MAN KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST
"Show us the Father, and it suffices us," John 14:8
The restoration of man to God
necessarily issues in the restoration to man of the knowledge of God.
The original purpose of man's creation was that he should be a being capable of
the consciousness of, and in communion, and cooperation with God Himself. To
all this he is restored in Christ. As the vital union between God and man is
created and maintained by the Spirit, so also is the work of revealing God to
man that of the Spirit. He "the
Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God;" and these
"Things which eye
saw not and ear heard not,
And which entered not
into the heart of man,
Whatsoever things God
prepared for them that love Him;" that is, the things of the love of
God in Christ, which man in clouded intelligence was ignorant of, “unto us God revealed them through the
Spirit." (1 Cor. 2:9-10)
Thus while in Christ God has provided Himself with a Medium of Self-Revelation,
Christ is revealed to man by the Spirit. This scheme of revelation must be
understood, if there is to be a true appreciation of the revelation itself. The
whole perfect system is revealed in the last discourses of Jesus with His
disciples, prior to His Passion. When Philip, speaking in larger degree as the
mouthpiece of fallen humanity than he knew, said to Jesus "Show us the Father, and it suffices us," (John 14:8) there was neither doubt nor
uncertainty in the Lord's reply. He distinctly declared,
"He that hath
seen Me,
hath seen the
Father." (John 14:9)
This declaration is in perfect
harmony with the inspired statement of John that "no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, Who is
in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (John 1:18) There is no way by which man
can know God except through Christ. All attempts on the part of man, to
formulate a conception of God, or declare a doctrine concerning Him, are
futile, except as the conception and doctrine are based upon, and perpetually
true to, the Revelation He has made of Himself in Christ.
Recognizing man's inability to know God apart from
Himself, the Lord also recognizes that men were unable to understand the
revelation of God in Himself, unless it should be explained by that Spirit
Who "searches all things, yea, the
deep things of God." (1 Cor.
2:10) He therefore immediately followed Philip's question with THE PROMISE
OF THE SPIRIT, and such teaching concerning Him, as should fit the disciples
for His coming and work. From the body of that final teaching, three main
statements will be sufficient, as giving the teaching of Christ under this
head.
1st. "The Holy
Spirit—He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I
said unto you." (John 14:26)
2nd. "The Spirit
of truth—He shall bear witness of Me." (John 15:26)
3rd. "The Spirit
of truth—He shall glorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it
unto you." (John 16:13-14)
These words clearly demonstrate two things.
1st, that the work of the Spirit is essentially that of
revealing Christ to those in whom He has taken up His abode; and
2nd that man can only know Christ through the Spirit's
illumination, as man can only know God through Christ's revelation. By the testimony of 2 or more facts are confirmed (John 8:17).
Any Christology which is not the direct issue of the
Spirit's teaching, is false; for the mystery of His Person, and the meaning of
His work, are alike inscrutable to the mind of man in its darkened condition,
and can only be apprehended as the light of God falls upon them. Through Christ,
the Spirit of truth indwells the believer, and through the Spirit of truth
therefore Christ becomes the indwelling One; and as He by the Spirit is made
known to man, man is restored to the knowledge of God, which he had lost
through sin.
Man's knowledge of God through
Christ by the Spirit may be contemplated therefore by considering;
1st, the unveiling of Christ by the
Spirit;
2nd, the apprehension of Christ
through the Spirit;
3rd, the consequent knowledge of
God.
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