Conference yukon::christian_v7

368.0. "Fidelity to a revelation..." by TOKNOW::METCALFE (Eschew Obfuscatory Monikers) Mon Jan 03 1994 19:17

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 |                       | The Certain Fact of God |                        |
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 |  Exodus 3:14a  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM                   |
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 |                       |   The mystery of God.   |                        |
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 |  1 Corinthians 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then   |
 |  face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I  |
 |  am known.                                                               |
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 |                   | The certitude of God-as-Father |                     |
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 |  2 Timothy 1:12b  ...for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded   |
 |  that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against    |
 |  that day.                                                               |
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  We humans have an imperfect view of God, and many of us are gathered
  here to share our experiences and interpretations - to compare notes for
  a better picture of who God is.  We have pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and
  an instruction manual for us to determine how we can know whether a
  puzzle piece belongs to the picture of God or to some other puzzle.

  Because we are finite, we have an "imperfect capacity to understand but
  _sure_ of no less than _acceptance_ and _love_ on the basis of
  _fidelity_ to revelation; to love extended."

  "Faith is being true to a covenant."   (Quotes from notes by Russell
  Metcalfe, Jr.)

  Understanding is not a requisite to certainty.  We can be sure as sure
  can be without fully grasping the whole.  I'll explain more later on in
  this article.
    
      Psalm 91:1-2 (NIV)  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
      will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, "He
      is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

      Psalm 91:14 "Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him;
      I will protect him for he acknowledges my name."

 
  "..._fidelity_ to revelation."

  A key word in this thought is fidelity.  Fidelity transcends ethics as
  the assurance of acceptance by God.  That is, being faithful, true to a
  covenant agreement is extremely important and supersedes certain ethical
  issues.  For example, Jesus told some Pharisees that their responsibility
  to their families was higher than their responsibility to their devoted
  [to God]  "corban" monies.  Jesus made it plain that both
  responsibilities were important and one was not to supplant the other,
  but when faced with a dilemma, as we sometimes find ourselves in because
  we err, there are certain principles that help us decide what is the
  right and proper thing to do.

  Another poignant illustration of this principle of the importance of
  being true to a covenant is found in the story of Judah and Tamar In
  Genesis 38.  Tamar was the wife  of Er who was struck down by God.  Onan
  was to fulfill the law and bear children with Tamar for his brother Er,
  but Onan "spilled his seed" and for that breech in the law, he was also
  struck down. Judah had another son, but he was young.  Judah advised
  Tamar to live in her father's house until the third son could assume his
  responsibility; and the third son was promised to Tamar, according  to
  the covenant of the law.

  In time, Judah's wife died.  Tamar got dressed up as a prostitute and
  set herself outside on a road she knew Judah was to be on. They had
  relations and in lieu of payment, she took some personal effects from
  Judah.  He thought he got a pretty good bargain.

  Word later came that Tamar was pregnant.  Judah saw this opportunity to
  dispose of Tamar and said that she should be burned (at the stake).
  Tamar produces Judah's personal effects.  Judah acknowledges that they
  are his, and he is the sire of the twin inside of Tamar and exclaimns
  curiously in Genesis 38:26 "She hath been more righteous  than I."

  If one gets lost in the ethics of the situation, one might conclude 
  that they were both in the wrong, but this would miss the whole point of
  the story.  The point of the story being the importance of the covenant
  and fidelity to the covenant. 

  Yet another example is found in Joshua 8 (see especially verses 24-26). 
  The Gibeonites know they are in deep doo-doo because the Israelites are
  cleaning out the land of Canaan.  They deceive the leaders of Israel and
  the Israelites made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites without inquiring
  of the Lord.  Since this oath was sworn by the Lord God of Israel, they
  were bound to it. They made the Gibeonites "woodcutters and water
  carriers" (which they preferred to the alternative).

  Throughout the Bible, God speaks of covenants between God and Israel, 
  God and the human race, and God and individuals.  The tenacious grasping
  of that covenant is the important thing, even though we have an
  "imperfect capacity to understand" the fullness of Who it is that makes
  the covenant.  A couple that unites in matrimony cannot have everything
  spelled out for their future; they leap into togetherness answering
  affirmatively to the question "Do you trust me?"

  We peer through "the glass, darkly" attempting to understand the certain
  fact of God.  Moses asked, and God gave the complete answer in two words:
  I AM.  God exists - and this is the fact or fallacy - with no in between
  - on which rests all things.  Because there is no in between to this
  question, no self-proclaimed agnostic is "safe" by claiming ignorance, or
  inability to understand the infinity of God.  If one is not sure
  whether God is fact or fiction, the uncertain will find certainty through
  continued and continuous searching after God, or they will be virtual
  atheists by their inaction - though not completely ruling out the
  possibility that God exists, God's existence doesn't seem to warrant the
  energy to search.  God's existence and The kind of God that God is will
  matter greatly when the certain fact of God is revealed (or fallacy of
  God is revealed by nothingness at the end of life).  

  Assuming that God exists (and I do), I work with what has been revealed
  to me about God.  That which is not (yet) revealed is _mystery_.

  People are often so uncomfortable with  mystery, yet they live each day
  in the "real" world.  Earlier I said that (complete) understanding is not
  a requisite to certainty.  People live every day without ever questioning
  what gravity is, for example.  Science has not determined  what it is; it
  is not a law at all.  We experience it, quite commonly, and that is good
  enough for most of us to be sure and certain that gravity will keep our
  feet on the ground.  The point of this being that certainty does not
  necessarily need to find root in the proof of our senses of taste, sight,
  hearing, smell, and touch.  Certitude comes from many less tangible areas
  of life, not all of which are reliable, unfortunately. 

  So how reliable is the certitude of God on the basis of fidelity to
  revelation?  A snappy answer is "as reliable as any."  However, I would
  be quick to add that such evidences that add weight to revelation also
  add to the credence of reliability.  Newton's apple, as well as you and I
  not floating off this sparkling blue ball, are evidence enough for us to
  believe in some compelling force that keeps us grounded.  If that force
  is suspended, we begin to wonder about our assumptions.  Traveling into
  outer space tells us that gravity is a subjective thing and is related to
  certain things.  (Speculation has it connected with mass.)   However, for
  you and me in everyday life, we expect the sun to come up in the east and
  travel to the west (a colloquial saying since it is we who travel), we
  expect that the road that brought us to work is still the same distance
  it was yesterday, that gravity will keep us from floating into space.  We
  have found the experience to give us enough revelation of its nature to
  know for certainty what to expect.

  (For the nit pickers who might challenge these "experiences" I would
  warrant that you do not think twice about sitting in your chair in the
  morning, wondering if it will support your weight today.  I know that
  sometimes experience is not always reliable.  However, experience is
  neither discounted entirely, and is a measurable lender to credibility of
  a hypothesis.)

  For those of us who are certain of God, even though mystery shrouds the
  certain fact of God, we can examine how faithful we are to that
  revelation.  We know that God exists, and many of us have entered
  personal, yes, intimate relations with this Person.  What is the
  responsibility of this knowledge?  How does this affect you when you know
  there is a God and He is the God of the Bible, the King of the Universe,
  without Him nothing was made?  What is the covenant relationship we enter
  with Him and how faithful have we been to it?

  Israel, time and time again, prostituted themselves with other nations. 
  They were spiritual adulterers, unfaithful to their covenant.  Their
  infidelity had a covenant agreement attached to it as well.  If Israel
  was unfaithful, then God was bound by his word to withdraw his providence
  and security from them.  God called them back time and again, and the
  harlotry of Israel is tragically pictured in the account of Hosea 3.

  Though we have prostituted ourselves and abandoned His covenant
  relationship with us, God has purchased us back, as Hosea did his own
  adulterous wife.  We have a new covenant, and on the basis of this
  revelation, we can be SURE that God loves us.  We can be certain of God's
  existence on the basis of His Word and evidences that testify to the Word
  and the Word to the evidences.  Even though we cannot see everything, and
  mystery still remains, we can be certain of what the Word has told us
  because it has never failed.

  Mark
    

    I've been busy lately, and I'm taking some time tonight to do some
    things I've been meaning to, including moving this note to its own spot
    for discussion.  I have another note brewing for 31.15 but haven't had
    the time to formulate it like I want to.  As it is, I'm on the fly.
    Wish I could spend a bit more time...
    
    
    Mark