New Thoughts (07/24/13-07/27/13)
It is a word I have explored often in these studies, but it deserves noting again as we come near to the close of John’s gospel. Believing: What does it mean? What is its value? One immediate aspect of belief that must be recognized is that a belief without factual basis is more properly delusion. There are plenty of people out there who are firm in their beliefs, yet utterly wrong and wholly without hope. I needn’t look very far to find an example. My own past would surely suffice. Even in matters of Christian doctrine, there have been those matters of which I was absolutely sure right up to the moment when the Holy Spirit, through these times of study and through other instruction, made very clear that I was absolutely wrong.
So, then, belief in and of itself is of no value, can even prove detrimental. Belief has its value in the object it has believed. If one believes the Truth, that foundation is sure, and all that follows upon belief is set on a good footing. If, on the other hand, one believes a delusion, one has swallowed the Lie in any of its myriad forms, then that belief, however firmly held, will fail the believer in the day of trial. Surely, when standing before the Judge of the whole earth, professing to have believed in some alternate reality is not going to alter His judgments. It is unlikely that telling Him about your devotion to Buddha or Allah or whomever will cause Him to say, “good enough.” Not when He has already told you that there is no path home except Him. “I AM the way. I AM the Truth.” Or, we could as easily stress that differently. “I am the Way. I am the Truth.” In Him alone is life, for it is in Him alone to give of His Life. That is right there in what John is telling us in this passage: John’s mission is that we might believe, and thereby have life in His name.
But, if the object of belief is important, so too is the strength by which it is held. To believe that Jesus existed, for example, is fine. But, it is of little value. To believe He actually lived and taught and died in Israel is but to accede to the evidence of history. Do you believe He is the Messiah? That, too, has only as great a value as your understanding of who Messiah was to be. Many believed Him the Messiah, but thinking the Messiah a conquering warrior come to oust the Romans, they could not comprehend Him. Is He Son of God? Do you believe that? Do you believe He is One with God? Do you believe, for all that, that there even is a God? And, if you do, what does His existence mean as concerns your own way of life?
Yet, even if one’s answers to all of these questions indicate a sound and full understanding of the Truth, even so it must go farther. To believe the Truth, however clear that belief, has not arrived that the belief spoken of here except one has trusted himself to that belief. Except one has found in the Jesus Who Is, one’s own moral compass, one’s own point of reference for how a man is to live and think and act, unless He has truly become that fundamental to one’s own persona, one’s own consciousness, the value of the Truth is lacking. James sums up the danger of a belief that is purely intellectual. “You believe that God is one? You do well! But, even demons believe this, and shudder” (Jas 2:19).
Merely acceding to the accuracy of Scripture, merely accepting that He is Who He Is will never suffice to the attaining of life. That life, if it is ever to be attained, is necessarily going to be lived in accord with the Way He taught, the Way He lived, the Way He is. Belief must arrive at being one’s ‘moral and religious reference’, the measure by which on assesses himself, the guide by which one proceeds, the rod by which one is corrected. This is what it means to trust, to believe with such certainty as admits no possibility of falsity. Here is the way of life. Where else could I go? What other course could I take? I have been handed knowledge of life or death, and commanded to choose. The choice is obvious, and the One Who calls me to choose is trustworthy. I will follow Him, for in Him is life and love and peace and mercy and justice and all that is good.
The whole purpose of John’s writing his gospel, for all of the gospels and for all of Scripture is wrapped up in this point: That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Certainly, there is that which prepares us to accept His story, there is that which relays His story, and there is that which gives us knowledge of what belief must mean for our own part. But this summary statement of purpose John gives us would serve well as the thematic statement of purpose for the whole. What is written is written to one purpose, just as it is inspired by one Holy Spirit: That purpose is that you may believe and have life, and there is only one foundation for such belief as will result in life: Jesus, the Christ appointed by God, the Son begotten of God.
John also offers that his selection as to what he ought to include in this text and what he might bypass was based on that same criteria. I can think of two ways to take his point. On the one hand, by noting that there were many signs not included in his text, he may be simply saying that what he has provided is sufficient foundation for faith. He may be explaining how it is that the other gospels mention things which he does not, and he mentions things that they do not. Yes, the others are accurate and true as well. But, I am inclined to find his selection criteria in his own words: These are written that you may believe. More would be unnecessary, less would not suffice. You have in this text sufficient of the life of Christ and the events of His days to know the events to be true and to know Him to be the Truth.
But, this leads to questions on my part, because John doesn’t stop at this point. He continues on, and those things which remain in his gospel are a sign in their own right. “Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples” (Jn 21:1). Well, is that not a sign and a wonder? This Man who was dead, crucified many days hence, is now there on the shores of the Sea of Galilee? Glancing ahead at the final chapter, it is wholly concerned with this last visit, last at least that John will recount. So, perhaps the proper question is not why he proceeds to tell us more having said enough, but why he felt the need to add this one final bit of coverage. It does seem to come as something of a postscript, for he repeats a very similar thought at the very close: “There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, would overflow the world with books” (Jn 21:25).
In short, we could never hope to record all that happened in those three years, and if we did, it would but overwhelm you to no purpose. We were in an intensive discipleship program day and night through that period. Jesus never stopped, and even when He did, there was something to be learned, something to observe. But, John, by the Holy Spirit, has drawn the line here. It is sufficient. You have the gospel, and there is more than enough here to establish the truth of the gospel. I think back to that which he tells us in regard to the centurion who was at the cross. “He who gave this testimony saw the events he described. His witness is true, and he knows it. Therefore, you may also believe as he has” (Jn 19:35). While it is not said outright, it is certainly implied that those who first received John’s writings knew this one who testified, for he spoke of these things often. You know him, you know what he has told you, and I’m here as a second witness to the veracity of his testimony.
That in itself ought to weigh heavily, in favor of the validity of the Gospel. It is a point that appears to have been lost on later generations, but those who first got to read these reports were in position to verify as much as they pleased. The many who are named in the pages were named because they were known. They were known not only to the apostles, but to those to whom they were writing. And, the claims! The claims particularly surrounding the execution and resurrection and ascension of Jesus: They were too over the top to be contrived. If the apostles had set out to dupe their audiences, I can’t imagine they would be advancing thoughts of six-hour eclipses, wide-spread severe earthquakes, the walking dead, and so forth. These are all things which would have been so easily refuted that they must surely know it. And, just as surely, being so easily refuted, if they had been false testimony, there would have been more than enough coming forward to present contrary evidence. Yet, the gospel prospered. The Church grew, and in fact, those who so strongly opposed the message of Messiah quickly faded. Isn’t that something! This is not, then, a mythology. It is not some fiction concocted by a bunch of religious nuts. It is a verifiably accurate representation of real events in the real lives of real people involving a real manifestation of a real God.
As concerns the reason for chapter 21, perhaps that can wait until we get there. But, for the moment, it seems sufficient that John, who had ministered together with Peter during the earliest days of the Church, felt a need to demonstrate the depths of Jesus’ own forgiveness of Peter, a thing which Peter himself would not address for modesty. By the time of his writing this text, he would know what Peter had been preaching, certainly, and would know what John Mark had recorded of that preaching. And, here was one piece of the record on which John could not accept that silence which Peter had imposed on himself.
Now, as concerns these post-resurrection experiences of Christ, Luke would later record some of the earliest preaching of Peter. In particular, we have the moment of Peter’s preaching to the household of Cornelius, wherein he says that Jesus did not “appear to all the people, but only those witnesses God had chosen beforehand: to us, who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead” (Ac 10:41). And note well that this is a thing God Himself decreed. God raised Him up. God granted that He should be visible to this select group. And He did so to a purpose. He did so together with issuing orders that they were to preach about this One appointed by God to be Judge of the living and the dead (Ac 10:42-43).
This is in part why John is setting down the material he has. If our sense of events is right, then he is nearing the end of his own tenure on the earth. His own ministry is drawing to a close as did that of Jesus before him. He knows, too, that he is the last of the direct witnesses, and he knows that for all the effort others have put into recording their own views of that time, there are things which were left unsaid. So, to ensure the sufficiency of the record, he has written. I remain of a mind to think much of his purpose is indeed to fill in the missing details, to write about those things which the others had not seen fit to mention, which had not served their purpose. In light of that, I think his comment as to the sufficiency of the testimony ought certainly to extend across all four gospels, and perhaps across Acts as well. There! Now, you have near enough a complete picture, more than sufficient for faith, and many questions addressed.
It is something of an odd direction for my thoughts, but as he is addressing the signs done by Jesus, and as he is writing as – quite probably – the last of the Apostles, it is possible at least that he is sensing a close to the time for signs and wonders. This runs somewhat counter to my usual thoughts in regard to the continuance of the charismata into our own day, but it’s an interesting point for consideration. John, of course, is not concerned with those events that established the church. That is not the purpose for his text. But, he might have been aware of Luke’s coverage of that period. He would certainly know of Paul’s teaching on the matter, I should think, and of the prevalence of those gifts in the churches. We can say with absolute certainty that he knew how those gifts played out in the earliest days, and I think we can reasonably assume that he’d had his own personal experiences with them, although nothing is said of such things. He is, after all, the one who received the visions leading to the Revelation. Yes, he is clearly a man familiar with the Holy Spirit and His workings.
So, is it not just possible that he is also providing something of an apologia for the decline of those signs and wonders? There had been enough. The case for faith was established, and so firmly established as to be established for all time. If this was the sum total of our view of God’s work in creation, it would suffice. If we had no Church history to set atop this foundation, it would suffice. If, indeed, we had not the framework of the Old Testament behind the events of those years, it might well be said to be enough. But, assuredly, with so great a predictive history leading up to this critical moment of Christ, the evidence is in, and if it does not suffice for belief, the fault is not with the record. The fault is with the man.
There is a point, as is clearly demonstrated in the record of Scripture, beyond which insistence upon signs and wonders demonstrates not a desire for God, but a deep-rooted unbelief. The Pharisees, the Sadducees: They had seen sufficient signs and wonders, some of them first-hand. The evidence that had been presented in the life of Jesus was more than sufficient, and particularly so for these who were so well versed in the Scriptures. If anybody should have recognized the Messiah in their midst, it was these. And yet, no matter how compelling the body of evidence, how clear the signs and how magnificent the wonders, what was their response: Show me more! Give us reason to believe.
Yet, the response from Jesus, as I noticed in reviewing Luke’s Gospel, is that no further sign shall be given. Even were one to return from the dead to warn you, yet you would not believe. And, the case of Lazarus proved that sufficiently even before He Himself arose. I note, also, that the record of the Gospels makes it pretty clear that those men knew Who He was, as much as they did their utmost to deny it. Their demand of a guard from Pilate, and their reaction to His resurrection demonstrates that fact. They knew it was real. They just felt it necessary to paint it as false. Why? Because the reality would require belief, and belief would require change, and such change would require they acknowledge their own moral decrepitude. This, they would not, could not do. And so, Jesus was given cause to mourn Jerusalem, for as much as He longed to save her, she would not have it.
The Pharisees and Sadducees, then, demonstrated the truth of their unbelief in their insistence on further signs. Even had Jesus responded to those mocking demands made at the cross – “Come down from there, and we will believe in You” – the reality is that they would never have believed in Him. We of a Reformed mindset would say that they could never have believed in Him, for God had so determined. Yet they remain guilty, and they remain responsible for the consequences of unbelief, for it was truly their own choice.
This is a line of thought I pursue for one reason, and it is not to justify the demise of the Sadducees and the futility of the Pharisees. It is because these things, too, were written for our own edification. They were written, in this case, as a warning to us, should we become too comfortable with our own salvation, too confident in our own concepts of what constitutes righteousness. It is a warning, particularly, against sign seeking. I have heard too many who insist, even from the pulpit, that if God does not perform this or that miracle, if He does not continue to set these signs and wonders before our eyes, then He is not worthy to be followed. I have heard this, in no uncertain terms, from one professing to be an ex-follower of Allah. Why, if God can’t do these thing (or won’t), I might as well go back to that! Really? Return to death in this life because God did not see fit to accede to your demands? Well, it’s your choice, I suppose.
But, I’ve heard similar thought processes expressed from others who ought to know better, really. If God’s no longer in the healing business, if He no longer produces health-related miracles, then all this is just a hoax. I, too, might just as well go after Allah or Buddha, or even Shiva, I suppose. Really? You count your physical health and comfort as more important than your eternal state? You think the aches and pains of old age outweigh the importance of life itself? Do you, then, suppose that the resurrection of Lazarus meant more than that of Jesus? If that woman who had suffered so long with the issue of blood not been healed, and yet had attained to heaven, do you suppose she would have arrived disappointed, with a rebuke of Jesus on her lips? I do not.
These are, in reality, marks of unbelief. This is one of the chief dangers of the whole health & wealth message. It has wholly shifted the perspective of those who pursue it away from the kingdom of God. It has raised the here and now to heights it ought never to have. We, who are told directly that while we remain in the world we are not of the world, ought to recognize the error of this approach immediately! That which raises the now above the not yet has got to have a problem in it. That which sets our physical comfort as a higher priority than our eternal salvation has not only missed the mark, but should really be recognized as a tool of the devil, seeking to distract and destroy the people of God.
It may not be a crime to desire that we might see signs, that we might experience miracles. But, I think we must question our own motives as to that desire. Why would we see them? What is the purpose? If it is to bolster our faith, then I return to what John has said here. You have enough evidence for faith. If it’s for the sheer wonder of it all, I would point you to the myriad witnesses to what Jesus did who simply walked away unchanged, and chose death over life in spite of the moments of wonder. If it’s for physical health, I cannot but note once more that Lazarus, whose healing was by far the most miraculous on record, even so went back into the grave later. Even so great a wonder as that was merely a temporary stay. And, had not he experienced faith in the Messiah, and had not the Messiah Himself gone to the grave in payment for the debts of Lazarus to the heavenly court, he would have been dead in truth even as he continued to walk the streets of Jerusalem. He would have been centuries into his punishment by now, but still no end in sight – never an end in sight. His own resurrection was of no use to himself, but the resurrected Christ was everything!
Enough, then, of pursuing signs for the sake of the signs! It is a distraction from the goal of life. It is Christ Jesus whom we seek after, Christ Jesus whom we serve. If, then, He determines in His sovereign purpose that a miracle is needed at this juncture, will He not provide it? If, on the other hand, He has determined that what He has done is enough and more than enough for faith to be made sure, do we honor Him by seeking more? I for one would not care to hear that same message given me as was given to the Pharisees, “No further sign will be given to you.” I would not care to hear that because the message is clear: You have not believed, nor would anything ever change that. You are not known to Me. No, Lord!
Let it be that I am satisfied and more than satisfied with the evidence You have provided. But, let it also be that I am willing to Your will and Your way, signs or no signs. This can be my only response, for You are my Savior King. It is in Your name that I have come to know life, for You have granted me to know life. It is only thus that I know it. And, Lord, how well I know my own weakness. Left to myself I would surely perish and deservedly so. But, You have not left me to myself. You have bought me! There is no shame in that, surely! You have bought me, and made me Your own. Yet, You have not bought me to be a mere slave in Your household. You have bought me to be of Your household! Yes, I am Your servant, servant to the King of kings. And, as such, I am duty bound to pursue Your good pleasure, to carry out Your perfect commands, to represent Your excellence, Your authority. Yet, You have made of me more than a servant. You have made me a son of the kingdom, brother to Christ and son to the Father. As such, these things are not just my duty, but my pleasure. I do not say (for You would know it false) that I am constant in that mindset, nor even all that good at it. Yet, it is where I desire to be, and that desire is also Your doing. To boast? Never. Where would I find the reason? But, to rejoice? Always! Thank You, Father God, that You saw fit to do all this for the likes of me. May I not only be satisfied in You, but pleased always to serve You, whatever the nature of that service may be. May I come to that place that indeed, I do Your will as it is done in heaven.
This is the thing John would give us to understand. It has been there from the outset of his gospel, and it is here in this first closing statement. Life, if we are to have it at all, is had ‘in His name’. But, as I have noted often in the course of these Gospel studies, His name, in this context, is not the word Jesus, or even the phrase Jesus Christ. His name is Him. It must be understood in that particularly Hebraic sense that His name represents everything that we know, think or feel about Him. In His name is His rank and authority, which is supreme. In His name are His pleasures, exploits, excellences, which these gospels have but introduced us to. In His name are His commands, which are binding in the absolute. They are binding on us, for we are His servants as well as His friends. But, they are just as binding on His enemies. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. There is not one in all creation who could reject His command.
Yet, we know ourselves to have ignored His word on many occasions, and this seems to stand contrary to what I just said. Here, I suppose I should have to distinguish between purpose and preference as expressions of His will. Surely, His purposes go forward with or without my cooperation, with or without the cooperation of the devil. He is able to so set about His ways that our own ways, evil and rebellious though they be, will serve His purpose. This is not in any way to suggest that He condones evil, that He cultivates rebellion. Not at all! No, it is with us as it was with Pharaoh, if on a lesser scale (praise God!) He is willing to leave us to our own devices when we insist on it. It is not, let me be clear, that our insistence is more powerful than His will. It is more the case that He determines that on these points, the weight of our sins shall increase, and He shall not intervene. Woe to that one in whom He has ceased to intervene! Woe to me in those moments when He has, in this sense, turned His back on me. Yet, I can still rejoice knowing that He Who has called me to Himself is faithful to complete this work He is doing in me. I can still rejoice knowing that these things come not as abandoning me, but as disciplining me, in order that I may come into the joy of a more complete fellowship with my Lord and King.
He is, after all, a Savior King. He has not come to destroy. No, that’s more the devil’s thing. He will indeed return to judge the quick and the dead according to His own promise and in perfect accord with His own justice. Let there be no doubt of that, but He has also made known His strongest preference that none would find that justice requiring Him to send them on to eternal punishment. Yet, it is just as clear that many will indeed have chosen that result by their own actions. Justice will not permit of simply turning a blind eye on the sins of the world. He has made clear that there is a sin which is unto death. We tend to think of that as the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus said would not be forgiven. But here we become confused and misled, thinking maybe this has to do with those gifts of the Spirit which are so much in debate.
But, that’s not the point. To be sure, those who point to the true work of God and declare it the work of the devil, or decide to give the devil that credit which is due God, are giving evidence of their own inward state. He has spoken to us of the days in which men will call the good evil and the evil good, and it’s certainly not hard to see that transpiring around us. Therein is not the sin itself, though, but the outworking of that sin, the evidence of that sin. The sin itself, that which I would take to be the sin unto death, lies in rejecting the Son, rejecting His work on our behalf, and refusing the gift of faith. Faith is, indeed, not of ourselves, it is a gift lest any man should boast before God. But, can it be that it remains within us to reject the gift? Can it be, perhaps, that apart from His work within we are actually incapable of accepting the gift?
This is, I confess, a difficult issue. If I am wholly passive in this, then I fail to see my guilt. If I have no say as to whether or not I receive this gift, how is it a gift at all? It is a forced issue. A gift, clearly involves the will of the giver. But, does it not also require the will of the receiver? If your gift is forced upon me such that I have no choice at all in the matter, nor can I ever choose to dispose of that which you have given me, is it a gift or is it a band upon my neck, holding me hostage to your decision? Herein lies the great challenge in laying of that which divided Arminius from Calvin. For, there is that reality that if my will enters into the equation for salvation, then we are back at the system of works which cannot save, and worse, my eternal state is still dependent on my own highly fallible self-will. Therein lies not merely danger, but doom! If my salvation depends on me, I may as well toss it in now and go back to a life of debauchery. But, if I never had a say in the matter, on what grounds guilt? From what do I need saving if my actions are all His doing, or at least His decree? If it was His choice, why should I be punished?
We may tend to belittle such thinking in those who have not known Him yet, but they are (or can be) legitimate questions. Yes, it may just be conniving at the clear truth, a cheap attempt to wriggle out from under the guilt, but it may be an earnest desire for understanding. I dare say that many more of us who have been saved still wrestle with this than would care to admit it. I know for my own part this was a hurdle that needed to be overcome. You’re telling me I need to be saved, and my first reaction is from what? I’m a good man. I’ve done nothing to bring the law down on my head, so what exactly do I need saving from? Sin? Well, that would require me believing there’s a god out there to sin against, wouldn’t it? In that sense, it begs the question. But, having accepted the reality of the God Who Is, having accepted His pronouncement (and seen the truth of it in retrospect) that there is no man righteous, oh, how I see the need for that salvation He offers! Yet, I also see that salvation is as fleeting as the healing of Lazarus except it rests wholly upon His will and not at all upon my own. But, then I am left to wrestle: Where am I in this equation? Was there not yet a moment, even with the very power of God focused upon me, that I could have (and would have, were it not for Him willing and working within me) said, “No thank You”? Was it still possible, having seen the reality of a choice between life and death, that I would choose death? It sounds ridiculous when set in those terms, and yet the record is replete with examples of those who, faced with exactly that choice, and in very clearly those terms, chose death. How can that be? How can it be that I would choose God, when I didn’t even acknowledged His existence?
At some level, I must simply accept that this is a mystery, one of those places where His ways are so far beyond my own as to make them incomprehensible in their fullness. I can but rest in the partial knowledge I possess, and rejoice that I have been made known to Him by Him. He has called me and I am His. That is Truth. I, who once walked in the death of this world am now made alive in Him. Truly, I have more than enough of my old ways with which I must yet battle. Yet, I know as well that this battle belongs to my Lord, and I know that in Him, that battle is won. Why I must persist in the not yet, I don’t fully know. But, I do know it is not without purpose.
He has granted me to have life! And there is yet another mouthful! It is not merely this physical plant. It is not the heart beating, the blood circulating, the oxygen entering and carbon dioxide exiting. No. It’s not the taking in of food and the purging out of waste. It’s not the cycle of sleep and activity. All of that is a reflection of bios, a thing we share with every animal and every plant. What we are given in Christ is zoe. Herein is a life which is not even common to man. We must see something here that goes beyond the spark of intelligence, goes beyond the presence of a conscience, however crippled by sin. This goes beyond the intelligence of logos, of which He is the Highest and Best, the very embodiment.
Life: Words fail in trying to describe this. I can take some snippets from the lexicons. “That highest and best of life which is Christ, and which He imparts to the saints.” That’s from Zhodiates. Yet, it falls short of explaining the term. What is this highest and best of life? How does it differ from the common experience of man? Yes, I understand that this Life is Christ, or more properly, the Christ is the Life. It is His essence and His possession, and therefore His alone to give, to impart. But, what is it about His life that is so different from mine, for am I not made in His image?
Thayer takes it a step further. “The fullness of life in essence and ethic, the which belongs solely to God, but which He has put in human nature.” But, doesn’t that again suggest that I, in my humanity, already possess this life which Jesus is on about? He goes on to note how John particularly associates this essential Life with intelligence. He expresses this both as logos and as light, an idea familiar enough to us in our speaking of the light of reason. But, intelligence, at one level, is that which separates man from the remainder of the animal kingdom. It is, then, unique to man, who has been made in the image of God, but it is, at least in this sense, still common to man, both the redeemed and the reprobate, both those in the city of God and those in the city of man. There must be more to it.
Thayer proceeds to the idea of, “Real, genuine life.” This he defines as one devoted to God and therefore blessed not only in the hereafter but also in this world. That sounds to me more like the effects of this life of which Jesus speaks, which Jesus Is. It is, to my thinking, a spark beyond that spark which produces intelligence. Let us say, then, that it is the spark of wisdom. Wisdom begins in the fear of God. Wisdom adds to intelligence, gives purpose to thought, gives plan to knowledge. Wisdom, to be wise, must necessarily be aligned with the God Who Is, informed by Him, devoted to Him, and pleased only in Him.
In a wholly unrelated context, we were discussing the chemical processes that develop in a husband and wife over the course of years, making them a truly one-flesh relationship in a very real sense. There is that in us which has developed a positive chemical, biological response to our spouse which no other can stimulate. There is a built in system within us that is designed to make this so, to so unite us to one another that no third party could possibly satisfy our pleasure centers. We are, in this sense, truly made for one another.
Is it any wonder, then, that the God Who describes our relationship with Messiah in terms of marriage, the God Who set forth marriage as one of the earliest laws for man, the God Who has repeatedly declared in no uncertain terms just how greatly He values the institution of marriage uniting one man and one woman together in a joint life, has also set a higher model of this reaction within us? We hear many evangelistic efforts speak of that ‘god shaped hole’ in us, that which will never know satisfaction until we have become united with God. And, I think we shall discover that this is a very real thing. It is not poetry. It is not hyperbole. In the same sense that there develops that chemical response to our spouse, a dependency if you will which makes them most thoroughly to be desired and cherished, so too with our Lord and Savior. There is that which is built into us which cannot know real satisfaction apart from Him.
We sense it often. We seek our pleasures in this, that or the other, but the pleasure is never enough. It is fleeting. It has left us feeling empty again just as soon as that pursuit is over. We buy a house thinking this will satisfy the need. But, soon, the house becomes more a burden than a pleasure. Soon, it is feeling too cramped, too seedy, too something. We need a new one. We buy a new car, and for a few days it’s sheer pleasure. Nothing we’d rather be doing than cruising the highways in this baby. But, comes the first scratch, the first bit of maintenance, and meh, it’s just a car. Even without that scratch, even without the repairs, eventually, we fall back to just driving again. New music? New movies? New books? A new job? What will it take? Well, the evidence is in, and it’s going to take more than that. It’s going to take more than this life has to give. Isn’t this exactly where we find the author of Ecclesiastes? I’ve tried everything, experienced everything, attempted every philosophy of life, and every last one of them has come up wanting.
Does this not describe our common experience? “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them.’” (Ecc 12:1). This drives us up to his final word. “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Ecc 12:13). But, it is more than fear. It is love. This, it seems, is what the Preacher missed. Yes, God will judge every act. But, God so loved us, that He gave His only Son to atone for all that sin in us that He must judge. He loves us so much that He planned from the dawn of creation, from before the dawn of creation, to bring us Life, and that abundantly. He planned for our failure, knowing our flesh, that it is weak. And, He has been determined, remains determined, to bind us together with unbreakable bonds of love. He designed us for this, and He has made a place in Himself, in His presence, for this.
Beloved, life begins in belief! This is a point John has made from nearly the outset. “Whoever believes may have eternal life in Him” (Jn 3:15). We are more inclined to turn to the next verse, but there is great power in this one. Admittedly, there have been many thinkers through the ages who have considered that perhaps eternal life wasn’t all that much to be desired. But, this is of course predicated on the sense that the life of eternity is no different than the life we know. And, to be sure, an eternity in this fallen condition would be a horror. There is a reason God forbade access to the Tree of Life when once man came into possession of the knowledge of good and evil. It think it’s high time we recognize that in this sense, it was not knowledge such as can distinguish between the two, but rather knowledge of the more technical, how to, form. It was the capacity for doing both good and evil that came to mankind, and what mercy our God shows in that He reserves that fruit of eternal Life until the remedy for evil has been found for us.
Finally, I turn to that which Jesus Himself spoke, that most challenging word which really winnowed out His followers. “In all truth, I assure you that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves” (Jn 6:53). What? He’s starting some weird, cannibalistic cult! That’s it, we’re outta here. But, no! He describes our true present condition: You have no life in yourselves. Is it any wonder that modern man finds zombies so fascinating? It’s just a reflection of our true condition apart from Christ. We’ve learned to dress better, to don a mask to hide away the corruption of our flesh. We’re so good at it we don’t even see ourselves in the mirror without these clever disguises. But, Jesus peels away the mask to reveal the reality: You are the walking dead. Apart from Me, apart from that new covenant I am establishing by My own flesh and blood offering on your behalf, you will always be the walking dead. And, I mean always. If there is an eternal life, there is also an eternal death. And it, too, is far different from that sleep of death we surmise in this present world. It is not the peaceful repose of consciousness departed. Rather, it is the unending anguish of knowing what could have been, and knowing it can never be. It is the unending hunger left by that void which was meant for God, but which shall never be filled. Set aside any further punishment and already it is made too much to bear.
But, there is the option of Life! There is the opportunity yet to be found in Christ, to come to know this One Who gave His all that we might live. There is still time in which to answer that demanding, “choose you this day.” The choice is clear, and if it is not yet so, read! Study this word God has left us, that you may clearly recognize the seriousness of the choice. And then, friend, choose life. “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him” (Ps 2:12). Believing, you may have life in His name. Unbelieving, there is no chance of life whatsoever.
