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Nature of God
Part 2 HOW DOES ISRAEL FURTHER OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD?
Much of the Bible is about Israel and the Hebrew nation
or people. We should never disparage the contribution of these
singular and resourceful people. Paul gave full credit to the
part they played in the unfolding drama of man's search for God.
Basically our religion, Christianity, has its origin with
Abraham, the father of the FAITHFUL. We will forever be in debt
to men like Moses and the prophets of Israel. But this very
acknowledgement is fraught with danger and peril lest we ascribe
more virtue and blessing the people of Israel than to the God of
Israel. God is a jealous God. He insists that the ultimate glory
and praise be given to Him.
We should beware of the danger of just looking AT Israel.
Sure, there was Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the Red
Sea, David, the land of Palestine and many historic greats. But
in every instance there is a prefix, namely the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God wrought the miracle
of deliverance at the Red Sea. God supplied the water in the
wilderness, and the manna. God raised-up Joseph and advanced
Moses. God chose David and led him to victory.
When we look AT Israel we seek to plot their future as a
nation. We plummet into politics, wars and carnal victories. God
is not interested in dispensing real estate to anyone. In Luke
12:13 the question came up about an inheritance and Christ was
sought to settle the dispute. But He answered, "Man, who
made me a judge or a divider over you?" He went on to add,
"Beware of covetousness…" God is not interested in
politics. Christ did not advocate a change of the political
system, needful as it was. He did not attack the monetary system
or economics or trade. He did not even espouse the revolutionary
solution of injustices to minorities or rampant slavery. His one
consuming passion was to save men. Saved men would save the
world. He concentrated on character and obedience to God. Christ
did not look AT Israel and seek to restore it as a nation.
Christ looked THROUGH Israel as a means of fulfilling its
redemptive role in the plan of God.
When we look THROUGH Israel everything falls into place. It
was part of God's redemptive plan to save the world. Abraham
stands in the forefront to whom God revealed justification by
faith. Thus he rightly received the title, "The father of
the faithful." Moses rises tall with undimmed luster, his
flinty character chiseled into the granite of the ages heralding
the immortal truth that God is a Covenant God. Just as God has a
law that is obeyed by the universe, so He has a law for mankind.
God's moral law reveals God's love and points the way to life.
The miraculous deliverance from Egypt, and the institution of a
system of worship designed to picture the forthcoming promised
Deliverer, all prefigure the Redemptive plan through Israel.
Prophets hailed His coming from afar. Psalmists put the heart's
longing to music. When Jesus was born at Bethlehem, the world
had a new beginning as indicated on our calendars. Jesus is the
HOPE of the world. He is the watershed of time and of history.
If we only look AT Israel, we are frustrated with innumerable
inconsistencies and the limitations of history. But when we look
THROUGH Israel we discover the unfolding plan of universal
redemption, God at work in this world restoring man to his
rightful inheritance in the Kingdom of God.
HOW CHRIST REVEALS GOD
Perhaps no person ever lived who is the subject of so much
controversy as the Lord Jesus Christ. Every shred of evidence
has been subjected to minute scrutiny and every word uttered and
deed done by Christ has had many explanations. Some are hateful
of Him with a diabolical determination to exterminate His
memory. Others love Him and will labor unselfishly under
appalling conditions to make Him known; some will even lay down
their lives gladly rather than deny faith in Him. Many go to
Bethlehem with microscopes to see whether they can discover any
flaws in the Bible account of His miraculous birth. The
so-called Holy land, and Holy city are far from holy at the
present time judged by His standards of righteousness. People
who only look AT Christ, will usually find fodder for their
unbelief. It is when we look THROUGH Christ that God is
glorified.
In his request for a revelation of the Father by Philip,
Jesus replied, "He that has seen Me, hath seen the
Father." John 14:9b. When we look AT Christ we are puzzled
over many theological problems beyond our comprehension such as
how Christ could be totally human and at the same time
completely Divine; how He could be one with the Father, and at
what time from babyhood to manhood did He become aware of His
unique Son-ship. All these things dissolve immediately when we
gaze at His complete dominion over nature in stilling Galilee's
raging tempest; His subjection of sickness and death is
demonstrated by numerous healings, and the rising of Lazarus
from the tomb; sin no longer held sway over those who were
delivered from its clutches like Mary Magdalene; the devil was a
vanquished foe; the verdict of His enemies was, "Never man
spake like this man." John 7:46. His executioner trembling
said, "Truly this was a son of God," as he watched Him
die. Matt. 27:52b. His utterances differed from the philosophies
of men not only in degree, but in kind. Jesus did not come to
establish a new religion, but to give a new life to men. As we
gaze at God through Christ we find life, light and hope. Our
arguments seem so futile that like Thomas, we are impelled to
fall down and worship Him, exclaiming, "My Lord and my
God." When we look AT Christ we are like the sightseers in
the observatory. We are impressed with His example; we marvel at
His teachings and we are grateful for His cardinal virtues and
moral excellence. But the moment we look THROUGH Christ we see
God, something transcending human behavior, above beyond,
superior to anything human, and in harmony with everything
Devine. He magnifies God in such a manner that when we look at
God through Christ, we call Him Father.
DOES THE CHURCH REVEAL GOD?
This is put in the form of a question because, as everyone
knows, there are many flaws in the church from a practical
standpoint. Perhaps we can reverently ask the same question
often asked at weddings, "I wonder what He sees in
her?" Again we ask your indulgence by suggesting that the
bride of Christ leaves much to be desired if we only look AT the
church. We see the feeble attempts of many professed believers
to follow the example of Christ. We have to admit that much that
is displayed as religion is mere 'churchianity' rather than
Christianity. Powerful interests have USED the church to gain
selfish and sometimes political ends. Too often we have seen the
church cast in a role of persecuting so-called heretics.
Religious intolerance has spilled rivers of innocent blood.
Before we become too hasty in our condemnation let us define
what we mean by the "CHURCH." There is a difference
between mere religion and Christianity. There is also a
difference between so-called churches, or Denominations, and His
Church of which Jesus said, "I will build MY church."
Matt. 16:18. If we just look AT the church in general, we have
to admit there are many deplorable shortcomings. But has this
world provided anything better?
Now look THROUGH the church. You see the apostle Paul whose
missionary journeys have meant more than the march of Caesar's
legions. We see the giant Coliseum in Rome, now a tourist
attraction. Once, its sinister lion pits and senseless
gladiatorial combats were staged to amuse cruel spectators whose
applause reflected their glee to see innocent men die. For
centuries this arena once wet with the blood of martyrs has
stood silent as mute evidence of the victory of those "who
loved not their lives unto death." Christians were
acquainted with the stocks and the stake, with stinking dungeons
and the cruel lash; their property was expropriated. They were
tied to the wheel, and subjected to every barbarity and torture
the human mind could devise. Christianity has survived while
proud empires have crumbled, cruel despots have been vanquished
and pagan customs have ceased. Christianity has survived wars,
persecutions, inquisitions, and every foul venomous, detestable,
diabolical outrage to which it has periodically been subjected.
Kings and thrones have toppled but the Church lives on. The
church has been in the forefront of the abolition of slavery,
provision of hospitals, care of children and the aged, the
rights of the minorities and countless benefits we now enjoy.
The church has led the way in establishing missions around
the world. It is the one strong voice raised against tyranny.
Jesus Christ placed the supreme value on the man. Paganism in
all its forms, places the supreme value on the state. The life
and the rights of the individuals are cheap in a godless
society. When we look THROUGH the church, we see God at work in
His world. The church is described as the "body of
Christ." It is the people who do His work in this world.
Christ is the Divine Head and the redeemed ones are His members.
The labors of Paul, Augustine, Calvin, Luther, the Wesleys and
of Moody as well as a host of others have blessed this world,
and have inspired more people to aspire to lofty aims than any
other influence this world has ever had, and more than all the
secular contributing forces combined. It is the family of God,
the redeemed, the ones Christ is pleased to call His bride. We
were never meant to look AT the church to see God. We are to
look THROUGH it and then, God is magnified in our vision.
APPLICATION OF THE NATURE OF GOD
Thus far we have endeavored to submit evidence that God has
revealed Himself in numerous ways. His Names describe His
characteristics. His world provides windows through which to
learn about God. His works form a practical laboratory through
which His operations may be tested. But we are still in a
quandary when we try to sort out the many interpretations of
theology, doctrines, churches, religions, and often confusing
and contradictory claims about what constitutes acceptable
worship of this Supreme Being. What does it mean to be
"saved," to be "right with God," to live a
holy life, or live in the spirit? What does it mean to
"Rightly divide the word of Truth?"
Fundamentally we do not learn about God until we experience
Him. Christianity is not taught as much as it is caught. Our
doctrines do not change the nature of God. The best they can do,
if correct, is to define His nature. In the last analysis, every
doctrine must ultimately be in harmony with the nature of God to
be true. We are not saved by doctrine but by faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That is why many people who believe erroneous
doctrines mentally, at the same time exercise saving faith and
are genuinely accepted into God's family, because "With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness…" Rom. 10:10.
Getting right with God is an act of the will. The three thousand
people who were saved on the Day of Pentecost knew very little
of theology and doctrine, but they believed in Christ and were
saved, nevertheless. Notwithstanding this fact we are told in 1
Pet. 3:1, "…Be ready always to give an answer to every
man that asketh you a REASON of the hope that is in you…"
Faith is not blind nor ignorant. It is an experience so genuine
that the reason accepts it, defends it and justifies it and
seeks to propagate it through enlightened teachings. It is
possible to know a lot ABOUT God and still not KNOW God.
The quest for God is the quest of man throughout the ages.
Job sounds very modern when he voiced our longings, "Oh
that I knew where I might find Him! That I might come before His
seat! I would order my case before Him! I would fill my mouth
with arguments!" Job23: 3, 4. He continues further by
saying in answer to his own dilemma, "But He is one mind,
and who can turn Him? And what His soul desireth, that He
doeth." v. 13 idem. Job discovered that man's arguments do
not alter God's laws. David expressed our folly when he said,
"These things hast thou done and I kept silence; thou
thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself…"
Psa. 50:21. Isaiah went further when he said, "For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,
saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your
thoughts." Isa. 55:8, 9. Infinity again! Man would like to
reduce God to similarities with man, but the Bible emphasizes
the contrasts.
We are told to pray and make our requests known unto God.
Oftentimes this degenerates into a rote of asking God's
blessings on our family, friends, church, our crops or business
and a broad plea to be kept from accidents or misfortunes.
Missing in the average prayer is adoration, praise, worship and
thanksgiving. Worship is an Anglo-Saxon word originating from
"worth-ship, " or that which we attach worth to.
Worship expresses the precedence or priority God has in our
lives, the worth we attach to God. Man is not doing God a favor
by serving Him; he is simply doing what is right. Man is the
sole beneficiary for he can add nothing to the completeness
already enjoyed by God.
Man is a creature limited by time and space. God is Spirit
and has no such limitations. God has no calendars or mileage
charts. David said, "My life is SPENT with grief and my
years with sighings…" Psa. 31:10. The years of man are
SPENT years. In contrast he says of God, "For a thousand
years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as
a watch in the night…" Psa. 90:4. The timelessness of God
is defined in Hebrews 1:11, 12 as follows: They shall perish but
thou remainest; and they shall wax old as doth a garment, and as
a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed;
but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." It is
well to remember too that Paul declared, "Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday today and forever." Heb. 13:8. God is
changeless. Mal. 3:6. God is not limited by distance or
velocity. He is there just as thought is there. The nearest star
is some four light years from the earth, approximately
294,000,000,000 miles, but thought spans the space instantly.
God is not imprisoned by miles or time. His Name is: "God
is THERE." God is infinite, that is, "lacking limits
or bounds, beyond measure or comprehension, endless,
immeasurable; infinite as space or time; infinite Being.:
Webster.
God is neither the "Unknowable" of the agnostic nor
the "Denial" of the atheist. Paul says, "For the
invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even
His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse." Rom. 1:10. God designed nature to be a window
THROUGH which man could discover God, but man looked AT nature
and "Worshipped and served the creature more than the
Creator." Vs. 25. This result inevitably follows when the
unredeemed and reprobate mind unaided by the Spirit of God turns
the truth of God into a lie. The ensuing darkness leaves man
groping in abysmal ignorance and diabolical depravity and
spiritual despair. No wonder Christ is called THE LIGHT OF THE
WORLD. He is our HOPE.
The Bible is a book to reveal God to man. It is not, strictly
speaking, a book of theology. Our interpretation of theology
does not change God. We may embrace Calvinism, Catholicism,
Dispensationalism, Armenianism or even the Moslem or Jewish
faith, but our belief does not change God. Our ultimate goal is
to interpret the nature of God and our doctrines will have to
harmonize with His nature. Jesus said, "If any man will do
His will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of myself." John 7:17. Doctrinal truth and
the Sovereign will of God harmonize on the same wave length. God
is not confined to the logic or conviction with which we
interpret certain Bible tests, but by whether our interpretation
is in harmony with His eternal nature for God invariably
operates according to His own prescribed law. To explain, let us
take the attribute of omnipotence, God can do anything. Yes God
has power to do anything, but God CANNOT lie. Titus 1:2. Nor can
God be tempted. James 1:13. God cannot do anything that is
contrary to His nature. His operation is governed by,
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights with Whom is no
VARIABLENESS, NEITHER SHADOW OF TURNING." James 1: 17.
It would be well to meditate a long tome on this profound
expression of Divine certainty that James declared. We shall
make a simple application. Jesus said, "Have faith in
God." Mark 11:22. Let me ask, "How do you have faith
in God?" Is it by trying, by begging, by praying, by
endeavoring to force yourself to believe or by utter earnestness
and resignation? Jesus was not whipping our efforts to bring
faith down through God's attrition, but rather for us to commit
ourselves to trust in God's faithfulness. God is faithful, we
read in the Bible. The sun will set at a certain time tonight
and rise at a specified second tomorrow. At a predetermined
instant it will cross the equator or commence its long journey
to the tropic of Capricorn or Cancer. Once in awhile there will
be an eclipse of the sun or moon that astronomers will predict
in advance with flawless accuracy. Christ is saying, that the
God Who is so faithful in nature can be trusted with our
request. He is faithful --so "Have faith in God." God
is far easier to understand than man, for God operates according
to His "invariable" law, and man is fickle about his
decisions. Back of the law is the lawgiver Who upholds all
things by the word of His power. God is reliable. Heb.1:3.
All of God's laws are dependable and impersonal. The law of
gravity is an example. It displays no variance, and permits no
exceptions. It is fixed and reliable. Electricity also works
according to its nature and abides by its laws. Its voltage can
be a most useful servant or a lethal master. The elements of
this world are a gift from God, and each element conforms to the
nature inherent in it. Mixing one part of hydrogen and two parts
of oxygen results in the formation of water. It never fails.
Everything in Creation is subject to law. God, too, is subject
to His own law, which in the last analysis is an expression of
His nature.
The most perfect revelation of God is found in the Person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospels pay no heed to His physical
characteristics, how tall He was, what color His hair was, His
features or the sound of His voice. Such things are omitted. We
only guess at the day he was born while the first thirty years
of His biography can be summed up in a very brief paragraph. The
Bible concentrates on His character, and John especially
emphasizes His Deity. He came to declare that, "the time is
fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe
the gospel." Mark 1:15. "The Kingdom of God is within
you." Luke 17:21. Something new entered the world for the
first time -- redemption. Jesus revealed the heart of God toward
sinful man.
Jesus came to demonstrate how man, can live in harmony with
God's law. He did not come to introduce a new religion but a new
life. He was merciless with the religious customs, traditions
and hypocrisies of His day and with the legalism by which such
customs were enforced. He freely pardoned the woman taken in
adultery about to be stoned by her accusers, and the sinful
human derelict at the well. Jesus was not tolerant with sin, but
He was sympathetic to the sinner. Jesus was interested in
people, not customs. He tore the veneer off hypocrisy and the
tyranny off legalism in order for men to find God. He showed
anger in cleansing the temple because this sacred house of
prayer had been prostituted into a vast swindle market where
greedy exploiters of religion filled their coffers with gold and
left the earnest seekers devoid of any sense of God. This temple
cleansing is typical of His attitude toward sin in the human
heart, which must be purified to be a fit dwelling place for God
now. ! Cor. 6:19.
Jesus did not seek to accommodate God to the level of man's
weakness. Rather He changed men to enable them to conform to
God's requirements. The gospel is a proclamation of deliverance.
The issue does not depend on what we do in order to merit
salvation and forgiveness, but on what Christ has DONE on
Calvary to affect man's reconciliation with God. We are told to
believe on Him. Redemption is established because it is the
Nature of God to redeem. Atonement (at-one-ment) with God is
restored. Peace with God is declared. Believe the good news. It
is a proclamation of the King. The Kingdom of God has arrived.
The question was put to Christ on one occasion, "Why do
thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they
wash not their hands when they eat bread." Matt 15:2. Jesus
replied, "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God
by your traditions…. Thus ye have made the commandment of God
of none effect by your traditions…but in vain do they worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matt.
15:3, 6, 9.
This may be one of the most important statements ever made by
Christ in matters of worship. The issue under scrutiny is
whether the traditions of the elders (doctrines of men) or the
commandments of God constitute our expression of worship. The
point to observe is that our doctrines do not change God's
commandments, and unless they are in harmony with God's
commands, they can render His commands of non-effect. Thus we
have religion without Christianity, a form without the power, a
dead, empty sterile pretence expressing inner vacuity devoid of
reality. Thus some churches become the limbs of Christianity
rather than rivers of life giving grace. Such institutions offer
little more than a routine theological assembly line of
religious data to be accepted in a perfunctory manner. In
Christ's Church the ministry is a calling, not a mere profession
or position. The Bible emphasis is not on being members of a
denomination, but on being members of Christ's body. The stress
is not on giving our money but on giving ourselves, at least as
a priority. We give our money to the church to further its
influence in the community or in the world. We give ourselves to
God. "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven." Matt. 7:21. It is not what
we say that counts, but what we do and what we are. God sees and
judges the heart of man. Matt. 15:8.
It is pertinent to observe still one more law which God has
decreed. It is recorded in 1 Cor. 15:46, "Howbeit that was
not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and
afterward that which is spiritual." A few illustrations
will demonstrate the significance of this law of God. Paul calls
attention to the first example in saying, "The first man is
of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from
heaven." V. 47. The first Adam was the natural, and in him
all die. The second Adam is Christ the Giver of life, called
"a quickening (that is a life giving) spirit." 1 Cor.
15:45.
This pattern obtains all through the Bible. Adam's first son
was Cain who followed the way of the flesh. His descendants
built cities, invented music, fashioned instruments of war
through Tubal Cain, and became mighty in the earth. Seth was an
inconspicuous shepherd and his son likewise. But the flood
destroyed the Cainites of the natural seed, while it preserved
the descendants of Seth through Noah and his sons. Abraham had
two sons, Ishmael who was of the natural and Isaac who was the
promised son to, propagate the spiritual seed. Isaac had two
sons, Esau the first born who was of the natural, and Jacob who
became Israel, a prince with God. There was first the natural
Israel through which a long-suffering God worked out His eternal
plan of redemption. This was followed with the Israel of God,
the spiritual Israel described as the Kingdom of God in the New
Testament. Even man himself is born of natural birth. To become
a child of God requires a spiritual birth, being born again, so
beautifully explained in Nicodemus' encounter with Christ in the
third chapter of John.
There is never an example where this law is revised or
revoked or reversed. God will no more return to a natural Israel
to fulfill His purposes than He would turn to the natural Adam
to complete redemption. God is a God of progression not
retrogression. He abides by His own law that when the natural
has fulfilled its purpose, it is superseded by the spiritual.
All creation moves in this direction, and according to this law.
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