We are still looking at the second petition of this prayer in Eph 3. Last time we considered the two concepts to grasp and to know. We saw that the former verb had to do primarily with mental insight into a truth, and the latter more with experiencing it.
We now take a look in v.18 at what it is that Paul wishes the Ephesians - and therefore also us - to understand more fully. His prayer is that they should keep on growing in their understanding of the wonders of Christ's love for them.
THE DIMENSIONS OF CHRIST'S LOVE
It is the apostle's prayer that the Ephesians may grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is. They need to grow in their knowledge of the multi-dimensional character of this love. Of course, the apostle realises that nobody can fully grasp it (the next verse does indeed say that it surpasses knowledge). But this should not prevent us from pleading with the Lord for more and more insight, and a deeper experience.
The width of Christ's love
We are concerned here with the extent of Christ's love, something to which the New Testament attaches great importance. It is certainly a non-negotiable principle. Think of Jesus' great command that disciples should be made "of all nations". Think of Col 3:11: "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all". Moreover the book of Revelation rejoices in the fact that God's people in the hereafter will be made up of people "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 14:6; 21:24-26).
Let us never forget, Christ is the universal Redeemer and King. He has loved ones worldwide! That is why one and all can identify with Him: miserable lepers in India; American billionaires in Los Angeles; illiterate pigmies in Central Africa; Nobel prize-winners at Harvard and Princeton; doll-playing girls in Chili; old men in wheelchairs in Japan; merino farmers of Carnarvon; slender members of London's Royal Ballet.
• Because the Lord's love is so wide, the gospel is to be preached to all nations before the advent of Christ. Surely, we must harness the technological explosion to spread the gospel and to build up the church. If the sovereign God could use Nebuchadnezzar 2500 years ago for the furthering of his plan, why not Bill Gates in these times?
• The width of Christ's love makes special demands of his church. In view of the great diversity within the worldwide church it is of the utmost importance that we recognise, understand and hold on to the absolutes - the foundation stones - of our faith. This was never truer than in today's global village. Otherwise we stand in danger of falling into one of two traps: Either to create our own unholy exclusivism which elevates aspects of secondary importance to acid tests for purity of faith. Or we get lost in a religious world of immeasurable diversity and soon become so myopic that we embrace all manner of heresies propagated by the false church.
The length of Christ's love
Probably Paul is referring here to the eternal and timeless love of Christ.
Do we sufficiently appreciate the fact that the love of the Lord Jesus on the cross was the basis for the salvation of every single person who has been saved since the fall? Old Testament believers were justified by a faith which looked forward to the promised Lamb of God; we are saved by a faith which looks back to Him. Do we appreciate that his love did not dry up after Calvary, but that we are even now being kept by Christ's High Priestly intercession? And have we embraced the fact that there will never come a time in all eternity that we will be able to cope without it?
Is Rm 8:35-39 written on your heart? "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship ... danger or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life ... nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Things may be going well for you now, but the time may come very soon when you will need to cling desperately to these words about the love of Christ - if only on your deathbed. Paul also knows it, hence this prayer.
• If you are one of those whom the Father entrusted to the Son (Jn 6:37, 39; 10:29; 17:2, 6, 9, 24), do you know when it is that our Lord Jesus Christ started loving you? From before the creation of the earth! When the three Persons of the Trinity entered into the covenant of salvation in order to glorify themselves through the salvation of sinners, our names were entered in the book of life, the book of the Lamb (Rev 13:8; 17:8). Jeremiah was told, "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jer 31:3).
You need to understand this very clearly: God did not start loving you only when you said "Yes" to Him. No, you bent your knees and your neck to Him because He first loved you (1Jn 4:19).
Many of us can testify of the radical effects this truth has upon a person's life once something of its full implications dawns upon him or her. Paul also knows it, hence this prayer.
The depth of Christ's love
Some interpret this as meaning that no sinner can sink so low that Christ's love is incapable of saving him or her. This is true of course, but I think Paul is thinking here more of the price that Christ had to pay for our redemption.
According to Phil 2:5-11 the depth of Christ's love for us came to expression in two ways. Firstly He did not consider equality with God something to be held on to, but for our sakes made Himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant (6-7). Secondly, he humbled Himself to suffer scorn and torture for the sake of our salvation (8).
• How can we ever begin to understand the full extent of the Son's sacrifice when He became man? The One who had been above time since all eternity, the One who created time, became subject to all of time's limitations. The Unchangeable became changeable. The Creator and Sustainer of all became dependent. The Omnipotent became weak. The Immortal came to die. The Heir and Lord of the universe became a servant!
When John writes that the Word became "flesh" (Jn 1:14), he is not merely saying that the Word became a human being or that He took on the body of a human being. The Greek word he uses is almost too shocking, too crude to be applied to the eternal Son of God. It literally means that He became meat, indicating humanness in its weakness, its dependence and its mortality. The Creator of heaven and earth entered the physical, mundane world of ordinary mortals, in fact, became one of them!
In Rm 8:3 Paul makes a shocking statement which takes him to the brink of blasphemy. He says that God sent his Son "in the likeness of sinful man". The apostle could definitely have put it more mildly, but he wants to drive a point home. He wants to emphasise the fact that Jesus Christ became a human being in the fullest sense of the word. His identification and solidarity with us was absolute. He became as close to sinful man as possible - without becoming a sinner himself. Like the writer of the Hebrew letter says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin" (Hb 4:15).
What Paul prays for here is for the Ephesians to understand more and more of Christ's love - so that it would change them in their innermost being.
• What shall we say about Christ's suffering? The humiliation of becoming human and being human! Gethsemane! The cross!
As penal substitute He took upon Himself the sins of millions. He became sin for them (2Cor 5:21). He bore God's wrath against every sin of each of his loved ones for whom He assumed responsibility before creation. How little do we understand his exclamation of utter loneliness, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34).
Enough said. But let us often and prayerfully contemplate this. The Holy Spirit will certainly enlighten us. This is what Paul is praying for.
The height of Christ's love
Here Paul is probably thinking of the wonders of our inheritance in Christ - the heights to which His salvation takes us. We see that in both our present privileges and our eternal glory.
• In 1Sam 2:8 we read, "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honour ... " Is this not how millions experience it? Nothing lifts us like the truth of the gospel, biblical disciplines and the rule of Christ. Even the plainest of Christians who are solidly anchored in the love of Christ can comfortably associate with the nobility.
This is because Rom 8:16-17 has become a reality in our lives. Literally the Greek language says that the Spirit testifies in us that we are co-heirs with Christ, because we are co-sufferers with Him, with the result that we will be co-glorified with Him.
Concerning our current inheritance in Christ we could say much - but space does not permit.
With regard to our eternal salvation a single quotation will suffice: "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever" (Rev 22:3-5).
CONCLUSION
Most of us, when we pray, tend to plead that our love for Christ may grow. And of course there is nothing wrong with that - on the contrary! But Paul has insight which many of us lack. He knows something that you and I should learn in the here and now, something of immensely practical value: my love for Christ grows to the extent that I delight in his love for me!
When you see a person who denies him or herself and follows Christ with uncompromising love and dedication, you see someone who knows more than the average of Christ's love for sinners.
Nico van der Walt
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
EE16 - EPH 3:14-21 : AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER [8]
WE STARTED LAST TIME with the second petition and established that the phrase being rooted and established in love is actually just a bridge between the two petitions, although it can correctly be regarded as part of the second. We now continue with the second petition.
Paul's prayer is that the Ephesians - if the loving indwelling of Christ has wrought a rootedness and soundness in their lives and they show the concomitant signs of fruit bearing and steadfastness - will be able to grasp and to know. We will look at a later stage at what it is that he wants them to understand and to know. Today we consider the two concepts "grasp" and "know".
TO GRASP
❏ The word that Paul uses here (the Greek word katalambano) and the form that he employs (Aorist Medium Infinitive) means to lay hold of something in order to make it your own and to claim it for yourself.
Let us look at three other places where it is used, in order to get a clearer understanding.
1 Cor 9:24(b):" Run in such a way as to get the prize". The literal meaning of the sentence is that we should run the Christian race in such a manner that we might grasp the reward that Christ has for his children, lay hold of it and make it our own.
Mk 9:18: We read of a demon that seized a child.
Jn 8:3-4: The Pharisees and Scribes have caught a woman in adultery. Here the verb indicates to us that they not only saw her committing the crime, but laid hold of her and dragged her to Jesus.
❏ Accordingly the apostle prays in our text that the Ephesians will be able to lay hold of with their minds, get a grip on, and make their own, how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is
Acts 10:34 Peter says with reference to his vision of the sheet, “I now realise (Gr. katalambano) ... that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation..." Can you believe it! He must surely have heard this from Jesus Himself. In fact, he himself preached it on the day of Pentecost when he assured the crowd with great certainty that the promise of the Holy Spirit is not only for those Jews who are listening to him, but also to "all who are far off" (Acts 2:39). This expression was used to denote the Gentiles, from as far back as Isaiah (43:6-7; 49:1, 12; 57:19). Paul also specifically describes the Gentiles in this way (Eph 2:13, 17).
So what is really happening here in Acts 10? Peter realises for the first time that God's plan of salvation actually does include the Gentiles. In the past he would have said, "Yes, yes, of course..." But now the truth has hit him like a bolt of lightening and he will never forget it.
❏ In the light of the foregoing we can now understand what it is that Paul is praying for here: It is his heartfelt wish that the Ephesians may come to a full understanding of the extent and depth of Christ's love for them - in what He has done and still does and forever will do.
They must come to know Him as God's great Prophet - that He is the culmination and summation of God's self-revelation to mankind. They must understand that his teaching, his commands and his example are the perfect explanation of God's law.
They must come to know him as God's great Priest who has brought the Old Testament sacrifial system to perfect culmination when He sacrificed Himself as the Lamb of God. They must understand that He is the interpretation and fulfilment of the faith and religious practices of the previous centuries.
They must come to know Him as God's great King who subjects all his enemies and will rule forever as the Prince of Peace. They must understand that as sovereign ruler, He governs over the most minute details of their lives.
Their insight into these things must keep on growing in depth and in scope. These things must become the passion of their lives - permanently, and life-changing! They must be fascinated by these truths, and must have a passion to proclaim them.
❏ Do I hear an objection? You say that if we read further we will find that in the prayer Paul's concern is with knowledge of Jesus Christ's love and not all the other things mentioned above. Let us not be short-sighted. Does Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King do anything which is not an expression of his love? Or to put it differently, we can reduce everything that He is for us and does for us to one single expression: his love!
❏ This brings us to the inevitable question: Why is it so important to Paul that the Ephesians should understand so deeply and fully who and what Christ is? The answer is simple. It is because he himself has experienced the overpowering effect of that which he is praying for on their behalf. And every one of us who has experienced but a fraction of this knows that we are overpowered by a desire that many others should also see what we see.
Why? Have you ever stood at the Victoria Falls or watched a Karoo sunset? Do you remember how you longed every time to share the experience with a loved one? That is how it is with love. You want those whom you love to share your feelings. Paul is driven here by his love for the Ephesians.
But there is an even more important reason. His passion that Christ should be glorified burns day and night like a fire in Paul's breast. He finds it unbearable that people should profess to be Christians without appreciating the Lord Jesus for whom and what He is. No, with his whole being he desires that a pleasant fragrance of glorifying worship should rise heavenwards daily from more and more lives. Innumerable people to the ends of the earth must worship, trust, love, serve and proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
TO KNOW
❏ The word that the apostle uses here (Gr. ginosko) is loaded with meaning. Whereas the previous word implies mental insight, ginosko has to do with relationships and experience.
To the question, "Do you know Mr Mandela?", most of us would have to reply in the negative, although we probably all know quite a lot about him and may have read his voluminous biography. But unless we have a personal relationship with him, we have to answer "No!" But it is for such a personal relationship with Christ that Paul is praying here.
❏ How do I experience a relationship with Jesus Christ? My fellowship with Him (and the Father and the Holy Spirit, because the three Persons of the Trinity never operate separately from each other) comes to expression in at least two different ways:
Firstly I will recognise in faith his loving involvement in every aspect of my life, acknowledge it thankfully and praise Him for it. I will therefore look in faith at my life through the eyes of the Word and see his intimate involvement with me in every circumstance and detail of my life.
Secondly, I will devote myself to Christ in trusting faith and serve Him all my life with love and in thankful obedience. I will try, in all integrity, to apply in practice the full implications of his calling. What we are talking about here is a response to Christ's saving initiatives, his ongoing loving faithfulness and his sovereign rule over me that direct my entire life.
Luther said, " Religion and discipleship are a matter of personal pronouns". This is beautifully illustrated by the life of David, especially as exemplified in the psalms. We see for instance David writing in Ps 139 about God's divine characteristics, such as his omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. But he does not do so in abstract terms as might be expected, but as he personally experienced them. The name of the Lord is mentioned 6 times, while personal pronouns referring to Him occur approximately 30 times. And to himself David refers about 50 times. In David's deepest religious experiences there are really only two persons involved: the Lord and David himself. That is why he does not speak of "He", but of "You"; and not of "people", but of "I".
TO SUMMARISE
❏ Paul prays here for two types of knowledge:
He prays for a more rational and objective insight into the wonders of Christ's love. He prays for an understanding of the Scriptural revelation about the Son, for a grasp of the teaching about Christ.
He also prays for a subjective experience of this love leading to a radical and practical application of the implications thereof in the life of the individual.
Two words summarise it: understanding and experiencing!
❏ Can you see how closely related these two types of knowledge of Christ are with his love? The knowledge and the love are like Siamese twins.
On the one hand, without a proper understanding of the person and work of Christ, we lapse into a subjective, even mystical pre-occupation with experience. This results more often than not in blasphemous emotionalism and self-deceit. We start believing all sorts of things that are unscriptural and untrue. No, we need not fear emotion per se, but it should always be founded upon a true understanding of God's Word. That is why Paul prays for a proper understanding of Christ's love.
On the other hand, without a practical and emotional experiencing of our faith, we will soon lapse into a cold intellectualism, and a conceited hyper orthodoxy. That is why Paul prays for knowledge that is not just cerebral.
❏ In pursuing these two types of knowledge of Christ - understanding and experiencing - there are a few things we should always keep in mind:
One, our growth in this knowledge is only possible by the grace of God. That is why Paul prays for this growth and does not simply instruct the Ephesians to grow in it. And if we pray in earnest, we can confidently expect to receive it increasingly, because nothing pleases the Father more than his Son being glorified in the lives of his children.
Two, it is the Holy Spirit that brings this to fruition in our lives. Let us never fail to acknowledge Him.
Three, the Lord reveals Himself only to those of humble, childlike and deeply dependent faith (Mt 11:25-30). The proud know-all does not stand a chance, nor does the choosy.
Four, the knowledge of the Lord is not for casual and insincere seekers. It is something we must pursue in a purposeful and persistent manner. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Hos 6:3; Jer 29:13).
❏ In conclusion, here is a Biblical principle we should always keep in mind:
The Bible never accepts that a learner knows a truth unless it controls his life. And more than anything else, this applies to the knowledge of the Lord and his love.
Nico van der Walt
Paul's prayer is that the Ephesians - if the loving indwelling of Christ has wrought a rootedness and soundness in their lives and they show the concomitant signs of fruit bearing and steadfastness - will be able to grasp and to know. We will look at a later stage at what it is that he wants them to understand and to know. Today we consider the two concepts "grasp" and "know".
TO GRASP
❏ The word that Paul uses here (the Greek word katalambano) and the form that he employs (Aorist Medium Infinitive) means to lay hold of something in order to make it your own and to claim it for yourself.
Let us look at three other places where it is used, in order to get a clearer understanding.
1 Cor 9:24(b):" Run in such a way as to get the prize". The literal meaning of the sentence is that we should run the Christian race in such a manner that we might grasp the reward that Christ has for his children, lay hold of it and make it our own.
Mk 9:18: We read of a demon that seized a child.
Jn 8:3-4: The Pharisees and Scribes have caught a woman in adultery. Here the verb indicates to us that they not only saw her committing the crime, but laid hold of her and dragged her to Jesus.
❏ Accordingly the apostle prays in our text that the Ephesians will be able to lay hold of with their minds, get a grip on, and make their own, how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is
Acts 10:34 Peter says with reference to his vision of the sheet, “I now realise (Gr. katalambano) ... that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation..." Can you believe it! He must surely have heard this from Jesus Himself. In fact, he himself preached it on the day of Pentecost when he assured the crowd with great certainty that the promise of the Holy Spirit is not only for those Jews who are listening to him, but also to "all who are far off" (Acts 2:39). This expression was used to denote the Gentiles, from as far back as Isaiah (43:6-7; 49:1, 12; 57:19). Paul also specifically describes the Gentiles in this way (Eph 2:13, 17).
So what is really happening here in Acts 10? Peter realises for the first time that God's plan of salvation actually does include the Gentiles. In the past he would have said, "Yes, yes, of course..." But now the truth has hit him like a bolt of lightening and he will never forget it.
❏ In the light of the foregoing we can now understand what it is that Paul is praying for here: It is his heartfelt wish that the Ephesians may come to a full understanding of the extent and depth of Christ's love for them - in what He has done and still does and forever will do.
They must come to know Him as God's great Prophet - that He is the culmination and summation of God's self-revelation to mankind. They must understand that his teaching, his commands and his example are the perfect explanation of God's law.
They must come to know him as God's great Priest who has brought the Old Testament sacrifial system to perfect culmination when He sacrificed Himself as the Lamb of God. They must understand that He is the interpretation and fulfilment of the faith and religious practices of the previous centuries.
They must come to know Him as God's great King who subjects all his enemies and will rule forever as the Prince of Peace. They must understand that as sovereign ruler, He governs over the most minute details of their lives.
Their insight into these things must keep on growing in depth and in scope. These things must become the passion of their lives - permanently, and life-changing! They must be fascinated by these truths, and must have a passion to proclaim them.
❏ Do I hear an objection? You say that if we read further we will find that in the prayer Paul's concern is with knowledge of Jesus Christ's love and not all the other things mentioned above. Let us not be short-sighted. Does Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King do anything which is not an expression of his love? Or to put it differently, we can reduce everything that He is for us and does for us to one single expression: his love!
❏ This brings us to the inevitable question: Why is it so important to Paul that the Ephesians should understand so deeply and fully who and what Christ is? The answer is simple. It is because he himself has experienced the overpowering effect of that which he is praying for on their behalf. And every one of us who has experienced but a fraction of this knows that we are overpowered by a desire that many others should also see what we see.
Why? Have you ever stood at the Victoria Falls or watched a Karoo sunset? Do you remember how you longed every time to share the experience with a loved one? That is how it is with love. You want those whom you love to share your feelings. Paul is driven here by his love for the Ephesians.
But there is an even more important reason. His passion that Christ should be glorified burns day and night like a fire in Paul's breast. He finds it unbearable that people should profess to be Christians without appreciating the Lord Jesus for whom and what He is. No, with his whole being he desires that a pleasant fragrance of glorifying worship should rise heavenwards daily from more and more lives. Innumerable people to the ends of the earth must worship, trust, love, serve and proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
TO KNOW
❏ The word that the apostle uses here (Gr. ginosko) is loaded with meaning. Whereas the previous word implies mental insight, ginosko has to do with relationships and experience.
To the question, "Do you know Mr Mandela?", most of us would have to reply in the negative, although we probably all know quite a lot about him and may have read his voluminous biography. But unless we have a personal relationship with him, we have to answer "No!" But it is for such a personal relationship with Christ that Paul is praying here.
❏ How do I experience a relationship with Jesus Christ? My fellowship with Him (and the Father and the Holy Spirit, because the three Persons of the Trinity never operate separately from each other) comes to expression in at least two different ways:
Firstly I will recognise in faith his loving involvement in every aspect of my life, acknowledge it thankfully and praise Him for it. I will therefore look in faith at my life through the eyes of the Word and see his intimate involvement with me in every circumstance and detail of my life.
Secondly, I will devote myself to Christ in trusting faith and serve Him all my life with love and in thankful obedience. I will try, in all integrity, to apply in practice the full implications of his calling. What we are talking about here is a response to Christ's saving initiatives, his ongoing loving faithfulness and his sovereign rule over me that direct my entire life.
Luther said, " Religion and discipleship are a matter of personal pronouns". This is beautifully illustrated by the life of David, especially as exemplified in the psalms. We see for instance David writing in Ps 139 about God's divine characteristics, such as his omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. But he does not do so in abstract terms as might be expected, but as he personally experienced them. The name of the Lord is mentioned 6 times, while personal pronouns referring to Him occur approximately 30 times. And to himself David refers about 50 times. In David's deepest religious experiences there are really only two persons involved: the Lord and David himself. That is why he does not speak of "He", but of "You"; and not of "people", but of "I".
TO SUMMARISE
❏ Paul prays here for two types of knowledge:
He prays for a more rational and objective insight into the wonders of Christ's love. He prays for an understanding of the Scriptural revelation about the Son, for a grasp of the teaching about Christ.
He also prays for a subjective experience of this love leading to a radical and practical application of the implications thereof in the life of the individual.
Two words summarise it: understanding and experiencing!
❏ Can you see how closely related these two types of knowledge of Christ are with his love? The knowledge and the love are like Siamese twins.
On the one hand, without a proper understanding of the person and work of Christ, we lapse into a subjective, even mystical pre-occupation with experience. This results more often than not in blasphemous emotionalism and self-deceit. We start believing all sorts of things that are unscriptural and untrue. No, we need not fear emotion per se, but it should always be founded upon a true understanding of God's Word. That is why Paul prays for a proper understanding of Christ's love.
On the other hand, without a practical and emotional experiencing of our faith, we will soon lapse into a cold intellectualism, and a conceited hyper orthodoxy. That is why Paul prays for knowledge that is not just cerebral.
❏ In pursuing these two types of knowledge of Christ - understanding and experiencing - there are a few things we should always keep in mind:
One, our growth in this knowledge is only possible by the grace of God. That is why Paul prays for this growth and does not simply instruct the Ephesians to grow in it. And if we pray in earnest, we can confidently expect to receive it increasingly, because nothing pleases the Father more than his Son being glorified in the lives of his children.
Two, it is the Holy Spirit that brings this to fruition in our lives. Let us never fail to acknowledge Him.
Three, the Lord reveals Himself only to those of humble, childlike and deeply dependent faith (Mt 11:25-30). The proud know-all does not stand a chance, nor does the choosy.
Four, the knowledge of the Lord is not for casual and insincere seekers. It is something we must pursue in a purposeful and persistent manner. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Hos 6:3; Jer 29:13).
❏ In conclusion, here is a Biblical principle we should always keep in mind:
The Bible never accepts that a learner knows a truth unless it controls his life. And more than anything else, this applies to the knowledge of the Lord and his love.
Nico van der Walt
EE15 - EPH 3:14-21 : AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER [7]
Today we are looking at Ef 3:17b: the thought of being rooted and established in love.
A FEW TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS
❏ A comparison of the various translations reveals that this phrase is sometimes taken as part of the first petition and sometimes as part of the second (NIV, NASB). The Greek allows both interpretations, but I do regard the second as the better one. In other words: "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (NIV).
❏ In the Greek the words "rooted" and "established" are in the same form (perfect passive participle), which helps us understand the prayer.
• Firstly, being rooted and established is the result of the first petition being answered. The Ephesians will be rooted and established to the extent that they experience the strengthening in their inner being through the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ.
• Secondly, the fact that they are rooted and established "in love", confirms our understanding of the text in the previous discussion - that the indwelling of Christ in the first instance has to do with the love that Christians have for our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Thirdly, the fact that they are rooted and established in love will be the primary cause of the Ephesians having the power to "grasp" and to "know" (which we will look at later on).
• Fourthly, we need to note the progression in the prayer - the one petition leads to the next. Our text forms the bridge between the two petitions.
LOVE CAUSES ONE TO BE ANCHORED
Why does the apostle specifically use the two words "rooted" and "established"?
❏ The word "rooted" alludes to a tree that is anchored in the earth, drawing life-giving sap from the depths with which to bear fruit.
• In Gal 5:6 the apostle's words are most significant: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love". Even if the apostle refers here to love for one's neighbour, love for the Lord is undoubtedly in the first instance the driving force behind the Christian's good works. Christian love for one's neighbour, and love for the Lord, always go hand in hand.
In this context it has to do with the heresy of the Judaists who insisted on circumcision as a prerequisite for salvation. No, says Paul, ceremonies will never secure salvation. The only condition is faith - but, of course, it is a specific sort of faith. It is faith which results in good works (1Cor 13:1-3; James 2:14-26). And this immediately leads to the question: What constitutes good works? We find the answer in the letter to the Galatians: good works are that which arise out of love. In other words, works that are aimed at obeying, pleasing and glorifying our Lord, because of our love for Him.
• This is exactly what Paul has in mind in this prayer. If the hearts of the Ephesians are filled to overflowing with love for Jesus, the church will become like a tree that bears fruit in a thousand ways, over and over again, to the glory of God.
❏ The word "grounded" alludes to a building standing on a firm foundation. It therefore indicates stability, constancy and permanence.
The apostle knows that nothing whatsoever can be so lifechanging as a loving relationship with the Lord. It brings inner strength, security, stability and resolution.
• Hardly anything can bring such dishonour to the name of the Lord, do as much harm to his church, or mean as pathetically little to his kingdom, as church members who are fickle and unreliable. They come with a different story about God's guidance almost daily, they give in under the least challenge to their faith, and one can in no way depend on them.
There is an apt description of such a person in James 1:6-8: " ... he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does". What is this person's problem? He or she is a doubter or, says James, an unbeliever.
• Christ does not live in a faithless heart (v.17) - which leads to further instability in the life of the person concerned. He then finds himself in a negative spiral, which, if it lasts long enough, ends in a nosedive that leaves him in complete apostasy. No, what Paul is praying for here is exactly the opposite process: a positive upwards spiral, from glory to glory, strength to strength.
• The problem with such unstable people is that they usually build their faith on feelings, which is exactly the opposite of how it should be. Our faith should be grounded in the fundamental promises and principles of the Word. There will still be feelings and emotions, but now encapsulated in assurance and steadfastness.
CONCLUSION
To the extent that people experience the indwelling of Christ in their lives - to the extent therefore that a love for Jesus Christ burns in their hearts - to that extent will both the individual and the church bear fruit to the glory of God, and experience security, rootedness, stability and constancy in Christ.
Anyone with a minimum of insight into the ways of the Lord with his beloved church, will understand that this conclusion lies at the heart of what the true church is. In a certain sense all the other things are secondary. And yet so many churches are strangers to this sine qua non of being a true church. May the Lord preserve us from such ignorance!
A FEW PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
1. Even the most profound and spiritual revelations in Scripture, like this prayer, has practical and life-changing implications.
So-called theory and practice are never set in contrast in the Bible. The first part of the New Testament epistles (the so-called indicative part), which deals with God's great acts of redemption in Christ and the secrets of the new dispensation, is invariably followed by a more practical second part (the so-called imperative section). And the second part is always based on the first: because God is as He is described in the first part, and because He did what He did in Christ, therefore, and for that very reason, this is how Christians must live.
A one-sided emphasis on the indicatives in the Word, while ignoring the imperatives, leads to Pharasaism, hypocrisy and self-deception. And accentuation of the imperatives, independent of the indicatives, results in legalism and moralism.
Let us never shrink from the deep indicative truths in the New Testament. They were included, through the work of the Holy Spirit for the very purpose of broadening our knowledge of God and building up our faith. What is required in the first place is not intellect, but enlightenment by the Holy Spirit. Remember for whom the New Testament was written! Many of the converts at the time were illiterate and uneducated slaves.
2. Bearing fruit is not optional.
Therefore we may never be satisfied with anything less than a burning love for Christ in our hearts - hence the importance of this prayer.
In the first 8 verses of Jn 15 Jesus also talks of fruit bearing. There too He stresses the close relationship between an intimate loving relationship with Him, and bearing fruit to the glory of God.
But there is something else that we should not overlook. In these few verses in John he warns us twice about the danger of being rejected: One of the reasons being the absence of fruit bearing in a person's life (v.2), and the other the absence of true fellowship with Him (v. 6). These two causes are not chosen at random as reasons for rejection. They are intimately related. If one is absent, you may be sure that the other is also lacking.
To have Christ in one's heart is to have deep roots - which will inevitably lead to fruit-bearing, time and time again. Do not rest, therefore, if the flame of love for Christ burns low in your heart!
3. It may take a long time before one can start bearing fruit, but those with an unquenchable love for the Lord are able to wait year after year – in fact, they can hardly do anything else.
When Paul describes the attributes of love, he starts off with the statement that it is patient (1Cor 13:4). One tends to glance over this without really considering the full implications of it. But to say that love is patient, is to say that it does not become discouraged. It will persist, patiently, year after year.
It reminds one of Jacob who, after having worked for the hand of Lea for seven years, worked a further seven years to get Rachel, "but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her" (Gn 29:20).
Perhaps no missionary ever accomplished more than William Carey (1761-1834) in India. Although a man of many special talents, he ascribed the huge amount of fruit that he brought forth for the Kingdom to his ability to persevere. "I can plod", he used to say.
4. Few things beautify the gospel and glorify Christ more than Christians who are rooted and established in their love for God.
The fallen world has never been known for constancy and firmness of principle. And, of course, our post-modern world is now more relativistic, undependable and inconsistent than ever before.
It is not easy for a Christian to live in such a world, but it does afford us the opportunity to let our light shine all the stronger with our steadfastness, our inner strength, the firmness of our beliefs and our stable lifestyle. We do, after all, understand the world around us. We can face one and all squarely. We know what we believe and on whom we believe. We know why and for what we live. We know where we are going. We are anchored!
Christians in whose hearts Christ dwells are oak trees, not lightweights that can be pushed over easily. They are not washed about by just any wave of teaching.
And they (in fact, only they) make excellent martyrs when this is demanded of them for the sake of God's glory.
Nico van der Walt
A FEW TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS
❏ A comparison of the various translations reveals that this phrase is sometimes taken as part of the first petition and sometimes as part of the second (NIV, NASB). The Greek allows both interpretations, but I do regard the second as the better one. In other words: "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (NIV).
❏ In the Greek the words "rooted" and "established" are in the same form (perfect passive participle), which helps us understand the prayer.
• Firstly, being rooted and established is the result of the first petition being answered. The Ephesians will be rooted and established to the extent that they experience the strengthening in their inner being through the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ.
• Secondly, the fact that they are rooted and established "in love", confirms our understanding of the text in the previous discussion - that the indwelling of Christ in the first instance has to do with the love that Christians have for our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Thirdly, the fact that they are rooted and established in love will be the primary cause of the Ephesians having the power to "grasp" and to "know" (which we will look at later on).
• Fourthly, we need to note the progression in the prayer - the one petition leads to the next. Our text forms the bridge between the two petitions.
LOVE CAUSES ONE TO BE ANCHORED
Why does the apostle specifically use the two words "rooted" and "established"?
❏ The word "rooted" alludes to a tree that is anchored in the earth, drawing life-giving sap from the depths with which to bear fruit.
• In Gal 5:6 the apostle's words are most significant: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love". Even if the apostle refers here to love for one's neighbour, love for the Lord is undoubtedly in the first instance the driving force behind the Christian's good works. Christian love for one's neighbour, and love for the Lord, always go hand in hand.
In this context it has to do with the heresy of the Judaists who insisted on circumcision as a prerequisite for salvation. No, says Paul, ceremonies will never secure salvation. The only condition is faith - but, of course, it is a specific sort of faith. It is faith which results in good works (1Cor 13:1-3; James 2:14-26). And this immediately leads to the question: What constitutes good works? We find the answer in the letter to the Galatians: good works are that which arise out of love. In other words, works that are aimed at obeying, pleasing and glorifying our Lord, because of our love for Him.
• This is exactly what Paul has in mind in this prayer. If the hearts of the Ephesians are filled to overflowing with love for Jesus, the church will become like a tree that bears fruit in a thousand ways, over and over again, to the glory of God.
❏ The word "grounded" alludes to a building standing on a firm foundation. It therefore indicates stability, constancy and permanence.
The apostle knows that nothing whatsoever can be so lifechanging as a loving relationship with the Lord. It brings inner strength, security, stability and resolution.
• Hardly anything can bring such dishonour to the name of the Lord, do as much harm to his church, or mean as pathetically little to his kingdom, as church members who are fickle and unreliable. They come with a different story about God's guidance almost daily, they give in under the least challenge to their faith, and one can in no way depend on them.
There is an apt description of such a person in James 1:6-8: " ... he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does". What is this person's problem? He or she is a doubter or, says James, an unbeliever.
• Christ does not live in a faithless heart (v.17) - which leads to further instability in the life of the person concerned. He then finds himself in a negative spiral, which, if it lasts long enough, ends in a nosedive that leaves him in complete apostasy. No, what Paul is praying for here is exactly the opposite process: a positive upwards spiral, from glory to glory, strength to strength.
• The problem with such unstable people is that they usually build their faith on feelings, which is exactly the opposite of how it should be. Our faith should be grounded in the fundamental promises and principles of the Word. There will still be feelings and emotions, but now encapsulated in assurance and steadfastness.
CONCLUSION
To the extent that people experience the indwelling of Christ in their lives - to the extent therefore that a love for Jesus Christ burns in their hearts - to that extent will both the individual and the church bear fruit to the glory of God, and experience security, rootedness, stability and constancy in Christ.
Anyone with a minimum of insight into the ways of the Lord with his beloved church, will understand that this conclusion lies at the heart of what the true church is. In a certain sense all the other things are secondary. And yet so many churches are strangers to this sine qua non of being a true church. May the Lord preserve us from such ignorance!
A FEW PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
1. Even the most profound and spiritual revelations in Scripture, like this prayer, has practical and life-changing implications.
So-called theory and practice are never set in contrast in the Bible. The first part of the New Testament epistles (the so-called indicative part), which deals with God's great acts of redemption in Christ and the secrets of the new dispensation, is invariably followed by a more practical second part (the so-called imperative section). And the second part is always based on the first: because God is as He is described in the first part, and because He did what He did in Christ, therefore, and for that very reason, this is how Christians must live.
A one-sided emphasis on the indicatives in the Word, while ignoring the imperatives, leads to Pharasaism, hypocrisy and self-deception. And accentuation of the imperatives, independent of the indicatives, results in legalism and moralism.
Let us never shrink from the deep indicative truths in the New Testament. They were included, through the work of the Holy Spirit for the very purpose of broadening our knowledge of God and building up our faith. What is required in the first place is not intellect, but enlightenment by the Holy Spirit. Remember for whom the New Testament was written! Many of the converts at the time were illiterate and uneducated slaves.
2. Bearing fruit is not optional.
Therefore we may never be satisfied with anything less than a burning love for Christ in our hearts - hence the importance of this prayer.
In the first 8 verses of Jn 15 Jesus also talks of fruit bearing. There too He stresses the close relationship between an intimate loving relationship with Him, and bearing fruit to the glory of God.
But there is something else that we should not overlook. In these few verses in John he warns us twice about the danger of being rejected: One of the reasons being the absence of fruit bearing in a person's life (v.2), and the other the absence of true fellowship with Him (v. 6). These two causes are not chosen at random as reasons for rejection. They are intimately related. If one is absent, you may be sure that the other is also lacking.
To have Christ in one's heart is to have deep roots - which will inevitably lead to fruit-bearing, time and time again. Do not rest, therefore, if the flame of love for Christ burns low in your heart!
3. It may take a long time before one can start bearing fruit, but those with an unquenchable love for the Lord are able to wait year after year – in fact, they can hardly do anything else.
When Paul describes the attributes of love, he starts off with the statement that it is patient (1Cor 13:4). One tends to glance over this without really considering the full implications of it. But to say that love is patient, is to say that it does not become discouraged. It will persist, patiently, year after year.
It reminds one of Jacob who, after having worked for the hand of Lea for seven years, worked a further seven years to get Rachel, "but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her" (Gn 29:20).
Perhaps no missionary ever accomplished more than William Carey (1761-1834) in India. Although a man of many special talents, he ascribed the huge amount of fruit that he brought forth for the Kingdom to his ability to persevere. "I can plod", he used to say.
4. Few things beautify the gospel and glorify Christ more than Christians who are rooted and established in their love for God.
The fallen world has never been known for constancy and firmness of principle. And, of course, our post-modern world is now more relativistic, undependable and inconsistent than ever before.
It is not easy for a Christian to live in such a world, but it does afford us the opportunity to let our light shine all the stronger with our steadfastness, our inner strength, the firmness of our beliefs and our stable lifestyle. We do, after all, understand the world around us. We can face one and all squarely. We know what we believe and on whom we believe. We know why and for what we live. We know where we are going. We are anchored!
Christians in whose hearts Christ dwells are oak trees, not lightweights that can be pushed over easily. They are not washed about by just any wave of teaching.
And they (in fact, only they) make excellent martyrs when this is demanded of them for the sake of God's glory.
Nico van der Walt
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
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