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St John of the Cross, a
theologian who died December
14th 1591 was a man who had
a deep consciousness of
God. He believed the truth
of Adam and his perfection
before the fall, that he
was made in the
likeness and image of God.
However, when Adam sinned he
lost the beauty in which God
had created him. Being made
in the likeness of God Adam
had the glory of
governmental autocratic
authority, which he lost.
Another blessing was also
gone, namely: |
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a) |
The relationship and
fellowship with God. |
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b) |
A “comfortableness” with
God. |
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c) |
The honesty of personal
responsibility for wrongs
done. |
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d) |
His harmony with creation.
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e) |
His peace and harmony with
another human being. |
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f) |
The peace he had known in
his own heart. |
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i) |
But what was left within man
was the awareness of beauty,
whether it was music, art,
or organization. Who can
gaze at a verdant meadow
with the purple-headed
mountains in the distance
and not feel a pensiveness
sweeping over them? Yet the
pensiveness is only for a
short time and then the
spirit looks for something
else. Like a shadow that
passes
away so are the beauties of
life. |
When musing on the beauties of the
Lord, the individual becomes aware
they are contemplating a theme
neither the mind nor spirit can
grasp or be grasped by. The
awareness of the magnificence of the
Lord, which throughout eternity we
humans thought glorified, will never
fully contemplate or appreciate.
The Lord Himself said, “All things
are delivered to me of my Father:
and no man knoweth who the Son
is, but the Father; and who the
Father is, but the Son, and he to
whom the Son will reveal him” (Lk.
10:22).
One is always aware that there is
something more wonderful just beyond
the present comprehension.
Illustration: A little child is
contented with its gifts of toys for
Christmas etc. As the child grows
older the delights and interests of
the child become more complex and
deeper, yet they are delighted with
what they had as a child. So with
spiritual appreciation of the Lord.
One can be gloriously grateful for
that which God had revealed to them,
howbeit there is an awareness of
something more, always just beyond
one's comprehension.
The unreachable is the
richer
appreciation of the glory of the
Lord. This is what Moses asked the
Lord when he asked, “I beseech thee,
shew me thy glory” (Ex. 33:18). The
fullness of the personal beauty and
glory of the Lord is a richness
neither the human mind nor spirit
could stand before (Rev. 6:14-17).
For the two on the road to Emmaus,
it was only when they were
enlightened in their spirits, being
led by the risen Lord, to appreciate
that which the scriptures foretold
of the passion of the Lord. He was
walking along the road with them,
and
their heart burned within
them. The glory of the cross work
and resurrected Christ, there was
fullness of joy and contentment.
J N Darby wrote:
Nor I alone; Thy loved
ones all, complete,
In glory around Thee with
joy shall meet;
All like Thee, for Thy
glory like Thee, Lord!
Object supreme of all, by
all adored!
The heart is satisfied,
and can ask no more;
All thought of self is
now forever o’er;
Christ, its unmingled
Object, fills the heart
In blest, adoring
love — it's endless part.
In the un-dimmable glory of Heaven,
we shall gaze on the Lord of glory,
work for the Lord of glory, worship
and adore the Lord of Glory. That
will be peace, rest and fullness of
joy (Psa. 16:11). The more the
individual is living a life of deep
fellowship with God, the more empty
and unsatisfying all that this world
offers becomes. The spirit yearns
for something higher, a craving for
that deep oneness with God to be
permanent and enlarged. This
produces a worshipping spirit that
does not cause the emotions of the
flesh to rise by the mantra of
singing a religious song ten times
over with a rhythmic beat. Rather,
it causes the emotions of the Spirit
within to rejoice. This is when we
learn the truth of John 3:8, “The
wind bloweth were it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one
that is born of the Spirit.”
Sometimes the Holy Spirit will
enlighten the spirit of the
individual with some rich truth,
perhaps only for a moment or two,
and then it is gone. The individual
will then be left to ponder the
marvels of the Spirit’s revelation.
While the authority and power of our
Lord are separate abilities united
together, in reality, they are two
different things. The power of our
Lord would have eternally been and
equally efficacious, even if it had
never received any outward
manifestations. The miracles were
the manifestation of His authority.
For instance, the Lord had the
authority to declare sins forgiven
(Matt. 9:2), but the power to make
that effective was only gained at
Calvary. Again, when the woman was
healed of her sickness (Matt. 9:20)
the power went from him and to a
certain degree it was not by his
authority. Like a child on
Christmas morning seeing the gifts,
they see them all as a single unit
and yet it is not until later they
see each gift
in particular
and begin to understand the many
varied gifts and the abilities they
have. So with the Lord. It is when
enlightened by the Holy Spirit the
individual begins to comprehend the
authority of our Lord in miracles,
the profoundness of His
foreknowledge, the depth of His
teaching, and the perfection of His
timing.
Never once in the life of our Lord
did He ever grieve the Holy Spirit
nor cause a furrow in the brow of
God. The Holy Spirit is called holy
and is God, the personification of
beauty, and since our Lord was
always in perfect fellowship with
the Holy Spirit, His life in the
most minute detail was beautiful to
God.
It is irrelevant whether He was
speaking in public or in private,
speaking or silent when being
confronted by those who hated Him
and giving Himself into their hands,
His life was always beautiful to
God. At times He spoke with
authority and at other times asked
questions, but like the tree planted
by the river of water, always
bringing forth fruit in His season (Psa.
1:3). For Him, no incident in life
was irritating or frustrating by
interruptions. For instance, when
He was going to Jairus’s
home the woman touching his garment
was healed (Lk. 8:41-44).
The healing of that
woman was the present priority. He
was never in a rush and yet there
was never any wastage of time.
When we consider our Lord in the
synagogue, there could have been no
stress in Him
as
He contemplated the responsibility
of giving divine instruction. If we
understood the eternal consequences
of when we speak to those who are
unsaved or those who are redeemed,
those times would never become just
another taking up a meeting or
giving
a message.
We would know what it is to have
carefully weighed before God that
which one is about to say, and in
all sincerity and earnestness seek
the help of the Lord to present the
message with authority, but with the
tenderness of love. Matthew will
remind us that the people were in
wonder and amazement at His doctrine
for He was teaching them
as one having authority
and not as the scribes and Pharisees
(Matt.
20:29).
Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all
nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I
honour,
Thou, my soul’s
glory, joy and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer still
the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of
spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart sing?
Fair is the sunshine, fairer still
the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines
purer
Then all the angels of heaven can
boast.
Beautiful Saviour! Lord of all the
nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honour, praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine.
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