Thursday 6 November 2008

The Rediscovery of True Wonder. Part 1 – Recovering the Standard

There is a famous Christian hymn that begins with the words: Jesus is Lord, Creation’s voice proclaims it. If you have ever sung that song, let me ask you: Do you really believe that line? I mean really believe it?

If you took a poll and asked Christians (including me) what they thought creation said about God, I bet you most of them would say that creation points to a general wise and all powerful intelligent designer, but if you were to press them on whether it points specifically to the Son of God, and his rightful rule over the universe, they would probably say I can’t see that. Most Christians, if they are honest, in saying what they see, would have to rewrite the line of the hymn and sing: “Some benevolent, wise, powerful, detached-from-the-universe being – the construct of Western philosophy…” is Lord, creation’s voice proclaims it, which is quite a mouthful to sing in the original 12 musical beats!!

Moreover, if you asked a Hindu what they thought creation said about the Divine being, I bet they would say that it says there are many gods, the Muslims; one god and atheists would be emphatic that it proclaims there is NO god!

In short, human beings, the world over, have suppressed the truth about God, which has been displayed in creation, and instead projected onto creation their own beliefs about God. We see in the creation what we want to see about God. What’s more is that we Christians also, myself included, still have trouble seeing the message that the Bible says Creation declares so clearly.

I know that the Bible is true, so when it tells me that God’s …invisible qualities such as his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they [all human beings everywhere] are without excuse, then if I don’t see those things, there is something wrong with me.

I need the help of the Holy Spirit to see what he meant when he inspired that bit of the Bible, rather than lower the Bible to my sin-polluted, truth-suppressing and depressing level of experience…

tbc

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