April 2001

Christian Chronicles, April 2001 - Volume 4, Issue 65

The Editor's Pen

Most of the time, when Christians pray, or when they get together for studies or fellowship, the talk is about what God has done for them. When a person is invited to give his or her testimony, he is asked to simply tell what God has done in his life. When we study doctrine, more often than not, the chosen topic for discussion is usually some doctrine related to what God has done for us. Many people who read the Bible do not divide it at all, but read it as if every word was written to be directed to them personally. We seek “feel good” lessons that make us feel closer to a loving Father.

There is nothing wrong with that. Just as our own children often take us for granted, so do we also take for granted our heavenly Father. As earthly fathers, we serve as restrainers of our children, keeping them steered in fruitful directions. Our heavenly Father is much like that with us. Just as it is not until we begin to mature that we see our parents in a proper light, so also, it is as Christians mature that they begin to study the Person of the Father in an effort to gain a glimpse of His glory.

Mid-East Update

As expected, tensions ran high in the weeks immediately following Ariel Sharon’s election in Israel. The Arab states were concerned that he might prove as hawkish as Prime Minister as he has been historically as both soldier and politician.

As of the date of this writing, April 5, the Israelis and Palestinians have met once since the election to discuss ways to end the cycle of violence that has gripped the area for the past eight months. However, the Palestinians seem unwilling to end the violent attacks on Israel, and when Israel retaliates in kind, she is immediately castigated in the world press.

Arafat has declared that the road to peace lies in restarting the talks where Ehud Barak ended them. Sharon is loath to do that, believing that Barak was giving away far too much, including almost every square inch of East Jerusalem.

It is important for Christians to remember that this is the land that God gave to the descendants of Isaac, Jacob, David, and on down through the period of the kings, and indeed, for all eternity. For the Jews to be bargaining this real estate away is a travesty beyond compare with anything they have done in their history.

Even as God works all things together for our good, however, so shall He also turn this travesty into a display of His great glory and wisdom, in the tribulation, and then in the Kingdom. Israel yet faces her gravest and most perilous trial, but can stand in the assurance of seeing the glory of God at the end of it.

Fruit of the Vine

How many times have you heard someone say, “I led so and so to the Lord?” Worse, how many times have you heard a sincere Christian say, “I saved so and so today?” It is difficult, really, to pay proper reference to the evangelization of the lost by the saved. We do not lead anyone to the Lord. Technically, He draws all men to Himself. We certainly do not save anyone, for that work was done at Calvary by the second Person of the Trinity. It is difficult to exactly define that process. This, because there is always an interaction between God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, and the Christian who performs the service. Because we make ourselves do the work, we receive the just reward for our labors. We, do not, however, reckon the magnitude of the recompense. How much would you give for your child? God more. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that God uses His children as His instruments of salvation in ways that are miraculous each time He works in us. We take no pride in the evangelism of the lost, though we attack the work vigorously, with the knowledge that God does all the work in us, that the glory might be His, and rightfully. Let everyone praise the name of our God!

Perspectives: Glory in the Trials of Life

...And in the morning,
then ye shall see
the glory of the LORD;
for that he heareth
your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we,
that ye murmur against us?

(Ex. 16:7)

The Jews, after crossing the Red Sea at the hand of Moses, were wandering in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. They began to miss the varied diet that they enjoyed in Egypt, and they started to murmur against God. God answered the Jews, saying that He would rain down bread from heaven for them, and that this period of deprivation would prove to be so that they would be attuned to watch a glimpse of the glory of God at the end of their trials.

It is a small detail in the narrative of God providing manna from heaven. And yet, it is packed with instruction for the believer. As God’s people, the Jews, murmured against God, so do we, His children, today. We whine when we are troubled, boast when we are useful to God, thinking too little of the goodness of God..

Individually, we are each like Israel, at least to some degree, in our relationship with God, so that we can observe His handling of the nation of Israel and glean some understanding of His handling of us.

What God said to the Jews in that desert, lo, these thousands of years later, He shouts down through the corridors of time to us today. He says, “Do not be troubled by the vicissitudes of life. If you but avail yourselves of the faith I make available to you, you will see my glory in the end of every trial. Do not be troubled by trials, but rejoice in them, expecting to see the glory of God.”

Romans 8:28 assures us that every incident, every moment of our lives, is orchestrated by God for our good, according to His purpose. We remain responsible for our sins, but even those shortcomings that we are so prone to exhibit, God is able to work for our good, usually through instruction that we do not wish to receive, often in trials that we bring upon ourselves.

During those trials, we may either turn to God (we will eventually anyway, for He will make us) or dig ourselves into deeper trouble. When it is severe enough, we will turn to Him, and begin to start the journey out of whatever trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into. He will then lead us, even in the midst of the trial, that at the end of it all, we will marvel at His wisdom and power, receiving a brief glimpse of His glory in the bargain. Every time we see the hand of God working in our lives, we ought to stand in awe. Whenever a Christian finds himself in a crisis, he can rest in the absolute assurance that God will glorify Himself in it somehow, and in that knowledge, patiently endure and even rejoice.

Glory & the Curse

The heavens declare the handiwork of God. The vast universe was created so that we might have some notion of the infinite magnitude of our God, who made it all. We know that the universe, as a created thing, has an end. It is not infinite. There is an edge to the universe, but our God has no edge. He stands outside the creation, in His own abode, heaven, and observes the whole of it, its every facet and aspect, continuously, and to the level of being constantly aware of every atom.

Before the Fall of man, the heavens and the earth must have been something to behold. Even today, there are days when the sunrise and sunset are so spectacular as to strike awe in the breast at the wondrous glory of God. But when Adam sinned, God cursed the whole of creation (Rom 8: 18-23). The stars that once revealed the glory of God were muted, made uni-dimensional to our eyes. We cannot today imagine the glory of God’s sunset when the curse has been lifted, or the intricate wonders of an uncursed flower.

All the beauty that we see today is but a poor reflection indeed of the beauty of God’s handiwork that will finally be revealed at the Second Coming of the Lord, in the lifting of the curse. Then the heavens and earth will again display the glory of God in a manner inconceivable to us today. Every Christian ought to spend at least some time each day meditating on the glory of God.

Angels & the Glory of God

We do not think as often of the glory of God as we ought. Neither do we think of angels as often or as deeply as we should. Yet, as the highest of God’s created beings it might reasonably be expected that these creatures, more than anything else in heaven or earth, would reflect more perfectly the glory of God. We do not think of the glory of God, perhaps, because we are told that we cannot even conceive of it. Why bother? Yet, the fact that we cannot “get there” in this life, so that we cannot have a clear conception of it in our minds, does not imply that we can glean nothing from the Scriptures concerning the glory of God. In that same light, we do not think much about angels because we do not understand who and what these creatures are. The descriptions given in the Bible look nothing at all like the silly depictions in man’s statuary and art. Angels are not beautiful winged ladies in flowing robes, or chubby children with haloes. They are fearsome creatures with four faces and great power and glory. The Bible reveals much about angels, in 108 OT passages and 165 NT passages. Taken together, these references form a great body of knowledge of the angels. Rather than attempt to list those references in this brief article, let us refer you to your concordance for a personal study.

The references in the Bible seem to indicate a governmental system that has certain parallels with earthly governmental systems. That is, there are “thrones,” “dominions,” “principalities,” “authorities,” and “powers.” The rational mind immediately classifies these various types of angels in loose accordance with human government, so that we begin to see a hierarchy develop. As we have earthly kings, so there is the very highest rank of angels, those who sit on thrones. Those beneath them, who rule over many principalities, have dominion. Beneath these angels are those who oversee individual principalities, and beneath them, those who have power over “local” operations, and finally, the angels who minister individually. Lewis Sperry Chafer said,

Though there is seeming similarity in these denominations, it may be assumed that representation is made by these titles to incomprehensible dignity and varying degrees of rank. Heavenly spheres of rule exceed human empires as the universe exceeds the earth” (Systematic Theology, Vol.II, Kregel Publishing, 1993, Page 17).

The highest order of angels are the cherubim, guardians of the divine glory and righteousness. These magnificent beings, described in Ezekiel 1 and 10 and Revelation 4, stand surrounding the throne of God, ensuring that no stain of transgression should besmirch the glory of God.

At the pinnacle of this highest order of created beings stood Lucifer, son of the Morning (Isa. 14:12). There was no other authority that stood between Lucifer and God, but Lucifer was the ruling authority to whom the entire angelic realm was in submission(Ezek 28:14). The angels who sinned in Lucifer’s rebellion are still angels, but they are not holy angels. They are unholy angels, or demons. The government of demons is constructed in the same order as the holy angels, with thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, etc., so that the government of the one is similar to the government of the other, though one seeks to do the will of God, whereas the other wishes to overthrow God’s will in favor of its own. Those angels who remained true to God were not rewarded at all for resisting Lucifer’s temptation, but merely continued to serve humbly and selflessly in their prior capacities.

The Cherubim are depicted grouped tightly around the Person of God the Father as He sits upon His throne. Ezekiel seems to imply (Ezek 28:13) that Lucifer was transparent, covered with “every precious stone.” Strange, is it not, that God was able to hang that robe of precious stones on something as insubstantial as a spirit being? Stranger still is that God stretched the north out over the empty place and hung the earth on nothing (Job 26:7). Nevertheless, the cherubim surround the throne of God, facing outward, to meet any threat to the righteousness or glory of God.

The picture in chapter one of Ezekiel is a depiction in which the brilliant glory of God shines through Lucifer and onto God’s creation. No sinful human being can stand in the presence of the glory of God and live. That glory must be so bright as to vaporize whatever cursed material upon which it might fall. All the physical realm is under God’s curse since the Fall of man, so that the glory of God, once present on the earth only in the Temple of God’s chosen people, the Jews, no longer shines directly upon the created realm. Shining, however, through the gemstones with which Lucifer was encrusted, the glory of God is more beautiful than we can imagine. But Lucifer did not need to imagine it. The light seemed to him to be emanating from himself, as he stood with his back to God, looking outward to guard God’s righteousness. He saw the glory of God as it shone through him and cast its beautiful glow upon all of creation.

Surely, Lucifer was the most beautiful being in God’s creation. Stunningly attractive, he drew to himself admirers who surely marveled at the great glory God had given this creature, singing their praise, not to Lucifer, but to the God who had made such a being. Lucifer, lifted up in pride, determined that he should have the glory that he saw, and that it not be passed on to God any longer. Soon, Lucifer began to devise a scheme in his heart in which he would seek to wrest all of creation from God, making himself God. Isa 14:12-14 reveals Lucifer’s rebellion thus:

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Lucifer’s sin was the same sin that he tempted Eve to commit. He concluded these five “I wills…” by saying, “I will be like the most High. In the Garden of Eden, he told Eve, “You will be like God, knowing good and evil. In that same vein, the devil tempts man today. In teaching a doctrine of salvation by works, what the devil is really telling men is that they must become as good as God Himself if they hope to get to heaven. Quite ingenious, really, and all the more dangerously subtle for the deception.

Isaiah 6: 1-3 brings us knowledge of another classification of angels, the Seraphim. Unlike the Cherubim, these creatures do not stand with their back to the throne. Rather, they face the throne, worshipping God continuously, singing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory!” However, though they worship God, so clearly do these awesome creatures understand their rightful place in reference to God that they worship with two of their wings covering their faces and two covering their feet. Called living creatures (Rev 4:8), these angels stand in contrast with the cherubim, serving to denote the purification necessary for a creature to stand before the Creator. Chafer (Op. cit.), quoting Scofield, states it this way:

The Seraphim are, in many respects, in contrast with the Cherubim though both are expressive of the divine holiness, which demands that the sinner shall have acce3ss to the divine presence only through a sacrifice which really vindicates the righteousness of God (Rom 3.24-26, notes), and that the saint shall be cleansed before serving. Gen. 3.22-24 illustrates the first; Isa. 6.1-8 the second. The Cherubim may be said to have to do with the altar, the Seraphin with the laver.”

Beyond the direct environs of the throne of God, dealing with mankind in one function or another, are the archangels, Michael and Gabriel (though the Bible never directly states that Gabriel is an archangel, many have considered him in that rank, and it is probably a correct designation). Michael is particularly assigned to God’s holy people, Israel, as a guardian of sorts, one who “standeth” for Daniel’s people (Dan 12:1). Gabriel, on the other hand, seems to serve a different function, acting as a trusted messenger of God to man. He is seen in conversation with Daniel (8:15-27) revealing to that prophet details of the end times.

Our God is not proud. He is not lifted up with the sort of pride that caused Lucifer to rebel. At the same time, he is not oblivious to His own power, wisdom or glory. Should he speak in self-deprecating terms, He would be lying, which He cannot do. Many people have questioned the ingenuousness of God, seeing that He would create one classification of angels merely to guard His righteousness, and another merely to worship Him. It is not vanity that causes God to do this, but reality. So great is His glory, so perfect His righteousness, so far above anything created is His Person, that only the most majestic of His creatures are able to pay homage to our God in anything like the measure which the angels do, and the homage they pay Him is surely less than His Being demands. The problem is not a proud God, but proud men, who would reduce God to their own level, thinking correctly that their own demands for praise are unworthy, but incorrectly supposing that God’s demands for worship and praise are equally vain. Quoting Bishop Bull (1634-1710), A.C. Gabelein (Op. cit.) wrote:

When we consider what glorious beings the angels are, and yet that they are but creatures of, and servants to, the God whom we serve, waiting before His Throne, and humbly attending His commands; this consideration, if we let it sink deeply into our hearts, must needs possess us with most awful apprehensions of the glorious majesty of our God at all times, but especially in our approaches to Him in His worship, and fill us with the greatest reverence and humility. We should do well often to call to mind Daniel’s vision, to whom was represented the “Ancient of Days sitting upon His throne, a thousand thousands ministering unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before Him.”

With what reverence should we behave ourselves in our addresses to the Divine Majesty, before whom the Seraphim themselves hide their faces!And if they cover their feet, are conscious to themselves of their natural imperfection, compared to the infinitely glorious God; how should we clods of earth, we vile sinners, blush and be ashamed in His presence, assuming no confidence to ourselves, but what is founded on the mercies of God and the merits of our blessed Redeemer and Advocate, Jesus Christ!

And when we find ourselves inclined to pride and vanity, to think highly of ourselves and of our services to God, let us reflect at what a vast distance we come behind the holy angels; how far short our poor, lame, imperfect services are of their holy and excellent ministry. Yet, when we think of the ministry which the holy angels perform towards God, and for us; let us at the same time propound them to ourselves, as patterns and examples for our imitation.

It is amazing to think of the arrogant gall of mankind, in reducing such a God as ours to such low estate as to compare Him in any way, or to hold Him in any way to standards that we deem admirable or worthy of our judgment or consternation. Our God is far greater than any man can realize this side of the rapture of the Church. Only the saved dead know the glory of God, standing in the presence of His great glory. We have much to look forward to!

What is Glory?

What does the word “glory” mean to Christians today? Is it something visible? Is it the visible brightness that we associate with the presence of God? We would do well to look at a couple of respected definitions, Strong’s concordance dictionary and Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary (Nelson Publishing, 1996, Ppg 267-8).

According to Strong:

In the New Testament the word “doxa” is used to express opinion, conjecture, expectation,and then praise. The New Testament carries forward the Old Testament meaning of divine power and majesty. The New Testament extends this to Christ as having divine glory.

Vine’s says this of “doxa”:

“ ‘glory’ (from dokeo, to seem), primarily signifies an opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion. It is used (I) (a) of the nature and acts of God in self manifestation; i.e. what He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way He reveals Himself in these respects, and particularly in the Person of Christ, in whom essentially His glory has ever shone forth and ever will do (John 17:5, 24; Heb 1:3); it was exhibited in the character and acts of Christ in the days of His flesh (Jn 1:14; 2:11); at Cana both His grace and His power were manifested, and these constituted His glory…”

W.E. Vine goes on to give a more complete definition than quoted, but we can see that all that God is and does are manifestations of His eternal glory. That is, God’s very essence is glory, so that glory is with Him in everything He does, everywhere He is. When we seek to give glory to God, we are acknowledging that He is glorious Himself.

Often Saints use the term, “give the glory to God.” Within this phrase are the praise that is appropriate to be given to the Savior, as well as our expectation of the Savior returning for His bride,and gratitude for the righteouness bestowed upon Christians.

We see throughout His word that His Glory is so much more than we can comprehend. For instance in Psalms David tells us,”The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” How often do we see the Glory of God when we look into the sky?

The members of the true Church today, unlike the Saints of the Old Testament period, have the Glory of God dwelling within them. His word tells us: For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6). It is a truly remarkable thing to be a Christian, not because we are naything, but because our God is a grat God, full of glory, and is pleased to dwell, not with us, but in us. How often could Satan beat us down if we could keep this perspective? We do not see ourselves in a proper light as children of God because we do not see our God in a proper light.

The Glory of God is not confined to one area but to every area in the believer’s walk. His Glory is in everything that ever was or ever will be. It is God. While we cannot today see His glory visibly, we know assuredly that His hand has made the entire universe. It is easy enough to see the glory of God when we lie on our backs at night and consider the heavens and the vast distances they encompass. But it is not quite so easy to see God’s glory in a broken leg. Yet, we are assured that all things work together for our good, according to God’s purposes, and if our conception of God is high enough, we can fact every trial rejoicing, for the glory that resides in heaven today, also resides in each of us in the person of God. Today, the just live by faith. When we raise our estimation of God properly, we are able to see His hand in our lives, and we do not fret or worry, expecting always to see His glory just around the corner.

~~ Michelle Barnes

Glorifying God

We tell ourselves and others that we glorify God in this or that which we do. We think that we glorify Him in our behavior, our giving, our songs, our prayers, and our ministries. The fact is, we do not glorify God at all. When we are especially blessed, He glorifies Himself in us, in our own eyes, in the eyes of the world, or in the eyes of the Church. We are sinful creatures, capable of glorifying nothing or anyone. The lesser does not glorify the greater, though the lesser might desire to do so. In the case of the Christian, though we are often the instruments of God’s will among men, it remains true that God alone is the one responsible for the effectiveness of our labors on His behalf or our prayers to Him.

In truth, the Christian has nothing of which to boast before God. While God might use us on occasion, it is His Spirit who works in the hearts and minds of those to whom we minister, drawing them to Himself, and turning them from sin to salvation in repentance. If God did not prepare the ground into which we sow the good seed, that seed would never germinate. We would never be fruitful. If God has not prepared us beforehand for the ministries He gives us, we would fail at every attempt to serve. We have no reason to be proud, but pray humbly that God would glorify Himself in us.

His Understanding is Infinite

Great is our Lord,
And of great power:
His understanding is infinite

(Ps 147:5)

Known unto God
are all His works
From the beginning of the world

(Acts 15:18)

His understanding is infinite. Our God is omniscient; He knows everything. We cannot truly conceive of what it means to know everything. Does God know how many sticks of chewing gum are left in my pack? Does God care about American politics? The answer is, of course. Not only does God know how many sticks of gum are left in my pack, He also is continuously conscious of every atom in each of those sticks of gum, where each of those atoms has been since He created them in the day when He created the heavens and the earth. My God is intimately familiar with each of those atoms, being constantly aware of the movements of each of them (they are all in constant motion, and have been since the creation), and he is constantly aware of the interaction of each atom in each stick of gum with every other atom in the entire universe, and what its relationship has been with every other atom in the universe since the day of creation. God does not have to sit around and try to remember where any particular atom in a stick of gum in my shirt pocket was three billion years ago this very instant. He is consciously aware of the facts of its every movement at all times. Every hair on my head is numbered, and God knows the number of each one, receiving a report whenever one falls out, which report He does not need because He already knows it.

Not only is God aware of American politics, He has known since the foundation of the world (and before then) how many breaths it would take to present every political speech, how many threads were in the expensive suit each politician wore to make his speech.

Omniscience reaches into every nook and cranny of the created realm, and extends outward from the created realm unto all of the heavens. There is no detail so small or insignificant that God does not know it altogether, from the atoms in a stick of gum, to the politician’s handkerchief, to the exact number of the grains of sand on the moon, to the number and size and texture of the feathers on the wings of every angel He has created. The understanding of our God is infinite, and His glory exceeds our understanding or comprehension by an infinite degree. And He loves us.