Presence

The Trinity lives in the most harmonious, intimate perfect relationship. There is perfection in love, patience, kindness, wholeness, purity, integrity, beauty, giving not taking, other centered, not self-centered, sharing, not hoarding.

In an act of sheer grace the Triune God decided not to keep this life to himself but to share it with us and to lavish it upon us! So…we were created to share in this relationship – Abundant Life!

But without Presence…this relationship is not possible! Ask anyone who has lost someone close to them what they miss the most? The answer will most likely be – their presence. Presence is about experience. You can’s substitute presence! Not with pictures, gifts,  telephone calls or mementos!

I remember expecting the news of my Gran’s passing. We all knew it was imminent but when she died I missed her presence! Also I was on a ministry trip in Malawi and fell terribly ill! Those in close relationship with me were thousands of kilometres away – there was no comfort from their presence and touch. Or what about that shared movie, travelling, concerts, hikes etc – they are more pleasurable and meaningful because of the Presence of others!

The problem with sin is that it not only distorts our view of God but also ruins our relationship with Him and His Presence!

The Garden of Eden was a place where Adam and Eve lived in the abiding Presence of God. He walked with them in the cool of the day – Gen 3:8. Sin caused them to be banished from Eden because if they remained, they would eat of the Tree of Life and remain in their sinful state forever. What I realised recently is that God left Eden with them as he began His plan to restore man to the community of the Trinity.

We see throughout His Story how He relegates himself to ‘tents’ to meet and dwell among his people. From Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the Israelites at Mt Sinai, to the tabernacle and then the Temple of Solomon. But with all of this the Presence of God and hence the experience of God was only found in a small part of the structure called the Holy of Holies.

So God sent himself in the form of Jesus Christ His son to deal with our sin. He did this by dying on the cross, which ripped open the curtain that kept God’s presence hidden from humanity. Just like there is an empty cross and empty tomb because Jesus died and and was resurrected so the Holy of Holies is empty as God was released from dwelling in ‘tents’ to once again came and dwelt with his people. So…Jesus made it possible for the promised Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13) to be poured out as the prophets had predicted (Jer 31:31-34) and for God himself to dwell in us (Ezek 36:26-27) so we can once more experience Him.

We were created from a community (Father, Son and Spirit) for community – both with the Trinity and with one another. The life we have been called to is not possible without the presence of God who empowers us (Acts 1:8) and distinguishes us (Ex 33:15-16). My exhortation for 2015 is that we walk in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:25) to accomplish all he has prepared for us!

His Story

As 2014 came to an end I was reminded of the fact that the Bible is not some arbitrary collation of books or letters that simply give principles on life and how to live it.

In an age of formula we have largely relegated the understanding of the Bible to a systematic approach. This is needed but when over-emphasised we take too many humanistic logical leaps to ‘make it work’. This can often lead to the wrong conclusions about who God is and what He has done and what He will yet do.

For example: A systematic approach can focus on the process of salvation rather than the reason for it. In other words, we get caught up in the Justification by faith aspects of salvation and it becomes an exercise of ticking the boxes rather than understanding that it is God’s way of bringing us back into relationship with Him so that He can once more dwell with us!

To do this we need to seek to understand the biblical message as a whole and not in isolation. The Bible is a progressive unfolding of the revelation of God. God revealed himself in the context of a story and there are plots, sub plots etc, so if we seek to understand a text it is imperative to understand how it relates to the overall history of redemption.

We must learn to also examine the parts of the bible in relation to the whole and allow the Bible to interpret itself rather than using our humanistic logical processes. For example: Revelation is not the means of salvation – faith is! My question is: do you stand under the Bible or over it when you are interpreting what God is trying to say to us?

In short – the Bible is His Story, we would do well to allow this to underpin how we read, interpret and live it out!