If
you recognize and acknowledge the authority of the Scriptures as the rule of
life, you know that when we talk about God, we are referring to a living
Person, not contemplating about someone who is beyond reality, highly abstract,
and overly theoretical according to the gray-minds who refuse to see black or
white, for them, everything is relative to this kind of gray-in-every-way
worldview with endless shades of gray at their disposal. Their position is so
extreme; that according to them, there can be no absolute truth, and they are,
without a doubt, absolutely certain of it!
We
have a world created by a Person with unlimited power who literally spoke the
world into existence, ex nihilo,
literally, out of nothing (cf. Psa 33:6), and He did it in six solar days (Gn
1:31)! That’s the biblical record. Every bit of creation has the overt look of grand
design all over it that could only be derived from a Designer, not from the destructive blast of random chaos, big bang, or whatever (Psa 19:1-6; Rom
1:19-20).
Only
God the Father (Psa 102:25), God the Son (cf. Jn 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16; Heb
1:2), and God the Holy Spirit (Gn 1:2) can fill the Designer’s bill, not
evolution or any future alternate theoretical cosmology of man’s attempt to explain
the derivation of the world around us. Only from the Scriptures do we have faith and fact merged
into one by the Creator God.
Given
the visual of the macro-revelation of creation, we also have the written micro-revelation,
in contrast to the immensity of creation, the Word of God. It was meticulously
crafted and given all the divine attention as was the world and all therein. In
His sovereignty, Yahweh chose to breathe into the lives of certain people (2
Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20-21) and moved them in such a way as to retain their
personal writing style and vocabulary and yet be the very words of God Himself
(2 Pet 1:20-21)! This is how it’s presented from the authoritative record of
God’s Word whether we choose to accept it or not; it is verbal, comprehensive
or plenary, and miraculous!
These
writers or amanuenses were not like the stenographers of our day taking
dictation verbatim because we can discern the difference in writing styles of
John, Paul, and Peter, for instance. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul
informed us that all scripture is the result of the inspiration of God (Gk., theoneustos); literally, it was
God-breathed, breathing into something rather than out, like a sailboat being
borne along by its billowing sails filled by the wind. Biblical inspiration
cannot be adequately explained any more than creation itself; other than, that
both have a supernatural origin.
God
would advance the revelation of Himself for a period far greater period than
the six solar days to create the heavens and the earth, ranging from the book
of Job to John’s apocalyptic work in Revelation. The revelation of God was not progressive
in the sense of simple to complex, but in the moving forward toward a definitive
goal.
This
moving forward required God the Holy Spirit to have inspired forty individuals
from a variety of backgrounds that spanned three continents, employed three
languages and covered a period of over 1,500 years! And yet we hear far too
often, “I don’t have time to read,” or “I don’t like to read!” We have in our possession
a 1500-year project, and we casually dismiss the Word of God as irrelevant for
lack of understanding or interest! This undertaking of special revelation is
quite a contrast to the completion of creation in six solar days! The
contributors of Scripture all came and went with the dying, but the Holy Spirit
and His Word remained.
Through
the general or natural revelation of God (creation), Yahweh reveals His
creative eternal
power (Gk.,
dunamis, our English word, dynamite, is derived from it) and Godhead (Rom 1:20. Gk., theiotes).
The Greek word, theiotes, can be translated “divine nature” (NASB, NET, ESV), and it only occurs here in the
New Testament.
The evidence of power is easy to understand
when we look at creation; the Godhead or divine nature (divinity) is more an
interpretive challenge. How much of the Godhead or divine nature do we see in Creation?
MacArthur points out some particulars: His faithfulness (Gn 8:21-22), kindness, and graciousness (Act 14:17). The invisible qualities are being emphasized by theiotes,
the character of the Creator, rather than His assumed deity. I love
this expression,
For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made (Rom 1:20).
Since clearly
seen and being
understood both share the same Greek root, Paul is making a
play on words with this verb and participle. God
is Spirit (Jn 4:24); so, all of
His attributes or qualities are incorporeal or invisible or unseeable. Yet,
Paul said they are clearly seen! By what measurement? Being
understood by the things that are made (the
works of creation).
Obviously, not every attribute of God is being understood by the things that are made, yes? Though the expression the divine
nature of God represents the sum of all His
attributes (no one knows that number), there are only some attributes Paul is
referring to here so that those who are unrighteous and suppress the truth in
unrighteousness is without excuse. For instance, I don’t see the love of God in creation, but I
do see it in Christ (Rom 5:8).
Here we have invisible qualities being clearly
seen by the entire world on a daily basis. The reason I say daily is that both the verb clearly seen and the participle being understood is in the Greek
present tense. In other words, the emphasis is on perpetuity or a continuation
of the action, meaning that this been
continually happening since creation, even now: His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made (cf. Psa 19:1-6). Agnosticism and
atheism are counterintuitive to general revelation and absolute nonsense based
on Paul’s testimony under inspiration here in Rom 1.
Given
the vastness of space, Yahweh is seen as incredibly powerful beyond imagination;
equally are His intellect, majesty, and transcendence (cf. Psa 19:1-4; Rom
1:20). We conclude from other parts of Scripture that creation and salvation
demand attributes of omni-proportion, such as all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, and all-present, et al.
We
will never know the depth, height, and breadth of His Person (cf. Isa 55:9; Rom
11:33); He is God and God alone without rival in magnitude: eternal (no
beginning or ending), infinite (without limitation), and unchanging (eternal in
His essence), holy. With that said, let’s mosey on over to Jeremiah and see, in
light of what was just said, the expectation from Yahweh (Jer 9:23-24),
(Jer
9:23) Thus
says the LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the
mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his
riches;
(Jer
9:24) But
let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am
the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight, says the LORD.
Is
the wise man going to reveal the extent of his wisdom in the presence of the
all-wise God? Is the mighty man going to flex his physical muscles or his armies
before the Almighty? Is the rich man going to brag about what he has to the
Owner of heaven and earth?
Where
are the believers who glory in that he understands and knows Me [Yahweh] who delights
in exercising
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth? Paul quoted from Jer
9:24 in 1 Cor 1:31, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the
LORD.
As
far as moving forward toward a goal, all OT revelation is intrinsically
pointing to a historical Jesus who would be the propitiation or satisfaction
for man’s sin (cf. Gn 3:21; 1 Jn 2:2); so, by the time of the incarnation (c.
6-4 B.C.), the birth of God’s Son, the son of Mary and Joseph, we see God’s
supreme manifestation of Himself to humanity in Jesus Christ (Jn 14:9-10; 2 Cor 4:6;
Col 1:15-16; Heb 1:1-3). At the time of Jesus’ death on the cross in 30 A.D.,
He was ~34-36 years of age.
He
was the Messiah predicted by the prophets (e.g., Isa 7:14; 9:6; 53:3-7: Micah
5:2; Zech 9:9), but not the kind of Messiah the Jews had anticipated. He came
to save them from the penalty of their sin, not from the Romans. Sadly, the
tradition of the elders had usurped OT authority in Jesus’ day (cf. Mt 7:9,
13), and it was an abhorrence to the judicial and religious authority (the Sanhedrin)
to be considered sinful like the Gentiles, Samaritans, lawbreakers, and particularly,
those dreaded Romans. They suffered from a stupefying self-righteousness (cf.
Jn 15:22; Rom 5:12). They did not see themselves in need of spiritual
redemption, only a political one. Jesus died for sinners anyway (Rom 5:8).
Do
you look at Jesus like the gray-minds of the world? Perhaps you can’t see Jesus
doing anything for you because His brand of holiness doesn’t fit your lifestyle?
From what we read in some of those verses in this article, Jesus has omnipotent
power, I say this in the present tense because He is alive and occupying the
throne as I write (Col 3:1; Heb 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pet 3:22).
You
know He could have destroyed His creation and called it a “day” when Adam fell
or an entire civilization turned its back on God in Noah’s day. How about those
who were turned a deaf ear to the voice of creation, making and serving false
gods (Rom 1:22-23)? Way before the completion of the 1,500-year project of
inspiration, the Jews were already trading His Word for the commandments of men
(tradition).
What
a slam in the face of God! They crucified Him to show their contempt of the One
who came to save them from their sin. They didn’t consider themselves in need
of salvation. They only cared about breaking the Roman yoke from off their
nation. If Jesus was the true Messiah, what was He doing bleeding out on a
crucifix like a common criminal? He could have called six legions of angels to
come to His rescue, but Jesus literally “hung” in there for us until it was
finished and gave up His spirit (Jn 19:30)!
What
makes us different than those who failed or outright refused to see and acknowledge
who Jesus really was? Perhaps it is because we are so busy that we don’t have
time for Him? Ever hear of Elizabeth Elliot who lost her husband, Jim, to the
Auca Indians in the Ecuadorian jungles back on 1.8.1956? She once said, “If you
are too busy for God, you are too busy.”
Why
do we treat Jesus the way we do? Because sin, not the Savior, is occupying the
throne of our hearts. If you avoid the Scriptures, you are going to know little
of Him. Many of us think, speak, and live in such a way that reflects the
mob-mentality before Pilate, “We will not have this Man to rule over us!” And
so, our unruly life naturally gravitates toward a Jdg 21:25 mindset, being self-governed
or surrendering to some authority other than the sovereignty of Yahweh.
Perhaps
like Adam, we are being willfully stupid, trashing the blessings of God for a
lie? Or maybe, we are more like the antediluvian civilization in Noah’s day who could have
cared less for the Creator, or the Jews rejecting the authority of His Word and
crucifying Jesus?
What
makes us any different from the world whenever we ignore and disregard Jesus? Life
is so much better with Jesus than without Him. As believers, we should never
live like those who are without Christ. <><
(Joh
6:66) From
that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
(Joh
6:67) Then
Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away?
(Joh
6:68) But
Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life.
It
is in our best interests to remember Peter’s words to Jesus, yes?
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