ROBERT@kontu.utu.fi (Robert W. Johnson) (09/25/90)
The God of Resurrection
PART II
"We were weighted down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we
despaired even of life: yea, we ourselves have had the answer of death
within ourselves, that we should not trust ourselves, but in God which
raiseth the dead." (II Cor. 1:8-9)
"Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by
day. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more
and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." (II Cor. 4:16-17)
"They ... chastened us as seemed good to them; but He for our profit, that
we may be partakers of His holiness." (Heb. 12:10)
"To them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that
are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also fore-
ordained to be conformed to the image of His Son." (Rom. 8:28-29)
"God who quickeneth the dead." (Rom. 4:17)
"I am ... the Living One, and I was dead, and behold I am living for evermore."
(Rev. 1:17-18)
Suffering is the lot of all the inhabitants of the earth. None can evade
it. Some people imagine that if you believe on the Lord and live in His
fear, you will be immune from all ills; yet numbers of Christians are
grievously afflicted, and some who live in vital touch with God are in constant
suffering.
The unsaved keep asking: "If God loves the world, why does He allow all
this sorrow?" And the saved keep asking: "If God loves His children, why
does He let so much trouble befall them?" Others go still further and
inquire: "How does it come about that, the more spiritual you become, the more
hardship you meet?" These are practical questions, not mere theoretical
quibbles, and we have to face them.
With the Incarnation a dispensation began in which God and man, man and God
were blended into one. The Scriptures declare that the Word that became flesh
would be called "Emmnuel," which, means, "God with man." That name does not
merely signify the presence of God in the midst of a multitude of men; it
signifies His entry into humnity. What took place at Bethlehem was the birth
of One who possessed a dual nature. God and man were united in that one
Person. Up to that time all the descendants of Adam had possessed only one
nature; after that time there was One who possessed two natures, the human
and the divine. He was truly man, and He was truly God. That One, Jesus of
Nazereth, who was both divine and human, became a source of perplexity to
many people. They asked Him: "Who art thou?" And they asked one another:
"What manner of man is this?" They recognized clearly that He was a man,
yet because there was so much about Him that was divine, he was a problem
to His contemporaries. "Immanuel," "God manifest in the flesh"--that is the
meaning of Incarnation!
But the Incarnation is only one half of the Mystery. The other half is
the resurrection. The Incarnation is God coming into man; the Resurrection
is man coming into God. The Incarnation brought divine content into human
life; the resurrection brought human content into divine life. After the
Incarnation is was possible to say: There is a man on earth in whose life
is a divine element. But not till after the Resurrection was it possible to
say: There is a God in heaven in whom there is a human element. That is
the meaning of the Resurrection.
But why do we stress the distinction between the Living God and the God
of Resurrection? Because, while the Living God can perform many acts on
man's behalf, the nature of the Living God cannot blend with the nature of
man. When, on the other hand, the God of Resurrection works, His very nature
is wrought into the nature of man. Brothers and sisters, please note carefully
that even when the Living God has performed some act on your behalf, after
that act as before it, He is still He and you are still you. His working
on your behalf does not impart anything of His nature to you. The Living God
can work on behalf of man, but the nature of the Living God cannot unite with
the nature of man. On the other hand, When the God of Resurrection works,
He communicates Himself to man by that which He does for him. Let me cite
two illustrations.
When the children of Isreal were in a hopeless plight in the wilderness,
the Living God opened a way for them across the Red Sea. The dividing of the
Red Sea was a miracle which demonstrated to them that God was the Living
God, yet that miracle performed for them did not bring any measure of the
life of God into them. They witnessed many other divine acts in the
wilderness--e.g., God gave them bread from heaven and water out of the rock--
but despite those and other wonders performed by God for them, nothing of God
Himself was thereby imparted to them.
In contrast to this, the Apostle Paul testifies to knowing not only the Living
God, but also the God of Resurrection. Paul was so sorely tried that he
despaired of life, but it was thus he learned to trust in the God who raises
the dead. When the God of Resurrection acted on His behalf to raise him
from the dead, that divine act not only accomplished something for Paul; it
also communicated God's own nature to Paul.
Brothers and sisters, do discriminate here. The miracles wrought for Isreal
in the wilderness were acts of the Living God; but despite the many miracles
wrought for them, nothing of God was wrought into their constitutions.
The miracles wrought for Paul were wrought by the God of Resurrection, and each
fresh miracle wrought a fresh measure of God Himself into the life of Paul.
Alas! though generations have passed since the Resurrection, many Christians
are almost ignorant of the God of Resurrection and are only interested in
the Living God. Let me try and bring this matter home to our daily lives.
A brother becomes seriously ill. His case is considered hopeless, but God
has mercy on him and works a miracle on his behalf so that he recovers.
Thereafter, he testifies to the fact that God is the Living God. Yet within
a short time of recovery he plunges right into the world. Even when he
is living in the world, he still remembers that God is the Living God and that
God preserved his life from death. But he has experienced no increase of
divine life; he has only experienced a miracle of healing.
Another brother becomes ill. Day after day passes without a vestige of
improvement. For long he keeps hovering at the edge of the grave. Then,
when he has completely dispaired of life, in the depths of his being he
gradually becomes aware of God. Resurrection life begins to work within,
and he awakens to the fact that this resurrection life is a life that can
overcome all affliction and can even swallow up death. He is still
conscious of much weakness and is sorely tested; nevertheless, the
realization deepens that God is not working to make His might know in
external acts, but is working to impart Himself. Light breaks upon him
gradually, and gradually health returns. This brother does not just experience
a healing; he comes into a new experience of God. The other brother could
testify to a miracle wrought in his body, and shortly after could plunge
right into the world; but if this brother gives a word of testimony there
is nothing sensational about it, and there is no stress on the healing; yet,
you meet God in his life.
Let me tell a story to illustrate this futher. A brother who was engaged
in export business had arranged to send a consignment of goods by a certain
ship. Somehow the goods were delayed and were forwarded by a later ship.
Shortly afterwards he learned that the boat by which he had originally planned
to send the goods had been sunk. How he praised God for His overruling
grace! "O God," he said, "how perfect Your guidance was! You are indeed
the True and Living God."
Some time later this same brother contracted tuberculosis, and to complicate
matters, he developed digestive trouble as well. The T.B. called for a
nourishing diet while the digestive complaint forbade it. He was in a sore
plight, but his wife conforted him and said: "Don't you remember the episode
of two months ago when God saved that consignment of goods? Oh, our God
is the True and Living God." But on this occasion God seemed neither true
nor living, for the more that couple prayed, the more the brother
hemorrhaged; the more they prayed, the worse his digestive complaint became.
He was perplexed. Finally he gave way to doubt, and his wife began to question
too. A few months later his business came to a standstill. His health
steadily deteriorated and his financial resources steadily dwindled, till
both he and his wife reached the verge of despair. In their extremity they
rallied all their unified faith and prayed once again: "O God, you are the
Living God. We believe You will yet be gracious to us." But next day the
patient had a further hemorrhage, and neither he nor his wife could exercise
faith any more. The Living God vanished from their horizon! Friends and
neighbors pronounced the brother's case hopeless, and the doctor's verdict
confirmed theirs.
However that was not the end of the story. A crisis took place in the inner
life of that brother. It began to dawn upon him (though he could not then
define it as we are defining it now) that while he knew God as the Living
God, he did not know Him as the God of Resurrection. He knew the doctrine
of Resurrection, but he did not know the reality of Resurrection. He knew
in experience that God had come into his life, but he did not know in experience
that he had come into the life of God. It became clear to him that from his
conversion right up to that time he had possessed the life of God, but he
had not been living in the life of God. Even while he had been praying to
God, he had been living in independence of Him. He saw that even his faith
in God had been his faith, his reliance upon God had been his reliance.
He saw all his efforts to please God as something apart from God. He was filled
with remorse. He abhorred himself. His healing ceased to be a question.
His circumstanes ceased to be a question. His one question was himself. He
became overwhelmingly aware that what he had regarded as his most spiritual
service had been something apart from the divine life. No one preached to
him, but the Holy Spirit gave him a deep registration of his individualism.
He judged himself unsparingly and ceased to entertain any thought of
improvement in health or circumstances. At that point a strange thing
happened--his health began to improve. No one knew when or how healing took
place. There was just a gradual increase of strength until he was quite well.
At an earlier date he could bear witness to God as the Living God and all
the while be living his life in independence of God; from that date he knew
the God of Resurrection and began to live in dependence on resurrection life.
Brothers and sisters; do remember that God allows us to go through all sorts
of distresses for this very reason, that we may know Him as the God of
Resurrection. He constantly leads us into death, because only in death can
we experience resurrection life.
Parts III and IV will follow Friday and next Monday, God willing.
-----
Robert W. Johnson
Computer center, The University of Turku, Turku Finland
robert@kontu.utu.fi (InterNet)
robert@firien.bitnet (BITNET)
The preceeding is my opinion and may not express the opinion of my employer.