9/1991 - The Ultimate End

We have discussed the nature of Christ as the ultimate source of all things—all life and light and energy. It is not just that He made all these things, but that He is the Essence of all these things. He is the Light of the world; He is the Substance of the universe by which "all things stand together."

In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead . . . The Godhead is a term that is applied to the totality of all that God is in the sum and in the parts. There are many names for God in His different facets and in the particulars of His expression and manifestation of Himself in material and spiritual existence. The word theotes has to do with the quality of "Godness" or Deity. The name God and its many derivatives and synonyms has more to do with the Deity in His relationship to humanity. The name El signifies the all-consuming power of God. But, of course, even the word power has its meaning only in relation to weakness, which of course is the status of humanity. Elohim is the plural of El and signifies the many facets of His power. It really reflects the multiplicity of the Divine Being. Nevertheless, it is a word tied to creation. It is the third word of the Bible—Bereshith bara Elohim—"In the beginning, God created." The first word of the Bible signifies the start of the time clock. Prior to that moment we are dealing with undifferentiated timelessness. Any effort to determine what it was that God was doing or what He was prior to that point is futile because it cannot be absorbed by the finite mind.

Prior to this time, the Godhead was unrelated to a space/time universe. It was brought into being by that facet of the Godhead—Christ—who emerged as a projection of the Deity and evolved the space/time continuum. It is in this projected Being that He produced both the material universe as a whole and the cosmos or earth as a very special object of His ultimate design and purpose.

But what then was the purpose of the Eternal Deity—self-contained, self-reliant, needing nothing—to fashion such a microcosm peopled by tiny microorganisms—little more than ionized particles in the vastness of space? There is no way that the human brain, a prisoner of time and space, can really rationalize this point. It has had to come as the revelation from the Deity Himself. And indeed He gave such a revelation in the Person of Christ—the Logos—the living revelation of God. People who do not recognize Christ as God’s revelation to us—even scientists (or especially scientists) stumble about in the "mine fields" of idiocy and make absurd statements that must continually be revised. Basing science on the obsession to get rid of God is like basing nuclear physics on the obsession to get rid of the atom. Paul makes it quite clear to the Corinthians that "the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to Him and He is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned [discerned in the spirit]" (I Corinthians 2:14). Actually, it is as absurd to think of this tiny particle conversing with the Deity as to think that an ant can crawl up on one’s nose and have a conversation.

So what then is the purpose of God? And what gives us the slightest sense that we can converse with God? What human could imagine such a thing? The truth is that humans did not "imagine such a thing." It comes only in the energy of the Holy Spirit. This little cocoon of ours could no more devise a Deity than a moth could devise a human. The answer lies, of course, in the Logos—the Living Revelation of God. He is the Essence of the Deity projected to humanity. By the same token, our interaction with God transcends the cocoon by reason of the Seed of the Spirit that is planted within us. Our spirit converses with the Spirit of God, completely beyond the capacity of the human mind. Paul says to the Romans—"His Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).

You are fulfilled in Him . . . John says "Of His fullness have all we received" (John 1:16). To the Ephesians Paul says that the Church is His body—"The fullness of the One who fulfills all things in all" (Ephesians 1:23). The implication of these passages is that there is a facet of the Eternal Deity which was ultimately rounded out in humanity. The ultimate expression of this was in Christ, who was the perfect embodiment of both Deity and humanity. It could be said that Deity unexpressed and unrelated is less glorious then Deity magnified as it is displayed against the backdrop of humanity. Probably the absolute meaning of the whole issue is not possible for us to grasp with our human minds. Thus Paul says that now we think like children, but ultimately "we shall know as we are known" (I Corinthians 13:12).

Whether or not we understand it, the ultimate end or purpose of all things in God and His universe includes us, his human creatures. One day we will know why—now we must only speculate and wonder. It is also certain that in the creating of these creatures, God provided an awesome capacity for interaction with Himself, through His Spirit which He implanted in all who believe. To the Romans, Paul suggested that this communion between the Spirit of God and our spirits transcends the trivial confines of the human cocoon and meets God in the eternal realm of His Spirit. (Romans 8:26). Since the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, our interactions with God are realized in our own "Temple of the Spirit" within us. Jesus made this clear to the Samaritan woman at the well—"They that worship the Father must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Our worship today as Christians was prefigured in the continual burnt offering of Leviticus. From our spirits within, the Spirit of Christ maintains a continuous communion with the Eternal Godhead and we become His chief end and purpose.