Images and Words

In J.I. Packer's book Knowing God he talks a bit about the second commandment and how this commandment speaks against all images of God. "Images dishonour God, for they obscure His glory (40)." He means to say that not just images of other gods are wrong, but that the expression of God in the form of an image is wrong. The truth of this is obvious from the start. How could a picture express the fullness of the glory of God? It is much like how words fail to express their images of theological truths falling much short of the immensity of God. Wouldn't this also mean that words are a problem?

Imagine a book on the glory of God. The very first chapter of this book starts with the statement, "God is glorious" and goes on to expound on this subject. The first proof is the most obvious, God is creator. The majesty of mountains, the grandeur of the heavens, the complexity of cells and the beauties of science all express in wonderful simplicity the glory of God in creation. The next proof is that God's love is glorious. The writer then expounds on the subjects of justification, sanctification and adoption. Next, he moves to God's longevity, power and knowledge. He describes in intimate detail all these subjects, he quotes every word ever spoken by church fathers and theologians on the subject and brings thought and reason together to provide the reader with the most complete definition on the subject ever written. But, at the very end of the book, in conclusion of all this work, the writer could only end with this: "God is glorious." The writer's lengthy paragraphs, exquisite explanations and precise descriptions always carry with them the essence of futility.

Such a great book does not share glory with God and will always fall short of what glory really means. However, it is with this understanding that we read such books with awe. The God so wonderfully described exceeds words and our imagination's rendering of them. It is in this enamored stupor that we get a taste of what glory really is. Likewise, great art tells us not verbatim God's qualities, but inspires awe by telling us God is far more beautiful than anything we have ever seen.

We must be careful of the images we craft whether they be in language or art. If we say that what we have created is God then we have committed the sin of idolatry. This idea is very easily seen in bowing down to idols, but it is less clearly seen in words. In writing about glory if we say we have captured glory we have sinned. Therefore, in all our doings we must understand our limitations as humans and the inability to express adequately the glory of God.

The Importance of Theology

On January 7, 1855 Charles Spurgeon opened his New Park Street Chapel sermon with this:

It has been said that “the proper study of mankind is man.” I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.

There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God....

But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe.... The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.

And, while humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore.

Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you this morning.

Excerpted from J.I. Packer's Knowing God.

Fear

The "fear of the Lord" is sometimes used as a criticism of belief in God by saying that no self-respecting human being would subject himself to God in such an irrational and diminutive way. I feel that "fear" from the critic's perspective is different than that of the Christian's and that a better understanding of "fear" would bridge this gap in showing that it is rational, good and necessary for any worldview.

What is fear? Is fear anxiety or some sort of cautious felling toward an object of horror? Fear can be many things. For example, one could fear their toaster. They wake up in the morning, see it leering over the coffee cups and being startled, they run out of the room in fright. This kind of fear does exist, but it is not what I wish to discuss here. Taking the example of the toaster, what I want to talk about is something like this: A man wakes up in the morning, makes toast, toast gets stuck and man does not stick butter knife in toaster. This is something that we would almost never label as “fear,” but it does serve as an example for the “fear of God” idea. The fear of the Lord is not irrational or debilitative, it seeks to preserve the individual through a proper understanding of the thing feared.

Also, fear is a necessary component that holds together any worldview. Obviously in Christianity the fear of the Lord holds that system together in that it causes believers to abide by the law of God. In a secular humanist worldview like the one that created our countries foundational precepts of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” fear must also exist. One who holds these precepts dear must fear their destruction. In worldviews where family is of the utmost importance, parents must love their children and out of that love comes a fear of any interference in their ability to love their children. This fear is a fear which values good and causes one to think critically and rationally about that which might cause harm to that good.

John Calvin's Preface to Olivetan's French New Testament

"What then shall estrange and alienate us from this holy gospel? Shall injuries, curses, disgrace, and want of worldly honor? But, we know well that Jesus Christ has traveled the same road which we have to follow, if we would be his disciples; that we must not refuse to be despised, mocked humiliated, and rejected before men. For it is thus that we shall be honored, prized, glorified, and exalted in God's judgment. Will there be banishments, proscriptions, privation from goods and riches? But we know that if we shall be banished from one country, the whole earth is the Lord's, and if we be thrown out of the earth itself, nonetheless we shall not be outside of his kingdom. [We know] that when we are despoiled and impoverished, we have a father who is rich enough to nourish us; even that Jesus Christ was made poor, so that we might follow him in his poverty. Will there be afflictions, prisons, tortures, torments? But we know by the example of Jesus Christ that this is the way to arrive at glory. Finally, will there be death? But death does not do away with a life that is worth living."

Married Slaves

Every Wednesday I go to a small group from my church where everyone who shows up is a part of a couple, I'm the only single guy there. My singleness made itself very clear one night when we were talking about Christians being slaves to Christ. We got on this topic by reading Titus 2:9 and then moved to Romans 6. We talked about all the usual things like how "slave" didn't have the connotation then as it does now and that this term applied to believers in Christ shows our submission to him as our master. In this discussion I thought about something that I found interesting. The bible talks about us being slaves to Christ, but it also talks about us being married to Christ. So, I spoke up in the discussion and said, "Being a slave and being married are kind of the same thing." People looked at me funny and laughed saying, "of course the single guy thought of that." In Christ the application these two ideas grapple with trying to explain our relationship with God.

One taken without the other tends to leave something out of the picture. When we think of ourselves as slaves of Christ we tend to view this relationship as something businesslike. We realize we have a large debt that we can not pay off ourselves so we go to Christ, who is like an owner of a large farm or ranch, and ask him to cover our debt if we sign over our lives to work for him. Like ranch hands, we get a place to sleep and food to eat so our needs are met by our boss. This is a wonderful picture of salvation and union with Christ, but I think it leaves one wanting of something more. With this picture we look to our sin and see how great the debt is that was removed. We marvel at Christ for removing this debt and allowing us to be free from it, but our focus is on the debt that was paid. This description realizes the work of Christ, but it stops a bit short of realizing the person of Christ. When a husband looks at his wife he is entranced by who she is. Her beauty and charm are what capture him. What man looks at his own faults and chooses a wife based upon how she can counteract those faults? Such thinking is all well and good, but a man chooses his wife based upon worth he sees within her. Couples love each other based upon worth and beauty they see in their partner that can not be found in anyone else.

These two pictures should be taken together. We are married to Christ and we are slaves to Christ. Our contract with him to remove our sin is more than a promise to work for him, it is also a covenant which promises to love and be loved by him.