God's Man Yes

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     "Jesus Christ the Son of God...is himself no doubtful quantity, he is the divine 'yes.' Every promise of God finds its affirmative in him, and through him can be said the final amen, to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:19, 20).

     This interesting statement as to the nature of Jesus, like almost every other apostolical declaration, has both a written and a life context. The letters written by the envoys of Christ did not just happen. They grew out of a need to solve human predicaments, and explain human problems.

     In this case the situation is quite clear. Paul had signified his intention of visiting Corinth enroute to Macedonia, and of again stopping on his return "to give you a double treat," as he explained it. In the meantime he received word from an unimpeachable source that the congregation was in an unholy mess, created by schism, immorality, and civil suits in pagan courts.

     Accordingly, he changed his plans and wrote them a letter. He justified his action by saying, "I declare before God that it was to avoid hurting you that I did not come to Corinth...And I made up my mind that I would not pay you another painful visit." Unfortunately, there existed in the congregation a small clique of vocal critics of the apostle, of whom he said they "profess to be God's messengers on the same terms as I am" (2 Corinthians 11:12). These seized upon the situation to declare that Paul was not a man of his word and could not be trusted.

     So the apostle wrote, "Because we had to change this plan, does it mean that we are fickle? Do you think I plan with my tongue in my cheek, saying 'yes' and meaning 'no'?" He then made an appeal for them to recall the original proclamation of Jesus Christ as brought by Silvanus, Timothy and himself. He used the language with which we head this article. So much for the background. Our real interest lies in the implications of the statement for those of us who have accepted Jesus on the basis of the apostolic proclamation.

     1. Jesus is not a doubtful quantity. Faith in Jesus must be established on the

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basis of human testimony, and that testimony must be subject to the same guides-lines and criteria which govern all establishment of fact by witnesses. If there is a sufficient number of witnesses, if it can be shown that they had ample opportunity to ascertain the facts to which they testify, and if their veracity cannot be impeached or their motivations be successfully impugned, the honest mind has no alternative but acceptance of the fact of their testimony.

     One knows what he experiences through the function of his own senses. He believes what others experience, upon the basis of valid or credible testimony. There are witnesses to the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. No one can deny these facts. To do that he would have had to be present at the time and prove that they did not happen. The only recourse now is to attack the witnesses and demonstrate by established rules of jurisprudence that they were either honestly mistaken or that they were deliberate deceivers.

     I have examined the witnesses. I have subjected their testimony to the rules of evidence. I am convinced beyond doubt that Jesus lived and that he was the Messiah, and God's Son. I am staking my life on it. If I did not believe in Jesus I could not believe that any person lived who died before I was born. It is either faith or prejudice, and I choose faith. I don't want to bet my life on a prejudice.

     2. Jesus is the divine "yes." This at once spells out the difference between existence under law and life in the Son. A system of law requires a codified compilation of "dos and don'ts." It fails on two important counts. It cannot make men good and it cannot give life. Law has the built-in power to justify but man does not have the potential to achieve it, so law actually brings the sentence of death. It is negative!

     But Jesus is positive. He is the expression in personality of the power which made the universe. He is creative. The tragedy of our day is that we have tried to cramp the Way into a legal system and by so doing we have emasculated it and destroyed its virility. It is no longer creative or transforming. The spirit of adventure and of conquest has departed and we have settled down to the long grind. We were not so much born to live as we are bored to death.

     Man was made for adventurous and imaginative living. He must search for transcendent experience, and the greatest experience of all should be the plugging into the power source of the universe. When he is shut off from this by false theological concepts he will turn to something else for a thrill. It is for this reason we need to investigate carefully those things to which men turn for relief from boredom and seek to determine the reason for their popularity.

     Now there are two things to which modern man looks for a thrill--gambling and drugs. These have always been prevalent in some parts of the world, but until recent times they were to be found as a way of life principally for the non-Christian parts of the earth. This is no longer true. They are actually more pronounced in our own country now than in the Far East. Why is it that, in a world where Christianity once dominated the thoughts of men, they are turning in increasing numbers to gambling and drugs?

     The answer seems to be that man no longer conceives of himself as a worker together with God. His job is slavery because he is chained to a desk or production line with only a paycheck as an incentive. He seeks for excitement in artificial ways, risking his money, which is now equated with his life, upon the horses or at the gaming-tables in Las Vegas. Religion, which is actually intended to cause us to lose our lives in order to gain them, has been turned over to professionals trained for the job. We are bored with it because, as a spectator sport, it cannot begin to compare with pro football with its actual crunch of direct encounter with the opposition.

     Those who turn to drugs are seeking to penetrate a world beyond the sensuous, to lift themselves out of the humdrum existence and soar into a realm of the "out yonder." Both gambling and drugs

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appeal to men because they offer exactly what relationship with Jesus was intended to offer. Indeed, early Christians were actually called "The Gamblers," because they literally risked their lives in a way that pagans did not dare.

     The church will have no real effect upon gambling and drug addiction by sitting in cushioned pews and listening apathetically to a polished preacher condemn them. Indeed, it is just such unrelated actions which cause some of the professed Christians to turn to drink, unlawful sex, or drugs. Our task is to put the element of risk or gambling back into life with Christ, and to demonstrate that the Way can put us into orbit in a manner which makes psychedelic drugs as tame as aspirin tablets. Jesus must again become the divine "yes"!

     3. Every divine promise finds its affirmative in him. There never was a promise given or a prophecy made by God that was not directly or indirectly related to Jesus. He is both the center and circumference of God's relationship with us. So true is this that we are told, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10).

     Every promise God ever gave is validated by the resurrection of Jesus. Upon this event, Jesus hinged the proof of his divine Sonship. Before his death he affirmed that God would raise him from the dead, and since God would not raise an impostor, the fact of his resurrection was the positive proof that he was who he claimed to be. But it also was the certification of the genuineness of all of the divine promises.

     4. Through Jesus the final Amen can be pronounced on all of God's purposes in the universe. The "amen" is the sanction or agreement which recognizes the truthfulness of that which is so attested. Man was made to glorify God and will find his ultimate in spiritual enrichment in sharing that glory. It is only through Jesus that such attainment is possible. Amen!