About Theology

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     I must confess that I am not too "sold" on what is commonly called theology, and I am not sure that you could run fast enough to enroll me in a course on "systematic theology." I really doubt there is such a thing. But men in the seminaries all seem to have an acute case of the "ologies." This probably stems from an attempt to ape the professional jargon of scholastics who learnedly discourse on such themes as embryology, biology, zoology, anthropology, and cosmetology. It is assumed that, if the physical creation can be so segmented that the new creation should be subjected to the same kind of dissection. So we are treated to dissertations on Christology, ecclesiology, pneumatology, soteriology, eschatology, and a score of other categories, which are intended to exhaust the content of revelation and the vitality and strength of the unfortunate student. By the time he learns to spell them he has already flunked.

     If you will pardon me for inserting another "ology," I would like to suggest that, from the standpoint of etymology, I seriously question the use of such phraseology (oops! there it goes again!) as "a theology of atonement)" "a theology of preaching," or "a theology of the Spirit." I shall never forget an occasion when I was much younger, and much more gullible, than I am now. I had been invited to a small seminary to address the student body in a chapel service, and, as usual, a number of instructors "button-holed" me to come and speak to their classes.

     A history professor informed me that his next class had a project going in which they were studying the origin and meaning of names and their possible relationship to behavioral patterns. He wanted me to address the group and I consented to do so. When the students were seated, he said, "I would like for you to get your notebooks and prepare to use them as I have asked Dr. Ketcherside to share with us some of his deep insights in the field of onomasiology."

     For just a minute I thought I had suffered a heart attack, and almost did a back-flip off the chair. To begin with, it was the first time anyone had ever mistaken me for a doctor in broad daylight, and in the second place, if "onomasiology" had sat up on his hind legs and barked in my face, I wouldn't have known whether to pat him on the head or climb a tree. But it taught me one very valuable lesson. Before I agree to speak to any group when requested to do so by a professor, I always ask him to repeat the subject slowly, like a woman getting a prescription from the doctor for her husband. Professors are a lot like preachers. When they get a new word, they are like a kid with a new Shetland pony. They ride it to death the first Sunday.

     Having disgressed so far afield, let me

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return to my initial statement and tell you that my "theology" is a person, and not "a group of concepts and phenomena regarded as constituting a natural whole for purposes of philosophic or scientific investigation and construction." In case you do not know it, that last is a definition for system. Theology, as a word, is a combination of theos, God; and logos, Word. And the Word of God is a person who was with God, and was God, a long time before this material universe was spoken into existence, and things you can see were made of things you cannot see.

     You can describe a person, but you cannot systematize him. You cannot even systematize a son of God, of whom I have the honor to be one; much less "the only begotten Son of God." And I think that one of the most thrilling descriptions of the Theos-Logos, the divine Theology, is furnished by the aged John, who was at the time an exile upon the lonely and deserted island called Patmos. The way we divide up the incomparable account of the Seer, we make the part to which I refer occur in what we designate Revelation 19:11-16.

     "Then I saw heaven wide open, and there before me was a white horse; and its rider's name was Faithful and True, for he is just in judgment and just in war. His eyes flamed like fire and on his head were many diadems. Written upon him was a name known to none but himself, and he was robed in a garment drenched in blood. He was called the Word of God, and the armies of heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, clean and shining. From his mouth there went a sharp sword with which to smite the nations; for it is he who shall rule them with an iron rod, and tread the winepress of the wrath and retribution of God the sovereign Lord. And on his robe and on his leg there was written the name: 'King of kings and Lord of lords.'"

     John saw my theology riding a white horse! If theology is what gives meaning to life, he is the one who gives it If theology is the basis of spiritual faith, he is that basis. I have a whole shelf of books containing lectures on systematic theology. I have read them with interest, and have been grateful for the fact that they have forced me to think. But now the fruit of my thinking is that Jesus is the whole of life and service to God. He is the fulness of Him who filleth all in all. He has been made unto me wisdom, and redemption and sanctification. He is rightfully called "the Word of God." He is the Theos-Logos and he is my life, my hope, my peace! He is everything to me!

     That brings me to the place I have been wanting to reach ever since I started this article. I've been doing a great deal of reading lately about the book of Revelation, and a lot of it has been in the writing of contemporary "theologians." Some of these are pretty foggy about what happened in the case of John. As usual, there are a few of them who think John may not have written the book at all. They speculate that it might have been penned by an obscure author who wanted to secure greater readership by attaching John's name to the treatise. This is a dodge of those who also want to gain recognition for their speculations.

     Among those who credit the book to the apostle there is a great divergency of opinion as to whether John saw an unfolding panorama featuring the dramatic characters that he introduces, or whether he just dreamed up the whole thing and wrote it down in allegorical language. Some think the apocalyptic style represents a form of communication intelligible to the Christian underground, but concealed from the Romans, so that the writer could portray the eventual overthrow of the Empire and the triumph of the kingdom of light without the Romans' knowing what he was talking about. On this supposition, a lot of the commentators must be Romans.

     Perhaps I am a little too traditional, but my own views are quite prosaic. I think that the apostle, who had been living in Ephesus since the destruction of Jerusalem by the forces of Titus, had been sentenced to banishment by the

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emperor Domitian, and while he was on Patmos, God chose to reveal to him what was to be the outcome of the great struggle of the ages. There has always been a real conflict produced by the selfish ambition of men. Two philosophies have jostled one another for control ever since Satan began to pull the strings and to use the developing social and political institutions as his "flying wedge." I suspect there may have been some reason for doubt in the mind of John as to which would outlast the other. It was a good time for God to reveal the outcome since he alone knows the end from the beginning.

     In the first chapter he details for us what happened while he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and then he conveys a special message to the messengers sent over to minister unto him by each of the seven congregations singled out in Asia Minor. But it is the fourth chapter where he starts to unfold the great drama of the universe. And he begins, as did Isaiah and Ezekiel, with a view of the majestic throne room of heaven.

     "After this I looked, and there before my eyes was a door opened in heaven; and the voice that I had at first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must happen hereafter!' At once I was caught up by the Spirit."

     A door in prophecy symbolizes opportunity. When it is open it is an opportunity present, or at hand; when it is closed it is an opportunity past or forfeited. Heaven contains the secret of the future of our world. Ordinarily it is not divulged to mankind. "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong unto us and our children forever." Even to the apostles it was said, "It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father has placed under his own control."

     But when a door is opened in heaven, a prophet is permitted to glance into the future so that he can reveal to us what will happen hereafter. Prophecy is a record of events before they occur; history is an account of those events after they occur. Such distinctions are made for our benefit. With God there is no difference. He calls the things that be not as though they were.

     John saw a throne in heaven. A throne symbolizes authority or rule, but this throne was different. Being in heaven, it was the source of all power, for "All power is of God. The powers that be are ordained of God." Here was universal dominion, authority in the absolute, grounded in the nature and character of the personal Creator of the entire universe. It was not raw power, but power clothed in the goodness, mercy and justice of the Eternal One, who was, and is, and is to be!

     The description of the One who sat upon the throne was borrowed from the precious gems of nature. His appearance was like the scintillating gleam of jasper and the light flashes of cornelian. This is a verbal attempt to paint the glory of Deity in a language which finite creatures can understand. Arched above and around the throne was a rainbow, bright as an emerald, a symbol cf God's faithfulness to his covenant promises from the day when he set his bow in the sky, after the catastrophe of the deluge.

     In a circle about the throne were twenty-four other thrones, on which sat as many ancients robed in white, and wearing crowns of gold. Inside of this circle and immediately around the throne

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were the four living creatures. Isaiah identified them as the seraphim. Ezekiel called them cherubim. They were covered with eyes, in front and behind. This is but another way of saying that they were omniscient, or all-seeing. The first was like a lion (strength), the second like an ox (humility), the third like a man (intelligence), the fourth like an eagle in flight (swiftness and exaltation). These are the qualities befitting the celestial messengers of God.

     The living creatures sang before the throne day and night without a pause. Their song was an unvarying ascription of praise. "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." John said they gave glory, honor and thanks to the One who sat upon the throne. As often as they did so the twenty-four ancients left their thrones, fell prostrate before the great throne and laid their crowns before it, and cried out, "Thou art worthy, 0 Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, because thou didst create all things; by thy will they were created and have their being!"

     Another thing caught the attention of John. He saw in the right hand of the One who sat upon the throne a scroll. It was written within and without, and it was sealed with seven seals. Subsequent study will reveal that this scroll contained the history or destiny of the world as well as that of the kingdom on earth. It was written on both sides, and thus was complete. There was no room for new material to be added. God held the whole world in his hand. The history was so written that, as each seal was broken, another era would be ushered in. The future is sealed until the providence of God releases it. The number seven represents completeness. When applied to time it signifies its fulness.

     As John looked, he heard a mighty angel asking in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?" The prophet was anxious for he could not know the ultimate destiny of God's people so long as the seals were intact. But no one could be found in heaven or on earth or in the nether regions who was able to open the scroll and peer inside it and reveal its contents. In his disappointment and frustration, John burst into tears. He was the last survivor of the little group whom Jesus had called about Him, and he desperately wanted to know what the future held for the kingdom.

     One of the ancients interrupted his crying, with the words, "Do not weep; for the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won the right to open the scroll and break its seven seals." The aged apostle looked up through the shimmer of his tears to see the Lion. He was treated to an awe-inspiring sight, bat there was no Lion visible. Inside the circle of the four seraphim and the circle of the worshipful ancients, there stood a Lamb. The marks of slaughter were still upon him. It was evident that the Lamb had been killed and now was alive again.

     The Lamb went forward and took the scroll from the hand of the One who sat upon the throne. When he had done this, all of the celestial beings threw themselves down before him. They burst into a new song, a hymn of adoration never before sung in the history of the universe. "Thou art worthy to take the scroll and to break its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst purchase for God men of every tribe and language, people and nation; thou hast made them a royal house, to serve our God as priests; and they shall reign upon earth."

     Then John heard the voices of countless angels. They completely surrounded

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the throne and the living creatures and the ancients. There were myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands, and all of them were singing praise to the Lamb. Suddenly the song was joined by every created thing in heaven and on earth and in the subterranean regions and even in the sea. All that was in them cried out joyously, "Praise and honor, glory and might, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!" The seraphim said "Amen." And the ancients fell down and worshiped. And the Lamb prepared to break the seals.

     Here is the way I view the matter. It is always a thrilling occasion when a transfer of authority takes place. That is true even in a republic such as the United States of America. I have watched the pageantry which celebrates the accession to office of several of our presidents. Some features about it almost make "goose-pimples" come out on your flesh. Even more splendor is manifested in the pomp and ceremony which accompanies investiture in a monarchy. I can only faintly imagine the feelings in the heart of the aged Galilean ex-fisherman, who was allowed to look into heaven and view the single, most important event ever to transpire in the celestial courts as related to the earthly creatures made in the image of the Creator.

     1. There was only one person in the entire universe to whom the Creator could surrender the destiny of the cosmos. There are three spheres inhabited by intelligent beings- -heaven, earth, and the nether regions. No being from beyond the skies, no being from the teeming millions inhabiting this globe, no being from the subterranean vaults, could qualify to receive the scroll and remove the seals one by one. If it had been left up to the intellectual prowess of created beings, celestial or terrestrial, our future would have been shrouded in darkness and oblivion would have been our fate.

     2. The Lamb of God "won the right to open the scroll and break its seven seals." This is the testimony of one of the ancients of heaven. The destiny of mankind and the fate of the earth depended upon his willingness to empty himself of the glory of the divine and take upon himself the form of a slave. He identified with men in the life struggle and in the death struggle. In the first he overcame temptation, and in the second he overcame the bondage which was the result of the venomed sting of sin. He burst the gates of the unseen wide open!

     That is why the ancients, each holdmg a harp and a golden bowl filled with incense, the prayers of the people of God, sang a grand new song, composed for the occasion. "Thou art worthy to take the scroll and to break its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst purchase for God men of every tribe and language and people and nation." The Lamb willingly laid down his life and won the right to rule by a blood-bought purchase of such transcendent significance that the world can hardly comprehend it even yet.

     3. The Lamb is identified with the Lion of Judah and the Root of David. This is a tremendously important fact

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Even though he came from heaven and was with God and was God, when he came to earth he came into the historical stream of human existence, a stream which began to flow with Adam, the created son of God. That stream was often polluted. It was corrupted even by Judah and David, but he who plunged into it was never a partaker of the corruption. He just paid the price for the corruption of men.

     The Lamb was the subject of the prophets who had gone before. He did not come to earth as a kind of after-thought of God. His coining had been foretold and the earthly lineage selected. As the Lion of Judah he was destined to prevail, as the Root of David he was the assurance that the promises of God would not fail, but even out of the dry ground could be resurrected a branch or shoot that would live and bear fruit.

     4. The Lamb is also identified with the man on the white horse about whom we wrote earlier in this little treatise. But there is one great difference. The Lamb with the marks of slaughter was beginning the period which would result in the triumph of righteousness, while the One on the horse, followed by the armies of heaven, was preparing to close it, having established the rule of heaven. The final great conflict was in the immediate offing and there was no question about the result. Victory was assured. The beast and the false prophet, the leaders of the opposition through the ages, were to be taken prisoner and cast into the lake of fire with its sulphurous flames.

     5. Never was there a more solemn moment in time than when the Lamb stepped forward and received the scroll of destiny from the right hand of the One who sat upon the throne. When he did this he held the future of the universe in his grasp. From the hand of the Creator into the hand of his Anointed was given over the right to rule and govern the destiny of the creation. The Lamb of God has not relinquished it until this day. He must retain it until he has abolished every kind of power.

     I have surrendered to him fully, completely and unconditionally. I belong to him without reservation. It is my firm conviction that he alone can bring order out of that chaos into which men have plunged the world by reason of sin and transgression. I intend to give my allegiance to no other I will not be the spiritual or moral subject of any other ruler. I will not be the vassal of any other lord. Because I belong to him I shall seek to love all men as he loved them. I will not be regulated, limited or controlled in my exercise of affection by any group, party or sect. I will not bargain with love as a commodity that can be bought or sold, and I will never compromise with any group which demands that I cease to love others in order to be loved by them.

     I expect to see him who purchased me with his blood. I will look upon his face. My deliverer will come from heaven, and transform this body belonging to my present humble state. He will give it a form like that of his own resplendent body, and he will do it by the very power which enables him to make all things subject unto himself. I know that I am a child of God here and now. What I shall be has not yet been disclosed, but I know that when it is disclosed I shall be like him, for I shall see him as he is!

     None of this has happened to me because I deserved it, or was worthy of it. I was not so good that God simply had to adopt me. It was quite the reverse. There wasn't really anything that would commend me to him as holding forth any real promise. That is why the whole thing is a matter of grace, and not just a matter of my own works or accomplishment. I just came to trust in Jesus because there wasn't anything in my own life in which I could trust at all. I am glad that it was so, because that precludes any pride or boasting. I do not have to match my life to that of anyone else. I do not need to compare notes on relative attainments.

     And this makes it much easier for me to accept others as they are when they

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come to rely on Jesus as their only hope. I can do it because that is the way God accepted me. All I had going for me was just my faith that somehow Jesus would straighten things out if I allowed him to take command. It was apparent that my compass was askew and my rudder was bent. I was not steering a very straight course, for all my bragging about my knowledge, which I now know was very feeble indeed. What a thrill it is to know that it is not what one knows but who one knows that makes the difference.

     Jesus is the center and circumference of the whole realm of saving grace. He is the center and to him all must be attracted and drawn by the magnetic force of the dynamic of love. He is the center and from him all truth radiates forth. And what does not come from him has no validity with reference to my salvation. But he is also the circumference, holding us close to God and shielding us from a world of sin and strife.

     We make a mistake when we try to gather Jesus in and box him up and build a fence around him. In our vain struggle to keep him only for self we lose him. We need to belong only to Jesus, but we err when we think this means that Jesus must belong only to us. There is room in Jesus! He is not narrow, sectional or partisan. There is room for those who are black and those who are white. There is room for Jew and Greek. There is room for employer and employee. There is room for those who are rich and for those who are poor.

     But there is no room for pride! I dare not be proud that I am white, nor another proud that he is black. In Christ one cannot be proud that he is a Jew, nor can another be proud that he is not. Whatever we were by natural birth must be buried in the grave of baptism. He who comes forth from it comes forth in newness of life. That which he once trusted he no longer trusts. That which he formerly bragged about is now to be flung in the garbage can of life. To build solely upon Jesus is to admit that all else is worthless as a basis of hope.

     I am a follower of the Lamb! He rules the universe! He took the scroll of destiny and when the final seal is opened, he will be King of kings and Lord of lords, and the whole creation will know it. I know it now! And I am thankful that my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. He is Peace! He is Joy! He is Truth! He is Life! He is where it all is, and when I am with him I am where it all is! It is just that simple and there's nothing about it hard to understand! "For we know that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life, will with Jesus raise us too, and bring us to his presence, and you with us."