We have two problems of modernity in this one lesson, did
God create all things and still control them, and were the prophets writing
their own words or God’s. There is a
song we used to sing often, Here I Am Lord, that began with the lyrics, “I, the
Lord of sea and sky, I have heard My people cry. All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save. I who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness
bright.” It may not be popular to talk
about creation, it may make you look silly in some circle to speak of a God who
created all things and brought them into being at His command, but it is a
chief comfort He used through the prophets to speak of Himself in this way. To
believe in divine inspiration for the prophets is to believe that they were
listening to what God actually said to them rather than writing down their own
thoughts and impressions. There are
certainly nuanced ways of speaking of both creation and inspiration but here,
they are inextricably tied to the words of comfort the Lord speaks to call His
people to Himself. They can rest in His
sovereignty and providence but only if they hear the words of the prophets as
something more than just the men behind the words speaking encouragement. Those who believe in the creator God who
revealed Himself in Jesus have more ways to receive comfort than those who do
not.
The question the “Jews” are asking has to do with
inspiration. How can Jesus “know” things
and teach with such authority when He has never studied? Who taught Him these things? Jesus speaks with a unique authority, the
authority of the One who has received the true truth as Francis Schaeffer would
say, directly, unmediated, in a way that is more inspired than any teacher or
prophet who has ever lived. Ultimately
they, too, claim to know certain things about Jesus, for instance, where He
comes from. In fact they don’t know do
they? These have God’s Word, have
believed it and have tried to obey it and yet they don’t know whether He is the
Christ or not. They lack something
incredibly important, the fulfillment of the promises of the prophets to give
them new hearts or to circumcise their hearts and the promised Holy Spirit. Inspiration comes from the Holy Spirit,
thanks be to God we have been given what they lacked.
Faith is the key to all things. There are many things for which there is no
scientific “proof” per se but which are believed in faith by a great many
people concerning origins of the universe.
There is no proof of Genesis 1 and there is no proof of the Big Bang or
any other scientific or scientistic story of the origins of the universe and of
life in a way that is indisputable.
There are many theories of origins in addition to the Big Bang
theory. We do, however, have to decide
who is responsible for origins and faith says I will stick with God’s story
until I have reason to give it up. Only
in that way can I also believe God’s version of the story of today or, more
particularly, of the end of all things, teleology. If He didn’t create it all and sustain it
all, how can I believe that He controls its present or its destiny? If I don’t know that He cared enough to
create it how can I know He cares enough to redeem it?
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