ADAM MEETS THE TRINITY

Adam Meets the Trinity

“And the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being … And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.’” Genesis 2:7; 16&17. Thus Adam was putty in God’s hands. And he literally lived and breathed God. For, from the very first moment Adam opened his eyes he knew God the Holy Father, breathed the Holy Breath of God into his lungs, and heard the Holy Word of God speak in his ears.

Before He began to create man the Trinity in unity said, “Let Us [plural] make man in Our [plural] image…” Gen. 1:26a. This is the same God who through His Spirit and by His Word created and formed from nothing the two heavens and one earth. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit: and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7 (KJV).

Upon his creation, Man, i.e., the triune God’s image, most certainly knew the Creator, creation, and himself, spiritually and intimately. As the very first scientist Adam, by God’s commission, studied, analysed, catalogued each living creature God had made. (Gen. 2:19). Thus he thought God’s thoughts after Him. And as he did so he glorified his Maker as he learned more about the Triune God through studying the things He had made. Strong as a bull, gentle as a lamb, graceful as a gazelle, etc., all are reflections of the Creator seen in the creatures He made.

The triunity of space, time, and matter, reflect the three distinctions in the Godhead who created them. So does space with its three dimensions: length, breadth, and height; and time with its three tenses: past, present, and future; and matter with its solid, liquid, and gas or vapour. The human eye distinguishes three primary colours: red, yellow, and blue. The ear distinguishes the three-tones of the triadic chord.

God’s Tri-unity is glimpsed in man the individual who is a unique soul-spirit with a body. The human family begins as a unity of three distinct persons: father, mother, child. As God is a unity in plurality, so is mankind. His Church is many churches, but one church. Thus God is the original one and many.

But this knowledge of God, His creation, including ourselves began to be suppressed in unrighteousness when man rebelled against God by eating the forbidden fruit (Rom. 1:18). Yet Adam held in his hand revelation of God. For even one piece of fruit is one yet many, for though one (Botanical: pericarp), it has a threefold nature: an outer skin (exocarp or epicarp), an inner pulp (mesocarp), and seed (endocarp). Thus Adam, as it were, shed the Lord’s blood as he released the fruit’s juice with his teeth, biting through its skin, and tearing its flesh, thus revealing its seed. He drew blood when he bit the hand that fed him. But the crucified Jesus was able to reproduce Himself, thus His resurrection. For fruit has its own seed in itself (Gen. 1:11&12): “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself…” John 5:26.

When we rebelled in the beginning we rejected the Father, broke His Word, and quenched and grieved His Spirit. But God is gracious. For, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9. Therefore triunely, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” 2 Corinthians 13:14.

DISEMBARK THE ARK

Disembark the Ark

‘Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark … Then the ark rested  … in the mountains of Ararat.’ Genesis 8:1&4. The inside of the ark was a microcosm of the once dry land and its inhabitants – a floating menagerie. The released ‘dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the whole face of the earth.’ Genesis 8:9. It had rained forty days and forty nights, but the once drowned earth soon bobbed into view to greet those in the ark. Door wide open, Noah disembarked the ark with his family and brought out all the wild beasts with him, ‘so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.’ Genesis 8:17b.

              Noah and the ark typify Jesus. The ark was baptized when it was rained upon (1 Peter 3:20&21). Jesus was rained upon at His baptism. After it had ceased raining on the ark Noah sent out a dove that returned and alighted upon the ark. ‘And immediately, coming up from the water, [Jesus] saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.’ Mark 1:10. The ark with wild beasts aboard was in the Flood ‘wilderness’ for forty days. ‘Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty-days, tempted by Satan, and was with wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.’ Mark 1:10-13. After the Flood Noah offered up to God of every clean animal and bird. Christ offered up Himself. Noah planted a vineyard, drank wine, fell asleep and lay uncovered inside his tent. On the cross Jesus was given wine and then He died. (John 19:29&30). Two men, Shem and Japheth, covered Noah’s nakedness (Genesis 9:20-23). Two men, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, covered Jesus’ naked body and laid Him in His tomb. (John 19:38-42)

              The Flood was God’s wrath poured out upon the ungodly. But God saved Noah and seven others. (2 Peter 2:5) God poured out a baptism of fire upon Christ on the cross. But God saved a people innumerable. (Rev. 7:9&10) After the Flood Noah removed the covering of the ark and he, his family, and all the animals exited the ark. (Gen. 8:13-19) An angel of the Lord came and rolled away the stone and the resurrected Christ exited the tomb with all His redeemed and the redeemed creation following after Him. (1 Corinthians 15:20; Romans 4:13; Revelation 21:1). As everything in Noah’s ark was protected from the judgment of God, so is everything that is in Christ. Once saved from the judgment they disembarked the ark. Then the LORD God reissued the ‘Cultural Mandate’ in which man is to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion etc. (Genesis 9:1-7, see also 1:28). Then men, birds and animals began to spread throughout all the earth. Thus the microcosmic ark was transformed into a macrocosm.

The death of Jesus on the cross was the judgment of God on all that God is saving, for the dead Jesus in the tomb was the microcosmic creation. By being bodily resurrected and exiting the tomb He became the macrocosm. His name and fame continue to spread throughout all the earth, while – like the mustard seed becoming a tree – His kingdom keeps on growing on the whole face of the earth. To ensure that His kingdom would continue to grow, Jesus issued the ‘Great Commission’ where He says, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Matthew 28:18-20.

Jesus said to Mary after He had exited the tomb, ‘Do not cling to Me…’ not because He was radioactive, but because He was ascending to His Father. Likewise, Noah and his sons did not cling to the ark when they exited it. Thus Jesus does not want Christians to exit the world but to cultivate it! He prayed to the Father, ‘I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.’ John 17:15. Therefore Christians today need to understand that our Lord would have us continue to obey the Cultural Mandate and cultivate all things in His creation – such as art, architecture, education, politics, music, science, animal husbandry, agriculture, horticulture etc. etc. – to the glory of God. Isn’t it time then for all Christians everywhere to disembark the stuffy ark?

PICK IT UP AND READ IT!

Pick It Up & Read It

With one foot in the grave the Scotsman Sir Walter Scott (1731-1832) asked his son-in-law to read to him. Lockhart asked from which book? ‘There is only one Book!’ Scott is said to have replied. A talisman? Some treat the Bible as such. Hold a Bible in your hand when you die and Peter will see it and let you through the pearly gates? Never! First off, it’s nothing to do with Peter whether you enter heaven or not. And secondly, notice that Sir Walter wanted to hear the words read from the Book. His interest was in the words of everlasting life, the Good News! The Good News? Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).

No doubt many homes have a ‘Family Bible’ that has been passed down from one generation to the next. The trouble is that it is no good when it is only collecting dust. Its words need to permeate the home and your whole being for the Book to be of any use. The Spirit works with the Word to convict, convert and then to edify.

Before his conversion Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was interested in rhetoric, so he went to hear the Christian preacher Ambrose. Thus Augustine heard the same Good News that Sir Walter Scott heard. Some time later while under conviction Augustine was asking God to purify his unclean thoughts and habits. He heard a child singing outdoors, the kind of song that you or I might hear children sing when they are playing skipping rope. The words of the song were, ‘Pick it up and read it. Pick it up and read it.’ So, Augustine picked up the Book and read it! The first passage his eyes fell upon said, ‘Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts’ Romans 13:13-14. Thus, Augustine turned from his sins and put on Christ, i.e., he repented and believed in the Gospel of salvation. Years later, as death began crouching at the foot of his bed just waiting to pounce on him, Augustine had some of the Psalms of David hung around his bedroom walls. Good luck charms? Absolutely not! Augustine wanted the Word of God before his eyes to read before he went to be with the Lord. He died of a fever in 430.

The Scotsman David Livingstone (1813-1873) was a great missionary and explorer. Livingstone was sick and lay in a shack while a man kept watch outside his door. Some came seeking to see Livingstone. The watcher told the group that David couldn’t be disturbed. He could see that Dr Livingstone was on his knees in prayer. ‘The White Doctor is ill. Besides, he is praying to his God and must not be disturbed.’ Turns out, Livingstone had died there on his knees at his bedside in prayer!

In great illness of health that great Reformer of the Church the Frenchman John Calvin (1509-64) would respond to his friends’ urges that he should rest, with ‘What! Would you have the Lord find me idle when He comes?’ As he was dying he handed his friend Farel a letter, containing the following, ‘Since it is God’s will that you should outlive me, remember our friendship. It was useful to God’s church and its fruits await us in heaven. I do not want you to tire yourself on my account. I draw my breath with difficulty and expect each moment to breathe my last. It is enough that I live and die for Christ, who is to all His followers a gain both in life and in death’ (see THL Parker). Calvin was buried in an unmarked grave on Sunday 28^th May, 1564.

Augustine, Scott, Livingstone, and Calvin were united in, by, and through Christ. Indeed, all were Augustinians or Calvinists. Therefore, as a testimony against the following caustic and fallacious statement, ‘the doctrines of Calvinism will deaden and kill anything: prayer, faith, zeal, holiness,’ (Vance) we may hold up the lives of at least the four aforementioned saints. Each by grace through faith had ‘put on Christ.’

To live and die for Christ, as Calvin says, is gain both in life and death. It’s as the Apostle Paul says, ‘For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ and ‘we are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord’ (Phil. 1:21 & 2 Cor. 5:8). Calvinism? Calvinism is about doing all things to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). ‘He who believes in God without reserve and is determined that God shall be God to him in all his thinking, feeling and willing – in the entire compass of his life activities, intellectual, moral and spiritual – throughout all his individual social and religious relations, is, by force of that strictest of all logic which presides over the outworking of principles into thought and life, by the very necessity of the case, a Calvinist’ (Warfield).

‘While Calvinism is much more than a mind-set, it nevertheless begins with a mind that is enlightened by the truth of the Gospel’ (Ryken). Therefore, ‘Pick it up and read it’. Let that old Family Bible collect dust no more! ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom’ Colossians 3:16.

PHILOSOPHY (& THEOLOGY)

Philosophy (& Theology)

Theology, i.e., Christian theology, holds that that which the Philosopher is directly experiencing through his senses is revelation of God. Therefore, as far as Christian Theology is concerned, man experiencing the five senses – seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting – is man experiencing God. Thus, if there is a difference between Theology and Philosophy it is that Christian Theology is the science that works to produce Christian concepts, whilst Christian Philosophy is the science that reflects upon these Christian foundations and applies them.

The point being made is that there is a sense in which both sciences (Christian Theology and Christian Philosophy) are dealing with the same thing. Both are working with revelation of God. Christian Theology seeks to categorize and systematize that revelation. Christian Philosophy seeks to ponder it and apply it.

Thus, we see that Christian Theology and Christian Philosophy are two distinct but related disciplines. They are distinct in that Theology produces and categorizes concepts, and Philosophy thinks these concepts through, and builds a life and worldview upon them. Theology and Philosophy are related because each is dealing with revelation of God. Yet, importantly, neither one is subordinate to the other because both are equally valid ways of dealing with revelation. Indeed, they compliment each other, and of necessity, must borrow from each other. Whereas Theology deals with man’s scientific knowledge of the Creator, Philosophy deals with man’s scientific knowledge of creation.

Thus, though Theology and Philosophy have their own distinct spheres, they interpenetrate and overlap each other. Cornelius Van Til notes the distinction and the relationship where he says, ‘Philosophy and science deal more especially with man in his relation to the cosmos and theology deals more especially with man in his relation to God. But this is only a matter of degrees … The theologian is simply a specialist in the field of biblical interpretation taken in the more restricted sense. The philosopher is directly subject to the Bible and must in the last analysis rest upon his own interpretation of the Word. But he may accept the help of those who are more constantly and more exclusively engaged in biblical study than he himself can be.’ C. Stephen Evans also notes the intimate relationship between the sciences of Theology and Philosophy thus, ‘Although some would make a sharp distinction between philosophy and theology, there is substantial overlap in the questions each treats. One way to distinguish between the two is in terms of their audiences: A thinker who is speaking to a religious community and can presuppose the authorities recognized by that community is doing theology. The same thinker addressing a broader community may be doing philosophy.’

Whether they are Christian or not, Theology and Philosophy are two mirrors held up to catch the light of God. And, as the two natures of Christ reveal the divine and the human, in one mirror we see the face of God and in the other we see the face of humanity and God’s creation.

The God who has revealed Himself in Scripture through Jesus is the meeting place of Theology and Philosophy. True Christian philosophy begins with the Triune God who reveals Himself through the things He has made, and verbally by His Scriptures.

JUST IN TIME

Just in Time

 The phrase ‘just in time’ is related to the idea of manufacturing or ordering products when they are needed rather than cluttering up warehouses by keeping them in stock. It’s a ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ approach as opposed to a building of bigger barns to store all our stuff. It’s not hard to see that there’s a deal of trust involved in this, trust that the supplier will fill our order in our time of need. Trust for the Christian is, as it says on American banknotes, ‘In God We Trust’.

Take Noah for example. How must he have felt as he was building the ark with the great global flood looming, trusting that God was going to send him what he needed to fill the order ‘just in time’? That’s trust! ‘By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith’ Hebrew 11:7-8. Noah ‘condemned the world’, which is to say that he condemned the God-scoffers. ‘Good examples will either convert sinners or condemn them’ Matthew Henry. ‘God did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly’ 2 Peter 2:5. Just in time God sent to the ‘floating zoo’ all the prototype birds and animals from which our present air and land creatures are descended. Many aquatic creatures could survive outside of the ark even though ‘all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened’, no doubt with accompanying earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. When the post-Deluge dry land began to appear, the contents of the ark were emptied on the mountains of Ararat: ‘Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.’ Genesis 8:19. And as the glaciers of the Flood-generated Ice Age began to retreat God populated the vacant lands with suitable inhabitants ‘just in time’.

Whether it be through Shem or Ham or Japheth, his three sons, we are all descended from Noah. Jesus, as to His humanity, is descended from Noah through Shem, thus making Him a Semite (Luke 3:36). And, just as there were scoffers in Noah’s day and in Jesus’s day, so there are scoffers today – even in the face of ample evidence of the Global Flood (such as billions of fossils throughout the world’s rock layers). Jesus is the Saviour of the world, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.’ John 3:16-17. God supplied the world’s need by sending Jesus ‘just in time’. But just as the world in Noah’s day saw no need for an ark, so the world today sees no need for Jesus. Indeed, He was nailed to a cross and was mocked: ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.’ Luke 23:35b. He died on that cross. But just as Noah and his entourage exited the ark into a new world post-judgment, so the resurrected Christ exited the tomb and will be joined by His entourage on the New Earth post-judgment. Are you going to be saved ‘just in time’ or remain scoffing? ‘Knowing this first: that scoffers will come … saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?"’

RETURN TO SENDER

Return To Sender

From atop a lofty volcanic plug and above the confluence of the rivers Leven and Clyde, Dumbarton Castle, turns her all-seeing eye every way, guarding the approach of enemy ships. Dumbarton Castle is a rock and a fortress. King David II, 1324-71 (Robert the Bruce’s son) sought shelter here after a defeat at Halidon Hill (1333). Males born in Dumbarton are affectionately known as ‘sons of the rock.’ In Gaelic the word for ‘echo’ is poetically referred to as ‘mac-talla,’ which is also ‘son of the rock.’ Is it not intriguing and entertaining when rocks ‘give birth’ and talk to you? Apparently quacking ducks create no echo!

The Creator formed us from dust, breathing the spirit of life into us. He is our Rock. He gives birth to us. We are all sons (and daughters) of the rock. We talk to Him in prayer. As the eternal Son eternally echoes the eternal Father by the eternal Spirit, so we echo God in time by our spirits. This echoing is seen even more clearly at the time of our deaths, for Scripture says, ‘Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it’ Ecclesiastes 12:7. Thus, since the Fall of Man our spirits have had ‘return to sender’ stamped on them!

God is all-seeing, but is watching out for friends not enemies! ‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him’ 2 Chronicles 16:9. Are there any who are truly loyal to God? Do any of us truly echo Him the way we ought? In our fallen state we are as quacking ducks! Echo-less! Like a ship or submarine without a sonar device, we are at the mercy of our enemies, not knowing where they are. We need God to be our rock and fortress. When God converts us, as King David says of Him, ‘You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies’, and, ‘You are my rock and fortress’ Psalms 23:5a & 31:3a.

We need to be like the ducks at the duck pond. They approach the one who approaches them to feed them. As the Psalmist says of all wild life, ‘These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season. What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good. You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth’ Psalm 104:27-30.

God sends forth His Word, ‘For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it’ Isaiah 55:10-11. Echo!

The Spirit with the Word of God is also the voice of God echoing throughout creation. Immediately after the Fall Adam said ‘I heard Your voice in the garden’ Genesis 3:10. And, the Psalmist says, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their line [or sound] has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world’ Psalm 19:1-4.

All creation echoes God in some way, shape or form. Yet, none more so than the eternal Word, i.e., Christ ‘the Rock.’ He was looking after His people even in the wilderness, for ‘all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ’ 1 Corinthians 10:3-4.  And, ‘God… has in these last days spoken to us by His Son… who [is] the express image of His person’ Hebrews 1:1-3. As the Son echoes the Father so must we whenever He calls us. As Jesus says, ‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish…’ John 10:27-28.

Let us not be like Adam and Eve who fled from the presence of God after they rebelled against Him. The LORD God called Adam, but Adam fled (Gen. 3:8,10). He drew near to them, but they tried to hide themselves! Rather, let it be as James says, ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you’ James 4:8a. Let us be as ‘son’s of the rock,’ Mac-talla. Let us echo God when calls us by His Word and renews us by His Spirit. Let us return to Him.

King David says, ‘I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies’ Psalm 18:1-3.