God does not lose any who would come have to him

While some of the specifics about our judgment day remain a mystery, there are some things we can be assured of. One of those things is that God will not lose any who would come to Jesus. God’s judgment is not arbitrary but instead is based on wisdom and certainty. And so we can be certain that there is no scenario where God knows given a certain circumstance, a person would have believed, but he condemns them anyway. Paul affirms this when he writes,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28–30, ESV)

God knows every scenario we might encounter and how we would respond

The scripture assures us that as we stand before God’s throne, we will be “naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13, ESV). This should bring us comfort, knowing that if there is a circumstance where we would believe, he knows it. The scripture is clear God prefers mercy to judgment and seeks to provide a way for us to come to him. He who knows all things is able to sustain anyone who would come to him given another circumstance other than the one they lived. Because of God’s love, we need not fear missing his grace due to a fleeting moment or dying right before we would have believed or even the circumstances of our life. We can have confidence that no one who would have come to God under different circumstances will be cast out. God knows the heart of all of us, understands all our circumstances, and will judge faithfully in righteousness and equity. No one will be able to bring charges against God and accuse him of being unloving or unfair. But because God takes all circumstances and scenarios into account when he judges, his judgment once rendered, is final. The door is shut.

Steadfast love and faithfulness go before the throne of judgment

The scripture tells us of God that “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you” (Psalm 89:14, ESV). God’s judgments are neither malicious nor arbitrary; they are rooted in righteousness and justice and on this strong foundation steadfast love and faithfulness go before him as he judges. Pause on this: in ALL God’s judgments even condemnation, steadfast love and faithfulness go before his verdict. This means that before any judgment is made, one must encounter and get through the flood of His steadfast love and faithfulness. On the day of judgment, those who are condemned will know that their condemnation was preceded by God’s steadfast and exhaustive pursuit. Their mouths will be shut knowing that their fate is all their own. They have rejected the love that has gone before them. The Gospel which comes first offered them reconciliation, but instead “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10b, NIV).

This is why their condemnation is so sure: They have been given every opportunity to leave the kingdom of darkness and come into the light, but because they love the darkness more than the light they have chosen darkness.

Who are those who are condemned

God does not condemn the innocent. But of course, none of us are innocent. So let us rephrase this. God does not condemn those who come to him in repentance and faith. I am not aware of anywhere in scripture that says this is only a temporal truth that stops. However, the scripture does warn that our hearts can become so hardened that we will choose to never repent regardless of how much God pursues us. Gehenna is described as a place of “gnashing of teeth”, a term symbolizing hostility and anger. And this hostility is directed at God. Those who reject Jesus do so because they love their deeds more than the desire to come to God. God opposes the kingdoms they have made (more here). Those who are condemned are described as those who chose to persist in their wickedness, despite being offered hope through repentance and faith in the work and worth of Jesus. Here are some scriptures that describe this:

and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:10, ESV)

In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” (Psalm 10:4, ESV)

If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the LORD. (Isaiah 26:10, ESV)

She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she does not draw near to her God. (Zephaniah 3:2, ESV)

But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 7:11-12, ESV)

But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. (Jeremiah 7:24, ESV)

O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent. (Jeremiah 5:3, ESV)

For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD; (Isaiah 30:9, ESV)

The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him, for all this. (Hosea 7:10, ESV)

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8, ESV)

And those who are in Gehenna remain there because they continue to love darkness and continue to refuse to turn to the light.

Daniel is told, “Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand” (Daniel 12:10, BSB)

Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” (Revelation 22:11, ESV)

No one who is condemned desires to repent and come to God. If you continue to reject God, the only source of love, beauty, and goodness, what do you have left? Many of us have suffered the agony of lost or unrequited love. How much more is the agony of those who have rejected the very source of love and are hostile to it. The weight of their own rejection of goodness, beauty, and love is unimaginable. It is hell.

In Jesus’s discussion with Nicodemus, he confirms these things, when he states, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18, ESV). But this in of itself does not tell us the full story, for we already know that belief in Jesus is what distinguishes those who are saved from those who are condemned. But who is preventing those who are condemned from believing? Is it life events, circumstances, or others? None of these external factors keep the condemned from God. Instead, as our hearts stand naked before God, it is our hearts that condemn us. Jesus goes on to say that it is our own stubbornness that keeps us from the love of God.

Jesus describes those who are found guilty before the throne of God, “And this is the verdict: Light has come into the world but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:19, NIV). Why are people condemned? It is because they love the darkness so much that they refuse to come to the light. There are no circumstances under which those who are in Gehenna would have or will turn to God. For them to do so would be to go against everything they love and treasure as good. They do not want God to be near because he is a threat to all they hold dear (more here).

Though they are at enmity with and reject God, those who are condemned will long for the goodness that those in the light have and so there will be “weeping” at this loss alongside their “gnashing of teeth” as there was with Esau. But this weeping is not accompanied by repentance or turning to God. Paul warns us, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Corinthians 7:10, NIV). They will long for the light, but not at the price of relinquishing the darkness they cherish so dearly. They are so ensnared and enslaved by their own desires that their love for the “drug” surpasses their desire to be healed.

And so the scriptures teach that it is those who both continue to walk in unrighteousness and refuse to come to God that are condemned. Those who repent and come to God are freely welcomed into the love of God. God does not keep those in Gehenna from repenting and coming to him, they are stuck there by the chains they have forged for themselves. We can have confidence that those in Gehenna would not have repented under any circumstances. Part of what makes Gehena so devastating is this: those who go there do not abandon their wickedness, but continually choose to separate themselves from God. They continue to choose to walk in wickedness continuing to incur further wrath. Gehena is not for the hypothetical person in Alex O’Conner’s imaginary scenario who if only given a few more moments would have believed, but died just before that. Gehena is for those who stubbornly and eternally continue in disbelief.

This is why the scripture urges us not to harden our hearts, for it is not death that will seal our condemnation, but rather a hardened and unrepentant heart. And this state can come long before we die, leaving us without hope both in this age and the age to come. This is why the scripture says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95:7-8, Hebrews 3:7-8,15; 4:7). The scripture warns that we should not assume that we will one day in the future change and have a repentant heart. Today is our opportunity. Again it is not death that finalizes our state, but a hard and unrepentant heart of unbelief. This can happen now at this moment, before death, so do not linger to come to God when you hear the call of the Gospel.

God exhausts his pursuit

Earlier, I mentioned that Alex O’Conner did not ask an appropriate question. The reason is that there will never be anyone in Gehenna who would have repented under other circumstances. However one might ask if the steadfast love and faithfulness that go before God’s throne is exhaustive. Has God done everything possible to bring this person to repentance? The scripture would support an affirmative answer. God’s readiness to forgive is an inherent part of God’s nature. When God’s glory came near to Moses, “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). God was declaring this is who he is. Peter writes, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Other verses support this as well.

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. (Isaiah 30:18, ESV)

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:7, ESV)

Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10, ESV)

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19, ESV)

the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (Jeremiah 31:3, ESV)

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalm 103:8, ESV)

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34, ESV)

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, (Proverbs 1:22-25, ESV)

God is eager to embrace the rebel

Not only is God slow to anger and patient, but he is also ready and eager to forgive the rebellious.

“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ezekiel 18:21-23, ESV)

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. (Joel 2:12-13, ESV)

“Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:10-11, ESV)

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:6-8,ESV)

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. (Isaiah 1:18, ESV)

To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him. (Daniel 9:9, ESV)

who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4, ESV)

They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them, (Nehemiah 9:17, ESV)

Our death does not change God’s character

It is foolish for us to think that something like our death would change the nature of God. Death does not separate us from God. Not even our sin and rebellion alone separate us from God. It is a hard, unrepentant heart who refuses to come to God under any circumstances that ultimately seals the fate of those in Gehenna.

Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. (2 Kings 17:13-14, ESV)

Yet the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against His people, until there was no remedy. (1 Chronicles 36:15-16,ESV)

O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent. (Jeremiah 5:3, ESV)

You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. (Jeremiah 25:4-7, ESV)

But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” (Romans 10:21, ESV)

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31, ESV)

What about Sodom?

In Matthew 11:24, Jesus states, “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day” (ESV). Does this mean that people who are in hell would have repented if they were given a different circumstance? No, this verse is not about the individual, but about a city and a temporal situation not about the age to come. Even though this Sodom would have responded to the works of Jesus, this does not mean that individual hearts would have changed or that it would be more than an outward change. In the Gospels many times scripture refers to those who believed outwardly in Jesus but did not have saving faith. We see this with Ahab who is described in these words, “(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.)” 1 Kings 21:25-26, ESV). But after Elijah spoke and warned Ahab of God’s wrath, “when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house” (1 Kings 21:27–29, ESV). Despite Ahab’s superficial repentance, God readily relented putting Ahab to death, demonstrating his eagerness to show grace even to one of the worst kings of Israel. Sadly, it does not appear that Ahab responded to this act of grace. Jesus words about Sodom shows the eagerness God has to show kindness despite our hardened hearts. God extends love even to his enemies who reject him. To this kind of heart Paul aptly writes, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:4-5, ESV).

But not everyone has the same knowledge of who God is

But you might say, “But not everyone has the same revelation”. And I would agree this is the case. However, this does not mean that God does not exhaustively pursue us or take all this into account as he judges us. Those with less knowledge will not be held to the same accountability of someone who has extensive knowledge of God. They will be judged based on their obedience to the knowledge of God they have been given. Paul states, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30, ESV). God knows our hearts and he will judge us by what we do know, not by what we do not know. But he has made himself known to us all, and so we are without excuse if we are not obedient to the revelation we do have. It is also clear that God is found by all who seek him with sincerity and that God is quick to bring us to himself. Paul in his address, “standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said:

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22–31, ESV)

Also consider this: God is loving even toward his enemies. He will not vindictively pile on judgment. For those who have already hardened their heart, more revelation would only bring more judgment. In the Gospels, there are occasions when it is clear that the hearts of those around Jesus were hard and he simply walks away, refusing to give himself to them. In some cases, this is the most loving thing for God to do. God in his wisdom knows how to give enough revelation so that those who are condemned are left without excuse, but then backing away when that revelation would only cause more condemnation. No one will stand before God and be judged by what they do not know. And no one who is condemned will accuse God of not pursuing them exhaustively. Their mouths will be shut and no accusation will be brought before God because they will acknowledge that his judgments are just and fair.

before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. (Psalm 98:9)

before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness. (Psalm 96:13, ESV)

then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.” (Isaiah 16:5, ESV)

God is patient and slow to anger, never quick to condemn. Those who face condemnation have first had to come through the flood of the unwavering steadfast love and faithfulness of God that go before his throne and precede his judgment. The only ones in Gehenna are those who have rejected God’s love.

A word of warning about bad questions

In the case above, Alex O’Conner posed a poorly framed question. Sadly, this is common among “atheist apologists”. It is easy to be skeptical and to phrase questions in a way that gives the appearance of wisdom on the surface, but upon closer examination only reveals our foolishness. I wrote more on this here. But my word of caution is this: If you find yourself asking these kinds of questions, take a moment to examine your heart. Persisting on asking foolish questions, even though there are good answers out there, suggests a deeper issue. Contrary to what some atheists will try to make you believe, there are good answers out there for these questions.

As Christians when dealing with these kinds of foolish questions, we must be aware we cannot know the hearts of those asking them. Those asking these questions may be sincere and we should to be patient with them. But we also should encourage them to examine their motives behind the questions as well, while addressing any genuine inquiries with gentleness and respect.

FURTHER SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 14:12-35 & 15

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:2–4, ESV)

In the previous article (here), we discussed the “sound”. The “sound” is not alone; it is accompanied by the “wind”. In the power of the “wind”, the “sound” of the Gospel has gone forth into all the world, and it has gone out to conquer the hearts of men. The “wind” or the “Spirit of the Lord” is the means by which the “breath” of the Word of God enters our being, breaking our hearts of stone and creating hearts of flesh and giving us life. In the same way that the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the waters and the Word of the Lord spoke creation into existence, and in the same way the breath of God gave life to Adam, so it is also by these means that a new creation is created through the Gospel message. So, you ask for a miracle. Well, this is the miracle, the most powerful miracle: the restoration of humanity and our transformation into sons of God. For as we hear and heed the message of the Gospel, we are transformed. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Ezekiel gives us this hope, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). The prophet Ezekiel gives us insight into this and how the “sound” and “wind” work together to bring life. 

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”  

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.  

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:1–14, ESV) 

It is the power of the Spirit that brings life into us, though we were dead in our trespasses. And it is the Holy Spirit that brings life whenever the Gospel is preached.

But, as it is written, 

      “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, 
      nor the heart of man imagined, 
      what God has prepared for those who love him”— 

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
      (1 Corinthians 2:9–10, ESV)

We cannot come to God without the Holy Spirit. Though the “sound” works through the preaching of the Gospel, it is not elegant words that convince those who hear to come. Paul describes is proclamation of the Gospel: “and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4–5, ESV).

As Peter spoke the first sermon of the Church, the proclamation of the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit brought life to those hearing his words. In his sermon, Peter declared that Jesus is on his throne and has declared war on the kingdom of this world through the preaching of the Gospel (for more on this, go here). The Gospel, with the power of the Holy Spirit, has the power to devastate the kingdom of this world. Those who hold on to this world will be swept away with it. The Gospel is “to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2 Corinthians 2:16, NASB). God is calling humanity to abandon the kingdom of this world, which is given over to total destruction, “blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke”, and come and heed God’s call by calling upon the name of Jesus. From the day Peter preached this first sermon to this day, the Gospel has gone out into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. Will we resist the Holy Spirit?

Does God do wonders, miracles, and perform signs? The answer is yes. But these things point to the Gospel and are a call to us to listen. But we must be careful to assume we would believe in God if we saw a miracle. Splitting seas, a voice from the sky, healings, God coming down, or whatever your imagination may conjure will not be the means by which your heart is broken. In fact, in the scripture, these things often lead to the heart getting harder. Jesus, in his parable, noted, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31). And despite the miracles Jesus performed, most continued to walk in unbelief. “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him” (John 12:37). Grand things will not move us. Dry bones and the dead are not moved by these things. Something far more intimate is needed. We need to hear the voice of someone who loves us, just as Lazarus, who was dead, heard Jesus’s voice. It is the power that created the world out of nothing that saves us. It is the voice of the one who loves us that calls us out of death. Our hearts can only be moved by hearing the voice of our Lover, the one who pursues his Bride.  

And we know that this salvation does not come through great signs or knowledge or the efforts of men that puff up. Paul writes,

But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); (Romans 10:6–8) 

Paul declares, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (10:17). After Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, the rest of Acts chronicles the story of the Gospel going forth to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit.

To those who demand signs of God’s existence, Jesus replies,

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:39–41, ESV)

Even the preaching of a reluctant messenger had more effect than the mighty works that were being done amongst them. God has revealed himself, but in our stubbornness, we choose to harden our hearts to the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:19–21, ESV)

When we stand before the throne of God, no one will accuse God of not revealing himself to them. It will be clear that they have suppressed the light given to them because they loved the darkness more than the light. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. . . . So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18, 20b, ESV). Those who walk in continued willful unbelief and resist the Gospel’s and the Holy Spirit’s call do so to their own peril and shame. Those weary and heavy-laden by the darkness of this world and hear the call of love come into the light without price and shame.

“Come, everyone who thirsts, 
   come to the waters; 
 and he who has no money, 
   come, buy and eat! 
 Come, buy wine and milk 
    without money and without price. 
 Why do you spend your money
   for that which is not bread, 
    and your labor for that
      which does not satisfy? 
 Listen diligently to me, 
     and eat what is good, 
    and delight yourselves in rich food. 
 Incline your ear, and come to me; 
    hear, that your soul may live; 
 and I will make with you 
  an everlasting covenant, 
    my steadfast, sure love for David. 
 Behold, I made him a witness
      to the peoples, 
    a leader and commander
      for the peoples. 
 Behold, you shall call
   a nation that you do not know, 
   and a nation that did not know
    you shall run to you, 
 because of the LORD your God,
   and of the Holy One of Israel, 
    for he has glorified you. 

 “Seek the LORD while he may be found; 
    call upon him while he is near; 
 let the wicked forsake his way, 
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts; 
 let him return to the LORD,
   that he may have compassion on him, 
    and to our God, for he
      will abundantly pardon. 
 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
    neither are your ways my ways,
     declares 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. 

 “For as the rain and the snow
   come down from heaven 
    and do not return there
       but water the earth, 
 making it bring forth and sprout, 
    giving seed to the sower 
     and bread to the eater, 
 so shall my word be that goes
   out from my mouth; 
    it shall not return to me empty, 
 but it shall accomplish 
  that which I purpose, 
    and shall succeed in the thing
      for which I sent it. 

 “For you shall go out in joy 
    and be led forth in peace; 
 the mountains and the hills before you 
    shall break forth into singing, 
 and all the trees of the field
      shall clap their hands. 
 Instead of the thorn shall
      come up the cypress; 
   instead of the brier shall
      come up the myrtle; 
 and it shall make a name for the LORD, 
    an everlasting sign that
      shall not be cut off.”
               (Isaiah 55, ESV)

When Adam and Eve were created and placed in Eden, God covenentally commissioned humanity to be a people who were a royal priesthood. They were to rule through their relationship with God, spreading God’s glory throughout the world. There is something significant to this relationship, for it is in this relationship that the rule of God was to spread past Eden to the rest of the world as Adam and Eve were commanded “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion” ( Geneses 1:28). God spreads his glory through his relationship with us.

However, the covenant was broken with the fall. Though there were priests after the fall, they could not fully restore humanity to the relationship that they had with God before the fall. But God promised that one day, “the seed of the woman” would come and conquer the serpent, and in doing so conquer sin and death. The Bible tells us a story about how this was accomplished in Jesus. And for those who put their faith in Jesus, they are once again restored into this royal priesthood and God’s glory is spread throughout the world through the preaching of the Gospel.

Who is Melchizedek?

The author of Hebrews is eager to tell us about an enigmatic character called Melchizedek. It is from this priestly line that Jesus has the authority to conquer sin and make the law of Moses obsolete. We must remember that the author of Hebrews deals with the Hebrew context of the Gospel. In the Old Testament, there is a clear intimate and covenantal nature in God’s relationship with mankind. Just as a husband and wife promise to love one another through a covenant, so God establishes his promises with his people. For hundreds of years, those receiving this letter, along with their fathers and their fathers’ fathers, had pursued God legitimately under the Mosaic Covenant. For them, it was a well-worn path, comfortable, and felt secure. And now the author of Hebrews is telling them this is no longer the case. All the practices, rituals, sacrifices, and laws that had become innately a part of who they were were now obsolete and dead works. The law of Moses was no longer a means of repentance and entering God’s presence. What authority and covenant did Jesus have to overturn hundreds of years of covenant practice? The author of Hebrews argues that there is a covenant that both precedes and is greater than the Mosaic covenant, a covenant that the law of Moses itself calls us to. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “there is magic deeper still”.

The Covenant of Peace

While many are familiar with the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, and Davidic covenants in the Old Testament, one covenant relationship is often neglected in these discussions – the Priestly Covenant or the Covenant of Peace. This covenant is given to the Levites during the Exodus, and in the scripture, we find the Levitical Covenant running parallel with the Davidic Covenant. We see glimpses of the Davidic covenant in Judah as he is told, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” From Judah we can follow its progression down through to David and through to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. And it is the same with the Levitical Covenant.

For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne. As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

Moreover, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I would also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and have compassion on them.” (Jeremiah 33:14-26)

God’s covenant with Levi was a covenant of peace. Malachi 2:4-7, says,

“So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”

We see similar language when God proclaimed a blessing on Phinehas,

“And the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to this descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’” (Numbers 25:10-13)

Covenantal focus: Judah to David and Levi to Zadok

Just as we see glimpses of the Davidic covenant with Judah, when Jacob was pronouncing blessings on his sons, his blessing for Levi, though it had the sounds of a curse rather than a blessing, foreshadowed the Levitical priesthood.

Simeon and Levi are brothers;

weapons of violence are their swords.

Let my soul come not into their council;

O my glory, be not joined to their company.

For in their anger they killed men,

and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,

and their wrath, for it is cruel!

I will divide them in Jacob

and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7)

This was meant to be a curse, yet in a profound action of grace, God took this curse, and it became a blessing for Levi. Yes, Levi was divided and scattered among Israel, and they were not allowed to have an inheritance in the land, fulfilling Jacob’s words, but the Levites gained something far greater –

And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. (Numbers 18:20)

God set Levi apart from the rest of Israel to serve the Lord.

And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.” (Exodus 32:25-29)

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him. (Deuteronomy 10:8-9)

And as Judah’s promise would become more narrow in its focus and come to David, among the Levites, Aaron and his descendants were set apart as priests, and this would later be narrowed to the descendants of Zadock.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the LORD and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever. (1 Chronicles 23:13)

As seen earlier, it is with Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, that we get the specific wording that the covenant of Levi is a covenant of peace. But after this promise, it is the sons of Ithamar that serve in the High Priest role, not Phinehas’s sons. But this would change. We soon find Eli, a descendant of Ithamar, whose sons have profaned the temple and God. Through Samuel, God tells Eli that his house will decline. And in Solomon’s reign, this is fulfilled, as Zadok, a descendant of Phineas, becomes high priest, and the high priesthood is taken away from the descendants of Ithamar. God fulfills the covenant of peace he made with Phinehas, and later God confirms the Levitical Covenant with Zadok, Phineas’ descendant.

“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. (Ezekiel 44:15,16)

The King and Priest

After Solomon, Israel went into decline and turned away from the Lord and were eventually sent into Babylon, and the temple was destroyed. However, God brought his people back to Jerusalem, where the temple was rebuilt. The High Priest during this time was a man named Yeshua or Joshua. At this time, God sent the prophet Zechariah with a message concerning Joshua,

The word of the LORD also came to me, saying, “Take an offering from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon—and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.

And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Behold, a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD. Yes, He will build the temple of the LORD; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. There will also be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two of them.

The crown will reside in the temple of the LORD as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hene son of Zephaniah. Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Zechariah 6:9-15)

In this prophecy, we get elements of both the Davidic and Levitical Covenants. A crown is set on Joshua’s head, and then Zechariah cries out, “Behold, a man whose name is the Branch”. Both these are symbols of the Davidic covenant.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a Righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

But Joshua was a Levite and not a descendant of David, so what is going on? The prophesy then goes on and describes both a king and a priest being on one throne, and that “the counsel of peace will be between the two”, echoing the covenant of peace that God made with Phinehas and the Levitical covenant.

The greatest of all men

And then the New Testament opens up and Mary and Joseph are told they are going to have a baby, who is a descendant of David, and they are to name this baby Yeshua, the same name of the High Priest that Zechariah prophesied over saying that both the Levitical and Davidic covenants would come together. We also learn about Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, a descendent of Aaron, and of the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, born to a couple who, like Abraham and Sarah, were too old to have children. Though we cannot say with certainty that he was a descendant of Zadock or Joshua, it is likely. We can say with certainty that he was a descendant of Aaron and born to a priest named Zechariah, coincidently the same name as the prophet who prophesied the uniting of these two covenants.

And then in the wilderness (where the Levites were set apart in the Exodus), John the Baptist, a priest (descended from Aaron) and a prophet wearing the garments of Elijah, calls Israel to prepare the way for the Lord. In the midst of John’s ministry, Jesus comes to John to be baptized. John the Baptist at first relents, saying he is not worthy to baptize Jesus. But Jesus asks John to do this to fulfill all righteousness. On hearing this, John relents, obeys, and baptizes Jesus. This moment is significant.

For someone to become a priest, according to the law of Moses, they had to fulfill certain requirements.¹

• A Priest could not begin their ministry and service till they were 25-30 years of age. Jesus was 30 when he came to be baptized by John.
• They had to be called by God. Aaron and his descendants were called by God. God says of Jesus, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek” and “You are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased.”
• They had to be without physical defect. Jesus was without spot or blemish. He had no sin.
• They had to be male. Jesus was male.
• They had to be washed in the water of ordination and then clothed in priestly garments. Jesus was baptized, and the Holy Spirit descended on him.
• They had to be ordained by someone who was already a priest. John was a descendant of Aaron and rightly could ordain Jesus into the priesthood.
• They began ministering after the ordination. Jesus’ ministry began after his baptism.

It was also necessary for a prophet to anoint a king when a new line was being established. When John baptizes Jesus, he is anointed by the Holy Spirit and it is said that the Holy Spirit remained on him. This is foreshadowed when Samuel anoints David as king. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David] in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13).

In his baptism, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law and its requirements for becoming a priest and king. He fulfilled all that the law demanded. He fulfilled all righteousness. This is why he tells John, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

John also had the right to pass on his mantle of prophet as Elijah did with Elisha. And in Jesus’ baptism he became the final word of God. As the writer of Hebrews states, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Hebrews 1:1,2).

In this, Jesus did not presume to take these roles upon himself though it was his right to do so, but he humbled himself allowing these roles to come to him the appropriate way, “fulfilling all righteousness”. In every way, Jesus submitted himself to the law.

Jesus says of John, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28). On person of John rested the mantals of both high priest and Elijah the prophet. There was no higher authority under the law of Moses. He had the right to declare Jesus the final prophet, priest, and king.

When John, an Aaronite priest whose name means “God is gracious”, baptized Jesus, he was transferring the Levitical covenant to Jesus. John could do this not only because he had the authority to do so, but because there was a covenant of peace before God’s promise to Phineas, through Abraham and Melchizedek.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. (Hebrews 6:13–7:10, ESV)

Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”, but he was also the king of Salem, which means “peace”, and therefore, the covenant of peace was rightly his. And so, Jesus was able to become a priest under the order of Melchizedek, who also was under the covenant of peace, whom the scripture states Levi in the loins of Abraham served. Truly there is a majic even deeper than the law of Moses.

And the priesthood rightly belongs to Jesus as Hebrews continues to argue,

Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him,

“You are a priest forever,

    after the order of Melchizedek.”

For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

    and will not change his mind,

‘You are a priest forever.’”

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. (Hebrews 7:11-28)

As our high priest, Jesus has once and for all conquered sin and death. He has fully redeemed those who come to him in faith. In Jesus, the prophesy is fulfilled, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Joel 2:32). And is now sitting at the right hand of God, the Father where “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [Jesus]” (Matthew 28:18).

It is clear that Jesus had the authority to render the Law of Moses obsolute and to allow us to enter a new and better covenant of a royal priesthood, restoring what was lost by Adam at the fall. And He has called us once again to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion”, to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19)

Restoration of the royal priesthood and the Temple of God

In Jesus humanity is restored once again to their proper place as a royal priesthood. In Zechariah’s prophesy to Joshua, he says, “Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD.” Peter says, “As you come to [Jesus], the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4,5). As Jesus, when we are baptized, under Christ’s headship, Zechariah’s prophecy is fulfilled, and we are brought into the Covenant of peace under the order of Melchizedek.

[For] you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9, bold added)

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5b-6)

 Interestingly, when the Bible speaks of Levi’s name, it says,

Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. (Genesis 29:34)

Through the Gospel, we become attached to our husband. Peter goes on to say, “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”  (1 Peter 2:10).  Hosea prophesies, “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God’” (Hosea 2:23). We are not only a royal priesthood, we are the bride of Jesus.

After Jesus says of John the Baptist, “among those born of women there has risen no greater than John the Baptist”, he continues, “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). We truly are under a deeper and richer covenant that the Law of Moses, with stronger and more sure promises.

Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you
an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
(Isaiah 55:3, ESV)

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exodus 19:5–6, ESV)

More on this:

Galatians argues that the law of Moses cannot save us. While Galatians was written to the Gentiles, the book of Hebrews is the Galatians’ argument for the Jewish people. Because of the Melchizedek covenant, faith alone can save us, not the works of the law. Read more on this here: There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgement

To learn how Jesus also held the role of Firstborn, read this article: The firstborn and the beginning of God’s creation

¹ adapted from “Waters of Creation” by Douglas Van Dorn pg7

God pursues those who hate him

Though we are in rebellion and our God’s enemies, hate him, and would cast him away (see more here), God actively and shamelessly pursues us. And though God seems far away to us in our rebellion, God is, in fact, near.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

(Acts 17:26–28, ESV)

As we shrink back from him in hatred and fear, he pursues us and comes gently in the “sound” and the “wind”. Though, as we discussed earlier, this implies hiddenness (see more here), they also indicate a depth of intimacy beyond mere knowledge that puffs up. If God “showed up” or did “miraculous works” or showed some definitive sign or proof of his existence, yes, we would believe he exists and have knowledge of him. But the wicked ask for signs such as these as a prerequisite for faith (Matthew 16:4, Luke 11:29, John 6:22-66). Mere knowledge brings pride, and pride is our foundational problem. We cannot expect God to reveal himself in a way that only compounds our problem. And so he comes instead in the intimacy of the “sound” and the “wind”, which brings so much more than all the grand miracles and signs combined. In this article, we will focus on “the sound”.

The sound 

“The sound of the Lord” or the “Word of the Lord” is pregnant with meaning throughout the scripture and is the means by which God has communicated with humanity. It is more than sound; it has the power to create. And as we will see, it has the power to turn a heart of stone into flesh and the power to bring life from death. It is the word of the Lord that spoke creation into existence.  

   By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,  
     and by the breath of his mouth
      all their host.  
   He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;  
     he puts the deeps in storehouses. 
   Let all the earth fear the Lord;  
     let all the inhabitants of the world
      stand in awe of him!  
   For he spoke, and it came to be;  
     he commanded, and it stood firm. 
                  (Psalm 33:6–9)

The Psalmist rightly broke out in song, “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty” (29:4). We come to know God by his word as it works and invades our lives. The Word of the Lord is the scripture and is more than merely words on the page. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12). But more importantly, the word of the Lord is the “Logos” of the Gospel of John. . . Jesus is the Word of the Lord made flesh.  

Moses taught the Israelites that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Moses speaks of a man who would come, and gives a warning from God, “whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:19).  The writer of Hebrews warns as well, “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned the on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven” (Hebrews 12:25). Peter emphasizes this, “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people’” (Acts 3:22-23). Notice that the writer of Hebrews uses the phrase, “who is speaking”. Paul in Romans 10 alludes to the fact that when the Gospel is proclaimed, Jesus’s voice is heard.  

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.  

   But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for  

   “Their voice has gone out to all the earth,  
     and their words to the ends of the world.” 
                     (Romans 10:14–18)

Though God does mighty works and great miracles, these are not the primary means by which he brings us to himself. Nor can these things have any power without the preaching of the Gospel. It is not in awe, mighty works, or great signs and miracles that we have come to be reconciled to God, but it is through humility. God has destroyed pride through humility.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

(Philippians 2:5–8, ESV)

Pride and seeking greatness caused the fall. We ought not think God would use these methods to win us back to himself. No, instead, he comes with humility and uses something much more powerful: his word. 

And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. (1 Kings 19:11–12, ESV) 

With a whisper, God has turned the world upside down and has broken our pride and our hard hearts. 

The Hiddenness of God is the Story of Love 

Yes, a perfectly-loving and all-powerful God hid his face from us so that we might not see instant death (see more on this here), but in the tenderness of his love, through his wisdom, he has found a way to reveal himself to us. And though his face is hidden, his love for us is not. What amazing love is this that conquers and breaks the pride of our hard hearts? And so we come to know God through the preaching of the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we hear the words of Jesus, our hearts are changed. And because of the power of the Gospel, we will come to see God face to face and not be ashamed on that Day. Instead of shrinking back, we boldly come near God’s throne, look into our Father’s face, and know that we are beloved children of God. For us, the throne and being before God’s face is no longer a throne of judgment and certain death, but one of grace where we are declared to be his children. And so, the blessing of Israel will remove God’s hiddenness for those who are in Christ, 

   The LORD bless you and keep you; 
     the LORD make his face to shine upon
       you and be gracious to you; 
     the LORD lift up his countenance upon
       you and give you peace.  
                     (Numbers 6:24-26)

And so, God will not remain hidden from us forever. All will see him face to face. Some for judgment, others for grace. For those who are known by Jesus, God fully revealing himself will be a glorious day. We will see God face to face. And we will know him as he knows us. 

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12) 

Notice that this passage speaks of seeing God as partly hidden, as in a mirror dimly. This description of God’s hiddenness is a part of the famous passage that talks about love, known as the Love Chapter. Yes, God’s purpose in his hiddenness is love. And because of love, he is still waiting for that day to make himself fully known to the world. He postpones that day, not for the sake of those who are in Christ, but for those who are still lost and at enmity with him, so that they too might hear the sound of his voice as he calls to us, “Come!” 

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) 

He holds back and remains hidden, for he is still calling out for the lost to come to him. And while God remains hidden, there is still hope for those who are at enmity with God. As God beckons us through the Gospel to come, will we allow his word to break down the walls of our pride and enmity toward him? He pleads with us, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Being hidden and tabernacled in human flesh 

So, even veiled and hidden, he has not failed to lavish his love upon us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). God came veiled or tabernacled and walked amongst us as a human. John says, “our hands have touched” him. God became approachable. And he hid himself in this way that by becoming human, he might take upon himself the punishment we so deserved, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (2:8). Jesus stood before the Lord on that day in our place. And on that Day two thousand years ago, Jesus bore our final judgment proclaiming the debt had been paid in full. Three days later, Jesus conquered death for us by rising from the dead. And if we put our faith in Jesus, we stand before God and see his face, not based on our works, but based on the fact that Jesus bore our punishment of death on that day. The writer of Hebrews beckons us not to shrink back, run away, or hide, but instead calls to us with these words, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Jesus calls us gently to “Come.” Will we hear the sound of his voice and come near when he calls?

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

(1 Corinthians 1:18–19, ESV)

The Word and the Spirit conquers

Regardless of the myriads of eschatological positions and arguments that are out there, there are things we can know with certainty. We can know that his covenant love for his people will not fail. We can know that Christ is our conquering King, and he will put all his enemies under his feet. We also know that whether spiritually or corporally the means by which Jesus conquers his enemies is by the Word of God.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (ESV) (Revelation 19:11-16, ESV, bold added)

In this passage whether symbolic or not, it is only the Word of God that conquers and destroys the enemies of God, although we are brought alongside Jesus as he accomplishes this. The sword in Revelation and in other scriptures are associated with the words of Jesus.

The Word of God conquers through the Gospel

When Jesus spoke of the end times, he said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14, ESV). When speaking with Pilate,

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:36–37, ESV)

And how did Jesus say this Kingdom would conquer. On his ascension, Jesus spoke to those around him and said,

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

Paul in Romans 10, states that it is through the proclamation of the Gospel, that the word of Christ is heard, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (vs 7). What Paul is saying here is not that they are hearing us speak the Gospel, but they are hearing Christ, himself, as we proclaim the Gospel. As we proclaim the Gospel the sword of the Lord goes out to conquer his enemies, and thankfully the hearts of those who have come to trust in Jesus and call upon the name of the LORD. It is through the proclamation of the Gospel that the Kingdom of God conquers the kingdoms of this world and Jesus puts his enemies under his feet.

The first proclamation of the church

Though we might find apprehension in speaking about apocalyptic scriptures, this was not the case with Peter. Peter understood the power of the Gospel both to save and put its enemies under its feet. And so, as he stepped out and preach the first message of the church. he knew the world would not be the same. And because of this, he begins his sermon by quoting of all things apocalyptic scriptures. Is it not interesting, with all the hubbub and confusion we have over these writings today, that the first words spoken in proclamation by the church were apocalyptic scriptures? And they were spoken with surety.

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

              that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

                             and your young men shall see visions,

                             and your old men shall dream dreams;

even on my male servants and female servants

                             in those days I will pour out my Spirit,

and they shall prophesy.

And I will show wonders in the heavens above

                             and signs on the earth below,

                             blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

        the sun shall be turned to darkness

                             and the moon to blood,

                             before the day of the Lord comes,

the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

(Acts 2:17–21, ESV)

Peter was bold, announcing that these scriptures were being fulfilled in the midst of them both in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and in the proclamation of the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, who had been poured out on them in the wind and fire. For it had been so from after the fall when the sound of the LORD came in the spirit of the day, that it is through the power of the Word of God and the Spirit of the Lord that God both reveals himself and invades this world to conquer it. Peter understood, that as the Gospel is spoken to the world, just as the fire consumed the enemies of God in Revelation 20, the fire of the Holy Spirit conquers our own hearts and as the Gospel is preached the world is turned upside down.

Total Destruction of God’s enemies

When an army came in devastating force to utterly destroy a city, they would raise it and set it on fire. The dense smoke would fill the air billowing as a scroll being rolled up. As it spread the dense darkness would come over the land darkening the sun, the darkness being penetrated by falling ash with the appearance of falling stars. In the filter of this smoke the moon would appear blood red. This imagery made an indelible mark on the culture of the Biblical world. When the Bible uses this imagery within eschatology, it is speaking whether literally or symbolically of the total destruction of the kingdom of this world. The Gospel has not come to play nice with the kingdom of this world. The Gospel seeks out the utter destruction of the kingdom of this world. Peter in his proclamation of the Gospel was declaring no quarter no hope for those who continued to reject the message and hold on to the kingdom of this world. Paul does the same,

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14–17, ESV)

The Gospel message both brings forth the Kingdom of God in the hearts of those who hear and obey the Gospel, but also tramples under the feet of Jesus those who refuse to hear the gracious call and insist on holding to their own kingdom.

Enemies under His feet

In a letter to Hiram king of Tyre, Solomon describes the transition of the kingdom of Israel from David to Solomon and the building of the house for the name of the LORD.

“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ (1 Kings 5:3–5, ESV)

Paul gives a similar description of Jesus,

[22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. [27] For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. [28] When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:22–28, ESV, see also Hebrews 2:5–18)

Before the consummation of the Kingdom of God, Jesus who sits on the throne of David as our human representative (see more on this here) must put all his enemies under his feet. But also, as Peter says the purpose is also to bring the people of God into the Kingdom for “the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, ESV). Isaiah echoes this sentiment, “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

Two kingdoms

              When Jesus told to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world,” he was making clear that we are currently in a time of two worlds or two kingdoms and that the Kingdom of God would conquer as Christ speaks and bears witness to the truth. We spoke of how Paul in Romans 10 talks about how when we proclaim the Gospel it is Christ himself speaking. Luke confirms this. He starts of in Acts saying, “In my first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach . . . (Acts 1:1, ESV). In other words, the works of Christ are still active in our world both in Acts and in our world today.  When Peter stood before the crowd during the first proclamation of the church, he predicated all that he said on this fact, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Acts 2:34, ESV) This comes from Psalm 110:1 which is the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament. Peter and the apostles had a boldness to proclaim the Gospel because they understood that Jesus sat on the right hand of God on the throne of David as the rightful king of God’s people. Christ is ruling over his Kingdom here and now and is turning the kingdom of this world upside down through the proclamation of the Gospel. So yes, we live in a world where there are two kingdoms that are at war with each other. God is both building his Kingdom and calling a people to himself and treading underfoot the kingdom of this world through the Word of God. And despite appearances at times, the war is not one sided, Jesus is both bringing people to himself through his word and through his word putting his enemies under his feet. Jesus only suffers his enemies long enough to bring us into his Kingdom.

What is the practical application?

There was a bible study on the end times, and when I heard of one approach they were going to take, I asked the person leading if it in if I could come in one of the days and present the alternative view and he agreed. As I was preparing for this study, God humbled me and completely changed my plans. He pointed me to those who were faithful when Jesus came to earth the first time as a baby and contrasted them with the leaders at this time. When the magi were brought before Herod, Herod “was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “’And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel’”’” (Matthew 2:3-5). The chief priests and scribes understood what scripture had to say on this topic and got it right! They understood the prophesy but missed the coming of their Messiah all the same. But there were two, who did not miss his coming, an old man named Simeon, and an old woman named Anna, who were described as faithful and waiting for the redemption and consolation of God’s people.

When Jesus spoke of the end times, he didn’t ask his disciples to have it all figured out, he called them to be faithful, to stand, to watch, to pray, and proclaim the gospel. In doing this we are the good and faithful servant, with whom Jesus will not be ashamed to call his own. Knowing the exact details of the end times will not get you closer to the Kingdom of God. Being a faithful servant with the treasure of the Gospel will. We must remember that the power of the Kingdom of God comes from the Word of God alone and the Word of God enters our world and the world around us through the proclamation of the Gospel. So, if we want to know what to do in this interim of two ages before the consummation, it is to be faithful to this and enter the work that Jesus is doing now in this world as our rightful king. And so, as we wait for Jesus’ coming, come close to Jesus, behold him, and walk with Jesus as he speaks to the world (for he is with us to the end of the age) through the proclamation of the Gospel.

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

Our king has told us what to do till the end of the age, so we don’t have to wonder. And more than that he has promised to be with us.

Does this mean we can’t talk about eschatology? As controversial as it is, it is when we can talk about our differences amiably that the love of Christ is shown. If we only talked as a church with those who agree with us, well even the pagans can do that. As we love each other in hardy disagreements the love of Christ is demonstrated to the world. But it is the solid commitment to the understanding that the Word of God alone conquers in the Gospel that can give us this stability to love one another, for this grand story is so bold and bright that all the different ideas on eschatology pale in comparison.

It is in our testimony that we conquer the devil, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11, ESV).

Finally, I will leave you with this, . . . in the Word of God, we will not be shaken. We are a part of a grand story of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

[18] For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest [19] and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. [20] For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” [21] Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” [22] But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, [23] and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, [24] and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

[25] See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. [26] At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” [27] This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. [28] Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, [29] for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18–29, ESV)

There are songs that act like a bladed spotlight, penetrating, cutting away at the walls I make, cutting deep enough to expose my heart and reveal who I am. In these words, I hear the sentiments of myself and see myself for who I am with all its ugliness,

Behold the man upon a cross, 

My sin upon His shoulders; 

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice 

Call out among the scoffers.  

(How Deep is the Father’s Love for Us) 

As I see my heart, I come to understand more deeply that without God’s grace, my rebellious heart would have no hope at all.

Many will say, “If God showed up, I would believe in him”. Or even we might say we admire Jesus, even though we do not believe he is a God or that the Christian religion is valid. And most of us at least consider Jesus to be an ok guy. Christians may be jerks, but Jesus was a good moral teacher who taught people to love one another. Love is good. Can’t hate a person like that, right? I suppose, but do we know the man? We can say we like Jesus because, for most of us, Jesus is an idea, a concept, more than a real person with whom we must interact. We can define and mold an idea to our imagination and fit it around our expectations. If we keep him contained, Jesus is not a person we have to get to know. Here is the deal: If you have this casual knowledge of Jesus and like him, it is probably because you do not know much about him. Yes, they greeted him with joy and a kingly welcome when he entered Jerusalem. But only a few days later, those who were alive and interacted with him when he was here ended up crying out, “crucifying him.” 

But we might say, “Yeh, they crucified him back then, but I wouldn’t do that.” Well, . . . is that really true? Do you know him? Have you experienced him, seen him, heard him speak, like those who crucified him? He deeply challenged the hearts of all who were near him. Why do you think your response would be different? We tend to see the best in ourselves. “If I was there, I would have behaved differently. . .I would have stood up to Nazism, racism, slavery, etc. blah, blah, blah . . .” We believe we are wiser, better prepared, stronger, unique, and not like all others who have come before us. But if we are honest with ourselves, we are no better than others, for our hearts are prone to the same longings for safety and comfort. We have a strong instinct for self-preservation. We are by no means unique or superior in this instinct but are flawed with the same weaknesses and faults as those who came before us. I know this because I have seen this so many times in my own heart and actions. And even though I wish I could simply shake them off, they cling to me. Or better said, they are a cancer inside of me that requires major intervention to be removed.

When I say this, you may think I am going to say that you would be offended by Jesus’ moral teaching. Though this is often true, it is not the core of the offense. This is crucial to understand: Jesus was not a moral teacher. He did not come to make us better people. He was not creating a to-do list or steps on how to be a good person. He was not giving strategies on how to love others. He did not come to build us up or to make us feel better about ourselves.

He came to destroy us. To call us to lose our life. He had come to destroy our world. For he was calling people out of the kingdom of this world, out of the darkness, out of oppression into his Kingdom. Jesus said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46, ESV). 

We hear the word “darkness”, and we think of things that are clearly evil. Things like murder, rape, slavery, and abuse. But the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not something that was grotesque, but “was good for food,” and “a delight to the eyes” and “was to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). The fruit “opened their eyes.” The truth is that we are not attracted to things we find grotesque. We are attracted to the things we love and hold dear. But in turning to these things, we have turned away from our creator to things that have been created. We have abandoned the source of light, and therefore, we are in darkness.

Most of us are attached to the world we live in, the things we have and the ideas we treasure, and the joys we experience, and so were most in the days Jesus walked the earth. Jesus said that we need to be willing to cut off our right arm or pluck out our right eye. The right arm was seen as a symbol of one’s power, the eye as something most precious to us. If someone came to chop off our right arm or pluck out our right eye, we would fight and fight to the death to defend ourselves. Imagine if someone was coming to destroy your world and all that you loved. How would you respond? Would you defend yourself? What if that enemy declared “no surrender and no quarter”? Yes, the people in Jesus’s day were no different than us. Jesus is by no means comfortable. Jesus has come and threatens all that we know and hold on to. He calls us to abandon this world and follow him. He has called us to die. This is not casual moral teaching; it is a line in the sand. Jesus said that the world “hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil” (John 7:7, ESV). We do not want to hear this message. Love does not abide evil. It destroys and conquers it completely, with no option for surrender or quarter. Love has come to conquer us. 

A popular verse is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” But right after this, Jesus makes it clear, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:19,20, ESV).  

Jesus may intrigue us, but in the end, we love this world, and we want to hold on to it. We will take the Jesus of our imagination, but we will not take the Jesus who has come to conquer. Jesus has come to destroy this evil age, and if we cling to it, we will be destroyed along with it. And this being so, Jesus is a threat to the life we love. He is a threat to us. Jesus made it clear, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25, ESV).

And so, Jesus came to rescue us from our fate, to save us from the darkness, to save us from ourselves, but we love the darkness more than the light. We love the life we have made more than God. We love the darkness and do not want to let it go, and so the light becomes our enemy and invasion force, rather than a rescue mission and our salvation. Though Jesus is indeed the enemy of evil and darkness, He is also the one who has come to rescue us from evil and darkness. And yet, because the darkness has become so dear to us, we flip things in our upside down world and call what is good, evil, and what is evil, good. We flee from the light into the comfort of darkness and so choose our fate. 

Jesus’s miracles and teachings fascinated and intrigued the masses, but in reality, he was not well loved by the people of his day. On occasion, people picked up stones to kill Jesus after hearing him speak. He was hounded by the Pharisees and Sadducees. Even the crowds who followed him and appeared to love him eventually abandoned him because they found his teachings too hard for them. Their love was the comfort of this world. Only a few stuck it out, and even those deserted him when he was arrested. And in the end, when he was brought before the people to see what they would have done, they cried out, “Crucify him!”   

When I take an honest look at my own heart, I am with those who tried to stone him, with those who abandoned and deserted him, and in that crowd who called for his death. I can say with the hymnist, “Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.” 

Jesus said,  

Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ (John 15:23-25) 

So, some will say if God showed up, I would believe in him. He has shown up, and he has performed great miracles, validating his claims. Those who were there and saw these miracles and heard his teachings, instead of believing, killed him. Do not think you would have acted any differently than those who saw him in his day. You, too, would defend the things you love. We love this world and are ready to fight against anything that has come to destroy the things we cherish. And this is what the Kingdom of God does, it destroys this evil age and calls us to repent and to come to God and be reconciled with him through the work and worth of Jesus alone. In the end, Love will overcome, and this evil age will come to an end. Though we fight it, we cannot stop it. Love will conquer evil. However, this world is all we have known. What God has called us to is unknown and uncomfortable. We cringe and shrink back and are afraid to tread. We see our world being destroyed, and we desperately want to fight to keep it. We believe that when we fight against Jesus, we are protecting what is good, fighting against an enemy who is coming after what we believe is good, beautiful, wise, and true. And we are willing to do anything to keep the “good” we have. So, in this frantic desire to protect what I have, regardless of how much God pursues me in his love, I hear my angry voice defending what I love and crying out, “How dare you show up in my world”, “Crucify him!”, “Away with the man who has come to threaten my world.” 

Be careful what you wish for . . .

Some will ask if God exists, why doesn’t he make himself completely obvious so that there is no doubt that he exists. They say that this is what they want in order for them to believe. If they had it they would believe in God. But is believing in God’s existence what they need? They foolishly make this claim because they do not understand the dangers of what they are asking. The saying is true, we must be careful what we wish for. . ..  

The demons believe and are condemned for it

You want God to reveal himself definitively and clearly in order for you to believe. But is this kind of belief enough? The scriptures tell us that the demons believe in God, and yet they are left shuddering and without hope (James 2:19). Why is this so? The answer is that they have no hope because of the fact that they believe and know that God exists. And it is their knowing God that condemns them and has left them without hope, for their rejection of God came after God made himself known to them. Therefore, there is no more that God can do for the demons, no more evidence that God can provide to convince them to change their hearts. What in you would make your response any different than the demons?  

Signs and wonders do not produce faith

We see this warning in other places throughout the Bible of people hardening their hearts despite being given signs and wonders and direct proofs of God’s existence. We see this specifically during the Exodus. Pharaoh continually hardened his heart against the signs and wonders God gave. But not only Pharaoh, but more significantly, the Israelites who had been delivered also hardened their heart and went astray, and were left without hope. After the Israelites had been given many manifold and direct proofs of God and had experienced God’s love and faithfulness and his tender care for them in the wilderness, they still lacked faith in God and failed to trust in his word. Because of this, God says of that generation that they shall never enter his rest. There was no more hope for them. Israel once again rejected God, despite all the signs and wonders Jesus performed. Despite all they had seen, they, too, hardened their hearts. This is a common pattern when God reveals himself with signs and wonders. 

An interesting note: when Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, comes to Jesus, he states, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Don’t miss that this man who was “a ruler of the Jews” doesn’t say “I believe” but he says “we believe”. Could he be speaking of the other leaders as well? It is not clear who the “we” are, but it is clear that the leadership understood that Jesus had come to destroy their world and that instead of embracing Jesus and acknowledging that his works were from God, they publicly attributed his works to Beelzebub. Jesus had come to destroy what they had known and their privilege. In the parable of the vineyard Jesus describes the leaders as ones who were willing to kill the son to protect what they had in the hopes that the vineyard would remain in their possession. There was a stubborn rejection of the signs and wonders given to them in order to protect what they had. 

Revelation only brings judgement

It is clear that the more revelation God gives us of himself, the more judgment we will incur if we continue to reject him, and if we continue to harden our hearts, there will come a day when it will be declared that we shall never enter God’s rest. 

“Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.’” (John 9:39–41) 

So, we must be careful how much we want to see because the more we see, the more we are hastening the day of our final judgment if we continue to harden our hearts. Those who claim they want a sign in order to believe are like these Pharisees: if you will not hear the gospel, you will also not be convinced by a powerful sign. We will later see that it is only the gospel that can make one believe.

God will reveal himself 

There will be a day when God makes himself fully known to humanity in a definitive and decisive way as atheists have asked, where no one can deny who he is. They won’t doubt his existence or attribute it to the failings of their mind. All eyes will see him. They will know that he is God. Atheists will confess that he is God with no doubt in their minds. But on that day, our fate will be sealed. On that day, every knee will bow down and confess that he is Yahweh. But for many, like the demons, this bowing and confession will be to their judgment. For having knowledge and acknowledging who God is and his sovereignty is not enough.  

If like the Jewish leaders, we believe that God owes you an extraordinary sign to prove his existence, even if your request was granted, like the Jewish leaders who contributed the miracles to the work of Beelzebub, we too, would find some other explanation other than being willing to hear the call of God. We are not much different than the Israelites in the wilderness or the Jewish leaders who saw the works of God.  

Those who ask God to reveal himself in this way do not understand what they are asking. If God made himself known, as many atheists have asked, then that day would be their judgment day. They would perish without hope. We cannot presume that we would repent, even if we saw the most ardent proof of God. And so again, we need to be careful what we ask for, for just as the demons determined their own fate despite such evidence, if God gave us what we asked for, God could do nothing more after that to rescue us. 

But I would repent 

Some may say, “But my heart would change, I would repent if I saw that kind of evidence!” I know many believe this, but would it be enough? Just as belief is not enough, so repentance is not enough to rescue us from ourselves. It is unlikely we would change, but even if we did and let’s say lived a perfect life, the Christian faith requires something more profound than living a moral life. It requires dying to ourselves and losing our lives, not a frantic attempt to save it by changing our outward behavior in order to be rescued from judgment. Blaise Pascal wrote, “God has given evidence sufficient for those with an open and an open heart, but it is sufficiently vague as not to compel those whose hearts are closed”. God is not interested in “compelled hearts”. 

No, God has given enough evidence for us to believe; we are just really good at suppressing his call. We are like children playing on the playground who don’t want to listen to their parent calling to them from afar off to come home. Because they want to continue to play, they suppress that call. And like these children, we want to continue in our own way, and so we suppress the call of God to come home. And just because the parent leaves their home and no longer yells from afar, but shows up on the playground and makes it clear that their child is to return home, and the child yields to their parents demand and walks with them home, this does not mean that the child’s heart values their parent’s voice in that moment more than the playground. Given the chance, if not compelled, they would rush back to the playground without hesitation.  

Of course, the analogy would be more fitting if instead of playing in the playground, the kids were playing on a busy highway. For though the pleasures of this world are intoxicating, they are fleeting and in the end, cause us harm. Peter describes our love for the things of this world as vomit and mire, 

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:20–22) 

Yes, if God showed up, we might submit, but our hearts would still be attached to this world. Know one who is attached to this world can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Pride is destructive both to the person and those around them, and it has no place in the Kingdom of God.  

Was Esau able to find hope in this kind of repentance? His weeping and tears were those of bitterness, loss, and sorrow but not of a broken heart or of a man who had died to himself. We do not realize how much sin and pride have infected our hearts. Just as one gets used to a horrid rotting smell after a while, we have gotten used to the depths of our sin and see them as light. We are used to the smell of death that sin brings. But Jesus made it clear that if we say a harsh word to another that we are far more infected by sin and pride than we realize. If we look at another with lust, we are subject to eternal judgment. Jesus made it clear that none of us are as good as we think we are and justly deserve judgment. Our passions and desires are at war with one another and with God.  

We would not embrace God 

Do not think that if God gave us direct revelation that you would embrace him or want to be near him. Apart from Christ, just as Adam fled and hid from God, so we, too, will shrink back and flee from God’s presence. Those who love darkness do not want to be in the light. Gehenna is described as a place of darkness; and it is described with qualities that are in opposition to God. This is one of the ironies of the fate of those who reject God, 

     Woe to those who draw iniquity 
       with cords of falsehood,  
          who draw sin as with cart ropes,  
     who say: “Let him be quick,  
          let him speed his work  
          that we may see it;  
     let the counsel of the Holy One
      of Israel draw near,  
          and let it come, 
           that we may know it!”  
     Woe to those who call evil good  
          and good evil,  
     who put darkness for light  
          and light for darkness,  
     who put bitter for sweet  
          and sweet for bitter!  
     Woe to those who are wise 
       in their own eyes,  
          and shrewd in their own sight! 
                (Isaiah 5:18–21) 

We reject God because we think our way of doing things is good and God’s way of doing things is evil. The irony is that because we love the darkness, we will abandon God, and in doing so, we will abandon the source of life, light, love, joy, goodness, etc., and flee to dwell in a place that has none of these things to be free of God’s presence. It would not matter if God showed up because we would not want to come to him if he did. 

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19–20) 

Let’s suppose I dwelt in a dark cave for a long time, and all of a sudden, I found myself in a bright open field. What would my response to the light be? For those who only have knowledge of God, this light is unbearable. They cover their eyes and shrink back. They do not want to be near God. They will not be able to bear standing before God. 

     Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
         And who shall stand in his holy place? 
            (Psalm 24:3)    

Only those found in Jesus and who are a completely new creation can stand in the light and embrace it. Without Jesus, no one can approach God. But for those apart from Christ, they are unable to stand and do not want to be in his presence. This response to rejecting God and fleeing his presence is deeper and more ingrained in us than someone in a cave being exposed to light. If God showed up, we would not embrace him; instead, like roaches fleeing when the light is turned on, we would frantically flee to a place of darkness. The same light that opens a world of beauty for those who love the light is torment for those who love darkness. Our hearts must change if we are to be able to be near God. No amount of evidence would change this. We are no better than the demons, Pharoh, the Israelites, or the Pharisees. Thankfully, God has presented himself through Jesus in human flesh, breaking the veil that kept God separated and hidden so that we might be able to stand before God on the day he is fully revealed, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. Those who have come to the Lion of Judah and embrace him in love will not flee like the wicked,  

The wicked flee when no one pursues,  but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1) 

the lion, which is mightiest among beasts, and does not turn back before any (Proverbs 30:30)

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:39) 

We tremble and shrink back

As discussed earlier (here), God has postponed the Day of the Lord, the day of our judgment . . . by hiding himself. And because of this we have hope, despite the definitive verdict for our trespasses. But this is not the only reason God hides himself. . . .

For even if God were to come near without judgment as he did with Adam and Eve, we would shrink back, run away, and hide from his presence. This is our natural inclination, just as it is the natural inclination for roaches to flee for the darkness when the light is turned on. A fallen humanity cannot stand before the Lord, not just because God is holy, which is one reason, but also because we don’t want to be near his presence. We need to be clear; it is not God who does not want to be near for “He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27, NASB), but it is we who cannot bear to be in his presence. Let us look at Adam and Eve’s response when God came into the Garden.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)

Adam and Eve shrunk back and hid themselves. Because this is our natural response, if God wanted a relationship with humanity where we would not flee, he had to condescend so that we would stick around long enough to hear his voice. God does not overwhelm us by his presence but comes to where we are and is gentle, treating us as precious and as the apple of his eye. Therefore, God’s hiddenness is an act of loving-kindness towards us, allowing us to come near to him.

And so, when God came to Adam and Eve after they had sinned, he did not come in the fullness of his glory, but instead he came hidden in gentleness and patient kindness for God is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness (Psalm 103:8, Exodus 34:6). The word “cool” in the passage above can be translated “wind”, rendering the phrase, “the sound of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the wind of the day”. The words “wind of the day” is describing God coming in the clouds. When God comes near, he is often portrayed as being cloaked in clouds or cloaked in some other way, such as behind the veil of the tabernacle. As it is hard to see on a dense foggy day, this cloud obscures us from seeing God in his fullness. Likewise, the word “sound” is describing the fact that God’s face is not seen, but only his voice is present. When God shows up, we often see the term “the Word of the Lord”. This is more than just hearing an ethereal voice out of nowhere. Often, the “word” or “sound” is doing things like “walking in the garden” or “standing”. There is a real presence. But like the word “wind”, it is describing the presence of God that is hidden. We cannot fully see God. And so, the words “sound” and “wind” are significant words in the Bible, describing both a God who is hidden and who is intimately near us. In the Bible, when God makes his presence known after the fall, it is never by direct means but always hidden in a cloud of glory and through the word of the Lord. And so, by using the words “sound” and “wind”, this passage is describing a God who had already hidden himself before coming into the garden to meet with Adam and Eve. With these words, it is clear that their relationship has changed. God was no longer going to have direct and naked fellowship with Adam and Eve. And yes, by this act of hiding himself, God was postponing the day of judgment by hiding his throne and his face from us, but in love, he was also doing something more. . .. He was making himself approachable to humanity despite their sin.

Notice that Adam and Eve’s response is similar to the Israelites’ response when they heard the sound of the Lord and saw the clouds.

On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. (Exodus 19:16, ESV)

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:18–19, ESV)

just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ (Deuteronomy 18:16, ESV)

For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” (Hebrews 12:18–21, ESV)

Israel trembled and did not want God’s presence to be near. Just like Adam and Eve, the Israelites would prefer to be hidden from God’s presence. We may feel bold and shout up to the sky, telling God that he ought to reveal himself more directly to us, but even if he came veiled and hidden, we would not be able to handle it. We would fall on our faces, trembling. Instead of wanting to be in his presence, we, like Adam and Eve, would flee. And we, like the Israelites, would only harden our hearts in unbelief on that day. This is what Hebrews speaks of when it describes “those who shrink back and are destroyed” (Hebrews 10:39, ESV). And it is the very thing God is trying to avoid in hiding himself. If God showed up, we would run away and destroy ourselves, for we would flee even if that meant running to a place of darkness.

We who do not want God near, though he comes near

Let us be clear. It is not because God is not good that we shrink back. It is because evil cannot survive in his presence that we shrink back in fear. Light is good, but darkness flees in the presence of light. For those who love the light, this is good. For those who love the darkness, this is terror, for the things they love cannot survive in the light. Jesus brings healing, for he is the way, the truth, and the life. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4–5, ESV). Yet despite this, we reject him,

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19–20, ESV)

And so, because we love our sin, we shrink back in fear of being destroyed. Because this is our tendency when in the presence of God, God veils and hides himself. God lowers down the notch by infinite degrees so that his presence won’t overwhelm us. He comes in the shadows and in the things that go bump in the night; we just choose to shrink back and hide. The most repeated command in the Bible is, “Do not fear”. In our fear, God is gentle, kind, sensitive, and loving in the way he approaches us.

God hid himself in order to rescue us

Though God hides from us, God is not hiding from us in the sense that he does not want to be found, nor in the sense that he is difficult to find. That is so far from the truth. God hid himself to protect us from the judgment day and to keep us from shrinking back so that he might rescue us. And so, yes, there is a theme of hiddenness, a veil, a cloud throughout the Bible, that only allows us to see God dimly, as if in a reflection. And yes, we cannot see God directly, for we are carefully kept from this by a loving God who is gentle, patient, lowly, humble, and self-sacrificing in the way he handles us in our fallen nature. And he has done this not to hide himself from us, but instead that he might be approachable and might be found. And it is indeed his desire to be found by us and come to Him, despite our sin. Psalm 32 has the theme of God calling to the sinner to come near despite their sin. In this Psalm, God calls to the sinner,

     Be not like a horse or 
          mule,
       without understanding,
       which must be curbed
          with bit 
          and bridle,
       or it will not stay
          near you.
          (Psalm 32:9, ESV)

Because God has veiled himself, because of his hiddenness, it allows us to come near into his presence without shrinking back or being like a mule, and as we come near, we need not fear our final judgment because the veil keeps us from his throne and his face. Paul states that God set history “that [we] should seek God, and perhaps feel [our] way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27, ESV).  Moses describes God’s nearness,

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it (Deuteronomy 30:11–14, ESV)

Paul elaborates on this,

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:5–13)

Though God is hidden, he is not far from each one of us. The only wall between us is our willingness to call upon the name of the Lord. But instead of coming to God, we are the ones who hide ourselves from his presence despite his gentle kindness towards us. We, in our “unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). We actively hide God’s presence from ourselves, for his presence means we will be exposed and vulnerable. We love the darkness and don’t want to be exposed by the light. We love our world. God’s presence destroys our world, and we want to fight to keep it. And so, we shrink back and hide ourselves.

But God is only a call away from us. When we are ready to leave our world behind and come to him, we will find that he was already there with arms open wide.

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145:18)

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit. (Psalm 34:1)

Our Father is near. And if we go back to the words “sound” and “wind”, we will see this. Though they imply hiddenness, they also imply a deep intimacy and a loving faithfulness. And because of His love and kindness, an all-powerful, all-knowing God has chosen to use these means to reveal himself. We will discuss more about the “sound” and the “wind” in the upcoming articles in this series (The hidden God in an evil world). But before we discuss the “sound” and the “wind”, we will look at our response to the “obvious” means of evidence that atheists seem to want, for we must be careful what we wish for.

The Problem of Futile Suffering

I listened as an atheist admitted that the most difficult quandary for him in believing in God is the presence of pointless suffering. He could not understand how a perfectly-loving God could allow pointless suffering in the world? He described a scenario of a tree that had fallen on deer in the middle of nowhere. Even though the deer cried out for help, there was no one to rescue the deer. This deer did not die instantly but languished for days before it finally succumbed to its wounds and lack of food and water and died. Because no one was there, no one ever knew what happened, it had no effect on anyone whether good or bad. Nor was it caused by foolishness or evil. It just happened. If you have experienced enough life, you have experienced this kind of futility. It is easier to take hold of the idea that suffering can in some way help us to grow or the fact that God can use evil in this world to produce good. We are easily captivated by the idea that God not only triumphs over evil, but ultimately thwarts the plan of evil for his own purposes, making a complete mockery of evil. After all this is ultimately what we see in the death of Jesus. But what about suffering that occurs where we look at it and it is just utterly futile. Do we tell people, “It is going to be ok”, “It will get better”, or “There is some purpose behind it”. We can try to paint a rosy picture on this kind of suffering, but I do not think that is what we find in scripture. The scripture is honest, yes, there is futility, vanity, and chaos in the world. Ecclesiastes declares, “’Futility of futilities,’ says the Preacher, ‘Futility of futilities! All is futility.” (1:2, NASB). And Paul confirms this, “For the creation was subjected to futility” (Romans 8:20a).

It is not surprising that we perform evil acts. We have rejected God and chosen to do what is right in our own eyes. God does not have the quality of goodness; he is the basis and source of goodness. God is good. So, when humanity rejects and abandons their only source of goodness, that goodness withers away and dies. God has made us in the image of God, but just as a rose on a branch withers away when separated from its source, so we too cannot maintain our goodness apart from God. The moment that branch is cut off it is decaying, and it is cut off from life. You might place it in water, but it does not change the essence of death. When we reject God, we too fall into depravity. The psalmist understood this when he wrote, “You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides You” (16:2, NASB). So, it is not surprising the horror that has resulted from humanity’s rebellion and hatred of God. When you abandon good you have evil. But does this explain why there is futile suffering?

Let us go back to Romans 8:20a and read it in its context,

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. (Romans 8:18–24a, ESV)

Paul is clear that God has subjected creation to futility, but it is a futility with purpose so that the sons of God may be revealed and even creation itself will be restored as humanity is once again in their rightful place as royal priests presiding over creation bringing prosperity to creation. So, why did God subject creation to futility, and how does this accomplish the restoration of mankind?

When Adam rebelled against God by eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, he broke the command of God and his covenant. God had made it clear that if he broke the command, “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17, ESV). The term, “in the day” refers both to the immediate fall of man, but also refers to the day of judgement when we stand before God’s throne and see him face to face. What we find is that though we experience the former, God postpones the later. Instead of bringing Adam before his throne, God veils himself and keeps his face hidden and then expels Adam and Eve from the Garden, keeping them from his throne. If God had not done this, you and I would not be here today. (For more on this, read here.) When God hid his face from mankind, he also hid his face from creation and this act has significant consequences.

We have noted that when we actively separate ourselves from God in our rebellion, because we have abandoned the only source of good, our hearts become depraved and evil results. Likewise, when God veiled or hid himself in order to save mankind, this absence of the fullness of his glory affected all of creation. Like us, creation requires God’s presence in his fullness to be good. Neither we nor creation work properly without the fullness of God’s presence. So, when God veiled himself chaos, decay, and futility occurred in nature. And so yes, there is futility in this world. But as Paul writes, God did this in hope. In hope he kept Adam and Eve from his face and from his throne room, because he had a plan to save both mankind and creation through the seed of the women, Jesus.

Though we groan inwardly, we have a great hope. And this is our hope, that both we and creation will once again experience the fullness of the presence of God. As the psalmist cries out, “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved” (Psalm 80:3). It is in seeing God’s face that we are restored. And because of the work and worth of Jesus, those who put their trust in him, will see God’s face. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12, NASB). John describes how we will be healed when we see God’s face, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (John 3:2, NASB). And likewise, creation will be healed when it experiences the fullness of the presence of God. “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9, ESV). “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face,” (Revelation 22: 3-4a). God will not only conquer evil, but he will also conquer futility as well. God is a God that can bring order out of chaos. He is God over all, and he will truly use all things for his glory and for the good of those who love him. It is only an all-powerful, all-knowing, perfectly loving God that can accomplish all this.

     On this mountain the LORD 
       of hosts will make for all peoples 
          a feast of rich food, 
            a feast of well-aged wine, 
          of rich food full of marrow, 
            of aged wine well refined. 
     And he will swallow up 
       on this mountain 
          the covering that is 
           cast over all peoples, 
          the veil that is spread
           over all nations. 
     He will swallow up death forever; 
     and the Lord GOD will wipe 
       away tears from all faces, 
         and the reproach of his people 
           he will take away 
            from all the earth, 
         for the LORD has spoken. 
     It will be said on that day, 

“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him;let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
(Isaiah 25:6–9, ESV)

Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:3-4, ESV)

     The LORD bless you and keep you;
        the LORD make his face 
         to shine upon you and 
         be gracious to you;
        the LORD lift up his countenance
         upon you and 
         give you peace. 
         (Numbers 6:24–26, ESV) 

To read the series Hidden God in and evil world, click here.

The death of Shemei

Solomon looked at the man standing before his throne and proclaimed, “You know in your own heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So, the LORD will bring back your harm on your own head. But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever” (1 Kings 2:44-45, ESV). After the king spoke these words, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada drew his sword and struck him down. . . Shimei was dead.

Three years earlier, before he died, Shimei had stood before Solomon and Solomon had warned him, “on the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die” (1 Kings 2:37, ESV). Shimei replied, “What you say is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do” (38). But Shimei did not take these words to heart, for before being brought before Solomon’s throne to be sentenced, he had crossed the Kidron to retrieve two of his servants who had fled to Gath. And just as Solomon had promised, the moment he stepped across the Kidron, that very day, his death was certain.

“The day”

This event is reminiscent of God’s command to Adam, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16–17, ESV). Both Solomon and God gave the edict “for in the day”. But neither Shimei nor Adam were put to death on the exact same day they violated the command. Did God fail to keep his promise that “in the day” Adam ate of the tree he would “surely die”?

After Shimei stepped on the other side of the Kidron, he traveled to Gath, obtained his servants, and returned home. The average day’s journey for a donkey is 15-20 miles, but possibly 30 (donkeyonfarm.com). The trip to Gath and back would have been around 50-60 miles there and back. Shimei would also have had to take the time to retrieve his servants. Therefore, it is improbable that Shimei left Jerusalem, found his servants in Gath, returned to Jerusalem, and was summoned by Solomon on the same day. On the day Shimei crossed the Kidron his death was certain, but his death did not occur until he was brought before the throne room and saw Solomon face to face, and judgment was pronounced.

Sound and Wind

After Adam sinned and God comes to meet with Adam we find an interesting phrase, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the [wind] of the day” (Genesis 3:8, [added]). Notice it doesn’t say the LORD God walked, but instead “the sound of the Lord God” and this walking was in “the wind of the day”. In the rest of the Bible, we have similar language. It is the word of the LORD that met with Abraham in Genesis 15 and spoke through the prophets. We also see a similar description at the end of Job when the LORD comes to speak. And when God comes, he comes cloaked in clouds. We see a vivid picture of this when God comes to Mount Sinai: “there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder” (Exodus 19:16–19, ESV). It is no surprise that Adam and Eve, on hearing God come into the garden of Eden after they had broken God’s command, shrunk back and hid themselves from the presence of the LORD among the trees of the garden, just as the Israelites trembled at Sinai.

Man shall not see God’s face and live

Though this image of God coming into the Garden and meeting with the Israelites at Mount Sinai is powerful, it is a picture of a God who has hidden himself, who has hidden his face. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, he was told, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’” (Exodus 33:19–20, ESV). Remember, Shimei’s death did not occur till he stood before the throne and saw Solomon face to face. Coming before the throne and seeing the king face to face meant judgment, and the penalty had already been proclaimed – death. When God came to meet Adam in the Garden, he hid his face and promptly escorted Adam and Eve out of Eden, and the sword, instead of putting Adam and Eve to death, prevented them from entering the throne room of God. Just as Shimei’s death was certain when he passed over the Kidron, so Adam’s death was certain, but unlike Shimei, Adam’s day before the throne was postponed.

In that crucial point in history, if Adam and Eve had stood before the throne of God and saw God’s face that very day, their judgment would have been proclaimed, and they would have died. If God had not hidden himself and driven Adam and Eve out, humanity would have ended there. You and I would not exist.

An all-knowing, all-powerful, perfectly-loving God will hide himself

The question is often asked why would an all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfectly-loving God hide himself from us, if he wants us to know him. Why does he not reveal himself clearly? The simple answer is because he is all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfectly loving, he has in love chosen to hide himself so that he can postpone the day of our judgment. He does this so that during this postponement, he can rescue and bring a people to himself. We are in the period between when Shemei placed one foot across the Kidron and before he came before the throne of Solomon. Make no mistake, just as Shemei’s death was certain the moment he passed the Kidron, so our death is certain, and that “day” will come . . .

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11–15, ESV)

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:8–10, ESV)

And this is our hope . . . On this day, the day of the great white throne judgement evil will finally be destroyed, and no longer cause harm and on that day the final enemy will be destroyed, death itself. And yet, because God hid himself, not all of humanity will be destroyed. He made a way through his son, Jesus, the son of David.

On that day, the throne of the son of David will prosper and be established forever, and the people of the son of David will stand victorious. For God has made another day called “Today”. On this day, called “Today”, Jesus, the final Adam, in his humanity stood before the throne of God. On the cross, he bore the wrath of God in our place. The punishment that should have fallen on us fell on him. As our great high priest took upon himself the wrath of God and died in our place. But Jesus did not stay in the grave and could not be held in Sheol; he conquered death and the gates of Hades in his resurrection. The bondage of death can no longer hold us. When we call upon the name of the Lord and put our trust in the work and worth of Jesus alone, we have our day before the throne of God, but just as the ark and the Passover lamb protected them from the wrath of God, we are bound to Christ, and God’s presence instead of destroying us purifies us and makes us whole. We are not like Adam and Eve or the Israelites who shrunk back and hid themselves in God’s presence, but instead, we “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). We stand before the throne, and the King declares us righteous. For those of the Kingdom of David, “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22: 3-4, ESV).

God owned the idea of hiddenness before the atheists

Throughout the Bible, God is seen as being surrounded or cloaked in clouds or veiled. The idea of a hidden God does not come first from atheists questioning God; it comes from the story of the Gospel and is an important concept in understanding this redemption story. An old lady once said to King David, “We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast” (2 Samuel 14:14). And this is the purpose in God hiding himself – because God so loved this world, he made a Way and had a plan to bring us back to himself, so that one day we might stand before his throne, in his presence and see his face. For those who are in Christ, when we stand before God, his judgment passes over us while we remain unscathed, for our judgment is dealt with on the cross and is conquered in Jesus’s resurrection. So, the atheist may ask the question, “Why is God hidden?” but it is only because God is hidden that they can even ask the question. The only reason you and I are alive and able to read this is because a perfectly loving God hid himself, postponing our judgment day.

Come!

The LORD has called out to you and I to “Come!”. Be assured of this, though our judgment and fate our certain, if we do not heed the call of the Gospel. Do not fool yourself by thinking you will be able to say to God, “a perfectly-loving God would not hide himself, therefore I ought not be judged”. This call has gone out to the whole world. His call has gone out to you.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

          But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for 
     “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, 
          and their words to the ends of the world.” 
          (Romans 10:17–18, ESV) 

We may believe that we can be children and claim we just didn’t hear God, and feel like we can make excuses, but our excuses will expose us for who we are and will suddenly become feeble, and our mouths will be shut when we stand before God’s throne. Our own words will condemn us. The scripture warns us instead of refusing to listen, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

     Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, 
          which must be curbed with bit and bridle, 
          or it will not stay near you. 
            (Psalm 32:9, ESV) 

Instead, hear and listen to the call and come,

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take of the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30, ESV)

You might still say, “But why does God not reveal himself like he did to the Israelites in the desert? Surely, if he did this, I would believe”. We will deal with this in later posts.

The story of hiddenness

Questions often have presumptions

We all have heard that “there is no such thing as a bad question.” Though in an important sense this is true, this phrase is not about the questions themselves, but about the dangers of refraining from inquiry. If we have questions, we ought to ask them because if we are silent, we cannot learn. For even if one has a bad question, knowledge cannot be had if questions are not asked. But as we grow in wisdom, we understand that though we ought to continue to ask questions, our questions are often indicators of our presumptions on a subject. This is because our questions often come with baggage. We see the situation from our perspective, and it takes a lot of work to step outside that perspective. Often, our presumptions are wrong.

We see this clearly in our relationships for many of us know what it is to hurt someone by asking a question that implied certain assumptions about the person, only to find out that we were way off base. We end up finding ourselves profusely apologizing for our ungrounded and incompetent question. Often, in these cases, we do this because we don’t have the full picture or context, or story. Though it is still better to ask a question in this situation than to hold on to false ideas about a person, we are aware that are question was one based on ignorance rather than truth. This humility is important if we desire to pursue truth.

We must be willing to scrutinize and discern both the answers as well as our questions. For we also understand that sometimes questions, if not scrutinized, can be used to limit our ability to learn. Lawyers, for example, use this fact to their advantage to get the outcome they desire. When we are more interested in winning an argument than the truth, questions can become a dangerous tool for closing our minds and blinding us to the evidence. If, when confronted with the presumptions of our questions, we insist that our presumptions are true, then we will never learn. In our relationships, we will only be building walls that separate us from knowing those around us. And in our pursuit of knowledge, we will only end up falling into a pit of our own foolishness.

Asking bad questions can lead us down the wrong path. Sometimes, when we can’t get the puzzle to come together, it is because we are so determined to get a square peg into the circular hole. But often, when we step back and see things from a proper perspective, the puzzle easily falls into place. This is often what happens when people struggle with the hiddenness of God. They bring their baggage to the story, filtering it and distorting it to match their preconceived ideas instead of pausing and listening and letting the story speak for itself.

A God who pursues unashamedly

One of the presumptions we make is that if knowing God is what it takes to be saved from our sin and the wrath of God, then all God would have to do is make himself clearly known with some show of extraordinary evidence. We might argue,

All it would take is for God to just show up and say, “Hi”. That would be powerful and convincing evidence. I would believe in him and so would the rest of the world. If God is loving, surely, he would do what it takes to bring us to himself. . ..

If this were the case, and this is all it would take, it is clear from the Bible that God would not hesitate for a second to make this happen. Our loving Father would not only be willing but also eager to run to our rescue. The Bible gives us imagery of his desire to bring us to himself and shelter us under his wings and to envelope us in the Father’s embrace as we are lavished by his kisses. Indeed, his love and longing for us is deeper than the father of the prodigal son in Luke 15.

The parables of Luke 15 show a God who is desperately and actively seeking the lost. In the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son, we find someone who will face the dangers of the open country and one who leaves no stone or pillow unturned as they sweep the house and seek diligently till what was lost is found. We see this theme as well in Proverbs 1,

     Wisdom cries aloud in the street, 
	in the markets she raises her voice; 
     at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; 
	at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 
               (Proverbs 1:20,21)

God is not aloof but is active in his pursuit of the lost. These parables describe God’s joy over just one sheep, one coin, one prodigal son . . . “one sinner who repents”. If this is his pursuit and passion for one sinner, what can we say of his pursuit of all humanity?

Pursuit of the two sons

But there is more, for in these parables, we also see with what abandonment God pursues us, particularly in the parable of the two sons. In that culture, when a son asked for his inheritance while his father was alive, it was the same as the son saying, “Father, you are dead to me.” And this was indeed true, for he forgot his father and went off to a faraway country, abandoning both his father and home. This son had spat in his father’s face, heaping insult upon his father. He then squanders his father’s hard work, making his father’s years of labor amount to nothing.

Despite what his son had done to him, we see the father, having seen his son from afar off, girding up his loins, exposing his bare legs, and running toward his son. And when he reaches his son, he embraces him with kisses. In that culture, a father running and exposing his legs would have been a shameful and disgraceful act. And his running was not a private act. Because the father had to run quite a distance, his shame was probably seen by many and possibly the village as well. But we can feel the joy he had, despising the shame, so he could embrace his beloved son.

Some have speculated that the father ran so urgently because the son being far off might have also been noticed by those in the village before he had a chance to reach his father. Those in the village would have been well aware of who he was and the shame he had brought on his father. If this was the case, the father would have worried that those in the village might intercept his son and having intercepted his son, brought him before the village in a ceremony known as Kezazah and pronounced official judgment on him for the shame he had brought to his father and the village, a judgment that would have cut off the son from the community and declared him to be dead from that point on. The father, in urgent haste to prevent this, was willing to be seen with bare legs running for all to see to reach his son. Regardless, the emphasis of the parable is that the father ran because he loved and longed for his son in the deepest parts of who he was. Though his son had already shamed him and spit in his face, he was more than willing to take upon himself even more shame and public humiliation if that is what it meant to have his son back. In this act, he declares his son alive, not dead, for all to see. In his act of shame, he takes away the reproach of his son, giving his son the honor he does not deserve. And instead of a Kezazah, the whole village rejoices and celebrates with the father that his son is alive.

We ought not think that God is not above shaming himself to receive us back into his arms. God took upon himself the ultimate shame to win us back.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5–8, ESV)

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— (Galatians 3:13)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

If God is not above shaming himself, he is not above showing up, making himself bare and fully evident, and saying, “hi”. This realization ought to make us pause . . . and think about our questions. Do we understand what we are asking? Do we know the whole picture? Could we be wrong in our assumptions? Maybe there is more to the story. . .. Maybe there is more to the heart of God and his love for us . . .. He cries out to us, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37).

If there were another way

Now, let us look at a pinnacle moment in the life of Jesus that gets to the heart of the question of whether there was another way. In the Garden of Gethsemane, in anguish and wrestling to the point of sweating blood, Jesus “prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’” Do not read this too quickly. . .. Jesus, while teaching during his ministry, is clear that the Father always listens to him. Jesus is asking, “if it is possible”. This was not a shallow request on the part of Jesus, this was a request coming from deep in the bowels and the heart and soul of Jesus. And this was not the request of a passerby, this was a request of a much beloved son. The Father deeply loves the Son. His son was in deep agony and was sweating blood. We who are evil would not hesitate to heed the call of our child in this situation. Make no mistake, neither would the Father. Jesus said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” If it were possible, if there were even some remote prospect of another way to redeem humanity, his father would not have hesitated to answer this request from his son.

Maybe there is more to the story

And so, once again, these things ought to make us stop, pause, and look at the presumptions of our questions. What baggage or assumptions are we bringing? Is it not human nature to think we understand the story or situation well, even when we don’t? Yet, we often don’t know as much as we think we do. And as we often bring poor questions in our relationships with others due to our misunderstandings, perhaps we are doing the same with God. And because we do this in everyday life, this should not surprise us. Despite this, the scripture invites us to ask these questions. The scripture does not ignore them. But we must also be willing to cast off our presumptions and have ears to listen. When we listen, we will find that when it comes to the hiddenness of God, there is more to the story . . ..                                                  

Things go bump in the night

As a child, you may have woken up in the middle of the night with darkness all around you, and as the shadows creep into your imagination, you cry out in fear. . . .

Soon, you are held by loving arms that comfort you with their voice. But what if those comforting arms and voice never came. . . .

How can this be?

Many have wrestled with the idea of the “hiddenness” of God. This struggle is more than just an intellectual proposition. It bores its way deeply into our hearts and our understanding of love. If God is perfectly loving, why does he not make himself clearly known? Has he left us in the dark? No loving parent would leave their child in the dark. If God is loving, why does he not make his presence clearly and definitively known? If you love someone and want them to come to you, you don’t hide yourself. How crazy is that? More importantly, if we must know God in order to be saved, and not knowing him means experiencing his wrath, why does God hide himself? And if God is all-powerful, why does he not just make it happen? If he wanted to make himself known all he would have to do is just show up and say, “Hi” or make himself known clearly in some other way. Wouldn’t it be solved if He could just make himself known to everyone on earth? We would all believe. And everything would be great. Problem solved.

But more importantly, many struggle with the fact that they feel like God, if he exists has not revealed himself personally to them. The evidence against God’s existence is so overwhelming, they do not know how to tenably hold on to the idea of a God. Many also feel that despite seeking answers from God, they haven’t received any. They feel like if God does exist, then it is his fault that they don’t believe in him. After all, if God is loving and all-powerful, he ought to be able to make himself known with clarity to me. And what about the rest of humanity? We cannot know God unless he reveals himself, so he is the one responsible for making himself known, not us. Many who have asked this question find it difficult to see how God, if he exists, is loving, just, fair, or good. For if knowing him is so vital and necessary for our salvation, then why would he hide? We ought to wrestle with questions like these and not run away or hide from them. I have had sleepless nights struggling with questions like this. And it is in this wrestling between my own questions and the two-edged sword of the word that has grown and refined my faith as I come to see the beauty and wonder of the face of God more clearly.

We will find that there is more to the story and that God indeed does come wrapping his arms around us, but there are those who reject his love because they have come to love the shadows. And in loving the shadows, they have become the things that go bump in the night. When the father comes, he destroys the shadows and the things that go bump in the night to comfort his children. And so, having become the things that go bump in the night, they shrink back and hide from the father.

Before we discuss the hiddenness of God, I first want you to put a picture in your mind of Jesus weeping. Why is he weeping?

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! (Luke 13:34)

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)

Posts in the series The Hidden God in an Evil World:

1. Bump in the night

2. The Father does not despise the shame

3. The day before the throne

4. Hides to be approachable

5. Our belief in God would destroy us

6. How dare you show up, God!

7. The Sound

8. The Wind

9. Trying to get a square peg into a round hole

Coming Soon . . .

10. Belief is not enough

11. What is “knowing”?

12. We must be born again

13. The Covenant

14. God reveals himself

15. The Word

16. Love for his enemies

17. Black and White

18. Wondering in the desert

19. We are not as good . . .

20. Sin brings hell

21. Futile suffering

22. What is the source of Evil

23. Objection: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

24. Objection: Using the Bible is a circular argument

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Atheists often ask for Christians to provide evidence for God. It is a fair request, because despite their slurs, Christianity is not based on blind faith. But in order to look at the evidence, we must first look at both what evidence is and discuss what kind of evidence for God we ought to expect. For it is clear that we have two different approaches when it comes to what is counted as evidence for God. And so if we are not going to talk past each other, it is important to understand what the differences are. Understanding this will help us understand each other’s arguments and communicate more effectively. We must also come to understand how our epistemologies and framework affect our perspectives on this subject and what biases come from those approaches. And we must also examine these approaches and ascertain which approach better deals with the evidence and come to grips with what kind of evidence we can expect.

One popular saying of the atheist community is, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” This statement seems to sum up the epistemology of many atheists on how they believe they can know whether there is a god or not. In other words, they are often looking for indisputable proof of God’s existence or at least evidence that would fall within same confidence level of science. Gravity for example is unseen, but measurable, observable, repeatable, and follows predictable formulas so despite not seeing it, we know it exists. Also, because the presence of God is not something that we experience in our everyday lives or in the lives of those around us, it would take more for one to believe in God’s existence. For example, we don’t tend to believe that unicorns exist because in our experience and in the experience of those around us, they don’t. Because of this for me to believe there is a unicorn, you would have to provide extraordinary evidence. And on the surface, this makes sense. Why believe in something unless you have demonstratable proof of its existence?

This approach, however, relies on underlying unproven assumptions. For example, this approach assumes the type of evidence that will be found and then rejects any evidence that does not fit within these preconceived parameters. This creates a self-confirming bias. If it is not extraordinary or indisputable evidence, we can toss it out and not dwell on it. “Come talk with me when you have discovered something indisputable”. In this way, a plethora of evidence can be ignored.

Here is the deal. For one science doesn’t work that way and if God exists, we should not be quick to assume what those parameters are or what type of evidence we should find. Even with as much as we do know, we barely understand the universe and what we understand today did not come about by telling the universe what its parameters of evidence ought to be and then reject any data that does not fit within those parameters. By no means, for we know this kind of thinking to be foolish. How much more when studying something much more complex than the universe, must we be careful not to be blinded by our assumptions by placing artificial parameters on what that evidence might be. Instead, we observe and collect data as it is and come up with theories that best explain what that data is. But instead of using a scientific method atheist have told God how he must reveal himself and what kind of data and evidence must present to prove his existence. That is ridiculous. How are we to know? For a group that claims to love science, they are quick to throw out the scientific method on this question. If you only accept extraordinary evidence, then you have become blind to other forms of evidence. Evidence doesn’t have to be extraordinary or indisputable to be evidence. If God exists, we cannot presume the means or the type of evidence by which he might reveal himself. We must also keep in mind scientific evidence is not the only kind of evidence. And the scientific method is not the only means by which we come to know things. Not everything is testable. When we study history for example, we can’t do experiments. But this does not mean we can’t take a rigorous scholarly approach when we are approaching this subject. I believe the Bible demands it, I am not to just accept things on so called, “blind faith”.

One of those assumptions atheists have is the Schellenberg argument. It assumes that if perfectly-loving, all-powerful, all-knowing God exists, that he would reveal himself in an extraordinary way or by whatever means necessary to provide irrevocable proof of his existence. And since we don’t find this proof, therefore atheists conclude that God does not exist. In other words, this approach assumes that there will be a specific kind of evidence for God, that everyone can look to and undeniably know that there is a God. I have shown elswhere that the Schellenberg argument is not tenable and that there is another possibility, one in which God would not reveal himself in this way. Since this approach relies on the Schellenberg argument, this approach like the Schellenberg argument is flawed. Because of this we cannot assume that God will reveal himself through extraordinary means. That would be entering an unproven bias into our query. It is possible that God has chosen to reveal himself by very ordinary means. After all, if pride is the ultimate sin, would it not make sense for God to reveal himself through humble means and in a way that is loving both toward those who come to love him and to those who are his enemies. We have to ask ourselves, by what scientific method have the atheists determined that extraordinary evidence is needed to prove the existence of God? It is not the purview of science to approach a subject with the baggage of assumptions. Although at times, it is not without warrant to provide a predictive model of what you believe you might expect, so you can test it. It however is not scientific or scholarly to hold on to that model staunchly in the presence of evidence that shows that that model is indefensible. The statement, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” is indefensible and therefore should be thrown out. Evidence doesn’t have to be grand or extraordinary to be reasonable.

Another problem with this approach is that it is very subjective. What kind of evidence is considered extraordinary? After all, if unicorns or magic were everywhere, we would find them ordinary, instead of extraordinary. It is not so much extraordinary evidence that we need, but reasonable evidence. If you have a subjective standard by which you look at the evidence, since we are creatures that are really good at confirmation bias and conforming the evidence to fit our preconceived standard, we will not believe. We know this and both sides are not immune to this. But one thing that is clear the statement, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” is faulty at best. But the atheists would argue, God would know what kind of evidence it would take for me to believe. After all, how can I know God exists if he does not provide sufficient proof for me to believe. Well, many atheists have made it clear that not even this would be enough for them to believe. Because their standard for evidence is subjective, and there is no definable means to deal with the evidence that is there, it is easy when presented with evidence to just shrug it off and say, “Well, that still is not sufficient evidence for me to believe.” This is a standard based on emotion rather than objective reasoning. Here is the thing, when we presume a perspective of God that is subjective, limiting, and narrow, we cease to analyze the data as a scientist, and we close our minds to the possibilities outside our restricted parameters. We no longer really listen and hear the evidence that is out there, because it doesn’t meet the artificial criteria we have made. This kind approach only works if the assumption is that God would reveal himself by extraordinary means. But since we cannot rely on the Schellenberg argument and we cannot assume that God will reveal himself in extraordinary means, we must look to another approach when addressing the question of whether there is a God or not.

The most problematic assumption of this approach is that it assumes that God’s main goal in revealing himself is for us to believe in his existence and therefore God ought to use the most efficient and effective means to make his existence known to as many people as possible. I have argued that this is not the case. God is not trying to get people to believe in his existence, but instead is using the most effective means to call people who are at enmity with him to himself and bring them into a loving covenant relationship. These are two very separate and distinct objectives that require different means to accomplish. Extraordinary evidence is not the most effective means for this to occur, therefore we should not assume that it would be the means by which God would reveal himself. A scientific approach does not assume foundational premises without evidence. The irony is that though atheists demand scientific evidence, they do not rely on evidence for their foundational premises, nor do they feel the need to provide such evidence. Why do they believe the Schellenberg argument is true? Who knows? Atheists have become irrational demanding God to speak only in the way they have chosen, but when he speaks using humility and speaks in a different Way, instead of listening, they get angry at him for not speaking in the way they have chosen. This is not science, nor is this how any relationship works. These kinds of arguments are not founded on rational thinking.

Again, it really doesn’t matter if you believe the Bible or not, these approaches are not an effective means for determining whether or not there is a God because it relies on unproven assumptions. If you have a premise, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”, you have to prove that God must reveal himself this way. You have provided no proof of this. Therefore, there is no scientific, philosophical, or scholarly reason why we ought to limit God to this criterion. Why could he not reveal himself in the ordinary and with humble means? Because the premise “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” falls apart when examined with scrutiny, and God could very well reveal himself in the ordinary, we need to look to some other means to answer these questions.

Thankfully, this is not the only approach when dealing with the evidence that there is a God or not. We can use another approach that fits more in line with the scientific and scholarly approach, one that is not full of baggage and unproven assumptions. Even though, we cannot assume that a perfectly-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful God would not hide himself, we can assume that he would reveal himself in some way. However, even though we can assume that he would reveal himself, we cannot assume by what means he would do so. If having an understanding of the universe is beyond our grasp, how much more the creator of the universe, if he exists. We should be careful about bringing our assumptions into this question. We don’t know that God would provide extraordinary evidence for his existence. And I have shown that this approach would be harmful. This being the case, we should not expect there to be extraordinary evidence. So instead of assuming the criterion for how God must reveal himself, we ought to ask the question is there any reasonable evidence that God has revealed himself. Instead of trying to push the data into our preconceived ideas as is done by the atheist, we can allow the data to speak for itself and form our theory based on the data instead of vice versa. When we do this, we can test these theories against the data to see if those theories hold up. After all this is the more scientific approach because it does not assume the nature God or how he might reveal itself, but instead attempts to objectively look at the data we have for or against the existence of God. This is a far more scientific approach than stating this is the only type of data I will accept. And, as we look at the data, we can ask if there any reasonable evidence that would point towards the existence of God. Again, we are not asking if there is any definitive evidence for the existence of God, for that kind approach has been shown to be invalid, since we cannot assume that there will be definitive evidence.

And there is reasonable evidence for God, for example, the fine-tuning argument. Though this argument is not direct proof, the concept of God would be reasonable to explain this, because even if we have an absolute scientific explanation for the creation of the universe and how it has evolved, this fact does not go away. We should not be surprised that the universe is ordered by science. And even if we have an explanation for this occurring scientifically, that explanation would contribute to the argument rather than detracting from it. And the more we explore science the more this seems to be the case. Just like unicorns and magic can become mundane, we should not lose our wonder and awe. We are stuck with this, and so the argument is not whether fine-tuning exists, but whether it points to God or not. And though this evidence alone cannot prove the existence of God, it is data that is one piece of the puzzle. And it is reasonable especially given the many other evidences to see this as possible evidence for God. And some would say not only is this reasonable evidence but extraordinary evidence. And here is the thing . . . it doesn’t stand alone. This is only one piece of evidence. There are many other arguments and evidence that reasonably point to God. Here is my point, you may not believe in God, you may throw the evidence out because it does not fit your criterion, but you cannot say it is unreasonable for me to believe in God, when there is a plethora of such evidence that support my belief. Nor is it reasonable to claim that there is no evidence for God. No, I may not have the evidence you want, but I don’t think the evidence you want is reasonable, scientific, or scholarly. The fault is with your criterion, not the evidence.

And here we come to another factor in looking at the evidence. Do we determine how God must reveal himself? Or does he determine how he reveals himself? Is it possible if there is a God that he would choose to reveal himself through writings. Yes, it is possible. We cannot just arbitrarily rule this out. And there is a lot of evidence that point to the trustworthiness of the Bible, enough to say that it is reasonable to trust it. And here we come to another aspect that we must address in order to evaluate evidence for God or any religion. As with all that we understand with science we are asking what a reasonable explanation for the evidence is, we have and asking is there any reasonable evidence to nullify the explanation we currently have for the evidence. So, not only do we need to ask, “Is it reasonable?” but we also have to ask, “Is there any reasonable arguments against the validity of the evidence or the proposed explanation for the evidence?”. And this is something atheists have failed to do. For example, you claim that there are thousands of contradictions in the Bible and yet I have not found one atheist that can back up the claim for even one. So, I have a position where I can provide evidence that is reasonable with no valid opposition showing it is wrong. If you want to take a more scientific approach, then this is pretty good evidence. And if that is so then it is a theory that must be on the table. You cannot take it off, till you have evidence to support taking it off. There is a difference between you not believing or disagreeing with a proposition, then you proving it to be false. One is emotional, the other is scientific or academic. I understand that this is not the kind of evidence you want and that you might say that in the absence of extraordinary evidence it is reasonable for me to not believe in God. But I have given evidence to show that this is not a reasonable position, which ought to force you to deal with the evidence that is there instead of ignoring it and quickly tossing it away because it doesn’t fit your agenda. Why should you base your view of the world on logical fallacies and faulty scholarship? You might say, “Ok, well let’s take your proposition and data, which is what I have a problem with. I have thousands of reasons to believe that the proposition of the Christian faith is unreasonable”. Ok, you are doing a little better because if you can show that the Bible or Christian faith is unreasonable by the approach I am proposing, you are right. But this has not been done. We must keep in mind that the Bible is probably the most scrutinized writing ever. The Christian religion is probably the most scrutinized religion. The fact that there are reasonable and objective answers based on solid scholarship to the challenges brought against it is evidence that it is a trustworthy document. And the fact that the charges against the Bible and Christianity rely on a false understanding of the Bible or Christianity says a lot about the atheist arguments. It does not impress me when atheists only fight against an imaginary foe. If you say you have a strong position, then stop being afraid and stand up and fight against the real thing and bring real arguments to the table instead of fluff. If all atheists can do is fight and imaginary foe, I think the Christian faith wins hands down. When atheists do this, they are ironically providing evidence for the Christian faith. You don’t fight an imaginary foe if you can fight the real thing. And I am willing to back this up. Give me the evidence for what you feel like is your strongest claim against Christianity and let’s talk about it. I know you might feel like because you studied to be a pastor you are attacking Christianity, but in our dialogues so far you haven’t, you have only attacked something imaginary. Sadly, I have found this to be true of other former Christians turned atheists as well. I would encourage you to reevaluate your arguments in light of this and work to have more solid arguments. Again, I am willing to back this up, you have not touched the Christian faith with your arguments.

Summary of the two approaches

Approach 1:

• A criterion is set up beforehand determining what kind of data will be evaluated as evidence. Evidence not fitting this criterion is thrown out.
• Criterion: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
  • Basically, you start with a prediction, without observation, then create an unproven criterion for collecting data. And then only collect data that fits within that prediction, and then come to the conclusion based on that selected data.
• Faults:
  • It assumes that extraordinary evidence is necessary.
  • Extraordinary evidence is a subjective and biased criteria.
  • It assumes that the Schellenberg argument is a proven fact.
  • It assumes that the main purpose of God revealing himself is to make his existence known.
  • None of the assumptions required for this approach are proven facts.
• Conclusion: Because the foundation of this approach requires unproven assumptions it is not a scientific approach.

Approach 1:

• Since we cannot definitively say how God might reveal himself, instead of setting up a criterion beforehand of what evidence is acceptable and what is not, look at the data first, evaluate the data and test it. Analyze it both based on whether or not it is reasonable based on the data but also evaluate whether or not there are any reasonable arguments against the proposition.
  • Basically, you observe, question, hypothesis, test, scrutinize, and analyze, then make conclusions.
• Faults: As with all of science, this will not necessarily give you definitive proof. It will, however, allow you to provide support for the reasonableness of a proposition. Basically, this is the scientific method, and it has the weaknesses of the scientific method.
• Strengths:
  • It follows the scientific method more closely than Approach 1.
  • If the Schellenberg argument is not certain, then Approach 2 would be best.
• Conclusion: Approach 2 will produce results that are more consistent with the data and evidence. Approach 1 relies on confirmation bias and unproven assumptions.

Videos:

• Do Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence? (interview with Dr. Tim McGrew) – YouTube  (This is a more technical argument of why the statement “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” fails when used in the way it is often used.)
• There is evidence

BACKGROUND: The son of God, the son of man

Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

                So God created man in his own image,

                                in the image of God he created him;

                                male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27, ESV)

The Man

Who are we? What is our fundamental nature, the essence of who we were meant to be? We were made to image God and reflect his rule and care. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion . . .’” “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15, ESV) Humanity was made in the image of God, to rule, to work, and keep this world. We were to be a royal priesthood imaging God.

 When the serpent showed up in Eden, he challenged our father and mother, Adam and Eve, with a choice, would they image God fully trusting in Him and looking to Him alone as their way, truth, and life or would they be like God in choosing for themselves between good and evil and doing what was right in their own eyes. Doing what is right in our own eyes is contrary to being made in the image of God. Sadly, Adam and Eve chose to abandon God and His word in order to do what was right and pleasing in their own eyes. And we, their sons and daughters, have gone down the same path, every one of us choosing to do what is right in our own eyes.

 Since Adam’s fall, that image of God we were meant to be has been profoundly corrupted infected at the very core of who we are. We are hopeless on our own, with no means of restoring ourselves to who we are meant to be. But we were not left on our own. When Adam fell mankind was not abandoned. God in his love promised he would one day send a man, one born of woman, who would crush the serpent’s head. He would be the perfect man, perfect in obedience and trust in God, the perfect image of God. The perfect priest-king.

                     I will put enmity between you and the woman,

                                and between your offspring and her offspring;

                he shall bruise your head,

                                and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, ESV)

As time moved on, God continued to proclaim and elaborate on his promise through the scripture and prophecy. The godly men of the Old Testament looked forward to the reality when this man would come into the world.

And so, when the long-awaited man arrived, he came like any other man, He was born into a humble family. He was cared for as a baby. He grew up. He learned. He lived in history and walked among and with people. Jesus was a man in every way. Mary raised Jesus amongst family and friends. As a son, he loved his mother and earthly father. He loved those around him. He had compassion on others, touching them, healing them. The apostles sat at his feet, walked with him, and they touched Jesus with their hands. They were loved by Jesus. They had a relationship with this man. In every way, he was a man.

He experienced the hardships of being a man and was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin, for, unlike any other man, no sin or fault could be found in him (Hebrews 4:15). This man did not live like other men who had been corrupted by sin as their father Adam. He did not do what was right in his own eyes, but he looked to the Father and did nothing without the Father. “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise” (John 5:19, ESV) He was the perfect imprint of His Father, He was the perfect image of God, the perfect human. He was born of a woman, but unlike any other human in history, his father was God. He is the son of God.

The son

Having lived 2,000 years of theological history, many of us when we hear the term “son of God”, we think of the person of the Trinity God, the Son, but when men like Peter intimately walked with this man, they experienced his humanity firsthand. They ate with him, sweat with him, celebrated with him, sang with him, lived with him.  Peter had met his mother, Mary. He would have known of Joseph. But when he said, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), Peter was declaring that this man’s father was not Joseph. Peter was declaring that this man was unlike any human in all history.

We need to lay hold of this. To understand the human nature of the term “son of God”, for it is in becoming a part of creation, one of us, that he gained the right to save mankind from their sins. As the scripture says, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:6,7)” Jesus became human, made in the image of God, just like the rest of us. And like every human, he had a father and mother. His mother was Mary. His father was God. He was the only unique human in all history whose father was God. Jesus was the only begotten son of God. Hebrews 1:5 proclaims,

   For to which of the angels did God ever say,

                “You are my Son,

                                today I have begotten you”?

                                Or again,

                “I will be to him a father,

                                and he shall be to me a son”? (ESV)

At Jesus’s birth, the angel’s proclaimed, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11, ESV). A babe came into the world, the son of God . . . the only human, the only created thing born of God.

Firstborn: born into the world

Before Jesus was born, great men came into the world. All these men failed to be the perfect image of God. Adam failed. Noah failed. Abraham failed, Isaac and Jacob failed. Moses failed. David failed. The prophets failed. None of these men were the perfect image of God. Israel was called God’s firstborn son. Israel failed. All humankind, like our father Adam, have failed. But the prophets proclaimed a man who would come who would not fail and who would have the right to the title of firstborn. Ethen the Ezrahite speaks about this man, the messiah, who would be appointed as the firstborn. He would replace the first man, Adam, becoming the firstborn, and in his name, not Adam’s, would those who trust in him find their identity and be a new creation.

                     He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,

                                my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

                     And I will make him the firstborn,

                                the highest of the kings of the earth. (Psalm 89:26-27, ESV)

When Jesus was born, he became the firstborn and only human son of God. No other human could claim God as their father. So just in the fact that he was born, he had the right to be called the firstborn son of God. Though he was the natural firstborn of God by birth, he also earned the right to the title of firstborn, by being the perfect image of God. “I will make him the firstborn”. Unlike Adam and all other humans, he did not fail. And because he did not fail, he won the right to the inheritance of the firstborn.

Firstborn: the inheritor of the world

Let us look more into what it meant for him to be the firstborn. In Deuteronomy 32:8-9, we learn this

                When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,

                                when he divided mankind,

                he fixed the borders of the peoples

                                according to the number of the sons of God.

                But the LORD’s portion is his people,

                                Jacob his allotted heritage. (ESV)

When the nations were divided, God took Jacob aside from all the nations of the world as his own possession. YHWH was to be their God and Israel was to be His people. God did not choose them because they were great. They were little and weak among the nations.

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:6–8, ESV)

Though God took this nation, and became the Shepherd of this little flock, God had not forgotten the other nations. In his covenant with Abraham, whom he loved, he promised that the nations would be blessed through Abraham’s seed (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18) The covenant was a promise to bring the nations to himself. This promise of making the little flock and the large flock one would be accomplished through Abraham’s descendent, a man the YHWH would call his son.

                I will tell of the decree:

                The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;

                                today I have begotten you.

                Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

                                and the ends of the earth your possession. (Psalm 2:7-8, ESV)

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. (John 10:16, ESV)

Jesus wins the nations by being the final Adam

Through Jesus, no longer is it just Israel, the little flock, that is God’s inheritance, but Jesus as the son of God has been given all the nations as his inheritance. YHWH has rescued his people from their slavery to sin. In the culture of the time and scripture the one who inherits is given the title of firstborn, regardless of birth order. Jesus was not the first man. He was not Adam, but he did earn the right to be called firstborn and became the final Adam. Adam had failed to be the perfect image of God and lost his right to the title. Jesus being the perfect image of God, the perfect human, earned the right to the title and YHWH made him the firstborn. And as firstborn, we who trust in him no longer look to Adam for our inheritance, but to Jesus. He became the final Adam through whom we have become alive. When we trust in the promises of God, we are no longer in the image of Adam, we are in the image of Jesus, who is the firstborn among many brethren.

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45, ESV)

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17–18, ESV)

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47–49, ESV)

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29, ESV)

And so, through the Gospel, Jesus has inherited the nations. All one flock, under one shepherd.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4–6, ESV)

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Ephesians 2:11–16, ESV)

He was appointed firstborn in his humanity

Psalm 89 states that God would appoint a man as the firstborn. It is important to understand that Jesus earned the right to this inheritance and the title of firstborn as a human when he came to earth. Unlike Adam, who lost the right of being firstborn through sin, Jesus did not sin. Jesus, therefore, gained the nations as an inheritance because he lived a perfect life of obedience as a man. So though he was the only firstborn human son of God by birth when he came into the world, he was not given the title of inheritance till he earned the right to his title by being the perfect image of God.

It has been testified somewhere,

                “What is man, that you are mindful of him,

                                or the son of man, that you care for him?

                You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

                                you have crowned him with glory and honor,

                                putting everything in subjection under his feet.” (Hebrews 2:6-8, ESV)

For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, (Hebrews 2:16-17a, ESV)

                Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

                                my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

                I have put my Spirit upon him;

                                he will bring forth justice to the nations.

                He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

                                or make it heard in the street;

                a bruised reed he will not break,

                                and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

                                he will faithfully bring forth justice.

                He will not grow faint or be discouraged

                                till he has established justice in the earth;

                                and the coastlands wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:1-4, ESV)

The son laid down his glory, became less than angels, humbling himself, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,” (Philippians 2:6, ESV) He became a man. Jesus is the only man who fully submitted to his God, considering the Father greater than himself, unlike the rest of humanity who had gone their own way in their pride, considering themselves greater than God, and doing what was right in their own eyes. Jesus, the man, is the only human who worshiped the only true God with his whole heart, mind, and soul. He learned obedience and God declares this human his perfect son,

“This is My beloved son in whom I am well pleased!” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5, Luke 3:22; 2 Peter 1:17)

It is in his humanity and his perfect life that God grants the man, Jesus, the titles of the son of God, firstborn, and the perfect image. Those writing in the New Testament understood that this man, Jesus, was unlike any other human in history. He was the man promised back in Genesis 3:15, the one foretold in the scripture. It was fitting when Pilate said of the man next to him who was wearing a royal robe and a crown, “Behold the man!” (John 19:5). The Apostles intimately beheld this man who had walked with them and proclaimed this man that they had known to the nations.

                We must ask ourselves; will we behold this man? Who we say this man is matters. For it is only in his name that men can be saved. Jesus said, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24, NASB)

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WHO IS THIS MAN?

Support verses for Jesus not being God

                The question of who this man is has loomed through the ages. Just like in Jesus’ day, some call him a good man or a prophet or see him as an enemy. There have been many theories. Two that stand out in church history are the Arian and Trinitarian beliefs. Both agree that Jesus is more than a mere man. Trinitarians believe Jesus is God. Arians believe that Jesus is not God but is the first creation of God and through Jesus, God created everything else. Texts such as Colossians 1:15, Revelation 3:14, and Proverbs 8 are used to support the claim that Jesus is the first being created by God, and through whom all other things in creation were made.

                He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15, ESV)

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. (Revelation 3:14, ESV)

                “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work,

                                the first of his acts of old. (Proverbs 8:22, ESV)

We will take a look at these verses so that we might believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be.

Revelation  3:14

Let’s start by looking at Revelation 3:14. In the letters to the churches, Jesus’s description of himself in the letters to the churches is linked to the descriptions of him in Revelation 1. So, we can look at both of these parallels together to understand what they mean. Below shows the parallels in the first six letters to the churches and Revelation 1, in order to show this pattern, then we will look at the pattern in the 7^th church.

Comparison of descriptions of Jesus in the letters to the descriptions in Revelation 1

And for the 7^th church the church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14; Revelation 1:5)

Revelation 3:14 connection to Colossians 

Interestingly, Paul instructs that his letter to the Colossians be read to the church in Laodicea. “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:6, ESV). So when the church at Laodicea hears these words from Revelation they are already familiar with the terms Jesus is using. So when Jesus is dictating his letter to the church of Laodicea, he is aware that they are familiar with these terms and concepts and the meanings behind them. So, the descriptions in Colossians and the descriptions here in the letter to Laodicea are connected and when used together can help us discover what these terms mean. So, let’s elaborate on these terms. The letter of Hebrews also uses these terms and similar phrases while exploring who this man is and can be used as we explore these terms.

The words of the Amen, the Faithful and true witness| The faithful witness

As we see in the pattern above, “the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation” is connected to “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings on the earth.” And these descriptions are also similar to the descriptions we find in Colossians 1. The descriptions in Revelation “the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness” and “the faithful witness” are reflected in “He is the image of the invisible God” in Colossians. These images are expressing that Jesus is a faithful and true witness of who God is both in his words and deeds. These phrases are describing Jesus as the perfect and true man, who fully and completely portrays who God is. John states, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18, ESV) As said before, mankind was originally made to be in the image of God. We failed. Jesus in his humanity did not fail. Jesus, the man, is the perfect witness, imprint, and image of the invisible God. He is the perfect human. Jesus said, “I am the truth”, and by him, we know the truth about God. He told his disciples that if they have seen him, they have seen the Father.

Firstborn from the dead

The phrase “the firstborn from the dead” is found in both Revelation and Colossians. There are accounts of people being raised from the dead in the Bible, the widow Zarephath’s son, the Shunamite woman’s son, the man raised out of Elisha’s grave, widow of Nain’s son, Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus, Tabitha, and Eutychus. This verse is not talking about this type of resurrection. These resurrected but had the same weak bodies as before. When Jesus resurrected, he no longer had the same kind of body, but his body, not seeing decay nor dissolving or disappearing and being the same body, was transformed into a new kind of human body (John 2:18-22, ESV, will be quoted shortly). This is the same kind of body we will have at our resurrection. For if we will not have the same type of body, then Jesus did not resurrect as well. Paul states,

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. (1 Corinthians 15:14-16, ESV)

He goes on to say,

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23, ESV)

Paul connects our resurrection to Christ. And it is “by a man” that our resurrection has come. Jesus did not cease being a man at the resurrection. His human body did not cease to exist but was transformed into a spiritual body. If our bodies are to be resurrected, it is in vital connection with the body of Christ’s resurrection, for our resurrection is the same. And if this is not true, our faith is in vain. Paul says in Romans, “he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Jesus was the first human to be born into the New Creation, through his bodily resurrection from the dead. And because he is one of us, both in his earthy life and in his resurrection, “he is not ashamed to call them brothers,” (Hebrews 2:11b, ESV). We who are being made in the image of Jesus are the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven (Hebrews 12:23).

Ruler of the kings on the earth

Because Jesus is one of us, Hebrews goes on to state he is our perfect high priest in the order of Melchizedek and he has the authority to sit on David’s throne at the right hand of God, reflecting Psalm 110, and foretold by Zechariah,

And the word of the LORD came to me: “Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ (ESV)

Zechariah says of this man, the priest-king, “he shall build the temple of the LORD”. When asked by the Jews by what authority Jesus had done the things he had done, he answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” John goes on to explain,

The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (John 2:18-22ESV)

And we know that his body resurrected for the disciples “thought they saw a spirit”, but Jesus, the one who is the Amen and Truth, the faithful witness assures them, “spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. (Luke 24:37-43, ESV)

It is the power of Jesus’s human bodily resurrection that gave him the authority to be both priest and king in the order of Melchizedek.

This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. (Hebrews 7:15-16, ESV)

Both these positions king and priest require a human to take on the role. Adam was commanded to rule and be a keeper over the earth, to be a priest-king. He sinned by disobeying God’s command, but he also failed in his role to rule and to keep when he did not stomp the serpent on the head. The final Adam came to accomplish this. Jesus not only fully obeyed the law of Moses as a human, but he also sits on the throne of David as king and priest, fully accomplishing in his humanity what we failed to do. And as the perfect man, once his enemies are placed at his feet, he will deliver the kingdom to God, the Father, fully accomplishing everything humanity was supposed to do and then God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24-25). The passage in Revelation after speaking of Jesus, being the “firstborn from the dead”, continues with “and ruler of kings on the earth.” His resurrection as the firstborn of the dead gave him the authority to be king as is said in Psalm 89.

He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,

                                my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

                     And I will make him the firstborn,

                                the highest of the kings of the earth. (Psalm 89:26-27, ESV)

Colossians states, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV). Also, “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18)

The book of Hebrews considers these concepts. It opens with these words,

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4, ESV)

Jesus being the Son, being the heir of all things, being the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, the world being created through Jesus, Jesus as the beginning of creation, Jesus upholding the universe by the word of his power and being priest and king sitting at the right hand of God are themes that keep being repeated in all these passages.

The scripture has an interesting caveat in the word “until” The scriptures say that Jesus will sit at the right hand of God until he has placed all his enemies under his feet.

“And to which of the angels has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?” (Hebrews 1:13, ESV)

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. (Hebrews 10:12–13, ESV)

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:25–28, ESV)

After David had come to defeat his enemies putting them under his feet, Solomon had become king. It was then, that the temple could be built.

And Solomon sent word to Hiram, “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ (1 Kings 5:2–5, ESV)

The word “until” implies that Jesus will not always be sitting at the right hand of God. After Jesus has placed all his enemies under his feet, we see New Jerusalem, the New Temple, the new dwelling place of God coming down to earth, and in the midst of her is one throne, the throne of God and the Lamb. And God will be all in all.

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. [4] They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3–4, ESV)

And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one. (Zechariah 14:9, ESV)

Proverbs 8:22: The beginning of creation | the wisdom of God

I will discuss “the beginning of creation” and “the firstborn of creation” further, but first let’s look at Proverbs 8 for insight on what these mean. We need to look at Proverbs 8 because something is going on here that is important to note. Arius believed this passage describes Jesus being created as the first of God’s creations, tying it in with Colossians 1:15-18, Revelation 3:14, and John 1:1. He believed that Proverbs 8:22 described the creation of Jesus. Proverbs 8:22 says, “The LORD created me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old” (NASB). I would agree that something significant is happening in these verses and that these verses impacted the writers of the New Testament and their understanding of the Messiah, the man who lived among them, so let’s explore the meaning behind this verse.

What is the subject of these verses? Well, the passage tells us, “I, wisdom”. These verses are about wisdom personified. Wisdom in the Hebrew language is feminine, so it is no surprise that she is portrayed as a woman. All agree that wisdom is an eternal attribute of God, there was never a time when God lacked wisdom, so what does it mean to “create”. It is not talking about mere wisdom. Let’s look back and see how this woman is described.

Passages 1-9 give you this description of Wisdom and Foolishness are calling out to us. We have a choice of who to follow. Chose life or choose death. This choice is not only a theme in these passages but throughout the scripture.

                Does not wisdom call?

                                Does not understanding raise her voice?

                On the heights beside the way,

                                at the crossroads she takes her stand;

                beside the gates in front of the town,

                                at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: (Proverbs 8:1-3, ESV)

For whoever finds me finds life

                                and obtains favor from the LORD,

                but he who fails to find me injures himself;

                                all who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:35-36, ESV)

                She has sent out her young women to call

                                from the highest places in the town,

                “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

                                To him who lacks sense she says,

                “Come, eat of my bread

                                and drink of the wine I have mixed.

                Leave your simple ways, and live,

                                and walk in the way of insight.” (Proverbs 9:3-6, ESV)

                The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

                                and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Proverbs 9:10, ESV)

The context of 8:22-31, is a woman who cries out to the sons of men, calling them back to the fear of the LORD. The whole Bible proclaims this message from beginning to end. It is the message of the Gospel. Wisdom has its ultimate fulfillment is in the Messiah, who did walk the streets and byways calling men back to God.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (Hebrews 1:1-2, ESV)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)

Here is another passage describing this woman describing her as the tree of life, a symbol of the Gospel.

                She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;

                                those who hold her fast are called blessed.

                The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;

                                by understanding he established the heavens;

                by his knowledge the deeps broke open,

                                and the clouds drop down the dew. (Proverbs 3:18-20, ESV)

The theme of choosing life or death and the call of the Gospel, to choose wisdom over foolishness is the call to humanity throughout history.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,

                “Today, if you hear his voice,

                do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:12-15, ESV)

Those writing the New Testament understood that the Gospel did not begin after Adam sinned. The Gospel call, its message, and its plan were established before the foundation of the world. Before the world began. Before Adam chose foolishness and sinned. Before Adam came into existence. And it is with the Gospel at the forefront that God created the world. They could see this from reading Proverbs 8. They found in the words of this chapter that the Gospel was there in the beginning and is the purpose for which the world was created. The Gospel is the wisdom through which the world was made.

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20, ESV)

                The heavens declare the glory of God,

                                and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

                Day to day pours out speech,

                                and night to night reveals knowledge.

                There is no speech, nor are there words,

                                whose voice is not heard.

                Their voice goes out through all the earth,

                                and their words to the end of the world.

                In them he has set a tent for the sun, (Psalm 19:1-4, ESV)

The word “create” in Proverbs 8:22 is beautiful and can mean “create, acquire, purchase, or possess” all of these word nuances fit the theme here. Before the foundation of the world, God determined in his wisdom and love to create the Gospel plan and to acquire and purchase the fulfillment of the Gospel through the Messiah. You don’t have a Messiah without the Gospel, so The Messiah is the beginning of God’s creation. The Greek term “arche” in Revelation 3:14 is fitting meaning beginning, ruler, origin describing Jesus’ role in creation. The Gospel and the Messiah were established first, and through the Gospel and through the Messiah now creation would begin. The roles the Father and Jesus would play in accomplishing the Gospel began and are displayed in the roles they played in creation. Wisdom is this purpose and the call of the Gospel throughout the ages.

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. (1 Corinthians 2:6-7, ESV)

                “I will open my mouth in parables;

          I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 13:35, ESV)

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:20-21, ESV)

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34, ESV)

who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, (2 Timothy 1:9. ESV)

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:25-27, ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:3-10, ESV)

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. (1 Corinthians 2:6-7, ESV)

Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. (Ephesians 3:7-12, ESV)

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. [9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:1-12, ESV)

Paul states that Jesus became to us wisdom from God. Jesus was the embodiment of God’s redemption plan. And so Paul focused on this wisdom, the beginning of the creation of God.

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31, ESV)

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, ESV)

Both the Arians and Trinitarians could agree, or at least ought to, that the Gospel plan was created and began to be implemented before the foundation of the world as the first of God’s creations and that that plan would be accomplished through the Messiah who existed before the world began. Both agree that Jesus was set apart as the means and wisdom through which the Gospel would be accomplished before the foundations of the world, that he would come as a man and redeem his fellow people and brothers. Both agree that the roles that the Father and the Son would play in this redemption were set in place before the foundation of the world and we see these redemptive roles play out from the beginning of creation.

For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Corinthians 8:5-6, ESV)

We see these roles from the beginning because God’s covenantal plan and love was the purpose through which the world was created, it was integrated into creation itself. The Messiah’s work of redemption did not begin at the birth of Jesus, it began before the foundation of the world when God created his plan to rescue mankind. It is through Jesus the world was created and it is through Jesus we and all things in heaven and earth are reconciled to God.

                Before continuing I want to pause on this concept that both the Arians and Trinitarians can agree on. . . . The purpose of Creation is the Gospel. The Gospel, and setting apart the Messiah, is the purpose and source and beginning of all the works of God, the beginning of God’s creation, and indeed the first of the works of God. The last book of the Bible is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus is both the beginning and the end of creation. He is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8, Revelation 21:6, Revelation 22:13). Jesus is the center of creation.

The final Adam

A pattern we see developed in these scriptures is that Jesus as a man came into this world and is the perfect image of God and by his obedience as the final Adam, he has earned the right to be the heir and ruler of all things and has been appointed the firstborn of creation, his name being elevated above all other names.

In Colossians 1:15 the Greek syntax suggests that the terms “image of the invisible God” and “the firstborn of all creation” express similar concepts and give us a picture of Christ’s humanity. These descriptions are unique to Jesus. The Father and the Holy Spirit are not the images of God or the firstborn of creation. This title belongs to Jesus alone. It is the role set apart for him since before the beginning of the world. Christ, the Messiah, the man, the final Adam became a part of creation and through his obedience was made the preeminent creation and the inheritor or firstborn of creation. Being preeminent not only as a part of the creation but also as the one who is before all things and is the creator of all things. So that in every way, his name is above all other names, both as the creator and as a man created in the image of God.

It has been testified somewhere,

                “What is man, that you are mindful of him,

                                or the son of man, that you care for him?

                You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

                                you have crowned him with glory and honor,

                                putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

 (Hebrews 2:6-8a, ESV)

And so the man Jesus was elevated above all.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV)

Jesus preexisted creation

We see that Jesus, the man, the son of God, was the only firstborn of God in creation. When God created the Gospel as the first of his works, the Messiah was also the beginning of God’s creation. And as we have said he is more than just a man having existed before creation.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3ESV)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) (John 1:14-15, ESV)

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ (John 1:29-30, ESV)

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (John 17:4-5, ESV)

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV)

Jesus has preeminence over creation as the firstborn because he is the creator of the world. Being both the creator and having been born as a part of creation, Jesus is the only one with the right to this title. No other creation nor God the Father or the Holy Ghost can be called the firstborn of creation.

THE NAME

So much more . . .

Remember people walked with Jesus, ate with him, touched him. They were intimately familiar with his humanity, but as they write we can see they also knew that he was so much more. . . . Since they knew him in his humanity, you would expect them to describe his humanity, his being born of God, being firstborn of creation and such. Yet as you read what they are writing, you can imagine them bursting at the seams, for we also see them in the next breath say, but he is so much more . . . . describing him as before all things and creator of all things. Jesus was no mere man. How grand it would have been to have walked intimately with this man!

This man is the center of all creation, Jesus being separated for this purpose before creation began in the Gospel, the first of the works of God, the beginning of the creation of God. He is the one through whom God created the world. It is in Jesus alone that all things both in heaven and earth are held together. John a man who walked, ate, and touched Jesus wrote, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3, ESV). Paul confirms this in his letter to the Colossians after calling him the firstborn of creation.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (Colossians 1:16-18, ESV)

These passages are saying, yes, Jesus is a man and he has gained honor and inheritance and rule as a man, but he is also so much more than a mere man. His right to these titles has been earned as a man but were already his because he is more than a man. The writer of Hebrews warns us to take heed, that we do not neglect Jesus, for he is greater than Moses, the prophets, Melchizedek, and much more than the angels. Jesus in John states he is greater than the sons of God.

At this point, the Trinitarians and the Arianism again should agree. Arianism believes that Jesus is more than just a man, more than the angels, believing he is a created god, the first of the creation of God, and greater than all other creation. When the scripture refers to all things being created through Jesus, Arians believe these verses refer to all other things created after Jesus was created. One key aspect for Arius is that Jesus had a beginning. Arius said, “There was a time when the son was not.” Arians contend that being created; Jesus is not eternal. So, both agree that the concept of the Messiah was created with the Gospel plan of God, before creation, but disagree on whether Jesus was in existence eternally before this plan. Trinitarians believe that Jesus eternally existed with God, as one of the three persons of the Godhead. The Gospel was the first of the works of God, and the roles each person of the Trinity would play in the Gospel is the first of God’s work, seen in their roles at creation and in history. Arians would say that Jesus was created as the first of God’s works and was set apart before the foundation of the world for the Gospel plan. Arians and Trinitarians also disagree on who Jesus is. Both agree that Jesus left his glory in the incarnation but disagree on what was the extent of that glory that Jesus had before the world began. Arians believe Jesus was a created god. Trinitarians believe Jesus is YHWH.

Neither beginning of days nor end of life

                The writer of Hebrews along with other passages dealing with the concept of the firstborn, state that all things were created through Jesus.

And,

                “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

                                and the heavens are the work of your hands;

                they will perish, but you remain;

                                they will all wear out like a garment,

                like a robe you will roll them up,

                                like a garment they will be changed.

                But you are the same,

                                and your years will have no end.” (Hebrews 1: 10-12, ESV)

But does the writer of Hebrews believe that there was a time Jesus did not exist? Later in his epistle, he writes of the order of Melchizedek, the king, and priest of the Most High God,

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. (Hebrews 7:1-3, ESV)

The writer of Hebrews argues it is on the basis of “having neither beginning of days nor end of life” that the order of Melchizedek has preeminence over the Levitical priesthood. It is not only in the fact that Jesus goes on to live forever that gives him authority, for both men and angels will go on to live forever, but the fact that unique to all of creation, he is the only creation that has had no beginning of days. And if he has no beginning of days, then there is not a time when the son was not. The writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8, ESV). In the first chapter, he states, “But you are the same, and your years will have no end (Hebrews 1:12b, ESV). He also says that Jesus is unchanging, an attribute that can only be said of God. The eternal existence of Jesus is a theme throughout this epistle.

YHWH: Jesus is LORD

                When the writer of Hebrews speaks of the Son as the creator of the earth in chapter 1 verses 10-12, he quotes Psalm 102. The text seems to come out of nowhere. Why would the writer pull this text out and say that this speaks of the son? This Psalm is about YHWH, and the writer of Hebrews seems to want you to make this connection because he adds the term Lord in his quote. Well, he doesn’t actually add it, he grabs it from verse 12 of the psalm, which says, “But you O LORD, are enthroned forever;” which is a continuation of the theme he previously discussed, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,”, expressing the eternal nature of Jesus. This psalm also correlates the theme the writer has for worship, “And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’” (Hebrews 1:6, ESV) with “when the peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.” (vs. 22). By expressing two different parts of this Psalm, he is also wanting you to look and meditate on the psalm as a whole and connect it to the son. The psalm begins in verse 2 with, “Do not hide your face from me” and talks of the YHWH arising and having pity on Zion and appearing in his glory. These are describing the return of Christ. It must be noted that in using the phrase “You Lord” the writer of Hebrews is not only connecting his quote with verse 12 of the psalm, but he is also connecting us to the one who is the subject of the psalm. He is connecting Jesus with the sacred name of God, YHWH. And so not only is Jesus said to have had no beginning of days, but he is also called YHWH and one day he will be revealed in the fullness of his nature. And the writer of Hebrews is not alone in this.

The Apostles found Jesus in the Old Testament

                Many of the writers of the New Testament were men who knew the man Jesus, knew his humanity but also knew there was something more. In their experience with him, they had come to believe and proclaim that he was the son of God. Jesus was the one that all of history had been waiting for. While with them, Jesus had taught them, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). So, in coming to understand this man who had walked amongst them, they would have followed Jesus’ command and looked to the stories, prophecies, psalms, and wisdom of the scripture. In the passage of Hebrews above, he seems to pull a passage out of nowhere, yet he didn’t. He was following Jesus’ instructions to search the scriptures for they bear witness of who Jesus is. They found their foundation in understanding the nature of Jesus from the Old Testament.

No one has ever seen God?

John writes, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18, ESV). But wait a minute, . . . did not men in the Old Testament see God?

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

                                but now my eye sees you;

                therefore I despise myself,

                                and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6, ESV)

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7, ESV)

So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” (Genesis 32:30, ESV)

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, [10] and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. (Exodus 24:9-11, ESV) [Note: Just as Jesus ate in his resurrection body to show its reality, so too did these men eat and drink.]

Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (Exodus 33:11a, ESV)

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1, ESV) 

Moses asks to see God’s glory

So, if the scripture in the Old Testament speaks of men seeing God, where is John getting this from, that “No one has ever seen God”? John knows of the story of Moses asked to see God’s glory and what God said.

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23, ESV)

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” God did show Moses his glory, but not the fullness of His face, Moses was covered by the hand of God. So, what did Job, Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah see? Who did they see?

Jesus speaks of Abraham seeing him.  “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56, ESV). And after quoting from Isaiah 53 and 6, John says that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus, “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him” (John 12:42, ESV). When the Old Testament men and women encountered God, they were encountering Jesus. In the Old Testament, we see Jesus described as the right hand (or hand) of God, the angel of the LORD, the Name, the Word, the Savior, the Creator, and the glory of the LORD, descriptions not a part or separate from YHWH, but YHWH himself, revealing himself to humanity in a way that they would not be destroyed.

God’s patience and love in hiding His face

                Because of Adam’s fall, and because of our sin, men cannot see God’s face and live. Jesus said that the more we know the more our judgment. When we see God face to face, there is no more to be known and we will be judged. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27, ESV). And so, for now, because of God’s patience with mankind, and to call a people to himself, God’s face is veiled. Yet we are given hope that this will not always be the case. God gave Israel a blessing to encourage them that one day, both heaven and earth would be reconciled, and we would one day see the face of God.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

                The LORD bless you and keep you;

                the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

                the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

                “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

 (Numbers 6:22–27, ESV)

Because of His love for us God has not abandoned us, nor left us on our own. We will see his face once again. But for now, He has revealed Himself to us through Jesus. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, . . .” (John 3:16, ESV). And he has fulfilled his promise to put his Name upon his people through Jesus.

He has given us His name

 In the Old Testament, the tabernacle was the place where God’s name dwelt. When Jesus came, God’s name tabernacled amongst us “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” (Colossians 2:9, ESV).

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:19–20, ESV)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt [to set up a tent] among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV, italics added)

It is God pursuing us, revealing himself in a way that we will not die. And God has done so much more. Now, through Jesus, He has given us His name and put his name upon his people. Jesus said, “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word” (John 17:6, ESV). And because of what Jesus has done his name dwells in us and we have become the body of Christ, the temple of God.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4–5, ESV)

We are all under this one hope, all mankind throughout history who have put their hope in Jesus.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— (Ephesians 4:4, ESV)

But for now, we have not seen Jesus in his fullness, for when he was with us the fullness of the deity was hidden, tabernacled in a human body. “For now we see in a mirror dimly,” (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV). But Jesus has promised to return, and at his return will be the revelation of Jesus Christ, where he will appear, and we will see him for who he is. It will not be an invisible return, for every eye shall see him.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. (Revelation 1:7)

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30, ESV)

When Jesus returns, God’s face will no longer be hidden. The verse goes on,

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV).

John states,

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, ESV).

Revelation states,

“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3–4, ESV)

This is our one heavenly and earthly hope, when God reconciles heaven and earth through Jesus, we will see God face to face. His face shall shine upon us, and his Name shall be upon us.

The Name

                The writers looked to the Old Testament to find Jesus and they found him. They read verses like Isiah 45:22-23 and Joel 2:32 and saw Jesus

                “Turn to me and be saved,

                                all the ends of the earth!

                                For I am God, and there is no other.

                By myself I have sworn;

                                from my mouth has gone out in righteousness

                                a word that shall not return:

                ‘To me every knee shall bow,

                                every tongue shall swear allegiance.’

                “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,

                                are righteousness and strength; (Isaiah 45:21–24, ESV)

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. (Joel 2:32, ESV)

                therefore, thus says the Lord GOD,

                “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,

                                a stone, a tested stone,

                a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:

                                ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ (Isaiah 28:16, ESV)

The apostle Paul, a learned Pharisee, who once killed those calling on the name of Jesus, takes hold of these three verses to show that they refer to Jesus, the name above all other names and that it is by calling on the name of Jesus name that salvation comes,

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5–11, ESV)

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43, ESV)

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9–13, ESV)

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11–12, ESV)

Because Old Testament used YHWH while describing Jesus, the New Testament writers who follow their example do not have a problem substituting YHWH with Jesus. Paul takes the name of YHWH in Joel 2:32 and replaces it with Jesus.  And in both Romans 10:11 and Acts 4:11, he supports this substitution by referring to Isaiah 28:16.

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-11, ESV)

For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11

But he goes further and says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11, ESV) . . . . Wow! No other name. . . . This would be blasphemy if Jesus is not YHWH, for Paul would not only be contradicting the Old Testament but also stating that YHWH’s name had been replaced by another being and that other beings name is now the only name that can save, YHWH’s name can no longer save. He is not saying this. Paul was a learned man and knew the scriptures. He fully understands the implications of what he is saying.  He is saying that Jesus is YHWH.

The Confession: Jesus is Lord

                The New Testament refers to Jesus as Lord. The term Lord as seen in “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” or “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord” often refers to the covenant name, YHWH. Lord also often refers to rule and specifically the throne of David. The apostles take hold of these two meanings and associate both meanings to the confession, “Jesus is Lord”. Jesus is Lord and sits on David’s throne, but he is also Lord, YHWH, the name whom men must call upon to be saved. Lord both declares Jesus’ humanity and divinity. Both aspects are important and require the Holy Spirits’ work for one to confess.

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3, ESV)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:1–3, ESV)

When speaking of the Father and the Son, the apostles often use a phrase similar to “God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” for this is an apt description describing each of their roles in creation and in the Gospel. It also follows the pattern of the Shema, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one”.

Paul uses this formula in describing the Father and Son and connects it with the confession of the Shema confirming that he believes “there is no God but one”,

“there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Corinthians 8:4b–6, ESV)

As Jesus being one Lord is not to the exclusion of the Father being Lord, nor is the Father being one God to the exclusion of Jesus being God but both are descriptions apt to their roles in the Gospel. Paul is clear that he is including them both, when he says “there is no God but one” and then goes on to describe who that one God is, following the pattern of the Shema, which also includes Lord and God, the terms God and Lord both refer to one God, just as they do in the Shema. The Shema states, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV).

The Confession: my Lord and my God

                Jesus is not only called Lord, he called God as well. When Thomas sees Jesus after his resurrection, he proclaims of Jesus, “My Lord and My God” or in Greek “the Lord of me and the God of me”. Jesus confirms his confession, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” If Jesus is not God, then either Jesus or John or both are guilty of blasphemy for not clarifying Thomas’ statement. This was a bold and clear statement by Thomas. No one in that culture would have just let it be if it were not true. Men picked up stones to stone Jesus for less. And no one in that culture would have said what Jesus said or wrote what John wrote if it were not true.

                John uses the phrase “I am” throughout his Gospel. It is tightly interwoven in the text. Jesus did not use the phrase “I am” casually. One instance, a mob had come to arrest Jesus, Jesus said, “I am”, and all the mob fell to the ground. John had a purpose in including this phrase in his Gospel.

[Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. [6] When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18:2–6, ESV)

The ”I am” statements culminate with the confession of Thomas. And Thomas is not the only apostle to call Jesus God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, ESV)

waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (Titus 2:13, ESV)

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: (2 Peter 1:1, ESV)

You shall not take the name of the LORD in vain

                The Law says, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain” (Deuteronomy 5:11, ESV). The apostles understood this when they called Jesus Lord and God.

This commandment is similar to the words of Jesus when he said, “unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24, NASB).  Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that he is the I am. Jesus told his disciples, “I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.” (John 13:19).

This is sobering. . . . for there is no other name by which men can be saved. “. . . no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” And  “every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” Both of these are necessary to call upon the name of the LORD. Shortly after referring to Jesus as firstborn and creator (his humanity and divinity), Paul makes this statement again referring once again both to Jesus’ divinity and humanity . . .

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, (Colossians 2:8-9, ESV)

We cannot ignore the name of the Lord, and we cannot use the Name of the Lord in vain. While it is still called Today, we must follow the great confession found in scripture, “Jesus is Lord”. And though we did not walk, touch, nor ate with Jesus while he was on earth, we must boldly and clearly proclaim the confession of Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” And God who is faithful will keep his covenant of Love with his people.

                 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,

                                “and my servant whom I have chosen,

                that you may know and believe me

                                and understand that I am he.

                Before me no god was formed,

                                nor shall there be any after me.

                 I, I am the LORD,

                                and besides me there is no savior.

                 I declared and saved and proclaimed,

                                when there was no strange god among you;

                                and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.

                 Also henceforth I am he;

                                there is none who can deliver from my hand;

                                I work, and who can turn it back?”   (Isaiah 43:10–13, ESV)

“I, I am he

                                who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,

                                and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25, ESV)

I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24, ESV)