Tag: light

The “endarkenment”

In the Middle Ages, proud intellectual philosophers dared to think that they could find the answers to questions about the meaning of life, the universe, and everything while rejecting the prevailing biblical consensus of the time. That period was called the “Enlightenment”.

After several centuries of intellectual effort the result is one of confusion, humiliation, and the recognition of failure. Having abandoned the wisdom of Jesus who declared that he was “the Light of the world”, philosophers who hoped for enlightenment by their own rational powers ended up plunging the world into hopeless darkness; I call this the “endarkenment”.

The truth is that only the Creator of the whole universe who placed on earth human beings made in his image – only he can enlighten our darkness. “God says: It is I who have made you and I alone can teach you what you are” (Pascal). 

The true enlightenment came when God sent into the world his Son, who proclaimed: “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life” (John 8.12). What a claim! The Gospels tell us that he was “the true light which enlightens everyone” (John 1.9). Jesus’ light “shines in the darkness” (John 1.5); but Jesus lamented that “people loved the darkness rather than the light”. Why? Jesus tells us: “because their deeds were evil; for everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3.19-20). In other words, Jesus’ light includes moral absolutes; these condemn our sins, and we don’t like that, so we “switch off” the light. That’s why Jesus was rejected and crucified by evil men.

Today, Jesus’ light remains the only ultimate answer to our human predicament, and our refusal to listen to him damns us to remain in our existential darkness.

A powerful passage in the New Testament unveils the deep darkness of our human condition; sadly, we are too proud to envisage its truth. It speaks of all people as “walking in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity” (Ephesians 4.17-19). It takes serious humility to accept such an accurate assessment of our human condition!

Another penetrating and devastating analysis of our human darkness is to be found in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans. It describes how people “became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools… They exchanged the truth about God for a lie… and… did not see fit to acknowledge God”. Such behaviour brings down God’s holy wrath against us sinners, and the passage shows that an element in that righteous judgment is that God abandons sinful people to their “dishonourable passions”; specifically “women exchanging natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise giving up natural relations with women and being consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (v26-27).

In other words, bad thinking leads to bad living. God’s light not only answers our existential questions: it provides moral truth we need, to deliver us from the hellish slippery path of relativistic moral thinking. 

Jesus, however, offers truth and the promise of eternal life.

Clive Every-Clayton

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The real purpose of our lives

There is a crucial fact that God our Creator told us from the very beginning of his revelation in the chapter of Genesis that Jesus quoted: it is that we are made “in his image”. Our purpose in life must correspond to what we really are – and we are image-bearers of our Creator God.

An image is a reflection, a likeness to, or a copy of, the original; we are meant to be like God – not in his infinite power and greatness, but in his personal character of love and goodness. God wants to see his virtues reflected in his human creatures. So as we go about our work and fulfil our family responsibilities, we are to show forth something of the glorious nature of our perfect God.

If this seems too idealistic to be feasible – and we all seem to fall short – I shall shortly deal with that issue. But I am starting out these explanations by looking at the pure and pristine creation of man and woman at the very start, before any imperfection arose; we’ll look again shortly at our difficulty actually living this out.

There are actually two aspects to this deep purpose of our existence: not only to be in God’s likeness, but also to be in good relationship with him. Here we are dealing (finally!) with the very essence of what it means to be a human being in the plan of God our Maker.

We should wonder – what does God want, in making people in his likeness? First, he wants to see his goodness reflected in his personal creatures – so we are to be kind, loving and holy as God is kind, loving and holy. This is absolutely fundamental to our human fulfilment.

But just as vital, is God’s desire to have a harmonious relationship with his personal creatures. Our personality enables us to enjoy personal relationships not only with other people, but also with God himself. Again, the fact that many know nothing of this in their experience does not mean that it is impossible: we’ll come back to that later. But a real relationship with God – what might that look like?

First, it means receiving God’s love for us, and loving him in return. I will develop this glorious theme in time to come; but our Creator loves us, and desires that we love him. In that relationship is the key to the greatest possible fulfilment and happiness that we can know.

Second, it means seeking to live a life that does indeed reflect God’s goodness and his kindness, his love and his holiness, in the world in which we live. When God as it were looks down on us, what does he want to see? People being kind to each other. Not for nothing did Jesus insist on his commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. God is love, and he wants to see love – true, godly love – reflected in his creatures.

Thirdly, God wants us to share his purposes and collaborate with him in the world to see those purposes come to pass. We may be co-labourers with God to the end of seeing his will done on earth, his good and righteous will. And we begin by committing ourselves to it in response to his love for us. 

Clive Every-Clayton

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Coming to terms with truth

We live in the age of postmodernism, which is sometimes defined as unbelief towards, or rejection of, “metanarratives”. These are supposedly total explicative systems, whether philosophical, religious or even political like communism. People in the 20th century became disillusioned with the apparently futile search for a global system of Truth. With no-one having come up with the obviously true system, hope was abandoned of ever finding one. The result is that there has been a generalised relativism, with a loss of hope for finding true answers to our deep questions of our existence. There seems to be no absolute Truth; everyone has their personal ideas, but no-one has a total true overarching narrative.

Previously in the Christian West, it was generally thought that there was Truth. Why? Because in the context of Christianity, God knows all Truth and he communicated Truth in his revelation, the Bible. That is still the conviction of millions of people like me, but that metanarrative is no longer the general consensus. The current metanarrative is postmodernism – whose fundamental principle is that no metanarrative is to be believed as true; so in fact it is self-contradictory as it destroys its own basis of belief. It is therefore leading us up the wrong path, and society’s existential despair is the result. With no Truth, there can be no hope. All seems hopeless and meaningless. That’s why our generation should be humbled to reconsider Christianity with its evidence of God’s coming into the world and communicating Truth to us. It has never actually been disproved – only side-lined. 

I have tried to lay the basis for believing that what we hear from Jesus is nothing less than God’s truth – as if the Creator had spoken out of heaven to you. In the Bible we are listening to the real God who is actually there – the God who has come down to earth in Jesus to communicate Truth that He alone knows for sure. In other words, we are not dealing with a “spiritual” ideal, or a philosophical vision that is mere human thinking or a religion of human invention. We said at the start that our only hope of satisfying, authentic answers is if God himself speaks them to us, since humans have proved incapable of getting absolute truth by our own reasoning powers.  I have sought to show evidence for the fact that Jesus is God’s emissary, come into the world from his Father, God, to faithfully relay to us the truth that he had heard from God: if that groundwork is sufficient to lead you to listen to God himself, you will listen, hopefully, with a humble attitude, eager to learn. And you would find the real answers to your profound questions about reality.

If, on the other hand, you are not (yet) convinced of that basis, you can still check it out by reading the Gospels – that is the least you could do to show yourself intellectually serious; or just keep tagging along, reading further the actual answers that Jesus brought. You may read them in a critical frame of mind, not convinced of their truth; and that’s okay, because one cannot believe without assessing the facts, and that extra light may help you to realise that these are indeed divine and universal answers that satisfy the heart and mind.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Divine answers

As we begin to pay attention to God’s answers to our existential search, the reception we give to his answers will depend on our understanding of who Jesus was. We need to be clear: if he was from God, his answers are on a whole different level to anything that human beings can think up.

The reports we have of Jesus’ life refute any suggestion that he was mentally unbalanced or a blatant and deceitful imposter. Such an assessment goes against the evidence of Jesus’ unique identity as a man of exemplary holiness, whose moral teaching was profoundly wise, whose psychology is the best ever conceived, and whose influence on history has been highly beneficial. All this, quite apart from his numerous miracles, his profound love that led him to give his life for our salvation, and his totally unique resurrection from the dead.

If therefore he was a unique manifestation of God himself, then his answers are no mere human philosophical opinions. We are led to believe that he did bring us answers from heaven. That means his answers are actually absolute truth coming from the Highest Authority in the universe. This brings out the seriousness of what we are doing here: if it is true, it is of the utmost importance. Indeed, there are logical consequences if that is the case: we are faced with the supreme authority in the universe telling us how it is. Our Maker had the answers all along; if he has told them to us, we should not ignore them, but receive them gladly.

Having studied all this carefully for many years, this is my position. I take it as given, that we are blessed with God’s revealed truth. This is the only way for authentic hope for answers. 

Now this may be considered my assumption – for I have said that all thinking is based on assumptions. But this assumption – the foundation on which we build – is a conclusion based on the historic incarnation of him whom we have come to believe can be none other than God’s divine messenger. If this sounds like circular reasoning, consider theologian and philosopher Cornelius Van Til’s assertion that “all reasoning is, in the nature of the case, circular reasoning”. That’s why the historic appearance on earth of God’s incarnate Son is so foundational; it is the unique basis on which we can hope to build absolute Truth. God alone knows and can speak absolute Truth.

Remember how God’s voice came from heaven saying, “Listen to Jesus”? (Matthew 17.5) I invite you to take an open-minded stance, just to listen, and see what you think. As you consider in more detail what answers God gave through Jesus to our deep existential questions, it is for you to decide whether or not they have the mark of Truth – whether you will believe in Jesus or not. Knowledge of the facts is indispensable as a foundation of valid faith.

I will seek to show that God’s truth and guidelines for living indicate the true “good life” and human flourishing that our Creator wills for us. As I hope ultimately to show, God is loving and compassionate and his truth will lead us on to consider how he offers us true life, “eternal life” or “abundant life” as Jesus called it (John 10.10, 27-28). Jesus not only brings the truth of God that answers our questions; he also lovingly offers life that truly satisfies the deep hunger of our hearts.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Resurrection predictions

In an autobiography I read long ago, written, if I remember rightly by a Jewess, she recounted reading a Gospel for the first time, not knowing anything of it. As she read, she was profoundly touched by the excellence of the person of Jesus, his moral life, his wisdom and teaching – to the point that she thought this must be a prophet sent by God, like those in the Old Testament. As she read finally of his betrayal, arrest, trial and condemnation by the authorities, both religious and Roman, she grew more and more apprehensive of the outcome, wondering how God would get his prophet out of such circumstances. But when she reached the crucifixion and the death of Jesus, she closed the book, broke down in dismay and set a time of grieving for so great a man.

After that period of sorrowing, she finally picked up the Gospel again, and you can imagine her amazement, relief and joy as she read on and discovered that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples, eating and speaking with them. It led her to faith in Jesus as her Messiah and Saviour.

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is the decisive factor in demonstrating that he was who he said he was: he was “declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead,” says the New Testament (Romans 1.4). I will share the evidence for this historic fact in the next blog; this time I want to bring out something else just as amazing: Jesus actually clearly predicted on three separate occasions that he would rise from the dead. 

Did you ever hear of someone predicting their resurrection? That just doesn’t happen! If anyone was so brazen as to make such a claim, the ensuing reality that he remained dead would quickly disillusion any who had believed him. But Jesus predicted his death and resurrection and it happened! Matthew, Mark and Luke all record these clear predictions, as well as other allusions Jesus made to it, which John also recorded. So all the Gospels contain the absolutely unique prophecy by Jesus of a humanly impossible event, which occurred three days after his death (and even the three day delay was foretold by Christ!). This has no equal in world religions, and it constitutes enough evidence to convince the most hard-minded unbeliever, if he has the honesty to face up to it. 

“Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man [i.e. himself] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly” (Mark 8.31-32 c.f. parallels in Matthew 16.21 and Luke 9.22). Again: “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day” (Matthew 17.22-23 c.f. parallel in Mark 9.31). Then a third time, Jesus took the disciples aside and said to them: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon; they will scourge him and kill him, and on the third day he will rise” (Luke 18.31-33 c.f. parallels in Matthew 20.17-19 and Mark 10.33-34).

These precise predictions are certainly among the most extraordinary facts recorded by the Gospel writers; and what is even more mind-boggling is that they turned out to be true: it all happened just as Jesus said it would.

Clive Every-Clayton

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The vital question

We see Jesus in the Gospels reiterating and confirming his claim to be the Son of God come down from heaven to speak God’s truth to the world. If this is true, it provides authentic hope that his teaching is able to answer our existential questions. There can be answers from God our Creator, in theory, if, first, He knows all things, and second, he can tell us. This is of the essence of what Christians believe to be true, on the basis of evidence and experience (as I hope to show).

So we need seriously to consider if Jesus was indeed God’s messenger, sent in human form into the world (as he claimed). Because – let’s be frank: if he is God’s Son – that is, more than a prophet, a very unique incarnation of God, as Christianity holds – then “the Light of the world” will enlighten us with absolute answers. And if he is not the Son of God, we have a huge puzzle to solve if we are to be intellectually honest: how did the Jesus-event ever happen? Who was he really, this historic Master whose influence more than any other so radically benefitted humanity and transformed human history? A strange holy man if he goes around making himself out to be God when fully knowing he is lying! 

So the identity of Jesus is a vital question, needing our first authentic answer. The Jews asked him “Who are you?” (John 8.25). Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” and his vociferous disciple, Peter, expressed his conviction that Jesus was for real: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16.16). And Jesus calmly affirmed Peter’s response, in words meaning, “You’ve got it, Peter. My Father revealed that to you” (see Matthew 16.17). Thus Jesus confirms that this was indeed his identity.

It is useful to understand that for the Jews of Jesus’ day, such a claim to deity was considered blasphemous for a human being to make. That’s why, at the end of John’s Gospel chapter 8, when Jesus reached the culminating point of his talk by saying, “Before Abraham was, I AM”, the Jews picked up stones and would have killed him: for only God is the “I AM”.

Like Peter, we are all challenged – even obliged – to take our position (for refusing to believe is also taking a position). And to do so validly, we need to evaluate the evidence put forward in the Gospels (because Christian faith is evidence-based, not blind!). Jesus said that his apostles, aided by the Holy Spirit of truth, would “bear witness” to him (John 15.26-27) – so their writings constitute yet another witness to the unique person that was Jesus, as they recorded what they had seen and heard, for posterity. We have therefore in the four contemporary Gospels the permanent record of Jesus’ life, teachings, death and resurrection that we can assess. As we examine the history of Jesus, we will be seeking to ground our on-going search on something believably true.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Jesus affirmed truth

Jesus affirmed that “the Father who sent me bears witness about me” (John 8.18). This word is striking for two reasons. The first is that Jesus refers to God as “the Father who sent me”. Later in the same chapter Jesus says, “I came from God and I am here… he sent me” (v42). Earlier he had already stated: “I have come down from heaven… to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6.38). Amazingly, Jesus stated several times and very clearly that he came into the world, sent by God from heaven, and God was his Father, whose message he was to convey to the world!

If this is true, we have an extraordinary key to knowing what was in the mind of God when he created us – understanding who we are and what is the meaning of life. 

Jesus himself was categorical, calling himself “a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God” (John 8.40). “I tell the truth”, he reiterates (v45). He firmly believes and insistently attests that what he says is true. And when he was later judged by the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate, Jesus tells him, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth” (John 18.37). These affirmations are absolutely amazing: the big question is, was Jesus actually telling the truth here? For those who want a digital copy of a 3,000 word booklet I wrote entitled: “Did Jesus tell the truth?” I will send it to you if you ask me for it at cwilliam.ec@gmail.com

There is a second reason why Jesus’ reference to his Father bearing witness to him is important. It is the key to answering the question: who is able to tell us truth about God? The answer has to be: only God himself. God is so infinitely great and complex, that no mere human can define his being. He himself alone is capable of telling us truth about himself – and that is what he has done. Only God can bear accurate witness to Jesus’ divine identity; that’s why God’s voice said, “This is my beloved Son”. And it’s why Jesus predicted the coming of God’s Holy Spirit, saying (in John 15.27-28) “I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth… he will bear witness about me”.  God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all bear witness to the deity of Jesus; we should receive this testimony – or at least be open to check it out, for Jesus is the key that allows us to obtain authentic answers to our questions.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Witness to Jesus

Jesus’ claim, “I am the Light of the world” must be wisely assessed. Not all are persuaded that Jesus brings light from heaven into the world: indeed, John records that those who heard Jesus’ claim were not at all convinced: “You are bearing witness about yourself”, they protested, “Your witness is not true”. 

Now that’s a valid point; according to Jewish law it takes two to establish a lawful testimony, and Jesus goes on to admit that – “In your Law [given by God to Moses who wrote it down] it is written that the testimony of two people is true”. But then Jesus adds something that is more than remarkable: “I am one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” What did he mean by that?

In saying that his Father bore witness to him, he was referring to two staggering events in his life. One was at the inauguration of his public ministry when he was baptised by John the Baptist and “the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” (Luke 3.22, Mark 1.10 and Matthew 3.16-17). The fact that three of the Gospels record this amazing event of God speaking out loud to authenticate his Son is highly significant. But that is not all. Jesus had in mind also the time he was transfigured in the presence of three disciples on a mountain top when “his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” A cloud overshadowed them and “a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased; listen to him’” (Matthew 17.2-5, Mark 9.2-7, Luke 9.28-36). So three Gospel writers record that God had spoken out twice from heaven, bearing miraculous divine witness to his Son.

It’s like God was saying to the world: “I have so many things I really want to tell you – and that you need to know; but rather than shouting them all out from heaven, I have sent my Son. Listen to him, for he will tell you all I want to tell you; I put my words in his mouth and he faithfully relays it to you.” In any case, God did say: “Listen to him”. God’s voice was heard speaking out loud, endorsing Jesus as his Son, his messenger to bring us truth that otherwise we could never grasp. We must sit up and take notice! The order “listen to Jesus” comes as a divine command! Are you obeying it? It is in doing so that we shall find the answers we need and the fullness of life we all want.

Clive Every-Clayton

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You will know the truth

Jesus had the role of a prophet, as was acknowledged by some of those who heard him, and he claimed to bring the very words of God whom he called his Father: “He who sent me is true; and the things that I heard from him, these I speak to the world” (John 8.26). We need to examine if this is believable; if you’re not convinced, that’s OK – just keep following my reasoning and I trust it will become not only clearer but compelling. But I can’t say it all in one short blog post; in further posts I hope to lead on to those authentic answers we all hope for and we all need.

You may have heard the expression sometimes quoted, “the truth shall make you free”. It seems a great sound-bite, but you may not know where it comes from. It was Jesus who said it, but it is often quoted without the important words just before it. In the context just before, Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free”. These words are to be found in one of the Gospels (John 8.31-32) recounting the life, teaching and ministry of Jesus. They are intriguing words indeed, for they offer truth – indeed, they promise to be the key to knowing the truth. May this be the key we need? Might this be the way to authentic answers from God himself?

In that same chapter 8 of John’s Gospel we find other astounding statements (it’s a chapter well worth studying and reflecting on). In a previous blog post we saw that God revealed himself and spoke to identify himself using the expression, “I am who I am”, and calling himself “I am” – the self-existing one. Well in John chapter 8 Jesus takes this very expression to define who he is. He uses the emphatic expression in Greek five times in that chapter, insisting on the importance to believe “that I am” (v24). He also uses the expression in affirming: “I am the light of the world” (v12). Now that is no meagre statement! We are in the dark: light is what we need. And Jesus brings light into the world. 

Human beings have sought in vain for the light of truth to enlighten our path, and have not obtained the answers by our own intellectual activity. We should consider if this may be the light that we need! Indeed, as all the world is still trying to penetrate the deep mystery of existence and wondering if God may exist, all of a sudden here is one who claims to be “The Light”. And not just a wee candle shining to lighten some forgotten corner, but the light for the entire world – of all men and women everywhere who are seeking answers! We call that “universal truth”! Truth such as only God himself could know and communicate!

If we can discover that Jesus is actually telling us truth about himself – then we would have authentic hope for true answers to our existential questions. This deserves to be thought through…

Clive Every-Clayton

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