In
one sense, a human cannot “know” (in the sense of “fully understand”) God …
this is because if a human “understood” God, the human mind would be superior
to God, which because God is (by our working definition) a superior being, is
“a nonsense” (as my maths lecturers used to put it).
But
in the other sense of “know” (be acquainted with), a human being CAN know God
in these circumstances …
The
Old Testament revelation …
·
Starts
with God creating a perfect universe, and having a perfect relationship of
friendship with man. The picture of God strolling through a garden with man is
one of ease and familiarity, of perfect natural friendship.
·
God
gave man free will, and just one limitation to follow (if there were no
“rule”, man would not have had freewill – the opportunity to break it). The one
rule God gave was easily kept … there were plenty of other fruiting trees in
the garden, only one was forbidden.
·
Mankind,
tempted, chose to break the single rule that kept them in perfect relationship
with God; this “spoiled everything” – the whole of creation was affected by it.
Man and woman were punished, yet even at this very moment, God promised a
solution to the problem … at some future time, someone “uniquely descended from
a woman” (the phrase “seed of woman” was never used – it was always “seed of
man”) will bring about this solution.
·
Until
that time, a holy God requires righteousness from mankind. The first 5 books of
the Old Testament reveal (i) the story of how certain
individuals related to God, their failures, and how God blessed some of them
when they showed faith, and made promises to them regarding the present and
future; (ii) a system of laws that spoke of the righteousness God requires, and
the penalties/sacrifices for breaking them. The overall message of these laws
is (a) God wants a perfect holy relationship, but (b) that is impossible, so
(c) do the best you can to keep them, and trust that God will be pleased. But
this was always going to be a temporary solution to the problem.
·
In
the first 5 books and then on through the rest of the Old Testament, we see how
God chooses the Jewish nation, to be a people who will display His message and
glory to the rest of mankind (sadly, they largely failed to do so, tending to keep
things to themselves). We have the story of God’s relationship to key
individuals. We have the records of the prophets (people who speak on behalf of
God .. pro theos … not necessarily about the future) who called
the Jewish nation back to God, and foresaw a time when all nations would
discover and enjoy God. We have mixed in with that history, poetry and wisdom.
The
New Testament revelation …
·
The
four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ time on earth. His origin (John), birth
(Matthew and Luke), ministry and teaching (all), death and resurrection (all).
They have some bits in common and some unique to them – they are after all
different writers writing what seemed important to them. They have different
perspectives; John, writing later in life, is concerned with “why”, Matthew is
anxious to show how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophesy, and Luke (who was a
doctor, and so the closest thing they had to a scientist) writing for a
non-Jewish audience. Together they show how Jesus,
uniquely descended from a woman and therefore free from inherited sin, lived a
live perfectly pleasing to God, and died unjustly – the message being that His
unjust sacrifice saves us who believe from the punishment we deserve.
·
Acts
of the Apostles, Luke’s second book, covers the ascension of Jesus, the
“general” coming of the Holy Spirit, and the story of the rapid expansion of
the early church in geography, scope and numbers. It tells how the early church organised itself, and liven in the Roman world of the
time.
·
The
letters (mainly of Paul, Peter, James and John) are correspondence to
individuals and churches (local groups of believers). They cover church
guidance, doctrine, history and prophesy.
·
The
last book (Revelation) is the account by John of a series of visions,
concerning (i) some of the churches in his care, (ii)
visions of Jesus Christ in heaven, and (iii) events in the future that will
lead to a “new heaven and new earth” where “the dwelling place of God is (once
again) with men and women”. At this point, the relationship between God and
mankind is completely restored.
?
(to follow)
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