God – an unavoidable inconvenience?

When an atheist like André Comte-Sponville admits he’d like to be able to believe in a God who loves him and is kind and gives good things to him, he commits two mistakes. Firstly, his definition of God sums up only the positives of the best kind of God he could envisage, voluntarily overlooking God’s more distasteful attributes.  Secondly, he seems to think that people can just imagine God anyhow they like – little realising that God is objectively how he is (existing, really there, with all his divine attributes intact), whatever people may think about him.

More logical atheists have other ways of ousting God, one of which is to deny that he is the Creator of mankind, pretexting that evolution, including macroevolution, suffices to explain our human existence. Erudite philosopher and theologian R.C. Sproul, writing concerning modern secularists who adopt this evolutionary viewpoint, asks: “Why would they be happy to find out that they are a cosmic accident and that their final destiny is annihilation?” This, for many who have no clear Christian faith, is the logical outcome of their atheistic presupposition; they accept unthinkingly that they must have issued forth from a mass of confused and chaotic matter which gives them neither purpose, nor meaning, nor hope. Why do people believe in such a worldview? Dr. Sproul esteems there is “only one answer: evolution offers people an escape from accountability. When we die it is over. We don’t have to worry about facing a holy and righteous Creator.”  

The deep-down human fear of such accountability is an unpleasant apprehension underlying the rejecting of God: the simple way to deal with the dread of an ultimate divine judgment on our lives is to deny that there is a Creator and Judge. “But if macroevolution is in fact true,” the theologian-philosopher continues, “we should be in utter despair: we would have to recognise that we are utterly insignificant and that our lives and labour are meaningless”.

Jordan B. Peterson in his latest book intelligently proposes that the reality of personality is fundamental to existence, and particularly to our human reality: he reminds his readers that this chimes well with the Bible’s basic statement that we were created in the image of God, so ultimate reality (God himself) would be personal. “The idea that we are reflections of the divine nature is valid,” he concludes.  

He strikingly goes on to propose that “perhaps our reductive materialism is a reflection of something worse than mere ignorance: maybe we insist on the deadness and intrinsic meaninglessness of the world to rationalise our unwillingness to accept the immense burden of opportunity and obligation that a true understanding of our place in a truly meaningful world would necessitate”. He dares to conclude: “Perhaps it is not religion that is the opiate of the masses. Perhaps it is instead that a rationalist, materialist atheism is the camouflage of the irresponsible”!!  

As modern intellectual leaders like Peterson discern and expose the atheism that causes our present hopelessness and meaninglessness, some are turning again to the inspired basis of Genesis 1.26-27: “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’ … So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”. This foundational fact – and this alone – furnishes the rational basis for our human value and meaning. Our species has the high calling of having been created in God’s likeness at the beginning – though we have fallen away from that likeness by turning from God. Without this key we cannot understand ourselves.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Hidden from the wise

Some people may wonder why – if the Christian faith is true – don’t all the most intelligent people accept it? It is, of course, a fact that many academic intellectuals reject the claims of Christ to be the Son of God, so it doesn’t seem to be obvious that Christianity is true.

Among the many astonishing statements Jesus made is his prayer of thanksgiving to his Father for the fact that “You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and have revealed them to little children” (Luke 10.21). Jesus thanks God for hiding the truth from the intellectuals! Now that is decidedly odd, but it should alert us to two important facts.

First, you cannot find God by intellectual reflection or philosophical enquiry. There are several bright minds discussing on the internet the existence of God, bringing all sorts of arguments to bear on this key issue. But it seems they never manage to convince those who don’t want God to exist. Even some openminded people, realising the force of the arguments and even studying the Bible intellectually, fail to surrender to the claims of Christ. They may grasp various facts and reasons put to them, but they remain uncertain, unconvinced. Jesus would apparently be thankful that such is the case! Why?

The second fact Jesus alluded to in the text quoted above is that “God reveals these truths to little children”. The key word here is “reveals”. We know God only by his self-revelation. And it takes the simple-mindedness of a child to accept that revelation as coming indeed from God. 

Let’s take those points again. God cannot be known unless he reveals himself. “Canst thou by searching find out God?” is a question asked in the book of Job (11.7). The answer is no. Human research cannot find God. Human minds cannot penetrate the mystery of the invisible, eternal Creator. But God does reveal himself. How? The intricacies of his beautiful creation reveal something of his profound wisdom, his mathematical genius, his infinite power, and his love of beauty. But he reveals himself in clear words put into the mouths of his prophets by divine inspiration – and inscribed in sacred scripture. He reveals himself ultimately by sending Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, to walk and talk among us, to show us how God acts and to tell us his truth. God has therefore revealed his existence. But do we pay attention?

Jesus said God doesn’t give preference to the brightest minds that may decipher his revelation. Rather he favours the simple believer who, like a child, accepts his truth without contesting it as if he knows better. In other words it takes simple humility to receive God’s revelation: first to take it on board without immediately rejecting it, and then thankfully to believe it. 

Of course that doesn’t mean no questions can be asked. There is a place for serious reflection. But essentially the child sees that if God speaks, he speaks truth; and his truth can be believed. The Bible actually says that God cannot lie; and since he is all-knowing, what he says can be relied upon. The simple-minded child has no problem with that. Neither should the serious enquirer. 

We may take God’s truth on board; but more – we may take him at his word, and when he invites us to open our hearts to his love, to be forgiven by his grace and transformed by his Spirit, we can prove it to be true for ourselves. That is how a person comes to know God, through Christ our Saviour.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Answering the problem of suffering (part 2)

There can be a real link between suffering and love: willingness to suffer for the good of another is a measure of real love. The more suffering one is prepared to suffer for another is a way of indicating the greatness of love for them. Jesus taught this principle: “Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15.13). And he demonstrated his love when he called himself the “Good Shepherd” who “lays down his life for his sheep” (John 10.11, 15). That’s how much Jesus loves you – he gave his life to save you from hell!

On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus gave evidence of knowing how awful his suffering was going to be. That Roman death penalty was both horrible and excruciatingly painful. But Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on that evening alludes to a deeper suffering he was to undergo. He asked that, if it were possible his Father would take away the “cup” from him. This expression is used in the Old Testament to describe the outpouring of God’s holy wrath on wicked sinners. Jesus was sinless: he did not deserve to die nor to suffer God’s punishment. But he had to drink the awful cup of the horror of Calvary: “The cup that the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” he said (John 18.11). He thus fulfilled the Father’s plan of salvation to save us sinners as he surrendered to be crucified by the Roman soldiers. So, over and beyond the physical suffering, Jesus thus “bore our sins in his own body on the cross” (1 Peter 2.24). He “gave himself up for us… as a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5.2); “he died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3.18).

These passages and others tell us that Jesus (who was totally innocent) voluntarily took the place of sinners and suffered their eternal hell condensed into his infinite divine person for three hours on the cross; so when we turn from sin and commit in faith to Jesus, we can know God’s love for us personally. He “paid our debt”, so that we might go free. He did it because he loved us very, very much.

Perhaps you object to the idea of hell, as you consider the awful suffering that it represents. But think of this: first, it shows that our sins are indeed extremely serious in God’s sight and deserve terrible punishment. But second, the Son of God became a man so that he might endure in his person that very same terrible suffering. What he did is therefore the demonstration of the infinite love he has – even for hell-deserving sinners like you and me. So the awfulness of hell becomes a measure of Christ’s love for us! If we reject him still, after all he has done to save us from hell, we should realise what we deserve.

For those who repent and trust in him, Jesus promises eternal life, where, according to the Bible, “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21.4). Suffering will be forever over for those whom Christ has saved, when he comes back to judge the impenitent and set up the kingdom of God. Jesus teaches he will be the final judge, separating the sheep from the goats, and he ends by saying, “these (the lost) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25.46).

Clive Every-Clayton

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Answering the problem of suffering (part 1)

Many atheists think that the problem of suffering is sufficient to prove that a good God doesn’t exist. They are wrong again here, and I will tell you why.

Firstly, let’s think about a “good” God. Goodness is not only kindness and compassion, but also uprightness, justice, decency, holiness. The good God who exists is both loving, and holy. His wisdom leads him to regulate human conduct by his commandments which issue both from his holiness and from his love. This means that the holy human life, keeping God’s commandments, is actually the happiest; it is the best way for human beings to enjoy life and find fulfilment. It follows that sinful behaviour is not the way of true happiness.

Secondly, God has put his creatures in a context where they are answerable to him for the way they behave. He is discontent with human disobedience and sin but in his kindness, he warns people (by their conscience as well as by his Word) that their evil deeds will be sanctioned. This is an inescapable element of our reality. God did not create us all so we could harm people and wreak havoc with his creation with impunity. He is and ever will be the ultimate Master of all his creation and the judge of all his creatures. This is an element of the Christian position that is seldom raised in dealing with the atheist’s objection concerning the problem of pain and suffering, but it is essential to the biblical answer.

Thirdly, punishment is not nice. By its very nature it must hurt, or it is no penalty at all. The ultimate punishment for unrepentant sinners is eternal hell, and this is depicted as terrible suffering. Indeed, it is so awful that biblical prophets, apostles, and the Lord Jesus himself warn everyone most earnestly to turn from the way of wickedness and find the full and free forgiveness that God in his grace offers them, through the work and promises of Jesus. The fact that forgiveness and acceptance and eternal life is graciously offered by our Saviour shows that God is no monster – he is glad to forgive and welcome the sinner who repents and turns to him. But the Christian cannot escape the difficulty by saying that all will go to heaven in the end: what the believer can say is that God will judge rightly. The biblical expression, “God will render to each one according to his deeds” enshrines the principle of exact justice: no one will be punished more (or less) that they deserve, according to the light they received and their actual behaviour.

Now no warning that God might give about this eternal suffering would make any impact – nor could even be understood – if there was no such thing as suffering in this life. God therefore allowed suffering to be a part of our experience, so that we can correctly understand what eternal suffering would be like, in order to avoid it. He has chosen not to make our present suffering correspond exactly to our misdeeds; if he did, we would rightly complain that he is forcing us to be good. He desires that our obedience should be disinterested as far as our present circumstances are concerned. He even warns his children that they will suffer for being good in an evil world. He encourages them to be holy not for the gain they will get, but to give pleasure to their Master. Many of Jesus’ apostles suffered for their faith, and the holiest person ever – Jesus – suffered worst of all!

Clive Every-Clayton

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The best argument

I listen occasionally to podcasts where Christian apologists discuss with atheists about the existence of God. They are always stimulating and stretch the mind as the arguments flow from side to side. The protagonists are often erudite professors, renowned unbelievers and very able defenders of the faith, yet the atmosphere remains convivial rather than adversarial. One can learn a lot from following such debates, in which Christians like Justin Brierly and Glen Scrivener excel. 

And yet, time and again, I feel that there is a false debate going on; the discussion remains at a theoretical level – a purely philosophical effort to find the best argument. Sometimes the same old reasons come round again and again, like the so-called problem of evil and suffering: how could a good God allow such horrors? Some good answers are proposed, but I think to myself, there is a dimension that is seriously missing to this debate. Let me explain.

It is one thing to discuss the possibility of there being a divine ultimate Being, the Creator of the universe with extraordinary intelligence who made man in his image, responsible to him. It is quite another to affirm that this God has actually showed up on earth, has walked and talked among us, and has left a lot of wisdom that we might do well to listen to. The person of Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, is too often absent from these debates, and they remain purely theoretical, with little consideration given to how understanding Jesus would make any difference to our lives. Because if God became incarnate in Jesus, there are many serious consequences that need to be taken into account.

In fact, the apologists who support the Christian faith would do better if they shared more of who Jesus was and what he does in the lives of those who believe. I firmly believe that when all is said and done, the best “argument” for God’s existence is the person and ministry of Jesus 2,000 years ago in history. We have four reliable accounts of his teaching, his miracles, his claims, his holiness of life – accounts that complement and confirm each other and have the ring of truth. Those who spend time in philosophical speculations would do well to change their whole attitude and dare to listen carefully to the extraordinary words of Jesus and properly weigh up their truth.

We’ve all heard the phrase “the truth shall make you free” which is often quoted by the likes of Jordan Peterson and other modern thinkers. What is not so often made clear is the full context of that quotation. It was actually Jesus who said it; but more importantly he preceded it by insisting that it is his words that bring the truth. Here’s the full quote as he addresses those who are beginning to believe in him: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8.31-32). This astounding claim could come only from one who knows absolute truth! Jesus is saying that he brings truth – like truth revealed from God himself – and when we grasp and hold onto his truth, we will be made free.

His Jewish listeners rightly wondered what they would be free from, claiming they had never been slaves to anyone, so Jesus explains that he can deliver us from slavery to sin! This also brings the theoretical discussion down to a challenge to turn from sin to good living that would test the sincerity of the seeker!

Clive Every-Clayton

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Gentle Jesus

If it was up to you to envisage how the Almighty Creator were to visit his creation, this planet, how would you set it up? How do you think people would expect such a divine intervention to take place?

Would he arrive as twice the size of a human, descending in a kind of parachute into Rome to slay the Emperor and take his place? Or zooming in on the Areopagus in Athens to confront and confound the leading philosophers like Plato and Socrates? Or again, shining in blinding glory while zooming over a war zone calling for conflict immediately to cease? Or would he be wandering in the mountains and coming to the grotto of a “holy man” to quietly introduce himself without overwhelming him?

Well, you could think of several scenarios which could have a degree of plausibility about them. But not many outside the reach of Christianity would come up with the idea that the Almighty would show up in a new-born baby, fragile and vulnerable, utterly dependent on the care of his parents. The God revealed in Scripture could have come in his power and glory (as the Lord Jesus is predicted to return at the end of the age); but instead, he chose the humble way: the baby grew up to say “I am gentle and humble of heart”. A strange divine visitation indeed!

What message does this Gospel record seek to communicate? Surely not that God is weak and feeble. No, rather that he comes not to pour down his wrath on a wicked world – even though that would be perfectly justified – but to “seek and to save the lost” (as Jesus put it in Luke 19.10). What does that imply? Well, first of all, humankind is “lost”. What does that mean? It means we have erred and strayed from the right path, we have forsaken the way of righteousness, and have embarked on a dangerous “broad road that leads,” according to Jesus’ warning, “to destruction” (Matthew 7.13). Here came a divine guide to stand in our way, to turn us back from our errors and sins, and to offer us forgiveness and moral renewal that will clean us up and set us on the right road. 

When Jesus was travelling and preaching, he would at times express his compassion for lost humanity in tears and lamentation – longing for people to get wise and turn from their evil ways. “How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings”, he mourned (Matthew 23.37), grieving over the hardness of people’s hearts who obstinately refused to hear his loving warnings. His coming into the world was an act of mercy, offering pardon and grace – at the cost of his life.

This extraordinarily gentle approach opened the era of grace – when rebels against the Almighty who lay down their arms and surrender to his will are guaranteed pardon and eternal life. That era still endures; anyone may turn to Christ and receive him and his saving work which will grant them a new abundant life that he promises to give. But the offer ends either when Jesus returns in power and glory to judge the nations of the world, or at “death, after which comes the judgment” (Hebrews 9.27). In that day, the gentle Jesus, meek and mild will be revealed as the all-powerful Creator he is, and he will fulfil his role as righteous Judge and upholder of justice in the universe. It is in our highest interests to get ready for that judgment day.

Clive Every-Clayton

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New Year resolution

Some atheists may react when I say that they miss out on the most important reality in the universe – God. Yet if God is really there, an objective all-powerful Creator, it stands to reason that wisdom would require us to take that fact on board. That, of course, presupposes the “if”.

I don’t want to rehash the evidence for God’s existence this time. I’d rather encourage people to think, at the beginning of this New Year, whether they need to make some adjustments to their way of life.

I don’t know if it has every occurred to you (as it did to me only a short time ago) that at the beginning of the Gospel record written by Mark, he quotes two extraordinary statements which deserve a moment’s reflection. He quotes in the first 15 verses of his first chapter, two challenging calls, made first by John the Baptist and then by Jesus.

The Baptiser came “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1.4). A few verses further on, we read, “Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time is fulfilled’, he said. ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news’” (Mark 1.14,15).

These two pioneer revivalists proclaimed the same requirement, laying on their listeners the same obligation: “Repent!” To repent means two things: change your mind, and change your way of life. In other words, both Jesus and John the Baptist proclaimed as their first message, that their listeners (probably quite ordinary Jewish people living in Palestine) had to change their ideas and adjust their way of living.

This was a message given to normal good-living religious people. But the presupposition of both preachers was that their audience had “got it wrong” both intellectually and morally; and they needed to change.

It may surprise you to know that this is still the first emphasis of Christian preaching today. It assumes that all people – all listeners – have got it wrong and need to be corrected, reformed, changed by divine truth. This change must take place on two levels – first one’s thinking, and then one’s living. In other words, Christian proclamation, following Jesus’ lead, insists that all people must change: their opinions are wrong and their lives are not blameless.

Now this is quite humbling. To be told you’ve got it all wrong and need to rethink your philosophy of life is a challenge to our pride. Maybe that’s why the Gospel message is not more eagerly received. We don’t like being told we are wrong. We hold to our religious ideas even though we may not have spent much thought acquiring them. But Christianity comes with a messenger out of heaven saying our human ideas are inadequate and need correction.

Christ brings fresh news – Good News – about our relationship with God: he loves us and wants to embrace us in a permanent harmonious relationship which will be a great blessing to us. But to get there we must take on board our need to rethink our ideas of God: Jesus brings unique truth about God that we would never know without his coming. We do well to listen, to read what he says in the Gospels.

And as we do, we will hear him say, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5.32). We are called to stop any unkind, selfish, evil, disobedient behaviour, and start a new life opening our hearts to Christ. This is Jesus’ call for you at the beginning of this New Year.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Divine abasement!

Here’s another carol that catches in verse the amazing abasement that it was for the Son of God to enter our human situation. “Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour, all for love’s sake, becamest poor”. We cannot imagine the wealth of glory that the Son of God left when he entered our world. The Bible puts it this way: “Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped [or held on to at all costs], but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant… Being found in human form, he humbled himself…” (Philippians 2.6-8). 

The God who calls us to humble ourselves in penitence before him, is a humble God! He did not disdain to fulfil his mission in becoming “nothing” – of no reputation in this world. He who was in the form of God took on “human form” to dwell among us. And “taking the form of a servant” means that he, the Almighty Creator, came to do us good – to serve us! Jesus himself said later that he had “come not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10.45). Jesus’ service for us was to give his life as a sacrifice that alone could atone for our sins, so that we might be forgiven! What an amazing kind of God this is! 

Another old carol expresses the profound descent of the Son of God into our world: “Hark, hark! The wise eternal Word like a weak infant cries; / In form of servant is the Lord, and God in cradle lies” (T Pestel). God in a cradle! Sharing our humanity from beginning to end! 

If the beginning of his earthly life is characterised by humility, his enduring the agony of death was the final act of service that he came to render. He “gave his life” to ransom us, who were captive as it were to evil powers; he came, the powerful Saviour, in humble love to redeem us by the payment of his own blood, given up in sacrifice on the cross. Such was his mission, and he fulfilled it to the end.

Another carol expresses the wonder of the Christ-child: “Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy heavenly crown when Thou camest to earth for me / But in Bethlehem’s home there was found no room for Thy holy nativity.”  The Gospel of Luke tells us that when Mary was about to give birth in Bethlehem, “there was no room” available for them, so the humble incarnation took place in a stable, and the baby was laid in a manger. From the heights of glory to a cowshed! 

The same carol goes on to express that which alone could be our worthy response: “O come to my heart, Lord Jesus / There is room in my heart for Thee”. This enlightened poetry gives us all a challenge: what place have we given to the incarnate Son of God, the unique Saviour of humankind?

It is an astonishing thought that our heart can become the home of the Saviour. In a verse of the New Testament we see Jesus standing as it were at the door of our hearts: “Behold,” he says, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.” This is a word that we can put to the test. As he came to dwell physically on earth, so he can come and dwell spiritually in your heart if you invite him in.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Born to save us from death

Once again the poets find words to express both the wonder and the depth of meaning of the incarnation of the Son of God: “Mild, he lays his glory by / Born that man no more may die”. Strange concept here! Born so that man may not die? What does this mean?

It’s a reference to something Jesus said when he was just about to raise a dead man named Lazarus back to life. “Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” he said. He was obviously – as so often – using metaphorical or symbolic language, because he had just said, “he who believes in me will live, even though he dies” (John 11.25-26).

Jesus is referring to two kinds of death: physical death is one thing, but beyond that there is eternal death, “the wages of sin” (Romans 6.23). He says that those who believe in him may well die – as we all do – physically, but they will never die eternally but will have eternal life. This is a glorious promise Jesus made to those who come to trust in him: and the offer is still valid!

So the hymn writer, Charles Wesley, means that Jesus was born, and came into the world so that people, believing in him, may “no more” die. Then in the same carol, Wesley adds something else: “born to raise the sons of earth / born to give them second birth”. This also need unpacking! Though Jesus did teach that he, the Son of God, would bring about the resurrection of the dead at the last day, when he returns in glory (see John 5.26-29), here Wesley is alluding to another deep teaching of Jesus. 

A Jewish leader called Nicodemus came to Jesus to check him out, and Jesus spoke to him about this “second birth”. “Unless a person is born again,” he said, “he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3.3). He went on to insist, “You must be born again” (John 3.7). A person’s physical life begins when they are born; but they receive spiritual, eternal life when they are “born again”. The object of Jesus coming into the world was to make it possible for those of us who were under the threat of eternal death to obtain eternal life by being “born again”. So Wesley was quite right: Jesus was born to be the Saviour of the world so that those who trust in him might have this “second birth” into God’s kingdom.

How does this second birth come about? you may ask. Elsewhere the Bible teaches us how. We are born again “through the Word of Gd” (1 Peter 1.23). In other words, we have to hear God’s word, or read it in the Bible, listening for its application to one’s personal life, responding to its call to repent and believe in Jesus. This involves a personal commitment. 

But another verse at the beginning of John’s Gospel (1.11-13), speaks of the need of receiving Christ personally as Lord and Saviour: “He [Jesus] came to his own people but his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born… of God”. When we receive Christ by faith, we receive new life in him; we become children of God; we are “born again”. This is just another way of speaking of the deep reason for Christ’s coming, as was said at his birth: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1.21).

Clive Every-Clayton

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Jesus, the Word of God

Another profound revelation given in the first chapter of John’s Gospel that is often read at Christmas time is the use of the expression, “Word” to signify the Lord Jesus Christ. This is clear in John 1.14: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. 

The Gospel opens with the words “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. This is a phrase both dense and difficult to fathom – but it deals with both the nature of God and the incarnation, both of which are supernatural themes not easy to access. Let’s examine it more closely.

“In the beginning was…” – this both evokes the first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning God created…”; and yet the verb “was” depicts not an action but a presence. “In the beginning” brings us back to the very dawn of creation – or even to the deep mystery before creation took place. The “Word” was already there!

“The Word was with God”. Here the “Word” appears separate from God, but closely connected with him. “He was in the beginning with God” (verse 2). But who ever could have been there with the Creator at the beginning of creation? The Word was in eternity at God’s side; could he be God’s equal?

“The Word was God”. Now we are really confused: the Son, Jesus (the Word made flesh, v14) was not only with God. He was God! Later in the chapter John recounts the testimony of John the Baptist at the start of Jesus’ public ministry: “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (v34). The beginning of this Gospel therefore introduces us to the Son of God who was with God the Father at the eternal moment prior to creation. Christian theologians, reflecting on this and other passages of the New Testament where mention is made of “the Spirit of God”, concluded that in the one divine true God there is a tri-unity of Father, Son, and Spirit. This has always seemed out of reach of our human understanding, but that is the whole point: a god you can fully comprehend does not deserve the title of God. The Almighty Creator must always exceed our human grasp. “My thoughts are higher than your thoughts”, he says in Isaiah 55.8-9.

Next, John reveals that the Word was none other than the Creator: “All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made that was made” (verse 3). The Word, the eternal Son of God, was uncreated; indeed, he was the Creator of “all things”! So in Jesus’ birth, we see the Creator visiting his creation – even entering his own creation like the “undercover Boss”!

All this is true of that tiny babe in Bethlehem! “God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man”. Or as John puts it, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth” (verse 14). Well may the angels of heaven burst out to worship at the sight of the one who had forever dwelt in the heights of heavenly glory taking on the nature of humanity! 

John evokes however the greatest of tragedies: “He [the Word] was in the world, and the world was made by him, yet the world did not know him” (verse 10). Some, however, did come to know him, and to receive him and love him. Are you one of them?

Why not take time to read and meditate on those first 18 verses of John’s Gospel?

Clive Every-Clayton

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