SON OF GOD

The Christmas story offers us some magnificent themes – if only we can get out of the seasonal rush and really think about them. There are two in particular: that Jesus is as human as I am (this is the essential lesson of the human baby in the manger), and that Jesus is none the less “My God”, or, as the angel described the baby to Mary, “That Holy One”.

His humanity was (and is) obvious to all – and it means that he knows where I’m coming from and what it feels like to be in this world; he is on the wave length of my fears and worries, my hopes and joys. He understands me, is deeply interested in me and can help me. He forgives and he heals. This is something millions have experienced in their lives, and need to go on experiencing.

His divinity was not so obvious, and when he lived in Galilee most missed it. How was it discerned? This is the challenging bit. John, the supremely thoughtful and discerning disciple, gives us an answer from the years he spent with the adult Jesus. Firstly he listened very carefully to what Jesus said about himself and how he identified himself with God. For example, Jesus simply was not afraid to use even the “I am” title of God for himself. John actually heard Jesus say to the Scribes and Pharisees, “Before Abraham came into being, I am”. He heard much more as Jesus made further use of the expression “I am” and said of himself, I am the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection, the Life, the Truth the Light of the World. All these descriptions blatantly and directly betokened divinity.

Secondly John watched very carefully what Jesus did. He took careful note of Jesus’ own comment that what he was doing in the way of miracles bore evidence to the truth of what he was saying. John saw the man blind from birth healed, the five thousand fed, Lazarus raised from the dead and the water turned into wine. These works that the Father was doing in him through the Spirit were a total vindication of the fact that Jesus spoke and taught the truth. “No man can do these works unless he come from God”, said Nicodemus.

All this perception was indelibly confirmed when he saw Jesus risen from the dead. Like his fellow disciple, Thomas, his own heart at that point breathed, “My Lord and My God!” It was time to worship.
In the later years of his life John's ever deepening perception was majestically underscored by two great prophetic visions of the exalted Jesus, one in which he saw the Lord in the midst of his church, the other in which he saw the glorified “Lamb” in the middle of the throne of God (recorded in The Revelation). They were out shone only by the brilliant revelation of the exalted Lord Jesus that converted Paul on the Damascus road.

Many, worldwide, even today, are finding the same exalted divine Jesus through powerful vision and prophetic revelation. This has not stopped! Many more know providentially of the miracle touch that comes into a life given over to Jesus, and so recognise the absolute validity of his recorded claims. Direct experience of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit particularly endorse the truth of what Jesus said and bring consciousness of his own presence.

May this Son of God enfold you, and may you see something of his glory this Christmas



Bob (N.B. THE NEXT “Column” WILL BE PUBLISHED ON JAN. 4th)

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SOCIAL UNREST

Lurking behind economic disaster there is always the spectre of social unrest. Economic collapses inevitably cause real distress in many people’s lives which gives rise to frustration and anger followed by unrest. We have seen this phenomenon break out in ugly fashion in the recent demonstrations by students over student fees. There is a degree of inevitability about it

It is not something new, even in Britain (remember the miners’ confrontations when the coal industry began to collapse), but it is never something to be taken lightly or with complacency. It is worth remembering that appalling things have come out of economic disaster and social unrest – the French Revolution, the rise of Hitler, the collapse of the USSR etc. Though we are not quite at that point, none the less all social unrest is ugly. The reason for that is the way in which protest seems invariably to be hijacked by vicious and extremist activists and blatant thugs (as has happened with the student protests); a little of that sort of leaven in the lump changes the whole character of protest, and simply adds chaos to chaos. It is critically important to defuse it in a right manner. Law and order has to prevail. That is the responsibility both of demonstrators and the powers that be. It is difficult when raw emotion (especially anger) displaces hard reasoning. The consequences of escalating social unrest do not bear thinking about!

Lord Rees-Mogg in a newspaper leader wrote, “Britain ought not to be where we are now, having to make decisions under the pressure of riots and huge national debt”. I always gain much from Rees-Mogg, but I think I would have to say on this issue that it was inevitable that Britain would be in the position we are in now in the light of its years of encouragement of wanton consumerism on the basis of debt and its embracing of non morality. We have reached the day of reckoning for a philosophy of living that has embraced debt and indulgence as a way of life. If one generation lives well beyond its means (as the generation from the 60s has) then the next generation will inevitably pick up the tab; this is the root cause of the present situation. It is not surprising that the generation that faces the tab is going to be angry; moreover it will be difficult for that generation to realise that it does not have a “right” to what it wants, having been brought up on an unadulterated doctrine of “my rights” and state provision.

Once again all this needs to be seen through spiritual lenses. If ever there was a contemporary demonstration of the biblical truth that “the wages of sin is death” or, put in another biblical metaphor, “as you sow, so shall you reap”, we have it at the present time. We have lived through a generation that has scorned biblical patterns for living, and is now (at least among its intelligentsia) more scornful and arrogant than ever in its dismissal of those patterns. It persists with pagan hedonism!

We must pray that distress and unrest will lead to widespread and true Holy Spirit revival.



Bob

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WIKILEAKS – A HUMILIATION

A distinguished American professor in a current newspaper article has poured scorn on the “latest barrage of Wikileaks”, a quarter of a million classified U.S. government cables now open on the Web, describing them as the “tittle-tattle” of a “juvenile Australian”. His main point is that like a smoke screen they obscure very much deeper and serious problems, military, economic and social that now face the U.S. The title of his article is, “Wake up America”. It’s a call not to get side-tracked, but to take stock of those big issues.

He is absolutely right, of course in his main point. But there still remains the phenomenon of Wikileaks. Recent disclosures may do little harm in the long run, but they are without any question an embarrassing humiliation for the U.S. with more likely to come. The most powerful nation in the world (or is it?) has once again has its tail painfully twisted.

The first feature of that humiliation is that the U.S. has had to go cap in hand to many nations apologising for the sordid nature of remarks that have been made of national leaders etc. Of course, every body knows that it is not just the Americans who make nasty, coarse remarks in private - all the nations do it, some no doubt with greater coarseness and cynicism. And it is something that has always happened, right throughout history. But, none the less, the Americans have been exposed and humiliated in an unprecedented manner. It is certainly going to make their diplomatic relations a little trickier and give others countries a bit more leverage. It’s a blow to pride in a nation that has been full of pride. They have been made to look silly; they’ve lost face.

The second feature of the humiliation is that the security of the U.S. cyber and intelligence world has been seriously called into question. This is more important. The future battles between nations will be fought in cyber space as much as anywhere. At this very moment, it seems, the Iranian progress toward nuclear weapons is being hampered more by hacking into its computer systems that by the threat of military action. Keeping ahead with security in cyber space is very much the new arms race. It is not good to be humiliated on this front.

As I wrote a number of weeks ago, ever since 9/11 this last decade has been one of deep humiliation for the U.S. Its vulnerability has been exposed even as it has vaunted its vast military arsenal. It has failed in its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; it has failed in its economy.

It is impossible for the prophetic eye not to see in all this a “Wake up!” cry from God, not only for America but for the whole of the West, whose future is so intertwined with America’s. When God wants to warn nations (or people), he has an extraordinary way of puncturing their defences, exposing their vulnerability and tweaking their tails.

One should add, I think, that there is a positive mercy in all this. Not for one moment do I think God is unmindful of all the Christian work, and especially the prayer and missionary work, that emanates from the U.S. It may be a painful tweak, but God, in grace, is seeking to warn.


Bob

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