Knowing God

a sermon by Rev. Michael Gladish
Dawson Creek, BC, September 9th, 2007

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
(John 1:1, 14)

Scripture is full of stories about God appearing to people, often in strange or mysterious ways. The very first examples in the Genesis are in the series on creation and the garden of Eden. There we read that God “commanded” the man He had created, and that He “said” certain things to him. Later, when the man disobeyed, we read that God “called” to the man and asked him questions, finally telling him the consequences of his sin.

It is interesting that at no time in the story does God appear to be seen, only heard – or possibly even just perceived in the mind of the man.

It is the same in the story of Noah and the ark. There we read that God “looked” upon the earth, saw what was going on, and then “said” certain things to Noah, including how to build the ark. Then, after the flood was over we read that Noah built an altar and made burnt offerings on it, and the Lord “smelled” a sweet aroma and “said” some things “in His heart,” which the writer includes in the story.

And so it goes, right on through Genesis in the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, God often speaking to or “visiting” His people, His Word “coming” to them, and so on, but in no case is there any description of Him – except when He appears in the form of an angel. Still, God is very often referred to in what we call anthropomorphic terms, that is, terms that make Him seem human. He hears, He talks, He sees, He smells, He stands and so on. There is of course one particular incident where we read that Jacob wrestled all night with “a man,” whom he later referred to as God, saying, “I have seen God face to face...” (Gen. 32:30), but even so the text does not actually say that this “man” was God.

Two other incidents in the Old Testament are worth mentioning, since they further describe God in somewhat human terms. The first is when He appears to Moses in a burning bush. Again, He speaks to Moses, declaring who He is, but we read, “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God” (Ex. 3:6). The other is when God calls Moses to the top of Mount Sinai and gives Him the Ten Commandments. There He speaks with Moses on a number of separate occasions, revealing what seem to be very human traits like anger, jealousy and even wrath when the people turn to worship a golden calf. But the interesting thing is that near the end of this series it is said that “the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex. 33:11), yet only a few verses later God says “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me and live” (v. 20). Thus Moses is placed in the cleft of a rock and Jehovah passes by so that he can see His back, but never His face (v. 23).

It is ONLY when we come to the New Testament that we find any reference to the completely human form of God, as in the text where we read “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...,” but even then the message is qualified, for the Lord, Jesus, speaks of God as “the Father” and says, “The Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. (But) you have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen His form” (John 5:37).

What?! Never heard His voice? Who’s voice was it, then, that Moses and all the other Patriarchs heard? Apparently it was the voice of an angel, or the perception of a voice in their own heads, since the Infinite God, Jehovah, could not appear to any finite, bodily sense. Then again, the Lord at that time was clearly speaking of those particular people, not just the Patriarchs of old, for He added “You do not have His Word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe” (v. 37). For He also said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). And again, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30), so that “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

The point is that even though the whole Bible speaks of God from beginning to end it is only in the New Testament, and specifically in the four Gospels and Revelation, that we actually see God in distinctly human form, thus “beholding His glory, full of grace and truth.”

And lest there be any doubt about this the book of Revelation makes it very clear in the very first chapter, plainly referring to the Lord Jesus Christ as “the Almighty,” “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and so on.

God in Human Form

Now the doctrines, or teachings, of the New Church discuss this whole situation extensively. And they are clear that since God by definition is infinite and uncreated, He -- or It -- cannot be seen or described in any finite way. Rather God is pure love, which in material terms we might possibly think of as purposeful energy -- not something you can really picture in your mind's eye. This infinite love clothes itself with infinite wisdom so that it expresses itself in orderly ways, but that order is still not something you can picture, at least not until it takes form in some created material "stuff." THEN you can see patterns and deduce, or infer, something about the purpose that may be behind it all.

Even so, it is ONLY when infinite love and wisdom assume a human form that we begin to see them in ways that we can truly comprehend. Then for the first time the idea of God becomes a personal thing and, of course, takes on the qualities of what we call gender -- distinctly masculine in the case of the Lord, but in pagan or polytheistic religions, one or more "gods" of each sex.

Philosophically, or as a matter of principle, it is important to acknowledge that the idea of God in a human form is not only useful and necessary as a means for us to comprehend our Maker and form a relationship with Him, it is also very dangerous! The risk, quite frankly, is that we will associate our limited, fallible and often foolish ideas of what it is to be human with God, or in other words, create a god in the image and likeness of man! This has certainly been done throughout the history of religion on earth, not only in the case of the pagan gods (Baals, Astaroth, Molech and others) worshiped in Canaan before the Israelites took over, but also in the form of various emperors, such as the Roman Ceasars or the modern day rulers of some eastern republics. The Jews themselves did this in their conquest of Canaan, so in many ways they were no better than the tribes they conquered. In short, if God is assumed to have ordinary human traits, like pride or anger, pity, jealousy or a disposition to change His mind, or if certain men are assumed to be Gods, then it is a relatively simple matter for influential people to use their idea and thus the supposed authority of God to serve their own ends.

As an illustration, beware of any preacher who uses the expression, "God wants...." It may be true that God wants something, but it is a statement that must be used with great care based on very careful thought and study.

The assignment of finite human traits to God is a huge problem and has led to all sorts of radical evils in society, from human sacrifice in ancient times to war and genocide in modern times, not to mention the fear and manipulation brought to bear on ordinary church members through the centuries. And it is one major reason why a lot of people simply dismiss religion, preferring instead of think of some impersonal force that governs the universe -- if they think of God at all.

By the way, Christians have this problem as much as anybody. There is a whole history of intense theological debate, for example, about whether Christ was human or divine, or some combination of the two. People who see Him as a very good man, "the son of God" but still merely human are inclined to question everything He said, assuming that He did the best He could to represent God but had His own limitations just like the rest of us. And people who see Him as wholly divine fail to see how His life can serve as an example for us, since He obviously had powers that we do not have. So if they accept Jesus as their Saviour they tend to believe He did everything for us and that there is nothing we can do to contribute to our own salvation. Either way, His teachings are diminished and we are left to our own devices.

The doctrines of the New Church resolve both problems, however, by showing us that Jesus, while NOT perfectly Divine as to His whole mind at first, nevertheless was born with a heart of pure Divine love and so went through a transformation process during His life on earth -- a process we call glorification -- in which He grew spiritually, that is, intellectually and rationally, eventually confronting all the evils and falsities of His own finite hereditary nature, answering every temptation against His love and so becoming wholly Divine. The result was that He overcame the power of the hells to corrupt people living in this world and in so doing restored our freedom and ability to make good decisions according to His Word.

In this scenario we have the best of both worlds. We can see the Lord struggling with the whole range of human temptations and we can identify with and emulate His work to overcome them. At the same time we can appreciate that all His work (and thus His Word) was perfect and unfailing, so that if we want to overcome as well we are obliged simply to do as He says, i.e., co-operate with Him.

But how can we do this, especially when so many of the Lord's words and actions are obscure and hard to understand?

This is the crux of the Christian dilemma which has been resolved really for the first time since the Gospels were written, by the revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word in the doctrines of the New Church. And friends, maybe it just needs to be said: - most of the time we simply have no idea how blessed we are to have the teachings of this church to inform us of the real meaning of those controversial passages. Without them we would still be confused about the Divinity of Christ, we would be confused about His teachings on faith, charity, salvation, providence, free will, personal responsibility, marriage, baptism, the holy supper, the last judgment and life after death, among other things! But with them we are at least in a position to know and understand all these things if we make the effort. And make no mistake: - the fact that many churches today do seem to have a growing clarity about some of these issues certainly is due to the gradual and often unwitting acceptance of many of the teachings first found in the Heavenly Doctrines.

So it is at least interesting that in the very last manuscript Swedenborg is said to have written, the opening of the spiritual sense of the Word is compared to the miracles of the New Testament done by the Lord for the establishment of the church, and this revelation is said now to "surpass all miracles" (Coronis, summary, LI, also Concerning Miracles, IV).

So, how can we really know our God and co-operate with Him? Simple. Not always easy, but simple: - read the Word and then read the spiritual sense of the Word in books like Heaven & Hell, The White Horse, The New Jerusalem and Arcana Caelestia, to name just a few. If these are too difficult read the commentaries based on these books, but remember, the Lord Himself is in the Word, clothed in the literal sense but revealed in His glory in the spiritual sense. Therefore that is where we must eventually go to find Him.

And why should we do this? In fact the proper question is why would we not? Of course we can get along without engaging in any thought whatsoever about God, but let's face it, there are only two -- or maybe three -- really important things in human life: love, wisdom and the ability to act in useful ways. Take away, diminish or pervert any one of these faculties and the quality of life diminishes, either for the individual or for the people he or she affects.

Since God is the source of all these vital things, if we want to receive them in more and more fulfilling ways we have to seek them in God, which means we have to know Him, and know about Him. And who wouldn't want to do that?

In fact the only real reason people don't is that they have no idea how, and in many cases they have suffered some abuse in the name of religion or God, so they have given up. But the Lord in the Gospels and in the Heavenly Doctrines addresses all these problems, truly making God visible to us in His own Divine Humanity. And from these interior revelations we can now also see Him in the Old Testament, not as the jealous, fitful, angry God He seemed to be, but as One willing to allow Himself to be portrayed that way for the sake of human freedom, all the while urging and pressing the people to act, think and will in better ways.

Now then, take this challenge. Try again. Get to know the Lord God Jesus Christ as He really is. Read His story with the simple commitment to see what He is really saying, and if you don't get it in the Gospels, get it from the Writings. The Lord will speak to you there if you sincerely ask, and you will see Him "face to face." Quite possibly nothing will be the same ever again.

Amen.

Lessons: Exodus 20:1-17 (the 10 Commandments);

Mark 10:17-27; and Arcana Caelestia 10267.