An old brother, long since with the Lord, used to make this remark: “Philosophy may puzzle your mind, but it will never answer your questions; it never made anyone happy.” This is true, and while it is occasionally necessary to look at subjects (in the light of Scripture) that may exercise our minds, yet in all of this we must firmly remember that God ultimately created us (and the entire creation, for that matter) for His enjoyment. Revelation 4:1111Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11) tells us, “Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” God takes delight in His creation and in His creatures, although sin has spoiled all this. But as we have seen in another article, it was the love of God that found a way to bring us back into favor with Himself, while preserving His essential purity and light. Again quoting what has been said before, “God is light, and we make Him a judge by our sins. But God is also love, and none have made Him so.”
Man Is Relative
As we have seen, man is a relative being, with a relative outlook on life. As such, he is not absolute, and if he is honest with himself, he must admit that he is not absolute (although he may try to persuade himself that he is!). Yet, as existing in a relative condition and having been created in the image and likeness of God, he is able to realize that there are entities that can and do exist, even if he cannot understand them fully. More than this, he can and does know that there is an absolute, even if he cannot understand Him fully. For example, man as a finite creature is accustomed to that which has a beginning and an end. However, he can understand that something may exist infinitely or from eternity, although it may be beyond his finite mind to grasp it. Thus man cannot conceive of that which is eternal, but he is able to understand that eternity exists. In the same way, as a relative creature, he is used to dealing with cause and effect, for in his experience with other creatures, everything is relative. Yet he is able to conceive of an absolute, although his understanding of Him may be limited.
God Has Revealed
Himself to Man
But what has this “Absolute” done for us, His creatures, who not only brought sin into His creation and spoiled it, but crucified His Son? In the words of Scripture:
“God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).
The God who dwells in infinite light “which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1 Tim. 6:16) has revealed Himself “in Son” (Heb. 1:22Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2) JND). God became man in order to reveal Himself to His creature, not only as light, but also as love, in order that He might once again have the communion with His creature man that was spoiled when sin came in. In the beginning of man’s history, it was God’s delight to come down “in the cool of the day” (Gen. 3:88And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)) to enjoy the company of Adam and Eve, but after their disobedience, a bad conscience made them hide among the trees of the garden. Such has been sinful man’s mode of relating to God ever since — either to deny His existence or to hide from Him. When the Lord Jesus came down into this world, He could say, “Me it [the world] hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil” (John 7:77The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. (John 7:7)).
More than this, man rejected the love of God. It is one thing to refuse light because of sin, but it a far more serious thing to refuse love. The Lord Jesus could say prophetically, “They that hate Me without a cause are more than the hairs of Mine head: they that would destroy Me, being Mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away” (Psa. 69:44They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. (Psalm 69:4)). While the Lord’s love, as divine, continued to flow even in the face of His rejection, yet as a perfect Man He felt the rejection from His creature whom He had come to save.
Relationship With God
For those who, by grace, have come to know God and to know Christ as Saviour, their relationship with Him is one that subsists in love and grace, not in philosophical semantics or theological arguments. We must realize that, as to knowledge, even in divine things, “we know in part, and we prophesy in part” (1 Cor. 13:9). We wait for that day when “that which is perfect” will come, and “that which is in part shall be done away” (1 Cor. 13:10). However, in the meanwhile, we have a relationship, not with a body of truth (although this is very important!), but rather with the One who is the truth! We have been brought to know the One who has revealed the Father and who as man will enjoy our company for all eternity! His work on the cross has brought us into relationship with the Father, so that we will spend all eternity in the Father’s house.
These are the things that God has given us to enjoy, and He has sent down His Spirit in order that we might have our present delight in them. God the Father’s delight is in His beloved Son — the One in whom all His purposes are centered. Now we, having a new life in Christ and having been brought into relationship with God as Father, are privileged to enjoy what God enjoys and to have common thoughts with Him about His Son.
W. J. Prost