Jesus answered them,
“Is it not written
in your law, ‘I said,
“You are gods?”
If He called them
gods, to whom
the word of God came
(and the Scripture
cannot be broken),
“do you say of Him
whom the Father
sanctified and sent into the world,
“You are blaspheming,”
because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?”
If I do not do the
works of My Father, do not believe Me;
but if I do, though
you do not believe Me, believe the works,
that you may know and
believe that the Father is in Me,
and I in Him.”
John 10:34–38
Before
I begin this blog, I must apologize for not writing for two days, for I had out
of town doctor appointments with the Veteran Hospital in Sacramento (Stones:
for the fifth time: ugh!).
The above
Scripture that Jesus quoted in regards to being, “You are gods?” Is quoted from Psalm 82:6, and the word used
there in Hebrew elohiym is a plural word that is used especially with
the supreme God, yet occasionally it is applied to magistrates, or mighty ones,
i.e., rulers, judges, superhuman beings including God and angels, and even
goddesses. Mormons would be quick to
point out that men are called gods, therefore we are gods, but a careful
reading of Psalm 82 would not allow for that interpretation. In the above narrative
Jesus is being confronted by some Jews who were about to stone Him because they
said: “The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You,
but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’” (John
10:33). Jesus’ answer: clear, not doubt, unless a person desires to doubt,
that He and the Father are One. (vs. 38). How the Jews wanted to kill Him, but
when they attempted to grab Him He slipped away and escaped. (vs. 39). The subject of the Trinity is huge and I
will not attempt in this blog to give reason to believe in the Trinity, only I
will quote what Jesus said, “…that you may know and believe that Father is
in Me, and I in Him” (vs. 38). We are dealing with the subject of
reconciliation and it does have need and will show that there is a Trinity and
God necessitates this as He inspired, in this case, John, to write this
narrative. God is through His Son, Jesus Christ gathering a people, those who
inherit everlasting life, an inheritance that was predestined according to the
counsel of His will; “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to
abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the
mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which he purposed in
Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which re in heaven and which are on earth––in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things
according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ
should be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:7–12). Does this not raise your emotions high that
God predestined you and you are one of His inheritance giving to you
reconciliation and forgiveness of you sins?
Some look for other emotional highs, but, there is none above the fact
that God forgave the very thing that demanded our death, and the destruction of
all things created. The Greek word,
"anakephalaiosasthai"(transliteration) is aorist, infinitive, and in
the middle voice. So what does that
mean? When in the middle voice the word
applies to the one who is doing the action and in this case it is God who is
drawing to Himself, (that is what this word means), because they ones
predestined were and are now in many cases, separated from Him, bringing them,
you, together to Himself under one head, that which this separation means, we
were not under one head, we, and as many do, live autonomously: we want it our
way, which may be good when ordering a hamburger. HA! But not when we are
called ones, the ekklesia of God. God was in Christ, the Jews were wrong to try
to kill Him, the One they have been expecting all those years, and even all the
good works done by Jesus, they still would not believe. Sound like anyone you may know? Now, don’t misunderstand this and say that
this expression signifies no more than by Christ as in: “…the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His
calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”
(Ephesians 1:18). Listen to Paul’s words: “And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you”
(Ephesians 4:32). There is more that must be presented in regards to the
expression “As God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32b). This expression is not just for the sake of
Jesus Christ, which it is under the economy of God, but there is actual pardon,
and Jesus Christ is the moving cause of God’s intercession, and Jesus Christ is
the meritorious cause by the propitiation of Jesus Christ (see: 1John 2:2).
But the
first purpose of reconciliation, and the appointing Christ as the medium for
it, had no moving cause but the infinite compassion of God to his fallen
creature. Christ was not the moving cause of this, though he be the meritorious
cause of all the effects of it, and laid the foundation of an actual reconciliation
by being the center of the agreement between the justice and mercy of God.
God's anger was appeased by the death of Christ, but God was the first author
of this propitiation, appointing this method of restoring the creature, and
this person, or Jesus, to do it.
God was in Christ. It may be
meant of the Trinity: the Father was in Christ constituting and directing, the
Son was in Christ by personal union, the Spirit was in Christ gifting him for
this work of reconciliation; but I would rather understand it of the Father.
May this bring great joy to your
heart: God reconciled you to Himself and this through His Son. I shall expand
on this in the next blogs.
I write to you, little children,
Because your
sins are
Forgiven you for His name’s sake.
1John 2:12
Pray today for guidance: God will hear
Richard L. Crumb
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