Holidays

“I and My Father are One” (John 10:30)

At a funeral reception a short time ago, I was seated next to two middle-aged sisters.  “Well, I’ve got to go now,” said one, and then, after a pause in which they looked intently at each another, she continued, “Why are you LOOKING at me like that?”  The other one responded, “I’m not looking at you ANY way - You sound just like Dad!”  The first one answered, “Well, that’s good, because just like I told Dad, this is the only face I’ve got and I can’t LOOK any other way!”  And you and I can’t, either.

Much of the Western World has just completed Christmas, a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and it is wonderful to have such a day to celebrate our Lord.  He is actually not just for the “Western” world at all - He came to the earth through the East.  Perhaps that is partly what He meant when He said that a prophet is not recognized in his own land, because He is often not accepted in that part of the world.  When you think about it, by the way, there are 365 days in a year, and if He is indeed the Risen Christ who died for the sins of the world, it’s incredible that only a few days are devoted to Him.  People often neglect and reject those who can help them, and He is indeed our Helper, our Savior.

A week after Christmas comes a truly “Western” event, the “New Year,” a time set aside for celebration, which includes the making of vows that we will be somehow be better than before.  In whatever part of this world you may be, when you celebrate a New Year, the idea is the same – you hope that all will be better THIS year.  You hope that YOU will be better, but just the like the two sisters at the funeral reception, we really can’t BE anything else other than just are what we are!  Except that God can make a difference and we should take a look at this One who can CHANGE you and me.

ChristianGlobe.com quoted a Reader’s Digest article by Ann Spivack: “While our friends from India traveled around California on business, they left their 11 year-old daughter with us. Curious about my going to church… she decided to come along. When we returned home, my husband asked her what she thought of the service. ‘I don’t understand why the West Coast isn't included too,’ she replied. When we inquired what she meant, she added, ‘You know, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the whole East Coast.’”  She was, of course, referring to the “Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

Our understanding of God, including what is called the “Trinity” is often just as uncertain as it was for that little girl.  I do a lot of crossword puzzles, which is viewed by some as a compulsion, but others like to see it as “keeping our minds active.”  I vote for the latter.  A clue in a recent puzzle was “indivisible,” and the answer (to “38 Down” if you’re still doing that puzzle) turned out to be: “one,” a reminder of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  To be more than one and yet BE “One” is really more than we can understand.

The word “trinity” is not in the Bible, but instead the word was first coined by Theophilus of Antioch, in 180 AD, using the Greek word “trias” (trinity), about a subject that probably none of us comprehend.  Billy Graham said: “God the Father is fully God, God the Son is fully God, God the Holy Spirit is fully God. The Bible presents this as fact. It does not explain it.”  And the Bible does NOT teach that you have to get it right in order to receive the grace of God.  I like the word “indivisible,” mentioned earlier, describing persons who are “inseparable” or “undividable.”  They are “one” like in the puzzle.  And Jesus asked the Father, that you and I might be “one” as the Father and Son “are One” (John 17:22).  To BE “one” is far more important than to understand what it’s all about.

People aren’t really “one” effectively, which is why we don’t understand the Triune Nature of God.  Marriages are supposed to bring two people into “one,” but far too often they are warring partners who just happen to share the same home.  Business partners tend to break up.  Officials in governments usually can’t work together.  But God is utterly “One.”  To speak of God as a “plurality” just doesn’t grasp that He is indeed “One,” as in the “Schma” of Israel, Deuteronomy 6:4 – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.”  The word “shema” or “schma” simply means “hear,” which we are very slow to do.  “Lord” is “Yahweh” or “Jehovah,” and “God” is “Elohim,” the PLURAL form of “El” (God).  “Echad” is “One” which translates as “a plurality within one,” not unlike the way a country can be ONE nation composed of a number of territories and/or states and cities.

Genesis Chapter One, that famous Creation account written by Moses, consistently uses the word “Elohim” (the plural form of “God,” actually “Gods”) to describe the One who was doing the creating.  We find the “Spirit of God” (Genesis 1:2) in this process, presented as being a part of creating “the heavens and the earth” - we see Him “brooding” or “hovering” over “the face of the waters.”  The question continues: Who is God?  Who is Jesus?  We actually know less than we think we do, which may be a good thing, because those who know “everything” tend to be far less tolerant of other people.

Again, you don’t have to understand perfectly in order to be right with Him, and to be right with Him is the whole point.  Most people place God into “boxes” of words, but it’s infinitely better to KNOW Him than to be the first theologian on your block to get it right.

What should we want for today, for this New Year? – We should see that the Lord is greater than we thought.  He is able to be everywhere at the same time, and for that matter, He is not in “time” at all, but is in a setting, a “place” known as “eternity,” in which time does not exist.  It is always “right now” and a thousand years, a billion years are like a micro-second in time.  He can fill your heart and mine, knowing us separately, intimately, interacting with each one as though we are the only one, and yet we are many and He knows us all.  He is all powerful and could destroy this universe in an instant, but He is also all-knowing and will not stop any of this as long as there is one person who will place their trust in the Lord.  He not only knows – everything, but He also loves you without limit.

Jesus Christ revealed that, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).  He said, “I and My Father are One” (John 10:30).  He told us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).  He will change you.  Do you believe?  He is speaking to you right now, so let us pray:

Lord, I trust in You.  Forgive me, Lord, for all that is wrong in my life.  Fill me with Your Spirit and let me have peace with God.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.