Come With Me To Mount Hebrews

It has been a month since I've written on this blog. During that time my wife and I took a wonderful trip to Alaska to visit several families of cousins. And what a awesome experience it was. In addition to the joy of seeing these people once again, we had a renewed sense of wonder at the vastness and beauty of God's creation. The entire state is dominated by Mt. McKinley or in the native Alaskan tongue, Denali (Koyukon Athabaskan for "The High One"), at 20,320 feet above sea level, the largest mountain on the North American continent. Here's a photo that I took from a field near the home of cousins Kathy and Rick.

As you can see, that huge mountain dominates the landscape. Because it is so high, it is often clouded, but on this particular evening the clouds had dissipated and the mountain became very visible. The sign in front points to the fact that Rick maintains a field of grain set aside especially as a sanctuary for cranes. 

All that got me to thinking about the wonder of God's revelation. What He has revealed in Christ dominates all of human history. This fact is particularly lifted up in the Epistle to the Hebrews where the writer begins his letter with these words: 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high . . .  - Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV

• God has spoken to us by His Son 

• Heir of all things 

• Creator of time and the universe 

• The Radiance of God's glory 

• The exact Imprint of God's nature 

• Upholder of the universe 

• God's Right Hand on high

• Purifier for all  sins

Over the next months I want to spend some time gazing upon that Revelation through the eyes of the writer of this wondrous epistle. Some long ago suggested that the Apostle Paul wrote it, but such a claim (inserted in some manuscripts) is uncertain. At best we can say it was written to believers who were well established in the Old Testament Scriptures. Those Scriptures, the history of the Children of Israel and the religious rites they practiced all point to Jesus, the Messiah or Christ. He is the Fulfiller of all God has spoken by the prophets of old. 

I invite you to join me on this new journey—not to Alaska, but through the wondrous terrain of the Epistle to the Hebrews and to the awesome mountain of His revelation in Christ. 

The Name Above Every Name

Sometimes I definitely feel that the writings of the Apostle Paul need to be de-coded in order to be understood. And I often feel that I have not quite cracked the code. So it is when I read the first chapter of his letter to the Ephesians where he writes about the mysterious Name of God to which I referred in my previous post, the Name above every name . Listen to what he says.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. - Eph 1:16-23 ESV

Of Christ, he writes,

He is seated at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places,  far above . . . every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come (Eph. 1:21; Phil. 2:9). 

What does it possibly mean to you and to me that Christ is now seated at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places? And that He is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named? In what way is that Good News? Are we talking about some place to which Christ was raised and seated? What is the secret code here? About what do we need enlightenment? Permit a little rambling.

In the USA there is currently a huge controversy among citizens and politicians about the National Security Administration's (NSA) surveillance practices. How much information about any or all of us is being collected from the electronic media we all use—including the one on which this is being written? And now much should the government know about us, where we live, what we say, where we go, who our friends are and even what our thoughts and opinions may be? Such knowledge is power and such power may easily be misused or corrupted.

We have all had marketers and various other devious people use the media, seeking (phishing) to obtain information about us, like our bank account numbers, social security numbers and phone numbers, together with any other information about where we live, what we eat, who our friends are and where we have been. This is used to target us with an endless array of ads aimed at getting us to buy this or that product or reveal where we keep our assets and how they may get them from us.

All this information is wrapped up and hidden in my name! That's a ton of information and with that a lot of power. If you have it in your hands you can do whatever you want with me. And many try to do just that, especially if they are able to steal my identity—and all the information wrapped up in my name. With that information you could utterly destroy me and my family.

Now imagine that you have access to every name that is named, both now and yet to be. Imagine that you know all about that information and the people represented by those names. Imagine that you have some super, unlimited, all-powerful computer that easily and immediately provides you with all that information and all those names, enabling you to do whatever and whenever you want. Now multiply that power by a trillion and you have a tiny glimpse of what it means that Jesus is at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places.

And now consider that Jesus is your Big Brother, with full access to the Father by whom all these hings have come into being and for whom all things exist in this age or in that to come. As a reborn member of the family of Jesus, a child of God, a fellow heir with Christ, you are invited to come to the Father unafraid. You are permitted to call this Great Father "Abba! Father!" (Rom. 8:15-17). Ask whatever you will in Jesus' Name, and be assured that He listens carefully and with love to your petitions.

So we are taught to pray, "Father in the heavens, hallowed be Your Name." And with that in our hearts and minds we are confident that He both hears us and is able and ready to answer our prayers and fulfill our every need in the best possible manner. Let His Name indeed be held holy by all of us.

Confusion About Christ's Ascension

The vast majority of Christians around the world subscribe to the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. But within them there are some troubling differences. The Ascension of Christ is one. The Apostles' Creed reads,

"On the third day he rose again from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and sits upon the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead." 

The words sound familiar, even to those of us who never repeat these words in public worship as most liturgically oriented churches do each week. Jesus ascended and sits upon the Father's right hand. That's what the Apostle writes in his letter to the Ephesians. The right hand is not a place, but a position of authority and power and dominion.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. - Eph 1:16-21 ESV

That settles it, right? No argument, right? Not quite. Questions remains about Jesus' human nature. Is Jesus present everywhere to rule over all things also in his human nature? The answer to that question was hammered out by the church and preserved in the Athanasian creed. Here's what that creed says about Christ,

It is necessary for eternal salvation that one also faithfully believe that our Lord Jesus Christ became flesh.
For this is the true faith that we believe and confess: That our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, is both God and man.
He is God, begotten before all worlds from the being of the Father, and he is man, born in the world from the being of his mother -- existing fully as God, and fully as man with a rational soul and a human body; equal to the Father in divinity, subordinate to the Father in humanity.
Although he is God and man, he is not divided, but is one Christ.
He is united because God has taken humanity into himself; he does not transform deity into humanity.
He is completely one in the unity of his person, without confusing his natures.

 Eastern Orthodox Christians, Lutherans and Roman Catholics and some others teach that Christ is present now everywhere and at all times,  both as God and as man. The Reformed churches, following the lead of John Calvin, view Jesus' ascension as His return to heaven, some sort of place with a spatial component. There His human nature must remain until the Last Day. But those of us who understand that Christ's two natures are ever and always united in one person do not view heaven as a place and so have no problem with Christ being truly present with His body and blood in the Holy Supper.

There are some Christians who reject both positions, arguing that Christ has but one nature, not two united into one person. They say we have confused things with our definitions.  So Dr. Ronald W. Leigh argues and concludes,

Jesus was neither exactly like the Father in all aspects, nor exactly like other men in all aspects. Thus, in order to describe the characteristics of Jesus accurately we must base our description on the explicit New Testament statements of the characteristics of Jesus rather than on some assumed content of the concept "God" . . . 

In short, not only must we let the New Testament description of Jesus speak for itself, unhindered by previously fixed ideas about the nature of God and of man, but we must also let the picture of Jesus given in the New Testament help determine our understanding of the nature of God and of man. . . The nature of Jesus is determinative for our understanding of the essence of the nature of man, as well as for our understanding of the essence of the nature of God

 Well, I hope I've not confused you unduly. I personally embrace the Lutheran—and historic—position. And I rejoice that Jesus, both God and Man, is my Savior, that He meets me in the Holy Supper and will return on the Last Day to take me and all who believe in His name to be with Him forever.

Jesus, Right Hand Of The Father

Wikipedia reports that the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptation Game of Thrones have a broad and active international fan base. In 2012, Vulture ranked the series's fandom as the most devoted in popular culture, ahead of that of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Harry Potter or Star Wars.

The series begins with Ned Stark, Lord of Winterfel, being asked by his longtime friend, King Robert Baratheon, to be his chief advisor, also known as the Hand of the King.

I read George R R Martin's five-books-and-counting series, A Song of Ice and Fire. The books are close to 5,000 pages of swordfights, intrigue, mystery, exotic settings, startling revelations, and lots and lots of uncomfortable sex scenes. If you want to understand modern culture you must have at least some acquaintance with these books and/or the HBO TV series.

What interested me is this thing about the Hand of the King. The Hand is the equivalent of the modern Prime Minister or maybe Secretary of State in the USA. He is the king's advisor and second-in-command, answerable only to the king. He speaks and acts for the king. This is how Jesus is described in the Bible. He is the Right Hand of the Father. Listen to Psalm 110.

A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! - Psa 110:1-2 ESV

The LORD speaks to David's Lord. The LORD is a translation of the Hebrew YaHWeH, the NAME of God, the name above all names that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come (Ps. 8:1; Eph. 1:21). It is the NAME shared by all three members of the Holy Trinity, i.e. the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Isa. 9:6; John 16:23; Matt. 28:19). So precious and  holy is the NAME that OT believers would not pronounce it. They chose rather to speak their word Adonay (Lord) wherever it appears in the text rather than chance to speak the NAME in blasphemy. Such blasphemy is common in American culture as men and women daily use the name Jesus and the name Christ carelessly or as a curse.

Jesus' disciples, however, openly acknowledge that he shares the NAME. The apostles openly teach that Jesus shared the form of God, his glory and appearance. In humility he emptied himself of what was always his in order to appear in the form of a man and humbly submit to death on a cross. Paul writes,

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Phl 2:5-11 ESV

Paul teaches the same in his letter to the Romans as he speaks about putting your faith in the completed work of Christ.

But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Rom 10:6-9 ESV

We who are disciples of Jesus have always understood that Jesus bears the NAME. He is LORD along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. So in Psalm 110 we hear the Father speaking to David's Lord who is the Father's Hand. He shares the throne with the Father. He is the eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek, that mysterious king of Salem who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings (Gen. 14:18-20). The writer to the Hebrews interprets Ps. 110 as a description of Jesus, the eternal priest who intercedes on our behalf before the throne of God (cf. Hebr. 7:1-8:1).

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, - Hbr 8:1 ESV

The Scriptures leave no room for any teaching about many paths leading to God's mercy and forgiveness. There is but one High Priest, one King, one Lord, Jesus who sits at the Father's right hand, the one who is the HAND OF GOD!