Tag: trinity

Worthy Is the Lamb!

If there’s a climax in the Bible, it might be the moment Jesus Christ looks Father God in the eyes and takes the seven-sealed book out of His hand. (Re 5:6-7) This may be the moment when the glory of divine redemption in Christ, and the ultimate glory of Christ Himself, is finally put on full display in chronological time.

Just before this revelation, there was an intensive, exhaustive search for someone, anyone worthy to open the book in God’s hand (Re 5:2), and no one was able to do so. (3);  perhaps some dared to approach the holiness of God on their own merit, but all were turned away.

And this is no small thing to casually overlook; the Apostle John himself is so dismayed by the outcome he weeps uncontrollably, as if God’s eternal plan has failed, such that He will be unable to judge the world in righteousness by that one Person in Whom He invested everything in: Christ Jesus. (Ac 17:31) John should have known better, but he is evidently convinced of absolute, ultimate disaster, and he is undone, inconsolable. Perhaps he was not alone, and all of Heaven was weeping as well.

At this instant, when all seemed lost just moment before, all of Heaven erupts in ecstatic praise to Jesus Christ, beginning with the four beasts and twenty-four elders (8-10), followed by one-hundred million plus angels joining in exuberant praise, as if Christ were God Himself (11-12), and finally every creature in the universe joins in (13) – we all explode in triumphant praise.

The four beasts, who to our knowledge have never worshipped anyone but Father God, lead us in unreservedly worshipping the Lamb. We are all so taken with Christ at this moment, so overwhelmed with His majesty and supreme excellency and worthiness, we can do nothing but praise Him.

We can be sure, in that great day, no one else in Heaven will be saying, “Look at me!”

So, why not worship Jesus Christ in this manner even now, before He takes the book? We might reason the eternal redemption plan is not quite complete; He has not actually overcome and taken the book yet; He does not have it in hand, not quite. But knowing by faith that He will do so, as God has revealed it to us, we can call those things which be not as though they were (Ro 4:17), and rejoice in Christ Jesus. (Php 3:3)

What is the alternative to glorifying Christ in this spectacular way? As we fail to honor the Son, we fail to honor the Father; honor them both in the same way or miss Him altogether. (Jn 5:23)

Perhaps this is what makes the appearance of the victorious Lamb so satisfying: God did not cheat. There was no Plan B. If Jesus Christ is not absolutely, flawlessly perfect in every detail, every motive, every thought word and deed, for His entire eternal and earthly existence, there is no victory in the end … and Satan wins!

But Jesus Christ is PERFECT!!

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. (12) Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (13b)

Let us be moved to worship the Lamb, to the glory of God the Father, even now as we will then, with all intensity and abandon, casting down every high thing that exalts itself against knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ! (2Co 10:5)

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The Godhead

The Trinity is a mysterious concept: one God in three persons. Trying to explain the Trinity in detail, or to devise a model which perfectly illustrates it, inevitably fails. One isn’t three and three isn’t one; mathematics is solid on this point. Is this a problem?

Only if we presume an infinite God may be fully explained in finite terms. Yet the Being Who inhabits eternity, Who created the ten dimensions in which we exist, must be far above, beyond and outside of them. Is it any wonder that we’re unable to create a finite model which perfectly and completely represents Him?

Perhaps this gets at the heart of the 2nd Commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Ex 20:4a) Trying to create a physical representation of God, or even a  theoretical image, is attempting to create a likeness of Him. Perhaps He’s telling us not to do this because it can’t be done; any attempt to fully define Him will ultimately fail.

Creating an accurate image of God is not only impossible, it’s evidently harmful, for in reducing the Godhead to any likeness of any thing in the universe is to perceive Him as less than He truly is, to diminish Him; this corrupts our worship and tarnishes our perception of Him.

Perhaps this is one reason God hates idolatry so much: it replaces God with something paltry, something small and finite. Our tendency to try to contain God in a physical – even a theological – box leads us into error. Perhaps it’s our way of trying to control Him.

We may content ourselves in accepting the fact that God reveals Himself as a unity (De 6:4) as well as a plurality.  (Ge 1:26a) There can be no true logic implying God can’t be this way. God has revealed Himself as a triune Being, each Person of the Godhead uniquely and purposefully, yet ascribes to each Person all the attributes of the entire Godhead. We must not separate these Persons: they are one; yet we must allow for distinctness within them, for that is how Jehovah has revealed Himself.

Our perception of God is foundational in our spiritual lives and impacts our way more than we can possibly imagine. No possible description of Him can be too glorious, too majestic; it is impossible to have too high a view of God. We must not place any artificial limits on our conception of God, but let our spirits soar continuously higher in seeking Him.

Staying faithful to the scriptures here, and living within it’s prescription for us, is freedom of a most profound kind.

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Spirit, Soul and Body

Atheists tell us we’re just electro-chemical accidents, yet most of us instinctively know better, that our lives matter, that we have intrinsic value, that we’re made in God’s image. But what exactly is this image?

God describes us as a trinity: spirit, soul and body (1Th 5:23), comparable to the way He’s revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Ghost. (Mt 28:19) This should come as no surprise; an image is a likeness. But are we a soul with a spirit and a body, or a body with a spirit and a soul, or a spirit with a soul and a body? What, in essence, defines us?

Clearly, we’re not our body (Lk 12:4); we’re much more than this.

Are we then a spirit with a soul and a body? The Psalmist views his spirit as something within himself, distinct from his core self. (Ps 143:4) Stephen, upon his death, seems to view his spirit as something conveying him to Christ, but something he has, not what he is. (Act_7:59)

When God created Adam and breathed into him, man “became a living soul.” (Ge 2:7) The essence of our identify appears to be revealed here: we’re souls with bodies and spirits. Our spirit is evidently formed along with our soul and comprises our spiritual temple, being inseparably linked with our souls, through which we know and feel. (1Co_2:11)

It’s our souls that sin, not our bodies or spirits (Ez 18:4), so it’s our souls which need atonement. (Le 17:11)

We can speak to our souls as ourselves, the essence of who we are (Lk 12:19), the source of our motivations, thoughts and intentions. Death is requiring our soul to leave our body. (Lk 12:20) If we lose our soul (Mt 16:26), we lose our very selves. (Lk 9:25)

So, becoming, growing, improving ourselves, who we are, is in our souls, not our minds or bodies (1Ti 4:8); we evolve through our choices, which mold and reveal us. We’re eternal soul beings headed toward eternity, to only one of two possible ends. We’re designed to be gods (Ps 82:6), but we can make ourselves into fiends. (Jn 6:70) Choose wisely: every choice we make shapes us in eternity.

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