I beheld till the thrones were cast down,
and the Ancient of days did sit, whose
garment was white as snow, and the
hair of His head like the pure wool:
His throne was like the fiery flame,
and His wheels as burning fire.
A fiery stream issued and came forth
from before Him: thousands thousands
ministered unto Him, and ten thousands
times ten thousands stood before Him:
the judgment was set, and the books opened.
Daniel 7:9-10
Faith has as its foundation tenent to believe in the unseen, or in that which is hard to know. God, the Trinity, is of that nature, unseen, hard to know, furthermore, there is in Scripture other creatures who are called angels, and are also unseen as they are spirit beings: therefore faith, if it is Authentic Christian Faith must also believe that there are angels; albeit unseen. Unseen is one thing, for something to be hard to know is another thing, yet, although hard to know or understand what is needed is proof that it is possible for the unseen to be known and this is done by the revelation in Scripture inspired by God so that we can know even if we cannot see. Is it hard to believe that God who created all things seen and unseen did create both? The apostle Paul reveals this: "for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and by Him all things consist" (Colossians 1:16). To have faith in God who is unseen and revealed in Scripture that He exists, is the creator, and is the Godhead consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit warrants our belief in angels and all that is revealed about them.
The narrative of Job a man revealed to us in the book of Job has been of some consternation to many, a hard to believe or understand narrative. God is revealed, Satan is revealed and what occurred to Job is revealed. Job is the pinnacle of faith for in all that occurred which we know was difficult, yet there is and has been something of lessor account that has caused some to forego their faith because they did not understand or have faith that God is in control even in hard times. As with Job our faith is in God, our trust is in God so that in any circumstances of life our faith is not shaken, destroyed. This is true faith. Let is examine this narrative.
Job was apparently a holy man and was enviable, enviable by Satan the prince that left along with other angels their position and life with God who had created them. He desired to make Job proof that he was able to turn man from believing in God. Satan desired that Job to be surrendered to him by the Lord, not for the purpose of testing what was done by means of Satan while Job was unwilling, no, but to condemn what Satan sought in abundance of his own malice. Satan was aflame with envy because of Job's faith, this same flame of envy and desire to be worshiped instead of God being worshiped when he approached Adam and Eve, the first man who was made holy, well and good by our Good God, who then beguiled Adam, made him a liar, and subjected him to every manner of corruption, and by this man inherited this corruption of his soul and by this heredity pass this corrupt heredity to all of his progeny. Satan dragged Adam to become his companion, and dragged him from angelic light and subdued him to his own darkness, rendering him liable to eternal death and that liability was passed down to all mankind. By this narrative we can see that there are unseen creatures, angels, and the one angel Satan who is the ringleader for all those angels who follow him, the results of their life, and how they have affected the seen world. But we see more from this narrative.
Man fell, due to believing the lie of Satan, a wound so great, a wound that seem that it could not be healed. So how can this wound be repaired? An angel could not repair this wound, man cannot repair this wound, a wound so great that only God is able to repair it. This God did by sending His wisdom to earth, His Only Begotten Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the word (John 1:1) to become flesh, meaning to become true man and to dwell among us in perfect humanity, that which He assumed for us from us, that is, from the Virgin Mary prepared and preserved for this purpose, to heal this great wound. The Only Begotten Son of God came to dwell corporeally, not spiritually, as with man who dwells now spiritually with God, and this only by means of the gift of grace, as it is written: "He who is united to the Lord is one spirit" (1Corinthians 6:17). Although we are united in spirit with God does not mean or come to pass that we are gods by nature. In Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, so that He is God in very substance. The humanity that Jesus undertook can be nothing other than God and the unique Son, since the Only Begotten became flesh in order to be true God, true man, one God. Although flesh is one thing and deity another, Jesus is not one person in the flesh, another in the Godhead, but one Christ in both, God-man, the reality and integrity of each nature remaining. Humanity was not changed into divinity, nor divinity converted into humanity. One Christ of both is thus God and is worshiped with the Father and the Son, just as He was worshiped before the Word was made flesh. For unchangeable Deity, who in His incarnation took our infirmity that He might die, could be neither diminished nor increased.
We must not allow ourselves to be led into error as was Adam by Satan, such as the error of Spanish Adoptionism that Jesus was adopted as God's son either at His baptism, His resurrection,or His ascension. This doctrine came about because there were some, the Ebionites, who believed Jesus was adopted because of His sinless devotion to the will of God. This is a non-trinitarian doctrine and was declared heresy at the end of the 2nd century and rejected by the First Council of Nicaea and defined the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity and identified the man Jesus with the eternal begotten Son or Word of God.
Do not confuse Spanish Adoptionism with Christian Adoption theology. Christian adoption is the admission of a believer into the family of god. Adoption is a legal term by which a person is legally placed with a parent(s). there are three references in the New Testament to god adopting Christians as His own children (Galatians 4:5; Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:5; and one reference to the adoption be god ,or the people of Israel (Romans 9:4). Adoption was an important feature of Reformation theology as demonstrated by article 12 of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The truth of faith is being investigated, examined, so that we can ensure that what we believe, what we have faith in is true Authentic Christian Faith, a faith tested by men of old, and by men of this present age. Our faith then by this investigation and examination become solid, firm, and unchangeable.
Turn you at my reproof:
behold, I will pour out
My spirit unto you, I will
make known My words
unto you.
Proverbs 1:23
Call, seek, God and He will be found
Richard L. Crumb
No comments:
Post a Comment