Welcome to 3ABN's
Fall Camp Meeting,
00:00:24.39\00:00:27.92
Homecoming, 2018.
00:00:27.96\00:00:29.92
Featuring inspired
messages from your 3ABN family.
00:00:33.09\00:00:37.10
And featured speaker Ty Gibson,
00:00:41.24\00:00:44.31
all to prepare your heart
for the coming of the Lord
00:00:44.34\00:00:49.31
Hello, friends, and welcome to
00:00:49.34\00:00:50.68
3ABN's Fall Camp Meeting, 2018.
00:00:50.71\00:00:54.15
We've been
having a blessed time.
00:00:54.18\00:00:55.52
Can we all say
amen to that? Amen!
00:00:55.55\00:00:57.35
If you missed the last
program with Miss Brenda
00:00:57.39\00:00:59.22
and these tremendously
blessed gifted children,
00:00:59.25\00:01:03.99
then we pray that
we'll play back again
00:01:04.03\00:01:06.09
maybe in the second round
00:01:06.13\00:01:07.50
or however the Lord decides
to put that in our lineup.
00:01:07.53\00:01:09.83
But now, Pastor Ty
Gibson is going to come out
00:01:09.86\00:01:13.07
and he's been talking
about the covenant God,
00:01:13.10\00:01:16.81
the messages about the covenant.
00:01:16.84\00:01:19.34
How Jesus became
the covenant son.
00:01:19.37\00:01:21.91
And this is about
the transcendency,
00:01:21.94\00:01:25.05
the transcendency of
the Christ of the covenant.
00:01:25.08\00:01:28.05
And if you've been listening,
00:01:28.08\00:01:29.42
he's not only been
teaching but preaching also.
00:01:29.45\00:01:31.02
And I know your
life has been transformed
00:01:31.05\00:01:33.05
to hear a message that
has never lost his power
00:01:33.09\00:01:35.72
in a new and wonderful way.
00:01:35.76\00:01:37.43
Pastor Ty Gibson is
going to have his prayer.
00:01:37.46\00:01:39.03
But before he comes,
00:01:39.06\00:01:40.86
Tim Parton is going to bless us.
00:01:40.90\00:01:42.93
And I know that
you've been blessed
00:01:42.96\00:01:44.30
by his ministry of music.
00:01:44.33\00:01:45.67
Let us turn our hearts
00:01:45.70\00:01:47.04
as the Lord lifts us
heavenward through music.
00:01:47.07\00:01:49.77
Amen.
00:01:49.80\00:01:51.14
Been so blessed by
the preaching of the Word,
00:01:51.17\00:01:54.31
reminding us the
love that God has for us
00:01:54.34\00:01:58.51
in this great
plan that He amazingly
00:01:58.55\00:02:03.75
put together in eternity past
00:02:03.79\00:02:08.12
and thinking of each one of us.
00:02:08.16\00:02:11.46
He reminds me of this chorus.
00:02:11.49\00:02:13.03
And if you know
it, please sing along
00:02:13.06\00:02:16.56
I'm forgiven
00:02:16.60\00:02:19.50
Because You were forsaken
00:02:19.53\00:02:24.41
I'm accepted
00:02:24.44\00:02:27.74
You were condemned
00:02:27.78\00:02:32.28
I am alive and well
00:02:32.31\00:02:35.12
Your spirit lives within me
00:02:35.15\00:02:39.29
Because You died and rose again
00:02:39.32\00:02:44.83
Sing that again, I'm forgiven.
00:02:44.86\00:02:47.93
I'm forgiven
00:02:47.96\00:02:50.73
Because You were forsaken
00:02:50.77\00:02:55.40
I'm accepted
00:02:55.44\00:02:58.54
You were condemned
00:02:58.57\00:03:02.51
I am alive and well
Your spirit is within me
00:03:02.54\00:03:09.18
Because You died and rose again
00:03:09.22\00:03:14.79
That's amazing
love so sing it out.
00:03:14.82\00:03:17.53
Amazing love, how can it be?
00:03:17.56\00:03:24.53
That You, my
King would die for me?
00:03:24.57\00:03:31.51
Amazing love, I know it's true
00:03:31.54\00:03:38.45
And it's my joy to honor You
00:03:38.48\00:03:44.69
In all I do, I honor You
00:03:44.72\00:03:49.52
Sing amazing love.
00:03:49.56\00:03:52.56
Amazing love, how can it be?
00:03:52.59\00:03:59.67
That You, my
King would die for me?
00:03:59.70\00:04:06.88
Amazing love, I know it's true
00:04:06.91\00:04:13.92
And it's my joy to honor You
00:04:13.95\00:04:18.89
In all I do, I honor You
00:04:18.92\00:04:25.29
Sing this.
00:04:25.33\00:04:26.66
Jesus, You are my King
00:04:26.70\00:04:33.23
You are my King
00:04:33.27\00:04:34.70
You are
00:04:34.74\00:04:38.01
My King
00:04:38.04\00:04:39.57
Jesus You
00:04:39.61\00:04:40.94
Jesus, You are my King
00:04:40.98\00:04:47.25
Oh, Jesus, You are my King
00:04:47.28\00:04:53.89
Amazing love
00:04:53.92\00:04:56.29
Amazing love, how can it be?
00:04:56.32\00:05:03.23
That You, my
King would die for me?
00:05:03.26\00:05:10.04
Amazing love, I know it's true
00:05:10.07\00:05:17.08
And it's my joy to honor You
00:05:17.11\00:05:22.45
In all I do, I honor You
00:05:22.48\00:05:29.89
In all I do
00:05:29.92\00:05:33.86
I honor You
00:05:33.90\00:05:38.97
Praise God.
00:05:49.41\00:05:50.75
Good afternoon, everybody.
00:05:50.78\00:05:52.31
Good afternoon.
And happy Sabbath.
00:05:52.35\00:05:54.02
Happy Sabbath.
00:05:54.05\00:05:55.38
Do you like the
happy Sabbath greeting?
00:05:55.42\00:05:57.65
Do you like hearing those words?
00:05:57.69\00:05:59.02
Yes.
00:05:59.05\00:06:00.39
Man, I love hearing
the words, happy Sabbath.
00:06:00.42\00:06:03.63
But I don't know if
you've noticed this,
00:06:03.66\00:06:05.89
I've noticed that
when you say something
00:06:05.93\00:06:07.56
over and over again,
00:06:07.60\00:06:08.93
you can go into kind
of intellectual neutral
00:06:08.96\00:06:12.00
and forget what it means.
00:06:12.03\00:06:13.87
You know, we say
familiarity breeds contempt,
00:06:13.90\00:06:17.51
or at least forgetfulness
00:06:17.54\00:06:19.27
as to what
something means, right?
00:06:19.31\00:06:21.34
So sometimes I like to
change up my Sabbath greeting
00:06:21.38\00:06:25.21
in order to
remember what it means.
00:06:25.25\00:06:27.88
So sometimes, instead of saying,
00:06:27.92\00:06:29.25
happy Sabbath,
00:06:29.28\00:06:30.99
I say happy salvation
00:06:31.02\00:06:32.35
by grace through
faith in Christ alone day.
00:06:32.39\00:06:36.73
Now,
00:06:36.76\00:06:39.43
that's because the
Sabbath means something.
00:06:39.46\00:06:42.20
The Sabbath means that
we have a deep abiding rest
00:06:42.23\00:06:47.14
in Christ
00:06:47.17\00:06:48.67
for all that He has
accomplished for us,
00:06:48.70\00:06:51.97
and that there's no merit
at all in us to earn His love
00:06:52.01\00:06:56.11
because we already have it.
00:06:56.14\00:06:57.48
So happy salvation by grace
00:06:57.51\00:06:59.01
through faith in
Christ alone day.
00:06:59.05\00:07:00.42
Now, try it on the
person next to you.
00:07:00.45\00:07:02.85
Go, it's your turn.
00:07:02.88\00:07:04.22
Some of you aren't even trying.
00:07:11.03\00:07:12.83
One Sabbath I walked
into the foyer of a church,
00:07:15.23\00:07:18.03
and I used my
happy salvation by grace
00:07:18.07\00:07:21.14
through faith in
Christ alone Sabbath greeting.
00:07:21.17\00:07:23.37
And this brother, I
think he was the elder
00:07:23.41\00:07:25.11
said to me, he looked
kind of baffled by it,
00:07:25.14\00:07:29.24
even perturbed.
00:07:29.28\00:07:30.91
He said, "Happy, you
better keep the commandments
00:07:30.95\00:07:32.85
before Jesus comes day."
00:07:32.88\00:07:35.52
To which I responded...
00:07:38.89\00:07:40.56
To which I
responded, "If you love Him,
00:07:43.32\00:07:46.63
you'll keep His
commandments day."
00:07:46.66\00:07:50.53
To which he responded,
00:07:50.57\00:07:53.23
"Happy, the investigative
judgment is underway
00:07:53.27\00:07:55.87
and the names of the living
are coming up pretty soon.
00:07:55.90\00:07:58.27
So I suggest you get
your act together day."
00:07:58.31\00:08:02.24
To which I responded,
00:08:02.28\00:08:03.78
"Happy, I've read Daniel 7 and 8
00:08:03.81\00:08:05.58
and judgment is in
favor of the saints
00:08:05.61\00:08:07.25
of the most High God day."
00:08:07.28\00:08:11.75
And that was the end of it.
00:08:11.79\00:08:15.56
I guess, I won with the gospel.
00:08:15.59\00:08:17.73
All right, so this
is going to be fun.
00:08:17.76\00:08:20.30
We're going to look
into the Word of God.
00:08:20.33\00:08:23.43
But before we do that,
00:08:23.47\00:08:25.63
I want to pray
because this message
00:08:25.67\00:08:27.24
is of high significance for me.
00:08:27.27\00:08:29.84
And I want to persuade
you to see light, and beauty,
00:08:29.87\00:08:34.14
and truth in what
we're about to explore.
00:08:34.18\00:08:36.44
So please pray with me.
00:08:36.48\00:08:37.81
Father, in heaven,
You are truly good, Lord.
00:08:37.85\00:08:42.32
And everything we
know about You so far
00:08:42.35\00:08:45.79
is beautiful.
00:08:45.82\00:08:47.56
We're deeply impressed with You,
00:08:47.59\00:08:49.92
so much so that
we're attracted to You,
00:08:49.96\00:08:51.66
Lord, we're drawn to You.
00:08:51.69\00:08:53.03
We don't feel like slaves.
00:08:53.06\00:08:54.40
We don't feel compelled.
00:08:54.43\00:08:55.76
We don't feel coerced or forced,
00:08:55.80\00:08:57.20
we feel drawn to You
00:08:57.23\00:09:00.60
because of Your beauty.
00:09:00.64\00:09:01.97
And yet, Lord, we know
there are things about You
00:09:02.00\00:09:04.87
that have escaped our notice.
00:09:04.91\00:09:09.21
There are things about
You that if we could see them,
00:09:09.24\00:09:11.95
we would fall a little bit
more deeply in love with You.
00:09:11.98\00:09:16.45
So please God open
our hearts right now.
00:09:16.48\00:09:18.99
Help us to see things
that we've never seen before,
00:09:19.02\00:09:23.39
in Jesus' name, amen.
00:09:23.43\00:09:26.90
I represent and
work with a ministry
00:09:26.93\00:09:29.06
called Light Bearers.
00:09:29.10\00:09:30.67
And one of the
things that ministry does
00:09:30.70\00:09:32.83
is we're engaged in
running a discipleship school.
00:09:32.87\00:09:36.74
And what that means
00:09:36.77\00:09:38.11
is people from
all over the world
00:09:38.14\00:09:40.18
twice a year
come to live with us
00:09:40.21\00:09:43.61
in a dorm facility.
00:09:43.65\00:09:44.98
And we have a
kitchen, and a classroom,
00:09:45.01\00:09:47.05
and they come from
all over the world,
00:09:47.08\00:09:48.42
they live with us
for three whole months.
00:09:48.45\00:09:51.35
The program is called Arise.
00:09:51.39\00:09:53.59
And we run it twice a
year, once in the United States,
00:09:53.62\00:09:55.76
once in Australia.
00:09:55.79\00:09:57.79
Now, as the
students come from all over,
00:09:57.83\00:10:00.30
it's our job to lead them
through the story of scripture.
00:10:00.33\00:10:02.66
In fact, the curriculum
00:10:02.70\00:10:04.53
for the program
is called The Story.
00:10:04.57\00:10:07.90
And we move from
Genesis to Revelation
00:10:07.94\00:10:09.80
in three months
trekking right along,
00:10:09.84\00:10:12.97
systematically moving
through the Bible as a story,
00:10:13.01\00:10:16.04
as a narrative,
00:10:16.08\00:10:17.51
noting biblical doctrines
and prophecies along the way
00:10:17.55\00:10:20.42
that fit in to the
overarching narrative.
00:10:20.45\00:10:24.39
Now, we begin the
course with some classes
00:10:24.42\00:10:27.56
that are extremely important
00:10:27.59\00:10:28.92
for setting the
tone for the course.
00:10:28.96\00:10:33.66
And one of the first
classes that we teach
00:10:33.70\00:10:35.76
is one that I
have an opportunity
00:10:35.80\00:10:38.27
to teach to the students.
00:10:38.30\00:10:39.67
And so there they
are, they've just come
00:10:39.70\00:10:41.20
from wherever they're from,
00:10:41.24\00:10:42.57
we're just getting
to know each other.
00:10:42.60\00:10:43.94
They're brand new class,
00:10:43.97\00:10:45.31
and I lead them through a
kind of thought experiment.
00:10:45.34\00:10:50.35
I draw a big
circle on the board.
00:10:50.38\00:10:54.32
And I tell them, this
circle represents the universe.
00:10:54.35\00:10:59.82
Energy, matter, space,
00:10:59.85\00:11:03.12
this is the entire
universe, I tell them.
00:11:03.16\00:11:07.50
And then I
asked them a question.
00:11:07.53\00:11:09.23
I say, "I want you
to think about this.
00:11:09.26\00:11:10.60
Don't answer
out loud right away.
00:11:10.63\00:11:12.07
But I say to the students, I
want you to think about this.
00:11:12.10\00:11:15.10
This circle
represents the universe.
00:11:15.14\00:11:16.71
Where is God?
00:11:16.74\00:11:20.68
Every year same results.
00:11:20.71\00:11:23.45
About half the
students answer by saying,
00:11:23.48\00:11:26.11
"Well, God's outside the circle,
00:11:26.15\00:11:30.09
outside the universe.
00:11:30.12\00:11:31.52
He made it,
therefore He's outside of it."
00:11:31.55\00:11:34.92
About half the students say,
00:11:34.96\00:11:36.29
"No, no, no, God's
inside the circle."
00:11:36.32\00:11:40.86
Now, of course, if
you think about it,
00:11:40.90\00:11:43.83
both answers are correct.
00:11:43.87\00:11:46.40
God is both inside
and outside the universe,
00:11:46.43\00:11:51.37
inside and outside the circle.
00:11:51.41\00:11:52.74
Think about it like
this. Think about it like this.
00:11:52.77\00:11:54.81
God is everywhere
within the material universe,
00:11:54.84\00:11:58.81
and God is nowhere
00:11:58.85\00:12:01.05
in the material
universe simultaneously.
00:12:01.08\00:12:04.09
Now, there are two words
00:12:04.12\00:12:05.92
that we used to
describe these realities.
00:12:05.95\00:12:09.29
One word is omnipresence.
00:12:09.32\00:12:11.69
Omnipresence is the theological
idea that God is present
00:12:11.73\00:12:16.33
everywhere within the universe.
00:12:16.36\00:12:19.93
This is David, for
example, in Psalm 139,
00:12:19.97\00:12:22.84
"Where can I go
from your presence?
00:12:22.87\00:12:24.31
If I ascend into the
heavens lo, you are there,
00:12:24.34\00:12:26.37
if I descend to the depths
of the sea, you are there."
00:12:26.41\00:12:29.71
Psalm 139.
00:12:29.74\00:12:31.41
I can't go anywhere
to escape Your presence,
00:12:31.45\00:12:35.15
because You are omnipresent,
You are all present,
00:12:35.18\00:12:37.72
You're everywhere
simultaneously all the time.
00:12:37.75\00:12:39.82
Now within biblical theology,
00:12:39.85\00:12:42.29
this is to be
distinguished from pantheism.
00:12:42.32\00:12:46.29
Pantheism is the idea
that God is in all of creation.
00:12:46.33\00:12:52.27
Omnipresence is the
idea that God is present
00:12:52.30\00:12:55.90
to all of creation.
00:12:55.94\00:12:58.21
God is present
to, not present in.
00:12:58.24\00:13:01.08
He's not synonymous
with the rock, the tree,
00:13:01.11\00:13:04.31
the river, the bird, the zebra.
00:13:04.35\00:13:08.52
So pantheism is
a different idea.
00:13:08.55\00:13:10.49
Omnipresence is God
is present everywhere.
00:13:10.52\00:13:12.95
And then the second
word that we used to describe
00:13:12.99\00:13:15.66
the complimentary reality
00:13:15.69\00:13:20.23
is the word transcendence.
00:13:20.26\00:13:22.96
So we've said
that God is present
00:13:23.00\00:13:27.24
in all the
universe simultaneously
00:13:27.27\00:13:31.21
and not present in.
00:13:31.24\00:13:34.28
The word transcendence is
a very, very powerful word.
00:13:34.31\00:13:38.01
To transcend
according to the dictionary
00:13:38.05\00:13:41.25
means simply to
be above and beyond,
00:13:41.28\00:13:44.55
to be independent of,
to exceed, or to surpass,
00:13:44.59\00:13:48.99
or to be without equivalency to.
00:13:49.02\00:13:51.46
Now you would say
all of that about God,
00:13:51.49\00:13:52.93
wouldn't you in
relation to creation?
00:13:52.96\00:13:56.30
You would say that God is
above and beyond creation?
00:13:56.33\00:13:58.77
Yes or no?
00:13:58.80\00:14:00.14
You'd say that God
is independent of...
00:14:00.17\00:14:02.97
He's not dependent on it.
00:14:03.00\00:14:04.87
If all of
creation ceased to exist,
00:14:04.91\00:14:06.37
God wouldn't cease
to exist, would He?
00:14:06.41\00:14:08.54
So He's independent of
energy, matter, space, right?
00:14:08.58\00:14:14.52
Does He exceed
and surpass creation?
00:14:14.55\00:14:18.02
Yes, He does.
00:14:18.05\00:14:19.82
Would you say
that God is without
00:14:19.85\00:14:22.12
equivalency to creation?
00:14:22.16\00:14:25.26
Well, of course, you would.
00:14:25.29\00:14:26.63
You're a Bible
believing Christian,
00:14:26.66\00:14:28.46
you're not a pantheist.
00:14:28.50\00:14:30.03
You believe that God
is present to, present in,
00:14:30.07\00:14:35.34
but you do not believe
00:14:35.37\00:14:36.71
God is synonymous with creation.
00:14:36.74\00:14:40.98
These are two separate things.
00:14:41.01\00:14:42.58
Now, this is how
Job is contemplating it
00:14:42.61\00:14:46.58
in the midst of his suffering.
00:14:46.61\00:14:48.28
In Job 26, the first 13 verses,
00:14:48.32\00:14:52.29
Job is naming
aspects of creation.
00:14:52.32\00:14:55.59
That is the material universe,
00:14:55.62\00:14:58.16
everything
around us that we see,
00:14:58.19\00:15:00.40
and hear, and smell,
and touch, all right.
00:15:00.43\00:15:03.43
God is contemplating.
00:15:03.47\00:15:04.80
I mean, Job is
contemplating all of creation,
00:15:04.83\00:15:06.90
He names
different parts of creation.
00:15:06.94\00:15:08.40
And then the last
verse of Chapter 26 of Job's,
00:15:08.44\00:15:10.84
he says this profound thing.
00:15:10.87\00:15:12.67
He says, "Indeed these..."
00:15:12.71\00:15:14.31
That is all these parts
of creation that I've named.
00:15:14.34\00:15:17.01
"Indeed these are the
mere edges of His ways,
00:15:17.05\00:15:22.58
and how small a
whisper we hear of Him."
00:15:22.62\00:15:27.02
What Job is saying is
that God is of such majesty,
00:15:30.19\00:15:36.16
such enormity,
00:15:36.20\00:15:39.23
that whatever we know about God
is just scratching the surface.
00:15:39.27\00:15:43.74
We're just around the edges.
00:15:43.77\00:15:45.64
This is by the way
00:15:45.67\00:15:47.01
how it can be true
that in future glory,
00:15:47.04\00:15:51.75
eternity future,
new heavens, new earth,
00:15:51.78\00:15:54.28
this is how we can be forever
approaching to the heart,
00:15:54.32\00:15:58.55
and character, and mind of God,
00:15:58.59\00:16:00.36
and never exhaust the
titanic reality of who He is.
00:16:00.39\00:16:06.26
You will never get
bored for all of eternity
00:16:06.29\00:16:10.60
in your
discoveries of who God is.
00:16:10.63\00:16:14.74
You will always be
on the edge of your seat
00:16:14.77\00:16:17.51
with one big long
continuum of ah-hah moments.
00:16:17.54\00:16:22.88
You will be literally
blown away forever, non-stop,
00:16:22.91\00:16:27.72
and not get tired
00:16:27.75\00:16:29.88
as you approach the
heart and mind of God.
00:16:29.92\00:16:33.99
Because whatever we know of God,
00:16:34.02\00:16:36.09
come short of
the totality of God.
00:16:36.12\00:16:40.43
So think about it like this.
00:16:40.46\00:16:42.43
God made the material
universe, we're good so far.
00:16:42.46\00:16:47.20
God made the material universe.
00:16:47.24\00:16:48.80
Therefore, God is not
part of the material universe,
00:16:48.84\00:16:52.64
in nature, substance, or kind.
00:16:52.67\00:16:56.21
He made it, therefore
He is not equivalent to it.
00:16:56.24\00:16:59.15
This is like you
pull out your iPhone,
00:16:59.18\00:17:02.62
and you have evidence
of the creative genius
00:17:02.65\00:17:07.42
of Steve Jobs' design,
00:17:07.46\00:17:10.66
but you don't expect
to find Steve Jobs himself
00:17:10.69\00:17:12.79
in the iPhone.
00:17:12.83\00:17:14.60
There's evidence
of the creativity
00:17:14.63\00:17:17.93
and the genius of
the designer of the item,
00:17:17.97\00:17:21.30
but the item is not
equivalent to the designer.
00:17:21.34\00:17:25.14
Are you tracking with me?
00:17:25.17\00:17:26.51
Okay, so if you were to
ask God, if you could so,
00:17:26.54\00:17:29.84
God, what are You speaking
of nature, the nature of God?
00:17:29.88\00:17:33.35
So God, what is Your nature?
00:17:33.38\00:17:35.55
I'm not talking about nature,
in the sense of character.
00:17:35.58\00:17:39.82
If you were to say,
"God, what are You made of?"
00:17:39.85\00:17:43.56
God would say,
00:17:43.59\00:17:44.93
"That's out of your
intellectual orbit."
00:17:44.96\00:17:48.26
You're asking a question
that is for big boy pants,
00:17:48.30\00:17:52.00
and you don't have any.
00:17:52.03\00:17:54.47
You are asking a question
that you can't even begin.
00:17:54.50\00:17:57.57
I can't answer
the question for you
00:17:57.61\00:17:59.21
because you're a made
thing, and I'm an unmade thing.
00:17:59.24\00:18:04.85
So if I were to try to wrap
00:18:04.88\00:18:06.28
language around describing
to you what I'm made of,
00:18:06.31\00:18:09.52
the best I could
do is to say to you,
00:18:09.55\00:18:10.89
I'm not made of
anything because I'm not made.
00:18:10.92\00:18:15.56
So God is utterly beyond
anything that we in our puny,
00:18:15.59\00:18:20.73
itty-bitty,
00:18:20.76\00:18:22.30
finite humanity can fully grasp.
00:18:22.33\00:18:27.44
Are you still with me?
00:18:27.47\00:18:29.00
Yes. All right.
00:18:29.04\00:18:30.47
This should not be the
meeting after lunch by the way,
00:18:30.51\00:18:32.37
I'm just warning you.
00:18:32.41\00:18:33.74
Okay?
00:18:33.78\00:18:35.11
So what you see on the
screen right now is this.
00:18:35.14\00:18:38.55
One of these two circles.
00:18:38.58\00:18:40.25
One of these two
illustrations is truth,
00:18:40.28\00:18:42.45
and one of them is heresy.
00:18:42.48\00:18:48.42
Either God exists
00:18:48.46\00:18:51.86
within the
parameters of creation
00:18:51.89\00:18:57.73
or creation exists
00:18:57.77\00:19:00.44
within the
parameters of God's reality.
00:19:00.47\00:19:06.07
Are you tracking with me?
00:19:06.11\00:19:07.84
Okay. Let's say it like this.
00:19:07.88\00:19:09.64
God does not exist
within the microscopic puddle.
00:19:09.68\00:19:13.82
Picture a puddle in your
mind, just a little mud puddle,
00:19:13.85\00:19:16.38
you can splash
in with your foot.
00:19:16.42\00:19:19.35
God does not exist
within the microscopic puddle
00:19:19.39\00:19:21.56
of our reality, rather we exist
00:19:21.59\00:19:23.96
within the macroscopic
ocean of God's reality.
00:19:23.99\00:19:29.96
And this is the fork in the road
00:19:30.00\00:19:32.70
in the anti-Trinitarian debate.
00:19:32.73\00:19:36.30
This is the fork in the road
with regards to all of theology
00:19:36.34\00:19:41.04
and philosophy at the
most foundational level.
00:19:41.08\00:19:44.38
Everybody's partying right here
00:19:44.41\00:19:46.78
and going one of two directions.
00:19:46.82\00:19:49.22
Now, what I'm suggesting to
you at this part of the message
00:19:49.25\00:19:53.72
is that all words
literally all words,
00:19:53.76\00:19:57.33
terms and categories
00:19:57.36\00:19:59.23
that arise in
human consciousness
00:19:59.26\00:20:02.66
are necessarily
temporal, time bound,
00:20:02.70\00:20:07.20
and material and therefore
00:20:07.24\00:20:09.30
can only approximate who God is.
00:20:09.34\00:20:12.81
Are you tracking with
me? Are you still with me?
00:20:12.84\00:20:15.41
Okay, sit up a
little straighter.
00:20:15.44\00:20:19.11
Some of you look like,
00:20:19.15\00:20:20.48
you need to
breathe deep right now.
00:20:20.52\00:20:23.65
Oxygenate your
frontal lobe right now.
00:20:23.69\00:20:25.69
Take a few deep breaths.
00:20:25.72\00:20:27.06
You need blood flow
right now to your frontal lobe.
00:20:27.09\00:20:29.99
Okay.
00:20:30.03\00:20:31.36
So all language comes short
if you can fully explain God,
00:20:31.39\00:20:37.07
it's not God you've explained.
00:20:37.10\00:20:39.00
There is a manifest
arrogance on display
00:20:43.20\00:20:47.98
when an itty-bitty human being
00:20:48.01\00:20:52.71
with strident and authority
00:20:52.75\00:20:56.45
claims to know
00:20:56.48\00:20:59.45
that this one
called God and Christ
00:20:59.49\00:21:02.62
began to exist at some
point in eternity past.
00:21:02.66\00:21:07.73
As if you know, you
are way outside, I am out.
00:21:07.76\00:21:13.20
We don't know what
we're talking about,
00:21:13.23\00:21:15.30
in response to the
question, what is God?
00:21:15.34\00:21:20.68
But we can know
00:21:20.71\00:21:22.08
the answer
forever and ever and ever
00:21:22.11\00:21:24.48
with increasing
comprehension and depth.
00:21:24.51\00:21:27.08
We can know the answer
to the question, who is God?
00:21:27.12\00:21:30.12
God is a what that
we can never probe.
00:21:30.15\00:21:33.02
God is a who that is revealed
00:21:33.05\00:21:36.69
in scripture and in Christ.
00:21:36.73\00:21:39.26
We can know, in other
words, the character of God,
00:21:39.29\00:21:42.20
but we cannot
know the nature of God
00:21:42.23\00:21:44.57
by virtue of the fact
00:21:44.60\00:21:46.20
that we are
ourselves created beings.
00:21:46.23\00:21:49.20
We are temporal
material creatures.
00:21:49.24\00:21:53.11
We don't even have
language at our disposal
00:21:53.14\00:21:57.28
to talk about who God is
00:21:57.31\00:21:59.81
in His ultimacy by
virtue of His nature?
00:21:59.85\00:22:04.15
I don't know if you're familiar
with Abraham Joshua Heschel.
00:22:04.19\00:22:07.46
He is a Hebrew
scholar, He's deceased,
00:22:07.49\00:22:10.86
the late Abraham Joshua Heschel.
00:22:10.89\00:22:12.63
He marched with
Martin Luther King Jr.
00:22:12.66\00:22:16.93
You'll see him in some
of the photos of that era
00:22:16.97\00:22:19.50
in that great movement.
00:22:19.53\00:22:20.97
And he was a Jewish scholar
00:22:21.00\00:22:24.01
who stood in the
civil rights movement.
00:22:24.04\00:22:27.74
But my goodness,
00:22:27.78\00:22:29.11
this guy is
firing on all cylinders
00:22:29.14\00:22:30.98
when it comes to
understanding Yahweh.
00:22:31.01\00:22:34.12
In one of his remarkable
books that I've read twice,
00:22:34.15\00:22:37.62
and I'm about to
start a third time
00:22:37.65\00:22:40.16
because it's so remarkable,
God in search of man.
00:22:40.19\00:22:45.66
Heschel says this,
00:22:45.69\00:22:47.30
"It is a fact of
profound significance
00:22:47.33\00:22:49.93
that we sense
more than we can say."
00:22:49.96\00:22:53.00
Have you ever had those moments
00:22:53.03\00:22:54.37
where you're just
awestruck with God?
00:22:54.40\00:22:58.47
And you're
thinking there's no way
00:22:58.51\00:22:59.91
I can explain to
anybody what I'm sensing.
00:22:59.94\00:23:02.88
I could do my best to
try to testify to somebody
00:23:02.91\00:23:07.22
regarding this overwhelming
sense of God's beauty,
00:23:07.25\00:23:10.49
His Majesty, His glory.
00:23:10.52\00:23:12.62
I sense more than I can explain.
00:23:12.65\00:23:14.69
Heschel says this,
00:23:14.72\00:23:16.22
"All statements about
God are understatement."
00:23:16.26\00:23:20.80
Literally, if you just marshal
00:23:20.83\00:23:23.50
all the
vocabulary at your disposal,
00:23:23.53\00:23:28.04
and you attempt to
explain the goodness of God,
00:23:28.07\00:23:31.57
the beauty of God,
the character of God,
00:23:31.61\00:23:33.38
the love of God,
00:23:33.41\00:23:34.74
you will come short of the task.
00:23:34.78\00:23:38.75
He is always more, and yet more,
00:23:38.78\00:23:42.98
and yet more than
any of us can comprehend.
00:23:43.02\00:23:46.65
By the way,
parenthetical statement.
00:23:46.69\00:23:50.03
This is why the body
of Christ is necessary.
00:23:50.06\00:23:54.23
I love 3ABN, but you cannot be
00:23:54.26\00:23:58.63
a vibrant, thriving,
00:23:58.67\00:24:00.54
flourishing follower of Jesus
and stay home channel surfing.
00:24:00.57\00:24:05.77
You need the fellowship
of the body of Christ,
00:24:05.81\00:24:10.78
because in the fellowship
of the body of Christ,
00:24:10.81\00:24:14.18
cross pollination occurs.
00:24:14.22\00:24:16.42
You see God in
ways I'll never see Him,
00:24:16.45\00:24:19.92
but you can try to
explain to me what you see.
00:24:19.95\00:24:23.53
And I can be
enriched by your perspective,
00:24:23.56\00:24:26.29
and vice versa.
00:24:26.33\00:24:28.06
And we can grow
corporately in ways
00:24:28.10\00:24:30.67
that we can never
grow individually.
00:24:30.70\00:24:35.94
It's vital that
we cross pollinate.
00:24:35.97\00:24:38.01
Or this is what Martin
Luther the great reformer,
00:24:38.04\00:24:41.58
called the
priesthood of all believers.
00:24:41.61\00:24:45.31
So really, there's a sense
00:24:45.35\00:24:47.25
in which as we
try to describe God,
00:24:47.28\00:24:49.35
vocabulary comes short.
00:24:49.38\00:24:51.02
We're always kind of
in a crisis of vocabulary.
00:24:51.05\00:24:55.52
If we're really
digging in to the gospel,
00:24:55.56\00:24:58.19
to the character of God,
00:24:58.23\00:24:59.56
we're always in a
crisis of vocabulary.
00:24:59.59\00:25:03.00
By the way,
that's great language.
00:25:03.03\00:25:04.37
And I'll just,
00:25:04.40\00:25:05.73
this is just a little
short marriage seminar,
00:25:05.77\00:25:07.80
has nothing to do
with our subject here.
00:25:07.84\00:25:09.27
But to my brothers, I will say,
00:25:09.30\00:25:10.97
if you forget
an anniversary card
00:25:11.01\00:25:12.74
or birthday card or
something like that.
00:25:12.77\00:25:15.04
This is what you say, say,
"Baby, you're so beautiful.
00:25:15.08\00:25:18.18
You're so amazing. I
had a crisis of vocabulary.
00:25:18.21\00:25:21.12
I couldn't even write the card.
00:25:21.15\00:25:23.69
I couldn't even
00:25:23.72\00:25:26.79
write the card.
00:25:26.82\00:25:30.76
No extra charge for that. Okay.
00:25:30.79\00:25:33.13
So Abraham Joshua
Heschel clinches his point
00:25:33.16\00:25:36.93
by saying this,
"We have an awareness
00:25:36.97\00:25:40.57
that is deeper
than our concepts."
00:25:40.60\00:25:45.14
We have an
awareness with regards to God
00:25:45.17\00:25:47.68
that is deeper
than our concepts.
00:25:47.71\00:25:49.04
"We possess
insights," emotional insights,
00:25:49.08\00:25:51.75
relational insights,
00:25:51.78\00:25:54.55
"we possess insights
that are not accessible
00:25:54.58\00:25:56.79
to the power of expression."
00:25:56.82\00:25:59.45
I'm telling you,
sometimes I am overwhelmed
00:25:59.49\00:26:02.12
with a sense of
God's love for me
00:26:02.16\00:26:06.33
that I could never do
justice to with words.
00:26:06.36\00:26:10.10
I just know that it's true
00:26:10.13\00:26:12.33
at the deepest
level of my being.
00:26:12.37\00:26:14.34
That's what
John's talking about,
00:26:14.37\00:26:15.70
by the way, in 1, 2, and 3 John,
00:26:15.74\00:26:19.57
when he says,
00:26:19.61\00:26:20.98
nobody can
explain this stuff to you.
00:26:21.01\00:26:23.04
You have a witness in yourself.
00:26:23.08\00:26:26.01
And that witness in yourself
is the greatest evidence
00:26:26.05\00:26:28.78
of God's existence
and His love for you,
00:26:28.82\00:26:31.59
and nobody can
ever take it from you.
00:26:31.62\00:26:33.39
Now, that which can be
named or described by us
00:26:33.42\00:26:38.76
is not God as God
is in God's ultimacy.
00:26:38.79\00:26:43.53
We can say true
things about God,
00:26:43.57\00:26:46.20
we cannot say
everything about God.
00:26:46.23\00:26:48.84
Now, I'm setting you up
for something, obviously.
00:26:48.87\00:26:51.84
All of this is to
move us in to asking
00:26:51.87\00:26:56.24
and answering a
question as best we can.
00:26:56.28\00:26:59.71
So if God is transcendent,
00:26:59.75\00:27:05.25
if God in fact,
exists above and beyond
00:27:05.29\00:27:08.96
anything that we can
ever fully comprehend,
00:27:08.99\00:27:11.79
if God exists beyond
00:27:11.83\00:27:13.23
all material creation,
00:27:13.26\00:27:18.23
the question is,
why do we encounter God
00:27:18.27\00:27:23.81
within the parameters
of material and temporal
00:27:23.84\00:27:29.01
and progenerative categories?
00:27:29.04\00:27:32.38
Why is God introducing
Himself to us as a Father?
00:27:32.41\00:27:35.12
Why is Jesus called a Son?
00:27:35.15\00:27:38.42
But we know that
those are procreation terms.
00:27:38.45\00:27:41.62
We know that the man
00:27:41.66\00:27:43.73
is to the woman a
sexual counterpart,
00:27:43.76\00:27:45.79
and that the woman is to the man
00:27:45.83\00:27:47.50
a sexual counterpart,
00:27:47.53\00:27:49.16
and the two shall be
one and that the only way
00:27:49.20\00:27:51.73
you get a son or a
daughter is by procreation.
00:27:51.77\00:27:55.94
We know that father and son,
00:27:55.97\00:27:59.11
not to mention the
fact that in Isaiah
00:27:59.14\00:28:01.51
once God introduces
Himself as a mother,
00:28:01.54\00:28:05.21
we have no way of comprehending
except by asking, answering,
00:28:05.25\00:28:10.85
in my opinion, this question,
00:28:10.89\00:28:12.69
"Why would God who
transcends all of creation,
00:28:12.72\00:28:18.09
speak to us in
language of creation?"
00:28:18.13\00:28:23.23
And the answer is very
simply and profoundly, love.
00:28:23.26\00:28:26.70
God is love.
00:28:26.74\00:28:28.30
And because God is love.
00:28:28.34\00:28:29.67
Listen, listen, listen.
00:28:29.70\00:28:31.04
Love is by its
very nature social.
00:28:31.07\00:28:34.34
God likes you, and He
wants you to like Him back.
00:28:34.38\00:28:39.81
So He
condescends by love to engage
00:28:39.85\00:28:43.59
in something called mediation.
00:28:43.62\00:28:46.55
Love necessitates mediation.
00:28:46.59\00:28:48.66
If God is
infinite, and we're finite,
00:28:48.69\00:28:52.73
there's some serious
ground that needs to be bridged.
00:28:52.76\00:28:56.53
Yes or no?
00:28:56.56\00:28:58.13
We can't bridge the ground
00:28:58.17\00:28:59.97
in the direction of infinitude.
00:29:00.00\00:29:04.27
So God, because He loves us
00:29:04.31\00:29:06.34
must bridge the
ground toward our finitude.
00:29:06.37\00:29:12.08
He's infinite, we're finite.
00:29:12.11\00:29:13.92
He's got to come
down to where we are,
00:29:13.95\00:29:15.62
or we will never know Him.
00:29:15.65\00:29:19.15
And so God is
humble, because God is love.
00:29:19.19\00:29:24.13
Love by its very
nature is social.
00:29:24.16\00:29:25.83
And that means that love
00:29:25.86\00:29:27.20
by its very
nature is communicative.
00:29:27.23\00:29:29.90
Love wants to know and be known.
00:29:29.93\00:29:32.97
That is its nature.
00:29:33.00\00:29:35.90
And so God wants us to know Him.
00:29:35.94\00:29:40.28
So knowledge and
perspective is mediated to us
00:29:40.31\00:29:44.85
so that we might know Him.
00:29:44.88\00:29:47.32
John Chapter 1 unpacks
00:29:47.35\00:29:49.58
what this mediation looks
like in its ultimate form.
00:29:49.62\00:29:54.02
Now, God mediates to us in
lots of other forms as well.
00:29:54.06\00:29:58.43
The laughter of children,
if correctly perceived,
00:29:58.46\00:30:03.00
will open your mind
to the beauty of God.
00:30:03.03\00:30:08.17
Blooming flowers,
00:30:08.20\00:30:10.04
a sunrise or sunset
00:30:10.07\00:30:11.87
will whisper to you
of the character of God,
00:30:11.91\00:30:14.54
if you're tuned in.
00:30:14.58\00:30:17.88
But in its ultimate
sense, God bridge to the gulf
00:30:17.91\00:30:22.72
between the
finite and the infinite
00:30:22.75\00:30:24.65
in the person of Christ.
00:30:24.69\00:30:26.69
John 1:1 says it this way,
00:30:26.72\00:30:28.72
"In the beginning was the Word,"
00:30:28.76\00:30:31.19
the logos, that is the
thing, behind the thing,
00:30:31.23\00:30:34.83
behind the thing
that defines reality.
00:30:34.86\00:30:37.63
That's what logos means.
00:30:37.67\00:30:39.00
Logos means the
rationale of existence,
00:30:39.03\00:30:43.04
the true meaning and
significance of reality,
00:30:43.07\00:30:47.34
the logic of existence in life.
00:30:47.38\00:30:51.48
"In the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God,"
00:30:51.51\00:30:55.08
check this out,
"the Word was God."
00:30:55.12\00:30:59.35
Now, if you do a little
bit of editorial sculpting,
00:30:59.39\00:31:01.92
and just pull out
some of the words here,
00:31:01.96\00:31:04.13
you have some
pretty amazing theology,
00:31:04.16\00:31:07.23
because the scripture says,
"In the beginning was the Word
00:31:07.26\00:31:09.46
and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God."
00:31:09.50\00:31:14.17
So literally, look at
the text on the screen,
00:31:14.20\00:31:16.57
literally,
within the quote marks
00:31:16.60\00:31:19.84
you can say, "God...
00:31:19.87\00:31:22.78
was with... God."
00:31:22.81\00:31:25.88
God was with God.
That sounds redundant.
00:31:29.75\00:31:33.12
It's not.
00:31:33.15\00:31:34.92
God is love and
love is a social reality.
00:31:34.96\00:31:36.93
Therefore, God has
always been engaged
00:31:36.96\00:31:38.93
in some kind of
social interaction,
00:31:38.96\00:31:41.86
else God could not be said
with any intelligible meaning
00:31:41.90\00:31:45.27
to be love.
00:31:45.30\00:31:47.37
So this scripture is
telling us that there is a...
00:31:47.40\00:31:49.70
This isn't a word,
but I'm going to use it.
00:31:49.74\00:31:51.27
There is, in God's
reality there is a withness,
00:31:51.31\00:31:55.74
a withness, a social dynamic.
00:31:55.78\00:32:00.18
God was with God,
00:32:00.22\00:32:01.88
I can work through
it with you like this.
00:32:01.92\00:32:03.85
If I ask you the
question is the Father God,
00:32:03.89\00:32:06.65
you'll say,
00:32:06.69\00:32:08.02
and if I asked
you the next question,
00:32:08.06\00:32:09.42
is the Father
all there is of God,
00:32:09.46\00:32:11.99
you'll say, "No."
00:32:12.03\00:32:13.66
If I say, "Is the
Messiah, the word God,"
00:32:13.70\00:32:16.90
you'll say, "Yes."
00:32:16.93\00:32:18.63
If I asked you, "Is the Messiah,
00:32:18.67\00:32:20.94
all there is of
God," you'll say, "No."
00:32:20.97\00:32:24.21
If I say, "Is
the Holy Spirit God?"
00:32:24.24\00:32:26.37
You'll say, "Yes."
00:32:26.41\00:32:27.84
And if I say,
"Well, is the Holy Spirit,
00:32:27.88\00:32:29.44
all there is of God?"
00:32:29.48\00:32:30.81
You'll say, "No."
00:32:30.85\00:32:34.22
In order to have a
complete picture of God,
00:32:34.25\00:32:37.99
we need to
understand that there's a sense
00:32:38.02\00:32:39.35
in which God is a
social unit, God is with God,
00:32:39.39\00:32:42.12
Father, Son, and
Spirit collectively
00:32:42.16\00:32:46.46
constitute the totality of God.
00:32:46.49\00:32:50.53
So the scripture
goes on and says this
00:32:50.57\00:32:53.34
in verses 2 and 3.
00:32:53.37\00:32:55.34
"He," the word "was in
the beginning with God.
00:32:55.37\00:32:59.57
All things were
made through Him."
00:32:59.61\00:33:01.68
This is very complex language,
you got to slow down to get it.
00:33:01.71\00:33:05.68
"All things were
made through Him,
00:33:05.71\00:33:07.42
and without Him,
nothing was made."
00:33:07.45\00:33:09.58
That was made.
00:33:09.62\00:33:11.52
Nothing was made, that was made.
00:33:11.55\00:33:14.86
Nothing was made, that was made.
00:33:14.89\00:33:17.26
I'm going to say
to you like this.
00:33:17.29\00:33:19.46
There are only two
basic categories to reality.
00:33:19.49\00:33:23.73
The made category
and the unmade category,
00:33:23.77\00:33:27.34
and the word, the
Messiah, the Christ
00:33:27.37\00:33:30.91
occupies the unmade category.
00:33:30.94\00:33:34.01
There is no point
at which in any sense,
00:33:34.04\00:33:37.31
the one being
described here began to exist
00:33:37.35\00:33:41.45
distinct from the Father.
00:33:41.48\00:33:43.35
This one has always existed,
00:33:43.39\00:33:47.26
and that's beyond
our comprehension.
00:33:47.29\00:33:50.03
If you think too
long about what it means,
00:33:50.06\00:33:52.29
you say, "God, what
does it mean for You
00:33:52.33\00:33:53.66
to have always existed?"
00:33:53.70\00:33:55.46
See, we're time bound creatures,
00:33:55.50\00:33:57.27
we only think in terms of
00:33:57.30\00:33:59.30
a linear succession
of historical events.
00:33:59.33\00:34:03.47
That's all we know.
00:34:03.51\00:34:04.84
So we're saying, "God,
00:34:04.87\00:34:06.91
what does it mean for
You to have always existed?"
00:34:06.94\00:34:12.01
If you think too long
about it, your hard drive,
00:34:12.05\00:34:13.88
your mental hard
drive will start to wobble
00:34:13.92\00:34:15.25
and smoke will come out
of your ears, guaranteed.
00:34:15.28\00:34:18.59
You can't answer the question
00:34:18.62\00:34:20.72
because you don't have
not only the vocabulary
00:34:20.76\00:34:24.89
to answer the question,
00:34:24.93\00:34:26.46
you don't have the
nature to access the concepts
00:34:26.49\00:34:31.03
that transcend
the made category.
00:34:31.07\00:34:34.44
You're created.
00:34:34.47\00:34:35.80
All you know is
contingency, temporality,
00:34:35.84\00:34:39.11
all you know, is
time material categories.
00:34:39.14\00:34:43.01
It's all you can even
bring words to articulate.
00:34:43.04\00:34:47.68
So there's the made category,
there is the unmade category.
00:34:47.72\00:34:50.35
And then wonder of wonders.
00:34:50.39\00:34:54.36
The most astounding thing
00:34:54.39\00:34:55.82
in all of
universal history occurred.
00:34:55.86\00:34:59.16
There's not even a close second.
00:34:59.19\00:35:01.80
This Word, this logos,
00:35:01.83\00:35:03.80
this one who was in very nature,
00:35:03.83\00:35:05.83
God, and with God
00:35:05.87\00:35:08.54
in this beautiful social dynamic
00:35:08.57\00:35:10.51
of other centered, self giving,
outgoing, incoming, outgoing,
00:35:10.54\00:35:16.04
incoming love.
00:35:16.08\00:35:18.35
This one
00:35:18.38\00:35:22.22
came to be with us
00:35:22.25\00:35:26.12
in our reality
00:35:26.15\00:35:30.16
in a stunning manner.
00:35:30.19\00:35:32.89
And the Word became...
00:35:32.93\00:35:35.70
I'm going to pause
right there, the Word became.
00:35:35.73\00:35:40.74
What did it mean to become?
00:35:40.77\00:35:44.27
It means to be
and then to become,
00:35:44.31\00:35:51.15
to become means to
undergo some kind of transition
00:35:51.18\00:35:54.85
from one configuration
to another configuration.
00:35:54.88\00:35:59.35
For example, you are right now
00:35:59.39\00:36:00.79
in the process of
becoming something
00:36:00.82\00:36:04.03
that you weren't
just five minutes ago
00:36:04.06\00:36:05.89
by the thoughts
that are being downloaded
00:36:05.93\00:36:08.16
into your mind right now,
00:36:08.20\00:36:10.13
you are receiving
ideas and concepts
00:36:10.17\00:36:12.33
that are incrementally
changing who you are.
00:36:12.37\00:36:17.24
The same thing
will happen to you
00:36:17.27\00:36:18.61
when you have conversations
with your loved ones.
00:36:18.64\00:36:21.91
You and I were always
were malleable, we're plastic,
00:36:21.94\00:36:24.58
we're plateau.
00:36:24.61\00:36:25.95
We're always in the process
of becoming what we're not.
00:36:25.98\00:36:29.92
Any given moment
00:36:29.95\00:36:31.29
is a transitional moment for us.
00:36:31.32\00:36:36.52
And the logos who
always was has now become.
00:36:36.56\00:36:41.86
He's not become something
00:36:41.90\00:36:43.67
that by natural
composition he never was.
00:36:43.70\00:36:49.77
Now when it says he
became, when it says,
00:36:49.80\00:36:51.84
"The word became
flesh, and dwelt among us,
00:36:51.87\00:36:58.11
and we beheld his glory,
00:36:58.15\00:36:59.48
the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,
00:36:59.51\00:37:01.38
full of grace and truth."
00:37:01.42\00:37:02.75
We're being told
something astounding.
00:37:02.78\00:37:04.69
Jesus, the logos, the
word, the one in whom was life,
00:37:07.76\00:37:12.19
and light unborrowed,
original, underived life.
00:37:12.23\00:37:18.17
The one who always wasn't never,
00:37:18.20\00:37:19.63
ever came into existence.
00:37:19.67\00:37:21.27
Now, on some level
comes in to an existence
00:37:21.30\00:37:25.47
He's never known before.
00:37:25.51\00:37:27.91
Now, that is to say this,
00:37:27.94\00:37:31.25
the incarnation or
the enfleshment of God.
00:37:31.28\00:37:36.38
God becoming human
00:37:36.42\00:37:38.29
was not merely God
making a journey through space,
00:37:38.32\00:37:42.06
it's not a geographic,
00:37:42.09\00:37:44.69
a geographic relocation.
00:37:44.73\00:37:47.76
He didn't just come
00:37:47.80\00:37:49.13
from one place to another place.
00:37:49.16\00:37:52.17
He didn't just come
from heaven to earth.
00:37:52.20\00:37:55.04
Jesus, God
underwent what we might call
00:37:55.07\00:37:57.97
a transmigration of nature,
00:37:58.01\00:38:02.24
He became human,
00:38:02.28\00:38:04.71
He didn't just move
00:38:04.75\00:38:06.88
and relocate to
another place in the cosmos.
00:38:06.92\00:38:11.35
He was forever
and only eternal God.
00:38:11.39\00:38:17.69
And for love of you and me,
00:38:17.73\00:38:20.93
He entered into
an eternal solidarity
00:38:20.96\00:38:25.17
with the human race.
00:38:25.20\00:38:26.74
Incarnation means
00:38:26.77\00:38:29.20
that God came down in humility.
00:38:29.24\00:38:34.01
It means that God
came close in empathy,
00:38:34.04\00:38:38.31
and I love Him for it.
00:38:38.35\00:38:40.02
And it means that
God came as one of us
00:38:40.05\00:38:45.02
in an epic act of solidarity
00:38:45.05\00:38:48.39
that will never
ever be reversed.
00:38:48.42\00:38:52.23
According to
the Book of Hebrews,
00:38:52.26\00:38:53.90
He has become
our eternal brother,
00:38:53.93\00:38:58.13
and He's not
ashamed to call us brethren.
00:38:58.17\00:39:03.17
And this means as we're
going to discover this evening
00:39:03.20\00:39:07.21
that redeemed human beings
00:39:07.24\00:39:09.51
are destined for the
throne of the universe with Him.
00:39:09.54\00:39:16.52
We'll get there tonight.
00:39:16.55\00:39:17.89
But here's the point.
00:39:17.92\00:39:19.82
I want you to engage with
me in a thought experiment.
00:39:19.85\00:39:22.72
We began with a
thought experiment.
00:39:22.76\00:39:24.66
Let's begin to wind this
down with a thought experiment.
00:39:24.69\00:39:28.36
Albert Einstein, of course,
00:39:28.40\00:39:29.80
was famous for
thought experiments,
00:39:29.83\00:39:32.07
people would
interview him in journals,
00:39:32.10\00:39:33.47
"Hey, how do you
come up with these ideas,
00:39:33.50\00:39:36.30
these groundbreaking
scientific insight?
00:39:36.34\00:39:38.77
How do you come
up with this stuff?
00:39:38.81\00:39:40.84
Do you spend a lot of
time at the blackboard
00:39:40.88\00:39:43.08
or with a pen in hand,
working out equations?"
00:39:43.11\00:39:45.31
He said, "I do
equations, mostly,
00:39:45.35\00:39:47.02
I close my eyes
and I play my violin."
00:39:47.05\00:39:50.52
And he said,
00:39:54.26\00:39:55.62
"The first time I began
to understand relativity
00:39:55.66\00:39:59.93
was through a
thought experiment."
00:39:59.96\00:40:01.33
As a little boy,
00:40:01.36\00:40:02.70
Albert Einstein out in nature
00:40:02.73\00:40:08.64
imagined himself riding
straddling like a horse,
00:40:08.67\00:40:13.24
riding a sunbeam, a light beam.
00:40:13.27\00:40:16.78
He knew the speed of light,
because he had been taught.
00:40:16.81\00:40:21.68
He knew that light moves
because he had been taught.
00:40:21.72\00:40:26.96
But Einstein
discovered relativity,
00:40:26.99\00:40:31.53
the time space continuum,
00:40:31.56\00:40:33.13
and that the fact that time
and space are one and curved,
00:40:33.16\00:40:38.30
he discovered this first
in its most embryonic form,
00:40:38.33\00:40:42.64
he didn't have
it all worked out.
00:40:42.67\00:40:44.67
But as a child, he discerned
it by imagining himself
00:40:44.71\00:40:48.28
like riding a light beam
and imagining the trajectory.
00:40:48.31\00:40:53.88
Where does this go?
00:40:53.92\00:40:55.45
What shape does it take?
00:40:55.48\00:40:57.29
Where does it end?
00:40:57.32\00:40:58.69
Doesn't end?
00:40:58.72\00:41:00.79
And he imagined,
00:41:00.82\00:41:02.16
and it came to him
that it's not linear,
00:41:02.19\00:41:07.10
it's curved.
00:41:07.13\00:41:09.83
And if you, I mean,
one of the things he said,
00:41:09.86\00:41:12.10
that's just
mind-blowing, he said,
00:41:12.13\00:41:13.47
if you had a
telescope powerful enough,
00:41:13.50\00:41:15.94
you could look through it
and see the back of your head.
00:41:15.97\00:41:20.68
Everything in the universe
is round and rotational.
00:41:20.71\00:41:24.78
That's his basic discovery.
00:41:24.81\00:41:27.78
In other words, geometrically,
00:41:27.82\00:41:30.62
the whole universe
operates in circular motion,
00:41:30.65\00:41:34.56
everything receives to give.
00:41:34.59\00:41:38.83
And the moment you stop giving,
00:41:38.86\00:41:41.96
your life begins
to be extinguished.
00:41:42.00\00:41:45.87
The fact is,
00:41:45.90\00:41:47.37
that the whole
universe was built on a grid,
00:41:47.40\00:41:50.11
if you will, a
template after the image of God.
00:41:50.14\00:41:55.51
Everything is
created on its multiplied
00:41:55.54\00:42:00.45
different levels on
the pattern of giving.
00:42:00.48\00:42:05.85
And the only thing
wrong with the world.
00:42:05.89\00:42:09.09
And I say the world
because this problem
00:42:09.12\00:42:11.76
has been
localized and quarantined.
00:42:11.79\00:42:16.63
That's why your travel
by the way is restricted
00:42:16.67\00:42:18.90
to United Airlines.
00:42:18.93\00:42:20.27
And you can only travel if
the quarantine were lifted,
00:42:20.30\00:42:22.90
you could travel
the whole universe.
00:42:22.94\00:42:25.64
In fact, you will
travel the whole universe
00:42:25.67\00:42:28.44
sometime in the future,
right now you're too dangerous.
00:42:28.48\00:42:32.11
You have to be held
captive here in a sense,
00:42:32.15\00:42:34.95
because you're so messed up
00:42:34.98\00:42:37.25
that God can't expose
the universe to you, to me.
00:42:37.29\00:42:42.89
But the plan of
salvation is so deeply healing
00:42:42.92\00:42:45.39
and restorative
that God is leading us
00:42:45.43\00:42:48.26
to the place where
you and I can literally,
00:42:48.30\00:42:50.07
not in imagination,
00:42:50.10\00:42:51.43
literally ride sunbeams
throughout the universe,
00:42:51.47\00:42:54.10
and discover worlds afar that
we have only begun to imagine.
00:42:54.14\00:43:00.81
So the whole universe
is round and rotational,
00:43:00.84\00:43:03.58
everything is moving out and in,
00:43:03.61\00:43:05.25
out and in, out and in.
00:43:05.28\00:43:08.55
One author calls this
the circuit of beneficence.
00:43:08.58\00:43:12.95
So circle, it
goes round and round,
00:43:12.99\00:43:15.06
and round and round.
00:43:15.09\00:43:16.42
And that's the secret of life.
00:43:16.46\00:43:18.79
And it exists in
the person of Christ.
00:43:18.83\00:43:23.57
In Him was life
00:43:23.60\00:43:26.10
and the life was
the light of man.
00:43:26.13\00:43:31.27
So Einstein had
his thought experiment.
00:43:31.31\00:43:34.98
I like for you to engage with me
00:43:35.01\00:43:37.41
in a little bit of
a thought experiment.
00:43:37.45\00:43:41.05
Imagine on the premise
00:43:41.08\00:43:43.12
of what we have looked
at so far in scripture.
00:43:43.15\00:43:46.65
Imagine deducting
00:43:46.69\00:43:51.73
from reality
everything material...
00:43:51.76\00:43:54.63
And ask yourself the question,
what do you end up with.
00:43:58.60\00:44:01.67
So just in your imagination,
00:44:01.70\00:44:03.51
remove all of the cosmos,
00:44:03.54\00:44:08.81
planetary systems
and their rotation,
00:44:08.84\00:44:11.41
the rotational
bodies, sun, moon, and stars,
00:44:11.45\00:44:15.32
innumerable throughout
all of cosmological space.
00:44:15.35\00:44:20.82
Remove from your understanding
the sun that lights the earth,
00:44:20.86\00:44:26.59
generating the
photosynthesis process
00:44:26.63\00:44:28.76
by which we get blueberries,
00:44:28.80\00:44:30.13
and strawberries, and
broccoli, and kale, yuck.
00:44:30.17\00:44:33.20
But anyways, we have
it and as well we eat it.
00:44:33.23\00:44:36.87
Supposedly, it's good for you,
00:44:36.91\00:44:38.61
put it in a smoothie and mascot
00:44:38.64\00:44:40.14
with a lot of
berries, you'll be fine.
00:44:40.18\00:44:43.88
But remove
00:44:43.91\00:44:45.25
the whole
photosynthesis process.
00:44:45.28\00:44:48.75
Remove in your imagination,
00:44:48.78\00:44:52.25
the entire
progeneration process,
00:44:52.29\00:44:55.66
the sexual process in
all of animal creation
00:44:55.69\00:45:00.63
by which the male
and the female produce,
00:45:00.66\00:45:06.23
arrays maleness, femaleness,
00:45:06.27\00:45:08.94
arrays sons and
daughters, fathers and mothers,
00:45:08.97\00:45:12.81
everything that has to
do with generating life,
00:45:12.84\00:45:18.65
remove all of it.
00:45:18.68\00:45:20.75
And you will find
yourself face to face
00:45:20.78\00:45:22.65
with the profound
reality of God and God alone.
00:45:22.68\00:45:28.76
God who alone
occupies the unmade category,
00:45:28.79\00:45:33.60
which is to say,
00:45:33.63\00:45:34.96
God who occupies
that category of reality
00:45:35.00\00:45:40.34
in which there is only pure love
00:45:40.37\00:45:44.11
and eternal existence in love,
00:45:44.14\00:45:46.98
and no
procreation or progeneration.
00:45:47.01\00:45:52.08
And having imagined
00:45:52.11\00:45:55.15
what you get when you delete
00:45:55.18\00:45:57.52
all of material
creation from your imagination.
00:45:57.55\00:46:00.59
Take in what Moses
says to us in Numbers 23:19,
00:46:00.62\00:46:05.49
"Explicitly God is not
a man that He should lie,
00:46:05.53\00:46:09.63
nor the son of man,
that He should repent."
00:46:09.66\00:46:13.90
Moses is writing this when...
00:46:16.81\00:46:19.37
Well, let's just say
he's writing this prior
00:46:19.41\00:46:22.58
to at very least
00:46:22.61\00:46:23.95
the incarnation
of God in Christ.
00:46:23.98\00:46:27.75
And Moses is
articulating an ultimate truth
00:46:27.78\00:46:32.25
about reality and about God.
00:46:32.29\00:46:33.82
There is an ultimate
sense in which God is not a man,
00:46:33.86\00:46:40.26
and God is not a son of man.
00:46:40.30\00:46:43.63
There is an ultimate
sense in which God is...
00:46:43.67\00:46:47.04
Can we say it like
this? God is just God.
00:46:47.07\00:46:51.87
And transcends
anything that we can comprehend
00:46:51.91\00:46:54.01
and so God condescends.
00:46:54.04\00:46:57.18
And His
condescension is perpetual
00:46:57.21\00:46:59.35
throughout scripture,
00:46:59.38\00:47:01.38
not just father, son, mother,
God says, "I'm like fire.
00:47:01.42\00:47:08.36
I'm like bread and wine.
00:47:08.39\00:47:09.72
I'm like an eagle.
00:47:09.76\00:47:11.66
I'm like the stars
that shine forever.
00:47:11.69\00:47:15.23
I'm like the rose of Sharon."
00:47:15.26\00:47:18.43
God is constantly
condescending, condescending,
00:47:18.47\00:47:21.37
condescending,
00:47:21.40\00:47:22.74
or else we could never know Him.
00:47:22.77\00:47:25.41
And the ultimate
condescension is that God
00:47:25.44\00:47:29.14
in the person of Jesus
Christ became one of us.
00:47:29.18\00:47:35.68
Listen, listen, listen,
00:47:35.72\00:47:37.22
you will sometime
soon and very soon,
00:47:37.25\00:47:41.42
you will find
yourself face to face
00:47:41.46\00:47:46.96
with the God of the universe
in the person of Jesus Christ.
00:47:47.00\00:47:50.40
You will have
eye contact with God.
00:47:50.43\00:47:54.20
You will be able to
reach out your hands
00:47:54.24\00:47:56.10
and touch the flesh of God.
00:47:56.14\00:48:01.58
A God who prior to
Christ never had any flesh.
00:48:01.61\00:48:07.68
The Word became
flesh and dwelt among us.
00:48:07.72\00:48:12.15
God is not a man, God
is far more than a man.
00:48:12.19\00:48:16.49
And yet think
this through with me.
00:48:16.52\00:48:19.03
God is not a man.
00:48:19.06\00:48:20.40
God is not a man,
Moses says, and yet He is.
00:48:20.43\00:48:25.50
In the person of Jesus Christ,
00:48:25.53\00:48:28.00
the God of the universe
00:48:28.04\00:48:30.01
has entered in to a relationship
00:48:30.04\00:48:34.21
with the human race
00:48:34.24\00:48:35.98
that is just absolutely
nothing short of staggering
00:48:36.01\00:48:40.22
and having become a human being.
00:48:40.25\00:48:43.25
Listen,
00:48:43.28\00:48:45.85
He took our very
humanity, our flesh.
00:48:45.89\00:48:50.23
The Book of Hebrews says
it like this, "He became us."
00:48:50.26\00:48:54.90
And having become us,
one of us, one with us.
00:48:54.93\00:48:59.57
In eternal
solidarity, He became us,
00:48:59.60\00:49:01.97
Jesus took that flesh,
00:49:02.00\00:49:06.31
and He marched it
00:49:06.34\00:49:09.08
through the Garden of Gethsemane
00:49:09.11\00:49:12.68
to the cross of Calvary.
00:49:12.71\00:49:16.18
The nails were driven
through His hands and His feet.
00:49:16.22\00:49:20.86
And the vicious Roman soldiers
with no empathy pulsating
00:49:20.89\00:49:26.80
through their
emotions lifted the cross
00:49:26.83\00:49:30.77
and dropped it in
the hole prepared for it.
00:49:30.80\00:49:34.67
And every tendon of His
body wrenched downward in pain.
00:49:34.70\00:49:40.94
And as God in Christ
00:49:43.95\00:49:48.65
hung, suspended, beaten, bloody,
00:49:48.68\00:49:52.92
bruised, spat upon,
naked before the universe,
00:49:52.95\00:49:58.79
it became evident
00:49:58.83\00:50:00.90
not only to
those humans right then
00:50:00.93\00:50:03.80
and there who were
thinking and processing
00:50:03.83\00:50:07.74
and then later
to the other humans
00:50:07.77\00:50:09.44
that would hear the
good news and believe.
00:50:09.47\00:50:13.68
And then not only you
and I, right here right now
00:50:13.71\00:50:18.05
knowing and believing
the love that God has for us.
00:50:18.08\00:50:20.98
But the whole
on looking universe
00:50:21.02\00:50:24.19
saw in Christ,
00:50:24.22\00:50:28.22
that God is love
00:50:28.26\00:50:30.73
in the most extreme and
beautiful sense imaginable,
00:50:30.76\00:50:34.96
that if push comes to shove,
00:50:35.00\00:50:37.37
God always chooses
the other over Himself,
00:50:37.40\00:50:44.04
that if we would
prove unfaithful,
00:50:44.07\00:50:48.04
and we did and we have,
00:50:48.08\00:50:50.88
that God would remain faithful,
00:50:50.91\00:50:54.28
that He would follow
through with His covenantal love
00:50:54.32\00:51:00.49
to reach not
only out of Himself,
00:51:00.52\00:51:03.59
but to reach
down to where we are,
00:51:03.63\00:51:07.86
and to embrace us,
not just with His arms,
00:51:07.90\00:51:12.33
but by taking our very nature
00:51:12.37\00:51:15.00
and becoming the Son of God.
00:51:15.04\00:51:19.97
We were always meant to be
00:51:20.01\00:51:21.98
in order to show
us how it's done,
00:51:22.01\00:51:25.48
to demonstrate what it
really looks like to be human,
00:51:25.51\00:51:31.39
the way God
created humanity to be.
00:51:31.42\00:51:34.79
And so John
Chapter 1 doesn't just say,
00:51:34.82\00:51:38.09
"That in the
beginning was the Word,
00:51:38.13\00:51:39.46
and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God."
00:51:39.49\00:51:42.93
It doesn't just say
that the Word became flesh
00:51:42.96\00:51:45.57
and dwelt among us.
00:51:45.60\00:51:47.57
John Chapter 1 says,
"To as many as received Him,
00:51:47.60\00:51:52.81
to them He gave the power,
00:51:52.84\00:51:54.74
the authority to
become sons of God."
00:51:54.78\00:52:00.55
Jesus is not the Son of God
00:52:00.58\00:52:03.39
in some kind of
00:52:03.42\00:52:04.75
ancient
ontological, metaphysical sense.
00:52:04.79\00:52:09.09
Jesus is the Son of God
00:52:09.12\00:52:10.49
in precisely the way you and I
00:52:10.53\00:52:11.96
were meant to be
sons and daughters of God.
00:52:11.99\00:52:15.96
Jesus is the second Adam.
00:52:16.00\00:52:18.53
Jesus is the one who
has come into this world,
00:52:18.57\00:52:22.17
and put on full display
00:52:22.20\00:52:25.84
what it looks like
to love like God loves.
00:52:25.87\00:52:29.04
And when He died at
the cross for you and I,
00:52:29.08\00:52:33.05
something happened
00:52:33.08\00:52:36.35
that crossed a vital line
00:52:36.38\00:52:40.82
that made it
possible for you and I
00:52:40.86\00:52:42.69
to become what we
were always meant to be.
00:52:42.72\00:52:47.13
And so we can say,
with the Apostle Paul,
00:52:47.16\00:52:49.43
with all the
enthusiasm we can muster,
00:52:49.46\00:52:53.54
we can say looking
at the cross of Calvary,
00:52:53.57\00:52:56.37
"I am crucified with Christ.
00:52:56.40\00:53:01.68
Nevertheless,
00:53:01.71\00:53:04.25
not I,
00:53:04.28\00:53:06.65
but Christ lives in me,
and the life which I now live,
00:53:06.68\00:53:12.15
I live by the
faith of the Son of God,
00:53:12.19\00:53:18.49
who loved me
00:53:18.53\00:53:20.40
and gave Himself for me,
00:53:20.43\00:53:25.87
so that I might
become a son of God."
00:53:25.90\00:53:30.11
So that you might
become a son of God,
00:53:30.14\00:53:32.47
a daughter of God.
00:53:32.51\00:53:36.34
And having died,
00:53:36.38\00:53:38.71
Jesus was in the
tomb for three days,
00:53:38.75\00:53:42.35
but the grave couldn't
hold Him for one reason,
00:53:42.38\00:53:45.85
He never ceased loving us
00:53:45.89\00:53:51.19
all the way to
the point of death.
00:53:51.23\00:53:55.13
And the devil's kingdom
00:53:55.16\00:53:57.23
in that moment was
completely defeated.
00:53:57.27\00:54:01.40
He died, and Scripture says
that death couldn't hold Him
00:54:01.44\00:54:04.64
because He died
with the keys of hell
00:54:04.67\00:54:06.41
and of death in His hands.
00:54:06.44\00:54:09.91
He defeated death
because love trumps sin.
00:54:09.94\00:54:15.02
And Jesus, having
died for you and me,
00:54:15.05\00:54:17.22
came forth on the third day,
00:54:17.25\00:54:21.32
having lived as the Son of God,
00:54:21.36\00:54:25.03
having now died
as the Son of God,
00:54:25.06\00:54:28.10
He rose as the Son of God.
00:54:28.13\00:54:33.67
His humanity came
up out of the grave,
00:54:33.70\00:54:38.21
and He ascended
00:54:38.24\00:54:40.11
to the right hand of the Father,
00:54:40.14\00:54:43.31
the position of favor,
00:54:43.35\00:54:46.18
the position of victory,
00:54:46.21\00:54:48.72
bearing our humanity.
00:54:48.75\00:54:51.32
Listen, listen,
00:54:51.35\00:54:54.12
a human being,
00:54:54.16\00:54:56.29
this very moment
00:54:56.32\00:54:58.79
occupies the
throne of the universe,
00:54:58.83\00:55:04.07
hypothetically,
just hypothetically,
00:55:04.10\00:55:06.97
don't dwell on this too long
because it's really depressing.
00:55:07.00\00:55:10.87
Hypothetically,
00:55:10.91\00:55:12.47
if all of us
said no to the gospel.
00:55:12.51\00:55:15.11
If every human being said no.
00:55:15.14\00:55:16.71
If all of us
were eternally lost,
00:55:16.75\00:55:21.02
humanity's
already saved in Christ.
00:55:21.05\00:55:23.99
A specimen of the
human race is already there.
00:55:24.02\00:55:29.16
A human being
occupies the throne
00:55:29.19\00:55:31.76
of the universe
awaiting our arrival.
00:55:31.79\00:55:37.43
And so we set our
affections on things above,
00:55:37.47\00:55:39.60
not on things of this earth,
00:55:39.63\00:55:41.30
where Christ
sits at the right hand
00:55:41.34\00:55:42.84
of God for us,
00:55:42.87\00:55:46.31
awaiting our arrival,
00:55:46.34\00:55:48.58
waiting for us to
catch up to where He is.
00:55:48.61\00:55:53.72
The point of the gospel,
00:55:53.75\00:55:55.12
the point of the
biblical narrative
00:55:55.15\00:55:59.12
is not that God
00:55:59.15\00:56:02.62
would take back
control of the world as God,
00:56:02.66\00:56:07.33
but that God
00:56:07.36\00:56:10.10
would take back
control of the world as man.
00:56:10.13\00:56:16.27
So that human beings
00:56:16.30\00:56:17.64
are returned to
their rightful position
00:56:17.67\00:56:21.74
as stewards of the earth
00:56:21.78\00:56:24.95
given charge in the
vast cosmos of this world,
00:56:24.98\00:56:30.75
and in Christ given
charge of the whole universe,
00:56:30.79\00:56:33.99
as Paul says, "We
shall reign with Him."
00:56:34.02\00:56:38.39
As John says, "To
Him who overcomes,
00:56:38.43\00:56:44.93
He will grant to sit
with Him in His throne,
00:56:44.97\00:56:47.87
as He overcame and He
sat down with His Father
00:56:47.90\00:56:49.97
and His throne."
00:56:50.01\00:56:51.34
You and I, we are destined
for the throne of the universe
00:56:51.37\00:56:53.64
by the grace of God,
00:56:53.68\00:56:55.01
because the Son of God is there
00:56:55.04\00:56:57.71
and to as many as
received Him, to them,
00:56:57.75\00:57:00.42
He gave authority and
power to become the sons of God.
00:57:00.45\00:57:05.49
Father, You're incredible.
00:57:05.52\00:57:08.26
Yes, we're just
scratching the surface,
00:57:08.29\00:57:10.03
but we like what we see.
00:57:10.06\00:57:12.43
You are amazing
beyond our estimation.
00:57:12.46\00:57:17.10
We can't imagine
what life would be like
00:57:17.13\00:57:22.04
if You had not
gotten hold of us.
00:57:22.07\00:57:25.44
Thank You for loving us
00:57:25.47\00:57:26.81
with an infinite love
that is beyond our grasp,
00:57:26.84\00:57:30.35
but thank You
that we can grasp...
00:57:30.38\00:57:31.85