The Pleasure of God
W. Carl Ketcherside
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Millions of people living on this rotating flyspeck, first called earth by the Creator himself, believe that Jesus is the anointed one and the Son of God. They have never seen him with their eyes. They have never heard his voice. They have never touched him with their hands. But they are convinced, on the best evidence available to them as finite beings, that one originally called the Word, one who was with God and was God, became the first space traveler, spanning the distance between the third heaven and this whirling sphere, to make this "the visited planet," in a sense no other planet in the almost infinite galaxies can ever know.
The believers come from all nations, languages, tribes, and tongues. Some are black, some are yellow, some are red, some are brown, and some are white. They live in mansions and castles surrounded by vast expanses of well-trimmed greensward, and they live in bamboo huts in dank, fever-ridden jungles, amidst a tangle of vines and foliage Some of them speed in jet planes far above the clouds. Some of them pole crude canoes through hidden streams. Some of them plod behind dog teams in the frozen Arctic.
All of these are caught up in the human predicament. It is difficult for them to match their longings with their lives Earth has its pull upon their hearts as well as heaven. The teacher of philosophy in an erudite institution of learning and the simple native, clad only in a loin cloth, who slips along the jungle trail, both sense a feeling of inadequacy when confronted with the claims of Jesus. It is not easy for them to appreciate the invisible cord of divine love which makes them brothers, and binds them together in a common family circle.
Yet nothing is more evident to one who accepts as valid the testimony of those envoys to the pagan world, who were directly summoned, trained and qualified by Jesus himself, than the truth that he came to transcend all racial, social and national barriers. His mission was to span the chasm between God and man caused by sin, and made wider by the erosion of centuries, and by reconciling us unto God to reconcile us unto one another. He is the bridge over troubled waters, enabling us to rise up and cross over the churning
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In a particularly beautiful passage, which never fails to make my heart palpitate a little faster, Paul, who came on the scene a little late, but quickly made up for lost time, tells us what it is all about. Listen to this, and let it trickle down into the crannies of your soul and water your parched inner being with its life-giving hope.
"For in Christ our release is secured and our sins are forgiven through the shedding of his blood. Therein lies the richness of God's free grace lavished upon us, imparting full wisdom and insight, He has made known to us his hidden purpose--such was his will and pleasure determined beforehand in Christ--to be put into effect when the time was ripe: namely, that the universe, all in heaven and on earth, might be brought into a unity in Christ" (Ephesians 1:7-10).
Statements and sentences are like food. Some can be taken at a gulp, hastily swallowed so that the mental digestive system can get on with the task, and start breaking them down to extract the nutriment from them. But others need to be taken more deliberately with each morsel rolled about and savored over and over as it comes in contact with the intellectual taste buds and palate. It is thus I regard this glorious combination of words and thoughts expressing what is our magnificent heritage in Christ.
The hidden purpose of God, concealed through the ages is now disclosed. And that purpose is also both his will and pleasure. It is not just something God has to do in order to be God, but also something he wanted to do because he is God. It is not a will, calculating and contrived, to prove that, in the final analysis, God must have his way. It is his pleasure, cheerfully and eagerly entered into, a divine secret kept under the blanket of love until the right moment, and then uncovered with a burst of heavenly joy as a demonstration of the richness of free grace lavished upon us.
All of this was not a sudden whim, for it borders upon blasphemy to think of God as acting by caprice or upon momentary impulse. Instead, it was determined beforehand in Christ. That is why it will be translated into reality. God is able to see the end from the beginning. He calls things that be not as though they were. Whatever he determines he delineates The ultimate is perfect fulfillment of a perfect will. It will be put into effect when the time is ripe, and only God can test the times for ripeness.
What was the greatest secret, the mystery which was to fulfill the divine purpose, plan and pleasure? It was that the universe might be brought into a unity. The creation of God is a universe It is not a multiverse. There is not a single unrelated atom. The chain of relationship extends in an unfathomable and incomprehensible network which links all creation together. There is more to creation than the material. "In him, everything in heaven and on earth was created, not only things visible but also the invisible orders of thrones, sovereignties, authorities and powers: the whole universe has been created through him and for him" (Col. 1: 16).
Sin distorted the glorious artistry of creation. It defiled and alienated, divided and destroyed. But the will of the Creator is to see that unity u restored, not merely as relates to things on earth but things in heaven as well. This means that in Christ will be realized the purpose which gathers up every thread of history and weaves it into a pattern where there will be no crude design or frayed edges. The divine pleasure is to promote unity--universal unity--unity in Christ!
Now, the divine approach to this ideal is to call individuals from a life of sin, reconciling them to God so they may share in the life of God and breathe the fragrance upon others. "Christ was innocent of sin, and yet for our sake God made him one with the sinfulness of men, so that in him we might be made one with the goodness of God himself" (2
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Since this strategy has been in operation for nineteen centuries, why has it not been successful in bringing our part of the universe at least, into a greater sense of unity? That it has not is evident from the fact that alien ideologies have enslaved the minds of hundreds of millions, while there are uncounted millions more of our fellowmen who are unaware that God broke through the flesh curtain to share our misery in the form of a Son.
Certainly no simple answer to this question can be given. It is not a problem to be solved in twenty-five words or less. But basic to an understanding of it is a recognition that there is involved another master strategist, identified as "the commander of the spiritual powers of the air, the spirit that is now at work among God's rebel subjects" (Eph. 2: 2). Since the ultimate purpose of God is to unite things in heaven and things on earth, the demonic forces in the universe, under the direction of the Adversary, are united to thwart the accomplishment.
We will be guilty of a frightful misjudgment if we assume that we are at war only with human foes, that is, with flesh and blood. Our fight is "against cosmic powers, against the authorities and potentates of this dark world, against the superhuman forces of evil in the heavens." It was not an idle caution that we should "put on all the armor which God has provided, so that you may be able to stand firm against the devices of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). Nor must we ever forget to "take up the great shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (verse 16).
It would not require a great deal of acumen in military matters to determine the devices which the devil would employ to delay and hinder the forces of righteousness and stop their onward progress. As am army dedicated to uniting all things in the universe, if their ranks were divided, and they were led to engage in civil war, it is obvious that their goal would be forgotten and their own survival become the matter of greatest importance. If the vanguard could be deflected and thrown into confusion the eternal purpose would be stymied while the enemy picked off the soldiers at will.
No thoughtful student can deny that those who acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God, have been fragmented into warring sects, whose hostility toward other believers has actually been more intense than it has been toward evil. In this age when secularism and humanism have been drawn like shades over the windows of the mind, there will be those who refuse to credit the condition to Satan, forgetting that in their attempt to make man his own god, they must always end up making him his own devil. But whatever its origin or source, strife and division have characterized the believers in him who came and "preached peace to them that are afar off, and to them that are nigh."
More millions have been spent to enhance the sectarian image and to promote sectarian rivalry than have ever been devoted to securing the purpose of God. So-called "religious wars" have drawn more blood and been prolonged through more decades than any other. Fields of the earth have been fertilized with the crimson gore of millions. Cities have been ravaged and burned, nations have been decimated and families destroyed, all under the fanatical zeal fired by the thought that '--of such is the kingdom of heaven."
In addition to the carnal strife where men have shot each other down with all kinds of weapons from crossbows to cannon, there have been the creedal encounters in which partisan champions have pummeled each other with theological arguments and left scars which never healed and turned away thousands in disgust and disillusionment. The result is a current despair that anything can ever
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I do not share this pessimistic attitude. I am convinced that the purpose of God will triumph. I am also convinced that must actively participate in helping t bring the divine pleasure to fruition. It is true that what I cam do will be little, and, in the long run may appear insignificant, but he who blessed the few loaves and fishes can multiply our meager efforts and even feed a multitude. And we are obligated to plant and water and leave the increase to him.
What can we do that will make even a minor contribution for good? I should like to suggest two things. First, we can rediscover and point out the magnetic center to which all must be attracted, and around which we must all revolve if we are to be drawn together. We must re examine the new covenant scriptures and the history of the primitive saints and recover the true emphasis which had such impact upon the cruel world of the Caesars, and which motivated men with such a powerful dynamic that they freely gave themselves up to mockings, scourging and death.
This means that we must grasp afresh the basis of koinonia, or fellowship, which welded together men of every "tribe and language and people and nation." It was this sense of koinonia which bound them by indissoluble ties which persecution could not weaken and the thrust of death could not sever. In short we must find out how the early disciples "raised their voices as one man and called upon God." We must find out how "the whole body of believers was united in heart and soul."
Second, we must come to understand the real nature of the ekklesia, the called of God, that which, in some of our English versions is called "the church." We have done despite to the language of me Spirit, by talking about "churches," and making it appear that there is more than one, or that "a church" is an organization of men and women polarized around a creed, a peculiar doctrinal emphasis, or a specialized set of tenets. The Spirit of God never used ekklesia in any such manner, and to apply a term which ostensibly translates the word in such an arbitrary fashion is to confuse and confound.
There are not "three hundred churches" in the United States, or anywhere else. If we adopt the word "church" as a translation of ekklesia, there is only one church. There never has been but one. There never will be another. That church is not a human organization at all, nor can it ever become such. It is a divine organism. It is not a concoction of man but a creation of the Spirit. There is no such thing as The Methodist Church, The Baptist Church, The Presbyterian Church, The Roman Church, The Christian Church, or The Church of Christ. The word of God knows absolutely nothing of any of these. So long as we think in such terms we will contribute nothing to the unity of the believers, although we will no doubt add greatly to their confusion.
I say that we can help by clarification of these points, for it is from here that much of our trouble springs. So long as men have varied points of emphasis around which they polarize we will have schism and strife, and the sectarian spirit will be kindled anew every time someone feels that he has discovered a neglected point which needs affirmation and exaltation as a rallying point or standard. Each time a new tribe will withdraw and encamp around the banner and firmly resolve to battle to the death their former
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Of course, since God has already begun his work of bringing the universe into a unity in Christ by calling unto himself a people, reconciled and reconciling we must understand the nature of this ekklesia, or community of the redeemed. Is it intended to be an organization, an institution, or an "extension of the Incarnation," as some of my good friends in the "Church of Rome" say? If we mistake its nature we may be betrayed into creating or formulating something foreign to the plan and purpose of God, and seeking to pass it off as the one body. Just as there have been false Christs, so there have been false "bodies of Christ," and none who love the Lord should be interested in such spurious institutions.
It will help, at the outset, if we realize that the body of Christ is not a "Christian sect," according to the vocabulary of the age. It cannot be for the simple reason that it contains all of the saved upon earth. God not only calls us out of our state of sin and alienation, but he calls us together, because the purpose of calling us unto himself is to further the eternal purpose of uniting the universe in Christ. And he calls us into one body, for if he called us from our separation and segregation, our hostility and animosity, only to divide us again in Christ, little would be accomplished. God never added a person to anything except the one body. So far as heaven is concerned there is only one body, and we are either in it or not, regardless of what else we may be in.
But if the body of Christ is not a sect, it is also true that no sect is the body of Christ It cannot be because that which constitutes it a sect precludes it from being the one body. No sect contains all of the saved upon earth. If it did it would not be a sect. It would be the ekklesia. Any organization or institution which recognizes or admits that there may be some outside of its prescribed limits who are saved, by .that very judgment admits its own sectarian identity, A sect may contain some of the saved who are a part of the ekklesia, and it may contain some who are not saved, and are not a part of the ekklesia.
It seems obvious that sects keep those apart whom God has called to be together. They hinder the manifestation of communion. They act as obstacles to sharing, Since this is the case, the spirit which gives rise to sects, the party spirit, is wrong. It is contrary to the will of the Father It is a work of the flesh. Now this may be generally admitted and still we remain apart. The reason we do so is because each mistakes the sect with which he is affiliated with the body of Christ. To him it is "the Lord's church." He feels that if he does not defend the sect he is denying his commitment to Christ Jesus. Every sectarian holds the hope that some day divine providence will so arrange it that all sincere and honest persons on earth will see the superlative value of his system, equate it with the divine revelation, and will be drawn to it by a magnetic power, irresistible to those who love the truth.
However, there is no promise held forth that God will transmute any sect into the one body. All sects originated after the creation of the one body, and although they have existed co extensively with that body, and have sheltered many who were in it, the nature of the body is one thing and the nature of the sect is a wholly different thing. There is no way by which an existing sect with its power structures societies, agencies, institutions and organizations, can be transformed to become exclusively the one body.
Any attempt to promote the ekklesia of God by uniting sects or parties is doomed to failure. This is not to deride such efforts. It is not even to say there may be no pragmatic value derived from them. In a fragmented world it would seem better for people to work together, than in oppo-
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It is not even necessary that the devil be credited with fomenting such attempts at cooperation. It is possible that Satan gets credit for more things than he deserves, and while I would not want to cheat him out of any glory coming to him, a lot of times he is credited with creating things that we do not favor, or did not think of first. What I am saying is that the idea that such cooperation or amalgamation of forces constitutes the body of Christ is far from being correct. No confederacy of sects can ever be the body of our Lord. Such a federation may create a larger sect, and in doing so, may quell a great deal of the pettiness which seems to accompany the sectarian stance, and it may develop a more impressive, sophisticated and functional sect, but it will not be the one body of Christ.
The body of Christ is not even constituted of congregations, all of which subscribe to a recognized format of procedure by which to test their loyalty. Sects cam publish directories of those groups which the editor deems to be "loyal" and therefore, worthy of inclusion, and most of them do publish such. But these catalogues are simply lists of those places which outwardly, but not always inwardly, conform to a pre-determined and prescribed philosophy or rule. Such lists are convenient for those who wish to locate, associate or correspond with others who recognize certain positions as canonical, but they have no real relationship to the one body. No arbitrary listing, not even one compiled by an editor, has any relevance to the body of saints. Their names are enrolled in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and that book is not currently open or accessible to earthly reporters.
Nothing is clearer than the fact that the one body is composed of individuals. The apostle Paul said this in so many words. "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (I Corinthians 12:27). The members of the body are not sects, parties, factions or segments. To try and compose the body by uniting these is a useless pursuit. None of these have been, or can be baptized, and the body is composed of those who have been baptized. "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit." The body is made up of Jews and Greeks. It is composed of slaves and free men. It is not a coalition of sects but a community of saints.
When regarded as a flock, it is individuals who are the sheep. When regarded as a temple, it is individuals who are living stones. When regarded as a vine, it is individuals who are the branches. When regarded as a family, it is individuals who are the children. Some of these, of course, may belong to parties because of immaturity or carnality. Not all of the children and heirs of God are full-grown intellectually or emotionally. God has some mental dwarfs among his offspring. Not all of them have been able to conquer the fleshly tendency left over from childhood, to form tribes, clans and brotherhoods with their passwords and shibboleths. The tendency to huddle together in little groups of the initiated did not disappear with the original Gnostics.
This was true of the saints in Corinth to whom the apostle wrote more about the one body than to any other congregation. They were fragmented and schismatic. They were raucous with their party cries But the Spirit did not confuse their sectarian alliance with their relationship m Christ. They were in the body by the call of God who is faithful. They were in a party by their own choice. They were baptized into the one body, but they were badgered into schism. However, it must never be forgotten that it was these who came together "not for the better but for the worse ' who composed the one body at Corinth.
Paul did not once imply that their relationship in the sect cancelled their relationship to the head of the body. I do not intended to forget that as I write this year. I shall remember that no man on earth
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I shall also remember that no man on earth can remove another from the body of Christ. Neither the power of grafting or amputating has been conferred upon puny and finite man. Men can excommunicate others from their sects, because the sects originated with men. But excommunication from a sect does not mean amputation from the one body. Frequently, it is those who are beloved and respected in the one body, who are cast out of sects. One who seeks to live in conformity with the Lord may incur the wrath of those who seek conformity with the party.
I will remember that only the Holy Spirit can add one to the body of my precious Lord, and only the Spirit cam subtract one from the body. I trust that this will help me to overcome any tendencies toward bigotry and infallibility which may linger from the days when I walked after the flesh. And as I write, I shall seek to write in love for all who trust in Jesus. Despite the wide divergencies in our understanding and approach, if you love him as I love him, we have a common ground from God upon which to stand as we reason together about the problems which we face as we seek to contribute to the eternal plan and purpose of the ages. May God bless you all is my fervent prayer! It is our sincere prayer that you will read our sequel to this article next month.