New Thoughts (10/28/09-11/02/09)
Well! There is certainly much to be considered in these verses. Several doctrinal points are made clear in what Jesus has just said. What becomes clear to me as I look at those things I have gathered out of my notes as points to discuss is that everything He is bringing to my attention here has some degree of linkage to His Providence. Now, that shouldn’t really surprise. After all, the essence of His Providence is that everything has linkage to His Providence. But, in those things He has laid out before me, the connections are made clear to some aspects of this truth that have not been so obvious to me until now.
Providence – It’s His Call (10/29/09-10/30/09)
One point that is made somewhat indirectly in this passage concerns the simple fact that God is in control. It’s His call whether a given individual responds to the Gospel or not. It’s there in verse 26, when Jesus says that these particular folks don’t believe because they are not His sheep. Well, what determines who His sheep are? That’s in verse 29. “My Father has given them to Me.” This may not be the strongest declaration on this principle, but there it is.
What brought this to my attention, though, was a verse indicated as paralleling the verses at hand, one I had been looking for in a previous study, but hadn’t been able to dig up. So, thank You, Lord, for causing the verse to come before me. At any rate, the verse I am writing about is Deuteronomy 32:39. This is one of those verses that make us uncomfortable, because it reveals things about God that we are not inclined to attribute to Him. “It is I who put to death.” We don’t like that. It’s OK that He gives life. That’s cool. But, death? Isn’t that the devil’s work? How about this? “I wound.” We’re all good with the healing part, but wounding is evil, isn’t it? How can we attribute evil to God? Well, we can’t. Not with any legitimacy. The problem is not that God is capable of evil. The problem is that we are incapable of discerning what is truly evil from what is merely uncomfortable and inconvenient.
Can it be, then, that there are times when death is good? Well, there are surely times when Justice requires the death of evil’s perpetrator. If the penalty for breaking God’s Law is death, and death is never inflicted, is that not evil? If death had not been visited upon Jesus, would that not have been a great evil to mankind? Our trouble is that we are inclined to measure by the emotion, rather than even trying to grasp the big picture.
However, it is not so much the good or bad of these things that concerns me at present. The point God is making here is, “It’s Me and nobody else!” There is no other god. It’s not that I AM the chief God, or the most powerful. I am the ONLY. Consider what those other so-called gods were all about. Each had its supposed sphere of control. There were gods for weather, gods for crop growth, gods for fertility, gods for mountains and other gods for valleys. When the True God declares that there are no others, part of the meaning there is that He controls all. Hill or vale, weather or life, you name it, He controls it. He created it. He rules it. He owns it. What it is, it is because He has determined that it shall be so.
This is, of course, part and parcel of providence. We tend to focus on the blessing side of the providential accounting. He owns the cattle on a thousand hillsides, and He gives me a steak from that bounty. That’s providence, and we’re glad of it. We lose money in the stock market, or we lose our job, or some such. That’s also providence, but most of the time we’re too busy complaining about circumstances to recognize that it is the work of a good God. But, listen! If it’s the work of a good God, and He’s doing it for my good, why am I complaining? I should be looking for what He’s bringing about by this temporary hardship. I should be considering what it was about owning that stock that was problematic for me. I should be contemplating what blessing lies in being removed from a particular job, and seeking His counsel as to what employment He would like me to seek next.
Fundamentally, He is in control. What peace there is for the man who can grasp that seemingly simple concept! If He is in control, what cause have I for fear, for anxiety? None! Now come back to the current passage: “No one can snatch them from My Father’s hand.” He is in control. He gave them to Me, but they are not therefore subject to loss because they are out of His hand. No! God does not suffer loss. He chose those sheep to be His own, created them to be His own. Nobody gives God sheep. We don’t bring somebody to the Lord. At best, we are given a part in making somebody aware that they are one of His sheep. But, they were His from conception, from before conception. He never lost them. They just wandered for a time. But, never beyond the limits of His sight.
What saddens us, perhaps, is to consider that the reverse is also true. It’s back to that side of God we’d rather deny. If there are those who are not His sheep, it is so because He has said it is so. They were created to not be His sheep just as you were created to be His sheep. It is not that their application for sheepdom has been rejected because of some action in their past. It’s that they were created in such a fashion that they could never conceive of making such an application. And, frankly, nothing you or I do to convince them will change that fact. “You do not believe because you are not Mine.” Notice that it’s not the reverse. It’s not that they are not His because they don’t believe. They don’t believe because they are not His.
Grasp the contrast between these two cases. At the start of John’s gospel, he records that first meeting of the first few disciples with Jesus. It is a seemingly chance encounter when they have actually gone to listen to a different teacher. They had gone to become disciples of John the Baptist, but something else happened. Peter met Jesus for but a moment, and what was his reaction? He went to find Simon and give him the news: “We have found the Messiah” (Jn 1:41)! One brief encounter, and he knows. One brief encounter, and he’s changed for life.
On the other hand, we have the temple council, who after three years of active ministry, having heard all the many things Jesus has done and taught, still don’t get it. It’s not impossible that those Luke writes of in Luke 22:67 are among those present in this scene. “Tell us if You are the Messiah”, they beg Him. Jesus simply replies, “I’ve already told you, and you don’t believe.” They say He is keeping them in suspense, and His response is like that of a harried parent to a stubborn child. How many times must I tell you? If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. What’s the point of wasting my breath on yet another attempt? Especially when I already know that you are not My sheep. If you were, we wouldn’t be having this conversation!
So we come to that later account that Luke provides and we hear the same thing. “If You are the Christ tell us.” Of course, we are aware that there are ulterior motives behind their question, but the reality of the situation remains. “If I did, you wouldn’t believe.” Of course, Jesus could say that. He could say that because He has already said as much here. “I already told you. You didn’t believe.” Indeed, He states the case more strongly on another occasion. “Were one to rise from the dead to tell you it’s all real, that I AM I AM, you still wouldn’t believe.” The proof of that was already there with Lazarus risen and walking about. The proof was even greater when Jesus left His own grave behind.
But, it’s all the impact of Providence. It’s all evidence of God in control. “You don’t hear what I AM is saying because you are not of God” (Jn 8:47). It’s not what you did, it’s that you can’t possibly do. Oh, we don’t like to hear that! It seems so unfair of God to be like that. We want the eternal hope of redemption for everybody. We want the fairy tale ending. We want to believe that when all is said and done, God will just forgive everybody and we’ll all live happily ever after in the kingdom. But, it’s not like that. Repeatedly, throughout the New Testament, there is a balance struck between the Redemptive Love of Christ and the Justice of God. It’s not Good News for everybody, because not everybody is a sheep. For some, it’s the most terrible news, because it’s news of their just condemnation, of a sentence passed with no possible reprieve. The Governor will not be calling at the last second to stay the execution.
But, for those who believe! For those empowered to believe, counted as His sheep, the end result is just as certain! “All Whom the Father gives Me will come to Me” (Jn 6:37). There is no least chance of failure for the chosen. They will come. No question about it. And, the result of their coming to Him is equally certain. “I will certainly not cast out one who comes to Me” (Jn 6:37b). The combined message here returns us to the negative. In other words, those not given Him won’t come to Him. But, let us rejoice to be amongst the given! We have come to Him and He has not cast us out! We are in His hand, and no one will ever take us from there!
For all that we consider the backslidden, and those fallen from grace, the reality is here in the passage before us. If ever they were in His hand, there would be no fall from grace, for no one will ever snatch one of His from His hand, because they can’t. He and the Father are One, and the Father, our Father is greater than all! Can’t happen. Can’t be done. End of story. That’s not to say that His sheep never wander. We know that’s not true from our own experiences. But, they never wander so far as to be lost. I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: God does not lose sheep!
Providence – It’s His Preservation (10/31/09)
How marvelous it is to know this truth of eternal security! Yet, how difficult to speak of it without leading those who hear into a false sense of permissiveness. On the one hand, I speak of there being an eternal security, and I see from passages such as this one that it is so. The saints persevere. They persevere not because they are spiritually superior or in any way more able or deserving. They persevere for the simple fact that they are in His hands. They persevere because it is God who is at work in them (Php 2:13). On the other hand, there is the mindset that is known as “once saved, always saved”. It sounds the same, but the effect is much different. These folks are the ‘social Christians’. They have been baptized, or they have said the sinner’s prayer or some such act, and they figure that’s an end to it. No further action required. No further evidence needed. If salvation’s forever and I’ve got it, then I can go back to what I was doing. Their condemnation is just (Ro 3:8).
The full testimony of Scripture makes clear the fact that while our works can never earn us our salvation, neither can our salvation be devoid of works. Those works become the outflow of salvation. They are a necessary evidence. They are necessary as breathing is a necessary evidence of being alive. It is impossible that one could be alive and not breathing. It is equally impossible that one could be saved and not be doing those works which reflect the presence of God in one’s life.
This reality is reflected in what Jesus says of His own in this passage. While it is His Providence that determines who shall hear and who shall not, there remains this point made in verse 27. “The sheep which are mine are in the habit of listening to my voice.” I love the way Wuest has translated this verse! We are in the habit of listening. We are active in faith. We have not relegated God to the infamous watchmaker’s role. We have not treated Him like some absentee Father, but recognize that He is present in our lives, intimately involved. Knowing this, we are in the habit of listening for Him, to hear how He shall guide us in each moment and each situation.
We are not foxhole believers. We do not leave Him behind when times are good and come crawling back only when the situation has become critical. Well, not always. Yes, we have our ups and downs, but the majority of our time is spent at least above the mid-point. We are more up than down. We are trying. We are trying not because our salvation depends on it, but because our salvation deserves it. We rejoice in the knowledge of our eternal security, yes. How could we not? Who could recognize the magnificence of this gift of salvation and fail to rejoice? But, at the same time, effort remains.
We know we are in His hand, and being in His hand, there is nobody who can snatch us out, not even ourselves. Better to say most especially ourselves, for we are the worst threat we shall likely deal with in this regard. But, knowing ourselves secure doesn’t lead us to a habitual slacking off. Effort remains. His sheep are in the habit of listening to Him. Habits take effort to establish. Good habits take effort to maintain. There can be no better habit than to listen to Him. When we hear Him saying go and do, it takes effort to be instant in responding. After all, much of what He asks us to go and do looks near to impossible to us. Go there? You must be kidding! Do that? Surely, You meant somebody else, God. But, His sheep are in the habit of listening, and listening unto obedience.
You know, if I look around the office, there are many who are in the habit of listening. But, they listen perhaps to be aware of the boss before he comes to the office. They listen in order to get back to doing what they ought before they are caught out. Or, maybe they listen to garner some dirt on a coworker. There can be a myriad reasons for listening. But, listening in order to obey seems to be a rarity. Amongst the sheep of Christ it cannot be that way. If we are listening for His voice in order to clean up our act before He arrives, we’re too late. He’s always here in His hands, and ever before His eyes. If we are listening to our brethren in order to have something on them, then we ought surely to question our membership in the flock. Gossips in the house of God? We can hardly expect a welcome if that’s our style!
But, don’t lose hope! Listen. I know we have our issues, all of us. We are not perfect sheep, not by a long shot. That’s why we need to know that by His Providence we are made secure. By His Providence, even when we stray, we can be certain that He will come find us and bring us back. That’s hardly cause to stray with joy. But, when we return to our senses and suddenly realize that we’ve left the flock behind somewhere, how marvelous to know without a doubt that our Great Shepherd will be along shortly to bring us back! We have but to listen. He will be calling.
Oh, rejoice my soul! What cause have you to be downcast? Have the seasons been dry? Does it seem you are stuck in the doldrums? Fear not, for He is with you. Rejoice, for His hand remains upon you, below you, around you. Rejoice and be certain that He has never lost a one. You have not been somehow snatched from His hands. It’s impossible! He is greater than all. Who has come against you? It matters not, for He is with you! If your flame feels feeble at present, rejoice knowing that He will soon fan it back to full strength. There remains a roaring fire in you, just needing the Master’s spark to ignite.
Rejoice as well for those others around you who seem to be off course. If they are, and they are of His flock, then He will just as surely come to round them up and bring them back to the fold. Don’t think to take the role of shepherd upon yourself, little sheep! Just listen. Listen for His voice as He talks to you. If He sends you to another, go and speak with all love. If He corrects you, be corrected and rejoice that He has not left you in error.
Lord, indeed I do rejoice in knowing that I am Yours. Indeed, I am in need of that spark that You bring. You have called me Your own, and in this alone I find strength. You have set me in Your own hand, and You have said it: You shall not let go. How wonderful, my Lord and King, to know that this is so! Oh! Let it never become an excuse in me to stop doing those things that please You! Let it instead be an incentive to try that much harder to live a life that is pleasing in Your sight.
My God, it seems that daily I seek this and daily I fail. No, it doesn’t seem that way. It is that way. But, it ought not to be. Lord, there’s no reason I should be thus. Awaken, then, that desire. Stir it up, Lord. Do Thou so work in me as to establish in me a will to do as You will. I know, my Father, that perfection lies yet beyond me, but surely I can do better than this! Bring me to that place, Holy Father, I beg You. Let the love that is mine in Your Son, in my Jesus, be evident in my dealings with one and all, on weekdays as it is on Sundays. Amen.
Providence – It’s His Consecration (11/01/09-11/02/09)
For several months now, these studies have been looking at a series of events recorded in John’s Gospel that began at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles and are now marked as concluding at the time of the Feast of Dedication. As such, there has been a span of about three weeks which has passed, and the events in this passage are set during the celebration of Hanukkah. In a purely temporal sense, it is worth noting this passage of time so that we don’t begin to think of the last several chapters of John’s Gospel as having happened all at once. On the other hand, it also seems to me unlikely that Jesus and His disciples had returned to Galilee only to turn around and come back for this celebration. Indeed, had they returned to Galilee, there would be no cause for them to come back. Hanukkah doesn’t carry the requirement of being in Jerusalem. Yet, they are there. I note this only to explain why I have included a few passages of Luke in the midst of this. They seem to fit the general flow of what has been happening in John’s account, so I have slipped them in there.
What is more interesting, however, is the symbolic aspect of the timing. Particularly in John’s account, we are shown how Jesus drew from the feasts to explain Himself. As the water libation is poured out, He calls attention to the fact that He is the Living Water. As the lights are burning in the courtyard of the women during the closing feast of Tabernacles, He stands and proclaims, “I AM the Light!” Now, we are at the Hanukkah celebration, and what is being celebrated? Most translations speak of this as the Feast of Dedication, rather than the name familiar to us. Actually, it’s a translation of that familiar name, and in translating it, we are given a suggestion of its significance.
This feast marked the rededication of the temple after the period of its profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes. This event, too, was associated with light and particularly with that sacred oil which was used for the altar light in the temple. The story goes that when Maccabee sought to sanctify the altar, only one day’s worth of holy oil remained. This oil was formulated according to Mosaic instruction and required the high priest’s seal of approval. Yet, the ceremony of consecration required 8 days. By God’s intervention, that one vial of oil, sufficient for one day proved sufficient to keep the lamps burning throughout the 8 days of the ceremony.
Let us consider, then, why it was that the altar needed to be rededicated. It was needed because Antiochus had caused the building to be profaned by his idolatries. This was hardly the first time such an event had occurred, nor would it be the last. The cure, however, remains constant: when once the profanations have been eliminated, the place needed cleansing, needed consecration back into the Lord’s exclusive service.
This same consecration of the altar is of a piece with the work of Christ. In Hebrews 9, the author explains the purpose of the sacrifice as a matter of cleansing. “Almost all things are cleansed by blood” (Heb 9:22). More important for our understanding is this: “It was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these [sacrifices], but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Heb 9:23). You see, things had become so defiled that even the heavenly temple needed cleansing. This makes a degree of sense when one considers that the fall of man began with the fall of angels. It was not just the earthly that had encountered sin and rebellion, but the heavenly as well.
As much as this work was completed with the death of Jesus, it was always a part of His ministry. We see it as He comes to the court of the Gentiles and chases out the moneylenders. We see it whenever He confronts the Pharisees and the other leading lights of religion with the truth of their condition. Over and over we find Him pointing out to them how far they have wandered from the Truth. Over and over, as we have followed Him from the Atonement to the Dedication, He has been demonstrating how empty and pointless their supposed righteousness had become, how far it had departed from reflecting the True God.
In Jesus, Truth and purity were being restored. He was not going to be so wrapped up in trying to look good. He was busy doing good. He was not going to be bound by the fetters of religiosity, He was going to demonstrate by His own life what His brother would later proclaim as real religion, pure and undefiled: “to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (Jas 1:27). That’s it. What does God require, oh man? Be just, be kind. Walk humbly with God (Mic 6:8). Love your God with all that is in you, and love your neighbor as much as (or more than) you love yourself (Mt 22:37-39). In every one of these recent confrontations, Jesus has shown how little love these religious Pharisees had for others. That lack of love for others could only demonstrate a lack of love for God. They didn’t love Him. They loved prestige.
But, Jesus came to consecrate not just the altar, or even the temple. He came to consecrate humanity. In Him, and only in Him, mankind finds the means to be cleansed, to be dedicated to God’s use. This is, after all, what consecration is about. When we give to the ministry, we have consecrated that portion of our income to God’s use. More importantly, we have consecrated it for God’s exclusive use. No other may use it. Likewise, when we consecrate a church, the point ought to be the same: It’s exclusively for God’s use. That may or may not require that we refuse to lease it out for other activities. It certainly requires that we consider the propriety of those activities as being activities of which He approves.
It needs to get personal, though. I have been consecrated for His exclusive use. This is a point Paul tries to drive home to the church. You can’t be doing those things anymore! They don’t fit with the consecrated life. Far be it from me, that I should continue to allow this body to sin! It belongs to God, and to God alone. No other may master it. No other may have the least share in it. It is dedicated to God. How, then, do I tolerate it being used by another?
You know, I want to come back to that definition of religion that James gives us. There’s the active component of active love: Go and visit the orphan and widow. Now, he’s not simply instructing us to stop by and say hello. He’s telling us to address their very real temporal needs. Go and actively address what’s happening in their physical reality right now. Then comes the second clause: “keep yourselves unstained by the world.” If we turn to Jesus, as He deals with His apostles on their final night together, we might say, “keep your feet clean.” This matter of keeping yourself unstained doesn’t mean you’re not going to get dirty. It’s not a demand for some impossible perfection. It’s more a matter that when you discover some dirt, you wash it off. You don’t let it get ground in. You don’t wait for it to become a stain you can no longer get out.
Listen! Years ago, I can’t even recall which text I was studying but I’d guess it was Romans, I recall coming across that mark the high priest wore upon his brow: “Holy unto the Lord” (Ex 28:36). It was a visible reminder to all who might encounter him that he was set apart. He was to be about God’s work and nothing else. For our part, we have been made a nation of priests. We are each of us called to go about our lives as a people with that seal upon our own brows. We are set apart, not as aloof from the rest of mankind, but as representing the fullness of mankind. We serve the Last Adam, Who, like the oil of that first Hanukkah, came as a light in our midst when we least had cause to hope for it.
That last sentence borrows heavily from Josephus, who writes in regard to Hanukkah: “And from that time to the present we observe this festival, which we call the festival of Lights, giving this name to it, I think, from the fact that the right to worship appeared to us at a time when we hardly dared hope for it.” Is this not a most marvelous description of what we have in Christ Jesus? He, Who came as the Light in the darkness, a bright dawn upon those who dwelt in deep darkness; what cause had we to expect that such a light might come to us? Hardly dared to hope? We had no thought of there being anything to hope for.
It should hardly surprise that even such a late arriving feast as this would reflect the Son. We might even expect that it is more reasonable for this feast to reflect Him than any other. Not only does it celebrate the rededication of the temple, it celebrates a delivery of Israel, a redemption. Christ the Redeemer comes, and in Him the faith of nations is established. In Him, those who are counted amongst His sheep, those given to Him by the Father, are consecrated to His exclusive use. In Him, as we read earlier from Hebrews, the altar on earth and the true altar in heaven are cleansed once for all. Every shadow has found its real fulfillment.
Mankind has found its fulfillment. Movements such as the humanist movement look to some future fulfillment of mankind. Man is viewed as marching towards some future perfection when the flaws of the past and the flaws of the present have been eliminated. The problem is that this fulfillment already came. Just like the Jews looking for the Messiah who already came, these folks look for an improved humanity which has already come. It is one and the same thing, the Messiah and the perfect Man. Oh, there is surely a sense in which the perfection of mankind remains a future event, just as there is surely a return of Messiah to gather His own to Himself. But, this corrupt philosophy of man fails to note the historical reality. The Last Adam already came, the Light Who was found among us when we had no cause to hope for Him.
He continues to come into the lives of men and women who have no cause to hope for Him. He did not, after all, come to seek the righteous, for there were none to be found. He came to seek the sinful, those in need of redemption. He came to rescue those locked in their own dark cells, away from all light, with no hope of ever being set at liberty again. And, He led that captivity captive, out of their cells and into the Light of Life. No, this great gift was not given to all. But, this reflects no limit upon the potential power of the Christ. It reflects only the boundaries of the gift given Him by the Father. Not every sheep is of His flock. That’s rather the point He’s been making here. If you don’t believe, it is because you are not of His sheep. If you do, it is because you are. If you are, you hear Him, and you follow Him. It’s that simple. It’s all in His providence and none in your merits.
Providence – It’s His Union (11/02/09)
One last aspect of His Providence that I wish to consider here is that of His union. In this passage, that union is declared between Father and Son. “I and the Father are one” (v30). What are we to understand from that? How the debate has raged about this very thing over the centuries! Are we to understand that they are but different names for the same being? After all, we know from of old that the Lord our God He is One (Dt 6:4). As for what Jesus has just declared, it must hold with what was revealed through Moses, for God does not change. So, when He says He and the Father are one, it cannot change the fact that the Lord is One.
The question that must be resolved is in what way they are declared one. The word one, as used by Jesus in this passage, can indicate a singularity of number or an agreement of essence. Which is to be understood here? Zhodiates indicates that the distinction is to be made based on the particular spelling and pronunciation used. If this be the case, then the present passage is clearly speaking of that essential unity rather than the numerical. However, I find no mention of such distinction in the other lexicons.
Let me, then, offer a textual support for reaching the ‘essential’ conclusion. If I turn to the high priestly prayer of Jesus, which includes the well-known declaration that He has given us the glory He was given in order that we might be one “just as We are one” (Jn 17:22). Now, I want to come back to that verse in another light shortly, but for the moment, consider the simple purpose declared: that we might be one as They are one. Clearly, the point here is not that all of humanity should become a single entity. No! It’s that we might achieve a unity of character, if you will: a unity of purpose and conscience.
Behold, how good, how pleasant, when brethren dwell together in unity! (Ps 133:1). This is not some new goal on the part of the Godhead. It has been the goal from of old, but it has been a goal unachievable apart from the intervention of God Himself, just as the righteousness required by the Law was and is unachievable apart from His intervention. Oh, it is good and pleasant for us to abide in such unity, to be sure. It’s also as unlikely as finding dew on Mount Hermon (Ps 133:3). It’s a rare thing indeed! So rare, that Jesus declared that the unifying love of the brethren would be the chief proof that He was truly Messiah.
This is not, then, a singularity of person, it is a unity. It is indeed a matter of essence, of essential character. What does that mean? The term ‘essential’ takes on a particular significance in theological and philosophical circles. In somewhat simplified terms, it means that were the essential trait not a part of the being in question, that being would cease to be what it is. It is as much a factor of the life of that being as is breath – more so.
There are those character traits that define Who God is. If any one of those traits were to be removed, He would no longer be God. We speak of God being Good, and this is indeed an essential characteristic of God. So is the fact that He is Just. This is, of course, a juxtaposition I use frequently. If Goodness cause Justice to fail, He would cease to be Himself, cease to be God. If Justice caused Goodness to cease, He would likewise cease to be Himself. But, in Him, in His Omniscient, Omnipotent Providence, He found a way to show us Mercy without abrogating Justice. It’s there in John’s great declaration, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of our unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9). He has found the way to be both Good and Just, Merciful and Righteous simultaneously. He has found the way that He can forgive us our sins without failing to uphold His own rule of Law, and that way was found in the Son, the Light we found when we had no reason to hope for Him.
So, we are looking at a Father and Son who are of one, united in their character and in their purpose. When they act, they act as one. There is no disagreement, no hidden agenda on the part of one or the other. Their every action is an expression of their essential unity. Their offices may differ, their roles be specific, but their purpose and goal is the same. It is into this unity that we are called by that High Priestly prayer. We are not called into unison, where there is only one voice, only one word to speak, and all must move in lock-step. We are called into unity, a much more powerful thing. We are called to share in the character and purpose of the God we serve.
We are to share in their essence! That’s a rather astounding concept, and one I fear we are in danger of pushing too far. Much is made, for instance, of the fact that Jesus, praying to Father, declares, “I have given them that glory You have given Me” (Jn 17:22). What? We possess the Shekinah? Oh, I think not! Not in that same sense that fills the Temple, certainly. Were it so, we should have no further issue with sin, would we? It’s just not possible. No, and neither did the glory Jesus held in His incarnate form fully embody the glory that was and is His in heaven. He, after all, emptied Himself in coming among us. He did not come to walk upon the earth as God. He came to walk as Man. Neither did He intend to suggest that He had somehow made His apostles gods. Let it not be supposed!
When we hear Jesus say this, we must also recognize that the fundamentals have not changed. God still will not share His glory with another, not even with one of His sheep. There’s glory and then there’s glory.
I must return, though, to this matter of unity, and save discussion of Jn 17:22 for its proper place. As indicated, that oneness of which Jesus speaks both here and in that later passage is a matter of essence, of unity. Now, recognize this: When He says, “I and the Father are one,” He speaks of a unity so thorough as to make the two inseparable. You cannot separate Father and Son. You cannot separate Father and Spirit, Son and Spirit. The Tri-Unity of God is inseparable. He is, They are, One. However ever painful the semantics, the reality is glorious!
By His Providence, He has made it possible for us to be equally inseparable in faith. By His Providence, we can be so united, so inseparable, even in the presence of differences of opinion. Don’t get me wrong. There are most definitely points of doctrine and theology that must be upheld else this unity cannot exist in unity with the God Who Is. But, in opinion, there is a vast space for disagreement which need not destroy essential unity. Jesus Himself was of the opinion that a different way of achieving the goal of Salvation would be preferable from where He was standing. But, He was still standing, and when no other means was offered, He held to the unifying purpose and plan of God.
Matters such as the charismata, the appropriate time for baptism, the style of worship, these are not points that ought to divide the body of Christ. Indeed, nothing should divide the true body of Christ. The division we must maintain is between that which is the body and that which is not, that which only pretends to the name. In that effort, we would do well to look to our own house before we worry too much about the one down the street. But, this is not our focus. This is not our real purpose. Our purpose is much simpler, much more difficult: To be so united to our God and King as to be inseparable.
Were it not for His providence, we should have no hope of attaining that goal. But, by His Providence, we are made one with Him. By His Providence, we have been declared His Sheep, found in His hand, and so secured in that position that no one no and no thing shall ever prevail in efforts to snatch us from Him. “I have lost not a one of those You gave Me.” That is the eternal testimony of our Great Shepherd. That is the voice of Providence.
