I AM
The Being of God as the Ultimate Reality
“And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM; and He said, You
shall say this to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:14
“You shall not take vengeance, and not bear any grudge
against the sons of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself,
I am Jehovah.” Leviticus 19:18
“Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah. And you shall love Jehovah your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5
“And they shall know that I am Jehovah.” Multiple times in Ezekiel
“Have good courage.
I AM! Do not fear.” Mark 6:50c
The
How-To reigns supreme in 21st century America. This is grieving, as they are a deadly
poison. This is so for one simple
reason—it places all on men. This is
legalism which is a cover for pride. The
proud man’s claim is that he is God.
(Isaiah 14:13) This denies the
ultimate reality, the Being of God.
The
Being of God is called the “Ultimate Reality” for many reasons. For one, it makes common sense. If God is not, then nothing is, for, “All
things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came
into being that has come into being.”
(John 1:3) Secondly, God’s Being
is the Ultimate Reality because not only do all existing things trace their
origin to Him, but all so all truth comes from Him. On more than one occasion I have had a friend
of mine ask me, “Why?” and then continue to press the same question on my
answers over and over again. The end
result is the same every time, “Because God IS.” No matter what subject is considered, the
ultimate reason for its reality is the Being of God.
Thirdly,
and most prominently, God’s Being is presented as the Ultimate Reality in the
Bible. The most vivid example is Exodus
3:14, but the concept shows up over and over again throughout the Scriptures. In the Law of the Old Testament it shows up
as the foundational reason for Law. Even
the preface to the Ten Commandments highlights this truth, “I am Jehovah your
God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage,
you shall have no other gods before Me.”
-Exodus 20:-3. Throughout Leviticus
it appears again, “I am Jehovah,” tacked onto many various laws and codes. In Ezekiel the phrase, “And they shall know
that I am Jehovah,” appears time and time again, as the very purpose for His
judgement. In Revelation He says, “I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, the One
Being, and the One who Was, and the One who Is Coming, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)
The
Bible begins with, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,”
(Genesis 1:1) which assumes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
Obviously
this is an extremely weighty topic. It
actually carries its weight over all facets of Reality, making it the
weightiest topic of all. The Scripture
makes the due note of this via preponderance.
Repetition is the weight of ancient literature and men would do well not
to overlook God when hastily searching for “how to” live their lives. Interestingly, the answers are there, in the
Bible, but rarely are they worded in the desired, obvious way. They are contained in God’s Self-Revelation,
not God’s Rulebook. As with other
things, the earthly comes not when the earthly is sought, but in search of the
heavenly the earthly is also included.
As
mentioned above, the Being of God is cited as the purpose of the Ten
Commandments. This is far from
arbitrary. Webster (1828) defines Law,
“A rule, particularly an established or permanent rule, prescribed by the
supreme power of a state to its subjects, for regulating their actions,
particularly their socials actions.” The
American Declaration speaks of the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,” which
Webster defines, “Law of nature, is a rule of conduct arising out of natural
relations of human beings established by the Creator, and existing prior to any
positive precept.” In other words, since
it is natural law, it is binding whether or not it is known in writing, or
enforced by a worldly government. Why
are these things natural, though? Romans
makes the truth known that even the nations without the written law have an
inward knowledge thereof; “Who having known the ordinance of God, that the ones
practicing such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but also approve
the ones practicing them.” -Romans 1:32
(He speaks here of the ignorant nations, see v.18-31). Chapter 2 furthers this point. (Romans 2:11-16) Why, though, is this Law common and binding
to all men? Why are these “natural,” and
we do not do them, yea, cannot without the Holy Spirit’s power? Genesis 1:26-27, “Let Us make man in Our own
image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea,
and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over all the creepers creeping on the earth. And God created the man in His own image; in
the image of God He created Him. He
created them male and female.” Since
mankind is created in the image of God, men are to be like God. This is the same concept at work in Acts
11:26, “And the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch,” and also in
Romans 8:29, “because whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed
to the image of His Son, For Him to be the First-born among many brethren.” We were made in the image of God, and in
Christ, we are conformed to His image.
This bears an important distinction.
Because we are created in God’s image, we are made in such a way as we
may only properly function as He does.
In other words, right morality, character, or behavior is when a man
acts like God. Of course, this does not
mean that a man should act as if he is
God. This would be a flat denial of the very
Ultimate Reality now under examination.
So when I say men are to be like God, I mean it in the sense of
principle and character, not at all in the sense of station or essence. Jesus Christ is indeed, “Very God and very
man,” (Creed of Chalcedon, AD 451, see Hebrews 1:3), so it is true that Jesus
Christ is God, but men are not God. As
our Savior Himself said, “It is enough for the disciple to become as his
teacher.” –Matthew 10:25 So then, when
God reveals His Law in the Old Testament, He is, in fact, revealing to us what
He is like. This comes out especially in
the fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…for in six
days Jehovah created the heavens and the earth and the sea, and all that is in
them, and on the seventh day He rested.
It is on account of this that Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and
sanctified it.” –Exodus 20:8,11. He here
outlines particularly for us the reason for His mandate on our behavior. It follows the pattern,”You shall do or be
this, because I am this way.” The
principle is highlighted in a much more straightforward way in the passage, “Be
holy because I am holy.” –I Peter 1:16, quoting Leviticus 19:2. Even before this, He says to Abraham, “I am
the Almighty God! Walk before Me and be
perfect…” –Genesis 17:1b
All this
to say that who God IS forms the foundation for understanding right human
behavior. This principle is firmly
rooted in the Old Testament Law. The Ten
Commandments with explanations as per God’s Being follow:
1. And God spoke
all these words, saying, I am Jehovah your God who brought you out from the
land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; you shall not have any other gods
before Me.
This commandment comes with its own explanation. “I am Jehovah your God…” Considering that Jehovah
is God makes having any other god positively absurd. When the Israelites on Mt. Carmel saw the
fire from Heaven come down on Elijah’s altar, notice their response, “And the
people saw, and they fell on their faces, and said, Jehovah, He is the God,
Jehovah He is the God.” -I Kings 18:39
2. You shall not
make a graven image for yourself, or any likeness in the heavens above, or in
the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, you shall not bow to them
and you shall not serve them; for I am Jehovah your God, a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and on the
fourth generation to those that hate Me, and doing kindness to thousands, to
the ones loving Me and to the ones keeping My commandments.
This commandment is elaborated on in Romans 1, which describes
the descent of the lost. “Because
knowing God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful. But they became vain in their reasonings, and
their undiscerning heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise ones, they became foolish, and changed the glory
of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and
of birds, and four-footed animals, and creping things.’ –Romans 1:21-23. This command is again given with a built-in
explanation: “For Jehovah your God is a jealous God.” (In Hebrew, El Qana) This word, which we translate as “jealous”
nearly every time, is used sparsely throughout the Old Testament, and a few
times the New Testament. (47 and 5, respectively) The word is quite frequently used justly, that
is, jealousy is a good thing in most occurrences of the word. Quite notably is the time that appears in
Numbers 5, the Trial of Jealousy. This
passage describes the procedure for a husband to know whether his wife has
cheated on him. Thus jealousy is for the
married. The purpose of associating a marital
behavior with the prohibition of idolatry will be discussed under marriage.
3. You shall not
take the name of Jehovah your God in vain, for Jehovah will not leave unpunished
the one taking His name in vain.
The built–in reasoning of the third commandment appeals to
the justice of God. But why? Because God IS, and He is worthy. To take His name in vain means to esteem Him
as worthless. But He is not, in fact,
worthless. He is glorious, (Hebrew- heavy),
and He is worthy, (Greek- deserving). As
such He will not tolerate those who refuse to recognize His worth, but in their
discounting of Him, He will judge them.
And consider this: He calls Himself by name in this command twice. I AM.
Think this of it: in proper consideration of who God IS, what man can
take His name lightly? What man can
abuse the Name wherein is contained the summary of all truth?
4. Remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days
you shall labor and do all your work, and the seventh day is a Sabbath to
Jehovah your God; you shall not do any work, you, and your son, and your daughter,
and your male slave, and you slave-girl, your livestock, and your stranger who
is in your gates. For in six days Jehovah
created the heavens and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, and on
the seventh day He rested. It is on
account of this that Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.
The fourth commandment comes with the longest
explanation, making it the longest command of the ten. The pattern of, “Do or be this because I am
this way,” as stated above, is greatly at work here.
5. Honor your
father and mother, so that your days may be long on the land which Jehovah your
God is giving to you.
As Ephesians 6:2 says, “which is the first commandment
with a promise.” In this we see Jesus obeying,
which (for He is God) demonstrates the origin of this commandment in the Divine
Nature. John 8:49-50 says, “Jesus
answered, I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and your dishonor
Me. But I do not seek My glory; there is
One who seeks and judges.” The first
four commandments deal with men and God, and the final six deal with man and
his neighbor. Thus we actually have a
picture in these commandments of the inner workings of the Trinity. Jehovah is the One God in three Persons,
which means that He relates to Himself, which actually forms the foundation of
all earthly interpersonal relations. The
concepts of love, respect, authority, and honor may all be seen within God
Himself, providing the example and the Truth for those arenas in our own
lives. See this in John 17:1-5
6. You shall not
murder.
God is Life. “Jesus
says to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” –John 14:6
“For even as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave also to the Son to have
life in Himself.” –John 5:26 The prohibition of murder is found even
earlier when Jehovah speaks to Noah and his family. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood shall
be shed by man. For He made man in the
image of God.” - Genesis 9:6 Not to
mention that God accused Cain, though no law was yet written down. “What have you done? The voice of the blood
of your brother cries to Me from the ground.”
-Genesis 4:10 It is evident that murder is wrong because it is contrary
to God’s nature. In Genesis 9 it cites
that man was made in God’s image. To
murder then is to deny that truth.
7. You shall not
commit adultery.
“And know that Jehovah your God He is God, the faithful
God, keeping the covenant and mercy to those who love Him, and to those who
keep His commands, to a thousand generations.”
-Deuteronomy 7:9 “And the man said, this now at length is bond from my
bone, and flesh from
my flesh, for this shall be called Woman, because this
has been taken out of man. Therefore, a
man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cling to his wife, and
they shall become one flesh.” -Genesis
2:23-24 Note also that adultery and idolatry are closely linked in the Scripture,
the former being the fleshly version and the latter being the spiritual
version. Hosea 1:2 illustrates this point:
“The beginning o the speaking of Jehovah by Hosea. And Jehovah said to Hosea, Go take to
yourself a wife of adultery, and children of adultery. For fornicating she goes fornicating away
from Jehovah.” This parallel makes sense
considering the plan for intimacy and covenant faithfulness in both
relationships. But the earthly is a
shadow of the heavenly. (See also
Ezekiel 16, John 3:29, James 4:4, and Rev. 21)
8. You shall not
steal.
God gives. “Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights, with whom there is no variance or shadow of turning.” -James 1:17. Who is man to take for himself what Almighty
God has not given to him? “The earth is
Jehovah’s and the fullness of it.” –Psalm 24:1
9. You shall not
testify a witness of falsehood against your neighbor.
God is Truth. (John
14:6) He cannot lie. (Titus 1:2, Heb. 6:18)
10. You shall not covet
your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male slave,
or his slave-girl, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
This commandment receives a very interesting commentary
in Hebrews 13:5-6, “Set your way of life without money-loving, being satisfied
with present things, for He has said, Not at all will I leave you, not at all
will I forsake you, never! So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper,
and I will not be afraid, what shall man do to me?” So it appears that knowing God makes
covetousness absurd. This stands to Scripture
and reason. Who, obsessing God in
Christ, and the riches of His glory, would then instantly turn to his neighbor and
want what he has? Are these things not
petty to him who knows God? And consider
this yet: God is not covetous. He has
everything! Who are we to doubt and
rebel against the All-Wise distribution of Providence?
It is
evident, therefore, even in only the Ten Commandments, that the Being of God is
the driving force behind their existence.
Yet the Law must surely come into consideration from another angle: the
Gospel. Considering Law in light of
Gospel was a particularly raging controversy in the Apostolic period, meaning
that we now have a great host of literature on the topic: Galatians, Hebrews,
and a fair chunk of Romans and James, and a representation in most other epistles. And in our day we can see God’s wisdom for
its great attention in the canon.
When
considering that the Law is a revelation of who God IS, the statement, “For all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23) makes all
the more sense. Sin as falling short of
the glory of God, and not merely,”Sin is lawlessness.” (I John 3:4) or the defiance of a written
code, but in fact, a denial of the Ultimate Reality, it is in fact all the more
grievous. God’s laws are far from
arbitrary. They are His very
nature. So beyond merely defying a code,
mankind has defied GOD. This is a
serious problem.
God
created man in His own image to be like Him.
Now, that is, after the Fall, Man lost his communion with God. Why?
Now he is stained, that is, part of him is no longer like God in any way. In perfect purity and holiness God thrust man
away. Nothing unlike Himself, yea,
defying Him, can remain in His presence.
Yet God still loves this peculiar creation of His, this Divine Image in
rebellion. No doubt the devil had a
party for the Fall of Man. “Now God will
have to destroy all of them in His holy wrath.
Muahaha!” Au Contraire, God has a
plan.
So off
He goes on a four-millennium-long plan to rescue His peculiar men from their
rebellious plight. But lest we think
that God had an obligation to us for this consider again His nature. The men He loves have incurred His
wrath. His nature automatically toasts ungodliness
and imperfection. Now that is us. What shall He do? Toast us?
Or remain near us despite our sin?
He must do the former. His nature
demands it. But His love is still in
place. And though we are under His
wrath, He earnestly desires us to be reconciled to Him. But how can this be? Behold the glorious unfolding of history:
He wipes
the earth clean in Noah’s day and shortens men’s lives. He picks Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to father
His chosen nation, Israel. He shows His
might to Israel in the Exodus. He sets
forth an entire code of laws for morality, justice, and sacrifice, revealing His
holiness, man’s imperfection, and a type of what Messiah must do to reconcile men
to God. The sacrificial system gives the
context needed to understand why why’s behind Jesus’ atonement, etc. He demonstrates man’s imperfection and his
might through Israel for a millennium.
Failed priests, judges, prophets, and kings leave want for a perfect
One. He sends Jesus. Jesus is perfect, fulfills the law, becomes
the Perfect One in several titles, and sheds His blood, reconciling man to God,
yea, even reconciling God’s nature: His Holy Wrath with His perfect Love. Now He may show His love to objects of His wrath:
this is the Gospel. Selah.
So now what about the Law within the context
of the Gospel? This seems to be the
secondary controversy in Church history, the first being who God is, which is
indeed deserving of the primary place.
It ties in closely with the heart of the Gospel, and sanctification especially. This is in fact the topic which drove this
writing.
In
apostolic times, the question among Jewish Christians was whether the law was
to be clung to or discarded in the salvation and sanctification processes. That it has nothing to save us with was
clearly debunked, “By works of the Law shall no flesh be justified,” –Galatians
2:16. And then its role in sanctification
is debunked shortly, “This only I desire to learn from you, did you receive the
Spirit by works of Law or by hearing of faith?
Are you so foolish? Having begun
in the Spirit, are you now being perfected in the flesh? Did you suffer so much vainly, if indeed it
was vainly? Therefore the One supplying
the Spirit to you and working works of power in you, is it by works of Law or by
hearing of Faith? Even as Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed to Him as righteousness. Know, therefore, that the ones of faith, these
are the sons of Abraham.” -Galatians 3:2-7 Plainly,
works of Law give neither salvation nor sanctification. Selah.
This has
a meaning today just as it had two thousand years ago. Same meaning, postmodern application. Great error is rampant in this age, at the
least in the USA, for I have greatly limited knowledge of other places. Doubtless in Africa and China first
generation Christian are freer from this vice than the entrenched post
Christian culture and Church of the West.
But this is not the concern. The
postmodern Western application of these principles does in no way invalidate
them to all others. Behold men need
Jesus! This is universal.
Two
great erroneous camps exist which fight tooth and nail against one another for
supremacy. Yet both err and ignore the
same truth. They are the essential
equivalent of the ancient Pharisees and Sadducees. They are the Conservatives and the
Liberals. Conservatives make the case
that Scripture is without error, hold to all the major doctrines, faithfully
attend church and tithe, trying ever to perfect their walk with the Lord
through any means they can find. This is
legalism. A stinging aura of methodology
and moralism is alive and well in conservatism.
Endless books on “how-to” perform the various facets of the Christian
life, coupled with sermons that tell the believer what they ought to do a
hundredfold more than who God IS, has left a culture of Christian who may as
well be Mormons for all the world is aware.
The difference between Christianity and Mormonism is not a matter of a
few moral technicalities. Mormons
worship a different god, not Jehovah.
The lives that are changed by this repugnant heresy demonstrate the
current active power of legalism. Yet
the “changed lives” in many of these legalistic circles is no more than a
farce. Folks put on a happy, morally
sound façade and go through life not with Christ, but with the power of a
strictly moral social institution breathing down their necks. This is legalism and hypocrisy.
The
other great camp now so strong is the Liberals.
They might have their share of legalism, but it is a different
brand. Their differences are marked by a
“do not” attitude on the right, and a “do” attitude on the left. While conservatism calls out social ills as
sin, they largely ignore ministry at large (service to the poor, evangelism,
world relief), and thus are characterized as “do not.” The Liberals, on the other hand, ignore sin,
allowing it, but adding that they are charitable and participate in “changing
the world.” All this seems to suggest
the solution that all Christians should take sin seriously AND do charitable
work. Yet this is not the answer.
What
Christians need is Jesus Christ, Himself.
Christianity without Jesus would basically by Judaism, which in our
present day offers no hope to its followers after the destruction of the
temple. Listen to how the Law
works: “But the Scripture shut up all together
under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to the ones
believing.” -Galatians 3:22 The Law is good, and it describes to us the
nature of God. But the general principle
of the Law, indeed of any law, is that good is rewarded and evil is
punished. The Gospel tells us that those
who believe will never be punished, though they are evil, but will instead be
rewarded, though they have never done enough good. How can this be? Only through Jesus! He took our punishment and gave us His
reward.
