emphasize a deep and loving relationship between a parent and a particular child. The widow from Nain was on her way to bury her only son, whom Jesus then resurrected (Lk 7:12). Jesus raised from the dead the only daughter of Jairus (Lk 8:42). A man begs Jesus to cast out the demons from his only son (Lk 9:38). And Abraham had to sacrifice his one and only son (Hb 11:17).
The use of the word in the last example proves that it does not necessarily mean an only child, as Abraham had another son, Ishmael. But Isaac was the apple of his eye.
It reminds one of Gn 22:2 where Abraham is commanded to offer his son, his "only son" (cp. v. 12). The Hebrew word yachid conveys the idea of intense tenderness and attachment (cp. Pr 4:3, Jer 6:26, Amos 8:10, Zach 12:10). This word is obviously the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek monogenes. These children were therefore not necessarily their parents' only children, but their most loved ones.
The word is used five times with reference to our Lord, each time by John (Jn 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1Jn 4:9). The above meaning given to the word opens up a wonderful new perspective. This is true in particular of Jn 3:16 and 1Jn 4:9, where the apostle talks of God's love for sinners: God so loved sinners, and so important was there salvation to Him, that He was prepared to offer up his monogenes - the deeply loved apple of his eye - as ransom for them.
❏ This word emphasizes therefore Christ's unique sonship. Many others may also become God's children, but the sonship of Jesus is different. The Son, while truly man, still remains truly God. He remains the Creator, while the rest of God's children are his creatures. This is where Arius missed it.
God's man for the moment
❏ Arianism gradually stirred up so much unrest in the church - even threatening to tear it apart - that the emperor, Constantine, called a council in Nicea in 325 (near Constantinople) to get clarity on the issue once and for all.
Alexander took with him as his secretary a brilliant young deacon, Athanasius, a man destined to become a giant in church history. Although he did not have the right to speak at the council, Athanasius was the real mind behind the powerful arguments and speeches delivered by Alexander.
In the end a strong resolution was passed against the view of Arius. In this - the first formulation of the Nicene Creed - the deity of Christ was strongly emphasized. The Creed was subsequently finalised at the Council of Constantinople (in 381).
A single tiny letter
❏ A key emphasis in the Creed is that the Son is "of one being" with the father. Behind this lies considerable intrigue. The conflict with Arius centred around two Greek words which have become famous in dogmatic history: homoousios (of the same nature) and homoiousios (of a similar nature). The difference lies in the two prefixes, homo- (the same) and homoi- (similar, of the same kind). The only difference between the words is the Greek letter, the iota, a short and single vertical line, the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. Arius was quite prepared to admit that the Son was homoiousios (similar) to the Father, but not that He was homoousios (of the same nature). But the Council realised the importance of the difference between the two views: if Christ is not of the same nature as God the Father, He is not truly God. Therefore homoousios (of the same nature) won the day.
A merciless battle
❏ This was alas not the end of Arianism.
Three years later, in 328, Athanasius became the new bishop of Alexandria - and so became the spearhead of the fierce fight against Arianism. In fact, it was to dominate his life to a large extent. The battle over the next five decades reads like a thriller. Several times it looked as if Arianism would triumph, but Athanasius kept on fighting tirelessly for the truth. For this he paid a severe price. He was banished several times, and once had to flee for five years in the desert before the emperor's soldiers. This, however, did not deter him from proclaiming the true gospel at every opportunity.
Finally, 8 years after the death of Athanasius in 373, Arianism was finally defeated at the Council of Constantinople.
It is generally accepted that Arianism would have triumphed had it not been for the heroic struggles of the Bishop of Alexandria.
Of vital importance
❏ Why is this such an important issue? Why did Athanasius give his all to defend something which is in any case a mystery to us? Because he realised what was at stake - the purity of the gospel and the reality of our salvation!
Exactly who and what Christ is, is of vital importance. Only someone who is in the fullest sense both God and man can be the Saviour of sinners! The Christ of Arius is not truly God, but a created being. As such it would not be possible for Him to bear our sins without perishing himself.
Throughout his life Athanasius was concerned with one thing only: the honour and the glory of Christ. And he knew that the Gospel would stand or fall by the deity of Christ.
Application
❏ A pure and exact formulation of the truth is important. Too many people take the view that you can be a mature Christian without holding to doctrine. An organisation or a church that holds the view that it is possible to function properly without clear doctrine, is really saying that it does not have the faintest idea what the Christian faith is all about.
Faith has content and genuine faith has genuine content. And sometimes a small and very short vertical line can mean the difference between life and death. Then it is not unchristian to fight tooth and nail for the truth. This Athanasius understood. And this is why the New Testament is so adamant in its warnings against false teachers.
❏ If our text teaches that Jesus Christ is God's supreme revelation to us, we can be sure that this revelation is anything but vague. The Word that became flesh was in the fullest sense of the word the eternal Son of God and also himself God. What we see in Him is exactly how God is. Admittedly, He did not reveal everything to us, but that which He did reveal, is absolutely pure and trustworthy.
Reflect for a moment on how the Bible depicts Christ for us. Whom do you see? Has there ever been anyone so pleasant, so attractive, so lovable? Was there ever love like his? Who has ever been so perfect? Now, that is exactly how God is - and for all eternity!
❏ We see clearly in the life of Jesus the love-relationship between Him and the Father!
One cannot read the gospels, especially that of John, without gaining the impression that nothing played a bigger role in the life of the Lord Jesus than his relationship with his heavenly Father.
The Father addresses his Son twice from heaven, and both times it is a declaration of his love. During Jesus' baptism there came a voice from heaven saying, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" (Mk 1:11). Again, on the Mount of Transfiguration we find a similar declaration: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (Mt 17:5).
This love between the Father and the Son is an eternal and indescribably intimate one. The final verse in John's prologue states that the Son is "in the bosom of the Father" (Jn 1:18; NKJV). In Pr 8, which is commonly regarded as a poetical description of the Son in his eternal state, it is beautifully expressed as follows: "Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence" (v30).
❏ In conclusion, in the Father's declaration of love on the Mount of Transfiguration, He states explicitly what we must do to please Him: we must obey the apple of his eye! And that is what true love really is: it always desires that the object of your love be honoured. Even the Father experiences his love in this manner. If his Son is in the centre of our lives, it pleases Him more than anything else.
Let us pray passionately that the Father will be pleased and honoured by the nations as never before - by loving and serving the Son!
Nico van der Walt
EE110 - JOHN 1:14 : GOD'S SUPREME REVELATION [5] - ... his glory ...
When we hear the word "glory", we tend to think of splendour and majesty. And that is not wrong. The Bible often uses the word in this sense. But the question is, is this what John is talking about here?
The apostle is using the word "glory" in this verse to indicate essentially who and what Jesus was. Yet contrary to Matthew, Mark and Luke, the apostle makes no mention in his gospel of the one and most unforgettable occasion where they did in fact see Jesus in his full splendour and majesty - the transfiguration on the mount. It is also true that the life of our Lord was characterised by simplicity and humility, rather than splendour and show. This is what the apostles emphasise over and over again.
Let us therefore take a closer look at our text.
HE MADE HIS DWELLING AMONG US
❏ John's verb in the phrase, "made his dwelling among us", is a significant key. Basically the Greek word used means to pitch a tent, or to live in a tent. The apostle says, in other words, that the Word lived with us in a tent.
❏ Many think that John chose these words to indicate that Jesus dwelt among us for only a short time. Of course He was on earth for only a short time, but John also uses this word to indicate permanent residency - specifically in heaven. And what can be more permanent than that? (Rev 7:15; 12:12; 13:6; 21:3).
GOD'S "SHEKINA"
❏ John's use of words would not have evoked the image of an ordinary tent in the mind of the average Jewish reader. No, they they would have thought in terms of the Tent - the tabernacle. Before the temple was built, the tabernacle played a dominant role in the religion of Israel. It was basically a huge tent that could be pitched and struck as they moved around, and was known as the Tent of Meeting (Ex 40:34-38).
❏ The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people when the tabernacle was used for the first time. And this happened again on other occasions (Lev 9:23; Num 14:10).
In the Jewish mind the Tent of Meeting - and later the temple (1Kings 8:10-11) - was the place where the glory of God dwelt. This gave birth to a new word, "Shekina", which combines the two concepts - "tent" and "glory". It denotes the glory of God in the tabernacle or temple as manifested to man.
❏ John combines in v. 14 these two concepts, "tent" and "glory". In so doing he says this: God's holy glory which was displayed in the tabernacle and the temple on more than one occasion in Old Testament times, came in full bloom in the person, the life and the work of Jesus Christ.
THE GLORY OF HUMILITY
❏ How is God's glory revealed to us in Christ? What did the disciples experience? John describes this in his gospel.
Contrary to what we might have expected, He does not portray Jesus as a powerful and spectacular prince of glory who triumphantly subjects foe after foe. On the contrary, John (as well as the other three gospel writers) portrays for us a humble man who, after years of manual labour in the poor and rural area of Galilee, offers up his life in a selfless manner in service of his fellow man.
• What do we see in the gospel of John? We see how Jesus brings joy to some simple, poor labourers during a wedding in Cana. We see Him spending time to show an immoral Samaritan woman the way to everlasting life. We see how He heals a dying boy, returns sight to a blind man, and brings Lazarus back to life. We see how he feeds thousands of hungry poor people. And so we could go on with our list.
• He helps those in need, he heals the sick, He teaches the ignorant, He feeds the hungry.
He is always on the lookout for people in need - those who know how dependent they are on God's mercy, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. We find him among people like these again and again - rather than in palaces. He does not frequent the mansions of the self-sufficient rich - and when He does, it often gives rise to the Lord's criticism of His host's religious complacency. No, in the words of Luke, He "came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10; Mt 18:11).
• And right at the end of his life here on earth Jesus gave his disciples a practical lesson they would never forget. The night before his crucifixion he washed their feet in the upper room (a courtesy customarily bestowed on dinner guests), and so performed a task normally assigned to the most humble of the slaves in a household. On this occasion there was no such slave, and Jesus took the place of one. Of course, this has nothing to do with dirty feet as such. On that night, after all, the feet of Jesus never were washed. No, it is all about self-denial, self-sacrifice and servanthood.
It is clear from what follows. Jesus said to his followers, "Do you understand what I have done for you? ... You call me "Teacher" and "Lord", and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (Jn 13:12-17).
THE SUPREME GLORIFICATION
❏ It is most significant that the Lord Jesus referred on at least two occasions in the book of John to his forthcoming crucifixion as his glorification. In Jn 12:23 He said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified", and in his High Priestly prayer his words were, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you" (Jn 17:1). How are we to understand this?
❏ In those days death by crucifixion was looked upon with utter disgust.
The Romans only executed their own citizens in this most cruel manner in exceptional cases of treason. In the case of non-Romans, execution by crucifixion was limited to convicted murderers, rebels and armed robbers.
As for the Jews, they made no distinction between a tree and a cross. They accordingly believed that the curse of Dt 21:23 rested on everyone who was crucified: "... anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse." This is why they could not accept that the Messiah should die in this shocking manner.
Yet to us who are familiar with the whole of the New Testament and understand God's council, it is clear that the Lord Jesus could never have served his people in more complete surrender and with more profound effect, than when He surrendered Himself on their behalf to this despicable way of execution and cruellest of deaths.
Do you see? The glory that the apostles saw in the life of Jesus was the glory of selfless love and servanthood. So in the case of the Lord Jesus, the cross was not an instrument of shame, but a throne of glory!
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. Every Christian has an inescapable calling to live a life of self-denial.
The message is clear, the calling inescapable. We are saved by grace alone, on the basis of the merits of Christ alone, through faith alone. But true, saving faith must, or rather will always result in good works. And in a nutshell, these good works comprise self-denying and loving servanthood on behalf of others. And who are these "others"? In the first instance the Lord Himself, but also our brothers and sisters in Christ, in fact everybody with whom we come into contact.
This truth was engraved on John's heart. He never forgot it. In his first letter he writes: "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did" (1Jn 2:6). It therefore boils down to this: If you say that you are a Christian, you either live like Jesus did, in integrity, or you live the life of a hypocrite. Of course, in the latter case you do not have genuine faith. And, take note, we are talking here of more than mere obligation and duty; we are talking of sincere and enthusiastic willingness that follows the Lord Jesus from the heart.
Keep in mind that John gave as reason for writing the letter, "... so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1Jn 5:13). He writes elsewhere: "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" (1Jn 3:14,16).
2. That is why we talk of the "ministry".
When they talk of "the ministry", people often think in terms of things like status, learning, titles and even a special way of dressing. Nothing could be further from the Biblical concept! When the Lord calls somebody to be a minister in his church or a missionary, it is his intention that such person should in fact spend his life in voluntary slavery - a concept that is often applied to Christian service in the New Testament. And let us remind ourselves that slaves have no rights or privileges - and least of all status.
3. Here is the hallmark of a genuine church.
It is too easily accepted that any group of people who call themselves a church are in fact a genuine church of Christ. But a tabernacle in which Christ lives in glory is without exception characterised by members who lay down their lives for each other in humble servanthood. Where selfishness and wilfulness rule, you do not have a true church, but a cave of hypocrites.
Why do we have here an infallible acid test for a true church? Why does such a serving church glorify Christ? Because only He can change a bunch of selfish sinners so that they sacrifice their lives for one another in love.
Always remember this: true glory is not to be found in splendour, show, greatness and grandeur, but in humility and self-denying service.
Nico van der Walt
The apostle is using the word "glory" in this verse to indicate essentially who and what Jesus was. Yet contrary to Matthew, Mark and Luke, the apostle makes no mention in his gospel of the one and most unforgettable occasion where they did in fact see Jesus in his full splendour and majesty - the transfiguration on the mount. It is also true that the life of our Lord was characterised by simplicity and humility, rather than splendour and show. This is what the apostles emphasise over and over again.
Let us therefore take a closer look at our text.
HE MADE HIS DWELLING AMONG US
❏ John's verb in the phrase, "made his dwelling among us", is a significant key. Basically the Greek word used means to pitch a tent, or to live in a tent. The apostle says, in other words, that the Word lived with us in a tent.
❏ Many think that John chose these words to indicate that Jesus dwelt among us for only a short time. Of course He was on earth for only a short time, but John also uses this word to indicate permanent residency - specifically in heaven. And what can be more permanent than that? (Rev 7:15; 12:12; 13:6; 21:3).
GOD'S "SHEKINA"
❏ John's use of words would not have evoked the image of an ordinary tent in the mind of the average Jewish reader. No, they they would have thought in terms of the Tent - the tabernacle. Before the temple was built, the tabernacle played a dominant role in the religion of Israel. It was basically a huge tent that could be pitched and struck as they moved around, and was known as the Tent of Meeting (Ex 40:34-38).
❏ The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people when the tabernacle was used for the first time. And this happened again on other occasions (Lev 9:23; Num 14:10).
In the Jewish mind the Tent of Meeting - and later the temple (1Kings 8:10-11) - was the place where the glory of God dwelt. This gave birth to a new word, "Shekina", which combines the two concepts - "tent" and "glory". It denotes the glory of God in the tabernacle or temple as manifested to man.
❏ John combines in v. 14 these two concepts, "tent" and "glory". In so doing he says this: God's holy glory which was displayed in the tabernacle and the temple on more than one occasion in Old Testament times, came in full bloom in the person, the life and the work of Jesus Christ.
THE GLORY OF HUMILITY
❏ How is God's glory revealed to us in Christ? What did the disciples experience? John describes this in his gospel.
Contrary to what we might have expected, He does not portray Jesus as a powerful and spectacular prince of glory who triumphantly subjects foe after foe. On the contrary, John (as well as the other three gospel writers) portrays for us a humble man who, after years of manual labour in the poor and rural area of Galilee, offers up his life in a selfless manner in service of his fellow man.
• What do we see in the gospel of John? We see how Jesus brings joy to some simple, poor labourers during a wedding in Cana. We see Him spending time to show an immoral Samaritan woman the way to everlasting life. We see how He heals a dying boy, returns sight to a blind man, and brings Lazarus back to life. We see how he feeds thousands of hungry poor people. And so we could go on with our list.
• He helps those in need, he heals the sick, He teaches the ignorant, He feeds the hungry.
He is always on the lookout for people in need - those who know how dependent they are on God's mercy, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. We find him among people like these again and again - rather than in palaces. He does not frequent the mansions of the self-sufficient rich - and when He does, it often gives rise to the Lord's criticism of His host's religious complacency. No, in the words of Luke, He "came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10; Mt 18:11).
• And right at the end of his life here on earth Jesus gave his disciples a practical lesson they would never forget. The night before his crucifixion he washed their feet in the upper room (a courtesy customarily bestowed on dinner guests), and so performed a task normally assigned to the most humble of the slaves in a household. On this occasion there was no such slave, and Jesus took the place of one. Of course, this has nothing to do with dirty feet as such. On that night, after all, the feet of Jesus never were washed. No, it is all about self-denial, self-sacrifice and servanthood.
It is clear from what follows. Jesus said to his followers, "Do you understand what I have done for you? ... You call me "Teacher" and "Lord", and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (Jn 13:12-17).
THE SUPREME GLORIFICATION
❏ It is most significant that the Lord Jesus referred on at least two occasions in the book of John to his forthcoming crucifixion as his glorification. In Jn 12:23 He said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified", and in his High Priestly prayer his words were, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you" (Jn 17:1). How are we to understand this?
❏ In those days death by crucifixion was looked upon with utter disgust.
The Romans only executed their own citizens in this most cruel manner in exceptional cases of treason. In the case of non-Romans, execution by crucifixion was limited to convicted murderers, rebels and armed robbers.
As for the Jews, they made no distinction between a tree and a cross. They accordingly believed that the curse of Dt 21:23 rested on everyone who was crucified: "... anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse." This is why they could not accept that the Messiah should die in this shocking manner.
Yet to us who are familiar with the whole of the New Testament and understand God's council, it is clear that the Lord Jesus could never have served his people in more complete surrender and with more profound effect, than when He surrendered Himself on their behalf to this despicable way of execution and cruellest of deaths.
Do you see? The glory that the apostles saw in the life of Jesus was the glory of selfless love and servanthood. So in the case of the Lord Jesus, the cross was not an instrument of shame, but a throne of glory!
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. Every Christian has an inescapable calling to live a life of self-denial.
The message is clear, the calling inescapable. We are saved by grace alone, on the basis of the merits of Christ alone, through faith alone. But true, saving faith must, or rather will always result in good works. And in a nutshell, these good works comprise self-denying and loving servanthood on behalf of others. And who are these "others"? In the first instance the Lord Himself, but also our brothers and sisters in Christ, in fact everybody with whom we come into contact.
This truth was engraved on John's heart. He never forgot it. In his first letter he writes: "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did" (1Jn 2:6). It therefore boils down to this: If you say that you are a Christian, you either live like Jesus did, in integrity, or you live the life of a hypocrite. Of course, in the latter case you do not have genuine faith. And, take note, we are talking here of more than mere obligation and duty; we are talking of sincere and enthusiastic willingness that follows the Lord Jesus from the heart.
Keep in mind that John gave as reason for writing the letter, "... so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1Jn 5:13). He writes elsewhere: "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" (1Jn 3:14,16).
2. That is why we talk of the "ministry".
When they talk of "the ministry", people often think in terms of things like status, learning, titles and even a special way of dressing. Nothing could be further from the Biblical concept! When the Lord calls somebody to be a minister in his church or a missionary, it is his intention that such person should in fact spend his life in voluntary slavery - a concept that is often applied to Christian service in the New Testament. And let us remind ourselves that slaves have no rights or privileges - and least of all status.
3. Here is the hallmark of a genuine church.
It is too easily accepted that any group of people who call themselves a church are in fact a genuine church of Christ. But a tabernacle in which Christ lives in glory is without exception characterised by members who lay down their lives for each other in humble servanthood. Where selfishness and wilfulness rule, you do not have a true church, but a cave of hypocrites.
Why do we have here an infallible acid test for a true church? Why does such a serving church glorify Christ? Because only He can change a bunch of selfish sinners so that they sacrifice their lives for one another in love.
Always remember this: true glory is not to be found in splendour, show, greatness and grandeur, but in humility and self-denying service.
Nico van der Walt
EE109 - JOHN 1:14 : GOD'S SUPREME REVELATION [4] ... became flesh ... (3)
We take a third look at the statement in John 1:14, namely that the Word became flesh. We need to consider now Jesus Christ as Person, and more specifically the relation between His two natures, the Godly and the human.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
❏ We should be careful not to think of the incarnation as the coming into being of our Saviour - as His origin. As "the Word" He had existed from eternity and his conception and birth was not the beginning of his life. No, He who had no beginning did not cease to be what he was from all eternity. But with the incarnation He began to be for all coming eternity what He had never been before.
❏ The incarnation was an overwhelming event, as it meant the blending in one Person of all that is true of God and all that is true of man. The Man who was crucified, was the eternal Word! The carpenter of Nazareth was truly God! The babe in the manger was the One who had created all!
What the Bible teaches in this regard is nothing short of mind boggling. Nevertheless, if we say we are Bible believing Christians, exactly this is what we must embrace in faith.
❏ It would have been utter humiliation for the Son to become a perfect human, like man before the Fall. But that was not what happened. No, the Word was sent to a world of sin and distress and death, with which He had to identify completely. He became exactly like one of the people on earth, subject to heartache, pain and even death, but with one, and only one exception: He had no sin.
❏ When we say the Word became flesh, we say amongst other things:
The One who had been timeless from eternity, now entered time and became subject to its limitations.
The unchangeable One became changeable.
The invisible One became visible.
The Maintainer of all became dependent.
The omnipotent One became subject to weakness.
The immortal One became mortal.
THE PERSON OF JESUS
❏ We have seen that the early church had difficulty in understanding and expressing in words the concept of the divine and human natures being united in the person of Christ. Eventually the Council of Chalcedon formulated it in the way that is still being regarded as the orthodox interpretation. Even the articles of faith of the 16th century Reformation carefully followed in these footsteps.
❏ When we talk of the union of the divine and human natures of Christ, we refer to it as the hypostatic union of Christ. In essence it means something like this:
• The word hypostatic is derived for the Greek word for substance or nature - the essential character or nature of something, as distinguishable from its outward appearance or manifestation.
• Our Lord Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. The Council of Chalcedon formulated the unity of his person and separateness of his two natures as follows: the two natures are without confusion, without change, without division, without seperation. The two natures of Christ must therefore not be seen as such an intimate mixture or combination so that a third God-man nature is formed (they are without confusion and without change). But they are also not to be understood as a loose cohabitation of two natures which brings into question the unity of Christ's person (they are without division and without seperation).
• During the Reformation the same truth was formulated somewhat differently. And about a century later the Westminster Confession (1647) describes it with the following words: "two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man" (Art VIII.2).
The divine is therefore not humanised or the human deified - there has been no conversion. Moreover, the divine and the human elements do not blend to form a third nature, as it were - there has been no composition. Finally, the divine and human natures do not simply alternate so that only one of them is up front at any one time - there is no confusion.
❏ Truly, the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ is a deep and unfathomable mystery, which we shall never fully understand. But we must believe it, because that is what God has revealed to us in his Word.
There are other such incomprehensible truths in the Bible. Take, for instance, the holy Trinity: One God, three Persons. What could be more unfathomable? We also find it difficult to reconcile the concept of God's total sovereignty with man's responsibility.
Yet we must, as far as we can, think clearly about these matters, because lopsided thinking always gives birth to heresies, which dishonour God and have disastrous pastoral effects.
In a nutshell: Jesus Christ is both truly God and truly man - one Person, with two natures, that have not been changed or mixed or do not alternate.
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. The Son's incarnation explains all the other miracles in the New Testament.
Sceptics find it impossible to believe many things in the Bible: the miracles, the resurrection of Jesus, the ascension, and many more. But if Jesus of Nazareth is, in fact, the second Person of the divine Trinity who became man, all these objections against the supernatural in his life fall away. Can anything, after all, be too wondrous for the living God!
The incarnation is truly an unfathomable mystery - but it gives sense to all the other miracles in the New Testament.
2. Jesus' incarnation is a prerequisite for the fullness of our salvation.
This is worked out in some detail in the second chapter of Hebrews.
• Hb 2:5-8: Two things are true:
Firstly, at creation, the authority to rule over this earth was given to man.
Secondly, for now we do not see anything of this rule at all.
• Hb 2:9-10: This does not mean that God's promise was not fulfilled. It was! Man does, in fact, rule over everything. How is this?
While it is true that we have not as yet been crowned with glory and honour, we do have a Head who has perfectly met all God's demands. He already has authority over everything in heaven and on earth. He is our representative, and in Him vests the guarantee of our eventual glory and rule.
Our sin has disqualified us from being crowned with glory and honour. Before this can therefore happen, we will first need to be reinstated as holy before God. But how? We ourselves would never, in all eternity, have been able to pay the debt. In our own strength we would never have been able to extract ourselves from the swamp of sinfulness. What therefore was required was a substitute.
The only acceptable substitute for man was another man, but one without sin - in other words a man who was not already under the penalty of death for his own sins. Alas, no one out of the seed of Adam qualifies for this. All have sinned. In any case no man is capable of dying for the sins of millions.
That is why God the Son had to become man! As a sinless man He could be our substitute; as fully God He was able to endure the punishment due to millions.
• Hb 2:11-15: The new humanity in Christ is one huge family of brothers and sisters - those truly united to Christ by true faith. And this universal family - from all nations, and all centuries – has Him as their eldest brother.
• Hb 2:16-18: We need to understand this very clearly: in order for the Son to qualify to stand before God on our behalf, then and now, He had to become one of us.
3. Is the ongoing and eternal humanity of Christ indelibly engraved in your mind?
Do you fully take into account the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ in your relationship with Him? We can so easily over-react to the heretical theology of our day - which teaches that Christ was no more than a wonderful man - and forget that He was indeed also fully man and will be so for all eternity.
Many Christians think that the Lord Jesus left his humanity here on earth when He went back to heaven. This is not so. There is a glorified, understanding, and sympathetic Man in the throne-room of heaven who lovingly looks after the interests of His flock here on earth (1Tm 2:5).
4. You are also perfect and glorified man – for all eternity!
If you are truly united with Christ by true faith, the Word of God teaches that you are to share his glorified state one day. Look at Him - after his resurrection - and know what you are to be like for all eternity!
Do you realise that you are, and will forever be, fully human, like Him? We will rule here on earth with Christ for all eternity as humans, albeit in a glorified state. And the recreated earth will still be fully earth, not so much different from what it is now.
The idea that we will be simply harp-playing angels in the hereafter is not only unscriptural, but an insult to God. No, we will be fully human, but much more than now. We will be exactly what Adam would have become, had he remained true to his calling. God will not compromise one iota on his original plan for man. We who are indeed in Christ will live and rule on this glorified earth as people - let there be no doubt about this. But unlike Adam, we will no longer be able to sin. The test that the first Adam failed so miserably, has been passed triumphantly by the last Adam, our Head - the Head of the new humanity.
Nico van der Walt
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
❏ We should be careful not to think of the incarnation as the coming into being of our Saviour - as His origin. As "the Word" He had existed from eternity and his conception and birth was not the beginning of his life. No, He who had no beginning did not cease to be what he was from all eternity. But with the incarnation He began to be for all coming eternity what He had never been before.
❏ The incarnation was an overwhelming event, as it meant the blending in one Person of all that is true of God and all that is true of man. The Man who was crucified, was the eternal Word! The carpenter of Nazareth was truly God! The babe in the manger was the One who had created all!
What the Bible teaches in this regard is nothing short of mind boggling. Nevertheless, if we say we are Bible believing Christians, exactly this is what we must embrace in faith.
❏ It would have been utter humiliation for the Son to become a perfect human, like man before the Fall. But that was not what happened. No, the Word was sent to a world of sin and distress and death, with which He had to identify completely. He became exactly like one of the people on earth, subject to heartache, pain and even death, but with one, and only one exception: He had no sin.
❏ When we say the Word became flesh, we say amongst other things:
The One who had been timeless from eternity, now entered time and became subject to its limitations.
The unchangeable One became changeable.
The invisible One became visible.
The Maintainer of all became dependent.
The omnipotent One became subject to weakness.
The immortal One became mortal.
THE PERSON OF JESUS
❏ We have seen that the early church had difficulty in understanding and expressing in words the concept of the divine and human natures being united in the person of Christ. Eventually the Council of Chalcedon formulated it in the way that is still being regarded as the orthodox interpretation. Even the articles of faith of the 16th century Reformation carefully followed in these footsteps.
❏ When we talk of the union of the divine and human natures of Christ, we refer to it as the hypostatic union of Christ. In essence it means something like this:
• The word hypostatic is derived for the Greek word for substance or nature - the essential character or nature of something, as distinguishable from its outward appearance or manifestation.
• Our Lord Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. The Council of Chalcedon formulated the unity of his person and separateness of his two natures as follows: the two natures are without confusion, without change, without division, without seperation. The two natures of Christ must therefore not be seen as such an intimate mixture or combination so that a third God-man nature is formed (they are without confusion and without change). But they are also not to be understood as a loose cohabitation of two natures which brings into question the unity of Christ's person (they are without division and without seperation).
• During the Reformation the same truth was formulated somewhat differently. And about a century later the Westminster Confession (1647) describes it with the following words: "two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man" (Art VIII.2).
The divine is therefore not humanised or the human deified - there has been no conversion. Moreover, the divine and the human elements do not blend to form a third nature, as it were - there has been no composition. Finally, the divine and human natures do not simply alternate so that only one of them is up front at any one time - there is no confusion.
❏ Truly, the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ is a deep and unfathomable mystery, which we shall never fully understand. But we must believe it, because that is what God has revealed to us in his Word.
There are other such incomprehensible truths in the Bible. Take, for instance, the holy Trinity: One God, three Persons. What could be more unfathomable? We also find it difficult to reconcile the concept of God's total sovereignty with man's responsibility.
Yet we must, as far as we can, think clearly about these matters, because lopsided thinking always gives birth to heresies, which dishonour God and have disastrous pastoral effects.
In a nutshell: Jesus Christ is both truly God and truly man - one Person, with two natures, that have not been changed or mixed or do not alternate.
A FEW POINTS OF APPLICATION
1. The Son's incarnation explains all the other miracles in the New Testament.
Sceptics find it impossible to believe many things in the Bible: the miracles, the resurrection of Jesus, the ascension, and many more. But if Jesus of Nazareth is, in fact, the second Person of the divine Trinity who became man, all these objections against the supernatural in his life fall away. Can anything, after all, be too wondrous for the living God!
The incarnation is truly an unfathomable mystery - but it gives sense to all the other miracles in the New Testament.
2. Jesus' incarnation is a prerequisite for the fullness of our salvation.
This is worked out in some detail in the second chapter of Hebrews.
• Hb 2:5-8: Two things are true:
Firstly, at creation, the authority to rule over this earth was given to man.
Secondly, for now we do not see anything of this rule at all.
• Hb 2:9-10: This does not mean that God's promise was not fulfilled. It was! Man does, in fact, rule over everything. How is this?
While it is true that we have not as yet been crowned with glory and honour, we do have a Head who has perfectly met all God's demands. He already has authority over everything in heaven and on earth. He is our representative, and in Him vests the guarantee of our eventual glory and rule.
Our sin has disqualified us from being crowned with glory and honour. Before this can therefore happen, we will first need to be reinstated as holy before God. But how? We ourselves would never, in all eternity, have been able to pay the debt. In our own strength we would never have been able to extract ourselves from the swamp of sinfulness. What therefore was required was a substitute.
The only acceptable substitute for man was another man, but one without sin - in other words a man who was not already under the penalty of death for his own sins. Alas, no one out of the seed of Adam qualifies for this. All have sinned. In any case no man is capable of dying for the sins of millions.
That is why God the Son had to become man! As a sinless man He could be our substitute; as fully God He was able to endure the punishment due to millions.
• Hb 2:11-15: The new humanity in Christ is one huge family of brothers and sisters - those truly united to Christ by true faith. And this universal family - from all nations, and all centuries – has Him as their eldest brother.
• Hb 2:16-18: We need to understand this very clearly: in order for the Son to qualify to stand before God on our behalf, then and now, He had to become one of us.
3. Is the ongoing and eternal humanity of Christ indelibly engraved in your mind?
Do you fully take into account the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ in your relationship with Him? We can so easily over-react to the heretical theology of our day - which teaches that Christ was no more than a wonderful man - and forget that He was indeed also fully man and will be so for all eternity.
Many Christians think that the Lord Jesus left his humanity here on earth when He went back to heaven. This is not so. There is a glorified, understanding, and sympathetic Man in the throne-room of heaven who lovingly looks after the interests of His flock here on earth (1Tm 2:5).
4. You are also perfect and glorified man – for all eternity!
If you are truly united with Christ by true faith, the Word of God teaches that you are to share his glorified state one day. Look at Him - after his resurrection - and know what you are to be like for all eternity!
Do you realise that you are, and will forever be, fully human, like Him? We will rule here on earth with Christ for all eternity as humans, albeit in a glorified state. And the recreated earth will still be fully earth, not so much different from what it is now.
The idea that we will be simply harp-playing angels in the hereafter is not only unscriptural, but an insult to God. No, we will be fully human, but much more than now. We will be exactly what Adam would have become, had he remained true to his calling. God will not compromise one iota on his original plan for man. We who are indeed in Christ will live and rule on this glorified earth as people - let there be no doubt about this. But unlike Adam, we will no longer be able to sin. The test that the first Adam failed so miserably, has been passed triumphantly by the last Adam, our Head - the Head of the new humanity.
Nico van der Walt
EE106 - JOHN 1:14 : GOD'S SUPREME REVELATION [2] - The Word became flesh [1]
In his first letter John makes this momentous statement: "This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God..." (1Jn 4:2-3).
This underlines the seriousness of any error with regard to the doctrine about Christ. John continues: "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him" (2Jn 9-10).
On this point the Bible is quite clear: If Satan has one goal as far as the church is concerned, it is to mislead it so that it embraces the lie. Without truth we can not be true Christians or the true church. And the apostle quite clearly states that the teaching of Christ lies at the heart of true doctrine.
❏ During the first two centuries the battle between the truth and the lie was of a general nature. But during the third and fourth centuries the conflict became more specific. It focussed on the trinity of God. Eventually clarity was reached at the Councils of Nicea (325) and Constantinople (381). These Synods accurately formulated the orthodox doctrine of the trinity, while at the same time exposing the heretical teachings about it.
The next conflict was about the person of Jesus Christ. We need not go into the many errors and heresies in this regard. Suffice to say that the church and all its most godly thinkers devoted considerable attention to the formulation of a clear and balanced Scripture-based formulation.
❏ Finally, the orthodox and historical teaching about the person of Jesus Christ was formulated in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon ("630 holy and blessed fathers"). It is reflected in the great articles of faith of the 16th century Reformation, as can be seen from the following extracts from the Belgic Confession, paragraphs 18 & 19:
He ... became like unto man, really assuming the true human nature with all its infirmities, sin exepted ... did not only assume human nature as to the body, but also a true human soul, that He might be a real man ...
... two natures united in one single person; yet each nature retains its own distinct properties ... these two natures are so closely united in one person that they were not separated, even by His death ... Wherefore we confess that He is very God and very man: very God by His power to conquer death; and very man that He might die for us according to the infirmity of His flesh.
A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR TEXT
❏ Our text from John 1:14 is made up of only two words in the Greek, both of which convey astounding truths, but can lead to some serious misunderstandings unless we look at them continually against the backdrop of the rest of New Testament witness.
❏ The expression "the Word became flesh" is unique in the Bible. There are other statements which convey more or less the same idea, but we have here a conciseness and balance which makes it the classic pronouncement that it is.
Here are a few similar New Testament statements: Rom 1:3: "(Jesus) who as to his human nature was a descendant of David..."; Gal 4:4: "God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law"; Phil 2:7: "(Jesus took) the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness..."; 1Tim 3:16: "He appeared in a body..."; Hb 2:14 says that He became "flesh and blood" and 1Jn 4:2 that "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh".
❏ We should note that John does not say merely that the Word became a human being, or that He adopted a human body. The apostle uses a Greek word which is almost too shocking to use in respect of the eternal Word: he says that the Word became, as it were, "meat", and so emphasises the frailness, dependence and mortality of man. Of course it includes all of man, body as well as soul. The Creator of heaven and earth entered the physical, mundane life of mortals, in fact, became one of us!
❏ He "became" flesh. This is an ordinary verb, pointing to a specific moment in the past. However, we need to consider this carefully to avoid any misunderstanding of its true meaning.
• One could deduce from this that the Word did not exist previously. However, John avoided this misinterpretation by stating in verse 1 that He was "from the beginning".
• It could also be interpreted as meaning that the Word ceased to be what He had been previously - in other words that the Son changed his godly identity for that of a human being, that He surrendered his godly attributes and sovereign prerogatives either permanently or temporarily.
There is not the faintest suggestion that v.1 was replaced by v.14. In fact, John continues, "We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (14b). And in v. 18 he calls Him "God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side".
Furthermore the Bible repeatedly assures us that He still is, and will remain for all eternity and in every respect, truly God.
❏ No, the only way of interpreting this prologue to the book of John is to see it in terms of adding and combining. The Son surrendered none of his deity, but rather added to it a human nature. He still is what He has been since all eternity. He did, however, acquire what He had never had before - but this He will never lose. Atanasius expressed it as follows 1500 years ago: "He became what He had never been before and will continue to be what He has always been".
This is a truth on which there can be no compromise: Jesus is both fully God and fully man, without affecting either of his two natures. He is God-man, not a godly man nor a humanly God.
WHAT DOES IT SAY TO US?
❏ Much of the agonising attempts to understand the person of Christ accurately may sound like hairsplitting to some. And certainly one can place too much emphasis on orthodoxy, and in the process become scholastic, which in turn leads to a preoccupation with things which have not been revealed to us. It is equally true, however, that a clear understanding and meticulous formulation of the basic truths about the person of Christ are essential if we are to avoid crossing the subtle boundaries between orthodoxy and heresy. Many individuals and churches have perished because of their failure to do so.
❏ Let us therefore get our thinking straight about our Lord Jesus Christ.
To many naive and sentimental churchgoers He is still the little baby in the manger, but then we could quite justifiably question the worth of such a Christ to you and me.
For many millions of church people he is still on the cross - thus remaining a pathetic, helpless Christ who cannot help Himself, let alone save you and me in this life and for all eternity. Is it surprising that these people eventually turned to Mary and made her their mediator?
❏ The Son had to become man in order to become a perfect substitute for us. Man has sinned and therefore a man must lead us out of the dark maze of sinfulness. There is at this moment a glorified human being in heaven, who looks after our interests.
• As our great Prophet He, as fully God, but also as fully man, continues to lead us in the paths of truth. The teaching he gave, and the example He set, was that of a man. It is, in other words, not unreal and totally unattainable. For instance, what is there in his sermon on the mount that you and I cannot carry out in life? A child can understand it, a child can do it. Read it again and note the simplicity of His teaching.
• As our great High Priest He sacrificed Himself on the cross for us, both as fully God and as fully man. Only God could carry the burden of the sin of millions. But man sinned, and therefore a man had to pay the penalty.
Also think, for instance, of his intercession with the Father. It is not that of an outsider putting in a casual good word for us with God. No, it is the Head of the new humanity pleading for His people - those who have become part of Him through faith. There is an inseparable unity and solidarity between Him and us. So great is his love for us, so unthinkable to Him is a future without us, that He prays as if it is He himself who is held helpless in the vice-grip of sin.
• As our mighty King, but also as perfect man, He will bring our salvation to its final conclusion. Man it is who has sinned and man must wrest himself from the consequences. There is a Man who managed to do this on our behalf, One who is now engaged in the cleaning up operations. There is a Man who will bring our salvation to its perfect conclusion.
Truly, in Christ man will reach all that he was created for in the beginning. God's plans and purposes are never thwarted! In fact, because of the fall His glory will shine forth so much more brilliantly than without it. Why? Because now we experientially understand God's grace. If it had not been for the fall, we would not have known it, because by definition God's grace is shown to people who not only do not deserve it, but who deserve the opposite - eternal damnation. Nico van der Walt
This underlines the seriousness of any error with regard to the doctrine about Christ. John continues: "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him" (2Jn 9-10).
On this point the Bible is quite clear: If Satan has one goal as far as the church is concerned, it is to mislead it so that it embraces the lie. Without truth we can not be true Christians or the true church. And the apostle quite clearly states that the teaching of Christ lies at the heart of true doctrine.
❏ During the first two centuries the battle between the truth and the lie was of a general nature. But during the third and fourth centuries the conflict became more specific. It focussed on the trinity of God. Eventually clarity was reached at the Councils of Nicea (325) and Constantinople (381). These Synods accurately formulated the orthodox doctrine of the trinity, while at the same time exposing the heretical teachings about it.
The next conflict was about the person of Jesus Christ. We need not go into the many errors and heresies in this regard. Suffice to say that the church and all its most godly thinkers devoted considerable attention to the formulation of a clear and balanced Scripture-based formulation.
❏ Finally, the orthodox and historical teaching about the person of Jesus Christ was formulated in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon ("630 holy and blessed fathers"). It is reflected in the great articles of faith of the 16th century Reformation, as can be seen from the following extracts from the Belgic Confession, paragraphs 18 & 19:
He ... became like unto man, really assuming the true human nature with all its infirmities, sin exepted ... did not only assume human nature as to the body, but also a true human soul, that He might be a real man ...
... two natures united in one single person; yet each nature retains its own distinct properties ... these two natures are so closely united in one person that they were not separated, even by His death ... Wherefore we confess that He is very God and very man: very God by His power to conquer death; and very man that He might die for us according to the infirmity of His flesh.
A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR TEXT
❏ Our text from John 1:14 is made up of only two words in the Greek, both of which convey astounding truths, but can lead to some serious misunderstandings unless we look at them continually against the backdrop of the rest of New Testament witness.
❏ The expression "the Word became flesh" is unique in the Bible. There are other statements which convey more or less the same idea, but we have here a conciseness and balance which makes it the classic pronouncement that it is.
Here are a few similar New Testament statements: Rom 1:3: "(Jesus) who as to his human nature was a descendant of David..."; Gal 4:4: "God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law"; Phil 2:7: "(Jesus took) the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness..."; 1Tim 3:16: "He appeared in a body..."; Hb 2:14 says that He became "flesh and blood" and 1Jn 4:2 that "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh".
❏ We should note that John does not say merely that the Word became a human being, or that He adopted a human body. The apostle uses a Greek word which is almost too shocking to use in respect of the eternal Word: he says that the Word became, as it were, "meat", and so emphasises the frailness, dependence and mortality of man. Of course it includes all of man, body as well as soul. The Creator of heaven and earth entered the physical, mundane life of mortals, in fact, became one of us!
❏ He "became" flesh. This is an ordinary verb, pointing to a specific moment in the past. However, we need to consider this carefully to avoid any misunderstanding of its true meaning.
• One could deduce from this that the Word did not exist previously. However, John avoided this misinterpretation by stating in verse 1 that He was "from the beginning".
• It could also be interpreted as meaning that the Word ceased to be what He had been previously - in other words that the Son changed his godly identity for that of a human being, that He surrendered his godly attributes and sovereign prerogatives either permanently or temporarily.
There is not the faintest suggestion that v.1 was replaced by v.14. In fact, John continues, "We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (14b). And in v. 18 he calls Him "God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side".
Furthermore the Bible repeatedly assures us that He still is, and will remain for all eternity and in every respect, truly God.
❏ No, the only way of interpreting this prologue to the book of John is to see it in terms of adding and combining. The Son surrendered none of his deity, but rather added to it a human nature. He still is what He has been since all eternity. He did, however, acquire what He had never had before - but this He will never lose. Atanasius expressed it as follows 1500 years ago: "He became what He had never been before and will continue to be what He has always been".
This is a truth on which there can be no compromise: Jesus is both fully God and fully man, without affecting either of his two natures. He is God-man, not a godly man nor a humanly God.
WHAT DOES IT SAY TO US?
❏ Much of the agonising attempts to understand the person of Christ accurately may sound like hairsplitting to some. And certainly one can place too much emphasis on orthodoxy, and in the process become scholastic, which in turn leads to a preoccupation with things which have not been revealed to us. It is equally true, however, that a clear understanding and meticulous formulation of the basic truths about the person of Christ are essential if we are to avoid crossing the subtle boundaries between orthodoxy and heresy. Many individuals and churches have perished because of their failure to do so.
❏ Let us therefore get our thinking straight about our Lord Jesus Christ.
To many naive and sentimental churchgoers He is still the little baby in the manger, but then we could quite justifiably question the worth of such a Christ to you and me.
For many millions of church people he is still on the cross - thus remaining a pathetic, helpless Christ who cannot help Himself, let alone save you and me in this life and for all eternity. Is it surprising that these people eventually turned to Mary and made her their mediator?
❏ The Son had to become man in order to become a perfect substitute for us. Man has sinned and therefore a man must lead us out of the dark maze of sinfulness. There is at this moment a glorified human being in heaven, who looks after our interests.
• As our great Prophet He, as fully God, but also as fully man, continues to lead us in the paths of truth. The teaching he gave, and the example He set, was that of a man. It is, in other words, not unreal and totally unattainable. For instance, what is there in his sermon on the mount that you and I cannot carry out in life? A child can understand it, a child can do it. Read it again and note the simplicity of His teaching.
• As our great High Priest He sacrificed Himself on the cross for us, both as fully God and as fully man. Only God could carry the burden of the sin of millions. But man sinned, and therefore a man had to pay the penalty.
Also think, for instance, of his intercession with the Father. It is not that of an outsider putting in a casual good word for us with God. No, it is the Head of the new humanity pleading for His people - those who have become part of Him through faith. There is an inseparable unity and solidarity between Him and us. So great is his love for us, so unthinkable to Him is a future without us, that He prays as if it is He himself who is held helpless in the vice-grip of sin.
• As our mighty King, but also as perfect man, He will bring our salvation to its final conclusion. Man it is who has sinned and man must wrest himself from the consequences. There is a Man who managed to do this on our behalf, One who is now engaged in the cleaning up operations. There is a Man who will bring our salvation to its perfect conclusion.
Truly, in Christ man will reach all that he was created for in the beginning. God's plans and purposes are never thwarted! In fact, because of the fall His glory will shine forth so much more brilliantly than without it. Why? Because now we experientially understand God's grace. If it had not been for the fall, we would not have known it, because by definition God's grace is shown to people who not only do not deserve it, but who deserve the opposite - eternal damnation. Nico van der Walt
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