Hebrews 12:28-29 : The Unshakable Kingdom

Sunday, November 1, 2020 -- Reformation OPC (AZ)

Introduction

There is no place for rank political partisanship in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, but every declaration of the gospel, every ministry of the visible Church, and every confession of faith by God’s people is inevitably, inescapably, and necessarily political. Immediately we must make a qualification, because we are accustomed to associating the word political with political parties and politicians, and political debates. Our word political comes from the Greek word polis referring to city. The Church is political in the sense that it is the manifestation of the City of God which stands in distinction to the City of Man. The Church is not a political action committee, and the pulpit is not a platform for politicians to pontificate, prevaricate, and pander. But the Church is a political institution because she is the earthly manifestation of the everlasting kingdom of the living God. Every faithful sermon is political because Christ is at the center of them all, and therefore, the Lordship of Christ is the key issue. Our confession that Jesus is Lord necessarily means that Donald Trump is not and Joe Biden never will be. Neither are the leaders of Russia and China, the governors of states, or the nine justices on our Supreme Court. To say that Jesus is Lord is to acknowledge there is a higher authority to which all earthly authorities are subject. The rulers of this world are only servants with delegated authority, and they will one day give an account of their stewardship to him who is Lord over all.

In previous years the conservative, evangelical church was too closely wed to political parties and movements. There is no place for an American flag on the church’s stage. We should be ashamed of churches that explicitly adopt a “God and Country” focus on their ministry. But the reaction to this kind of Republicanity is no better, a Christianity so winsome as to make peace with social justice movements and platforms which sanction abortion. Some Christians are trying hard to be accepted by angry totalitarians whose worldview and ethics are hostile to the Christian faith. We should not be surprised if such an enterprise results in their eventually losing faith altogether.

Is there an alternative? What does Scripture say to us in the midst of political unrest and controversy in the City of Man? Our text today helps us navigate these issues. It appears within the larger context of a contrast between Israel’s experience at Sinai and the Church’s experience at Mt. Zion. God shakes the earth in order to remove what is shakable, so that only what is unshakable may remain. The kingdoms of this world will totter and eventually fall, but the kingdom of God established in his Son shall abide forever. We are citizens who belong to that kingdom.

The Church is Receiving a Kingdom

First, we need to know we are receiving a kingdom. The Bible says so. This kingdom does not appear on a world atlas or a list of nations. It is not the United States or the British or Roman Empires. It does not have a President or three branches of government. It is the kingdom ruled by our Lord Jesus Christ. That kingdom has already been established, and Jesus is ruling it right now.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matt. 28:18)

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1:13-14)

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings [a kingdom -Majority Text] and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Rev. 1:5b-6)

What authority does Jesus now lack that he will one day be given? He already has all authority in heaven and on earth. Where have we been placed by the grace and power of God as his redeemed servants? In the kingdom of his Son. What have we been made by the blood of Christ? A kingdom of priests! The kingdom of God is not a future hope; it is a present reality actualized by grace.

Now, of course, this kingdom has not reached its full expression. It has been inaugurated, but not consummated. It was planted like a mustard seed, but it is still growing toward maturity. One day Christ’s kingdom will be the only kingdom that remains, and the history of this nation and of the rest of the world cannot change, delay, or prevent the Lord’s promise it will be so.

Every Lord’s Day we pray as a congregation: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Do we believe that prayer will be answered? Or are we only mouthing the words? Are we praying in faith or in vain repetition? May God give us grace to pray in faith!

That Kingdom Cannot Be Shaken

Second, we need to know this kingdom of God cannot be shaken. It can be persecuted. It may be “sometimes more, sometimes less visible” and “particular churches… more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them” (WCF 25.4). But no matter the outward or inward circumstances, the kingdom of Christ remains unshakable because she is the result of God’s work and grace, not man’s effort.

The kingdom has survived despite the Devil’s best efforts to overthrow her. He has used at various times violence, sexual contamination, worldly enticements, false doctrine, political power, disenfranchisement, and a host of other forms of opposition against the Church of Christ. Yet she still stands. There have been periods in Church history when the faithful may have despaired of an orthodox Christianity surviving, but it always has, and it always will. We are not restorationists, thinking the Lord’s Church fell into apostasy and disappeared for more than a thousand years. Jesus promised he would build his Church and that the gates of Hades would not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). He has, he is, and they have not and never shall. You and I are not responsible for fulfilling that promise. We could not if we tried. But we are responsible to believe it, so please do.

I don’t know what the future holds for America, but I do know what the future holds for the Lord’s Church, and that is vastly more important. I hope America may long survive her present woes, but whether she does or not, the hope of the saints is secure, because our hope is not in the kingdoms of men but in the kingdom of the living God. Nothing that is happening in America right now or at any future point can shake the Church. It may shake particular churches, but it cannot shake the true Church of God. God may shake the elements to separate the wheat from the chaff. He may use controversy and division to help us identify the true people of God (1Cor. 11:19). But the kingdom will stand, unshakable, immovable, invincible because the strong Lord defends her.

Let Us Have Grace to Serve God Acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear

You will notice differences in wording in English versions at this part of v.28. The Greek is most literally translated here in the KJV/NKJV: let us have grace. Others translate it as: let us show gratitude (NASB), let us be grateful (ESV), and let us be thankful (NIV). The original text could be taken in either sense, and I would not be dogmatic since both make good sense. But I prefer the KJV/NKJV here which would suggest grace ought to fill our hearts with wonder and awe at the salvation which God has brought to us. It would be an exhortation to marvel at the grace which has ushered us into an everlasting, unshakable kingdom.

Does our position in God’s kingdom fill us with grace and lead us to the gratitude described in these other translations? Regardless of how we translate the passage, we certainly should give thanks to God for this indescribable gift! Let this grace pervade your heart and mind and lead you to worship, transform your thinking, and bear fruit of godly obedience in your life.

While the world is in bondage to fear, frustration, and futility, the servants of God have hearts full of grace and gratitude because we belong to Christ’s kingdom. There may be some (not so peaceful) protests regardless of the outcome on Tuesday. But you and I can rest in grace on Tuesday, Wednesday, and every other day for the rest of our lives. It is not that we are indifferent to the outcome of this election. Most of us probably do care and have strong preferences about it. But in the larger scheme of things, we know it doesn’t matter, because God’s plan will be unaltered by it. His kingdom will advance. Its fate does not depend on any election.

I want to encourage you (and myself) to think about this passage on Tuesday and beyond. Whatever the outcome may be, let us have grace or let us be grateful for the glorious kingdom to which we belong. Let us resolve not to allow earthly circumstances to rob us of the peace and joy which are ours in Jesus Christ. Let us fix our minds so that we will not be drawn into frustration, anger, or despair like the rest of the world but rather be calm and content in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Our God is a Consuming Fire

The last part of our text, v.29, is a sobering reminder: For our God is a consuming fire! We serve God with reverence, we have hearts full of grace, we rest in Christ’s unshakable kingdom, because we know our God is a fire that will consume his adversaries! The fires set by protestors and rioters can be extinguished. Wildfires that swept through so much of Arizona and California this summer will eventually burn out. But the fire of God’s judgment, the consuming heat of his wrath, will never burn out and cannot be extinguished by anything other than the lifeblood of his sinless Son. Jesus died because God is a consuming fire, and we have been spared by his sacrifice. But those who do not find refuge in Christ but reject his grace and mercy, will find themselves cast into an everlasting, unquenchable flame.

How can we live with injustice? We are not made to do so. The human heart cries out for justice, even the heart of the reprobate, because he too is made in the image of God. But there is no perfect justice to be found anywhere in this world. It cannot be found in politics. It will not be found in our “justice system,” which though it may be the best in the present world, is still far too often far from just in its application. But believers are able to endure injustice, not by indifference, but by knowing there is a righteous God who is a consuming fire and who will execute justice on all evildoers on the last day. We can live in an unjust world because we know it will not always be unjust; one day it will be purged, the darkness will be overcome, and righteousness will reign.

Do you see how angry people become over political controversies? You do not have to be! “But what if they get away with it?! What if the bad guys win?!” They won’t. They can’t. It may seem like they do for a time. They may sweep an election. They may hold power for hundreds of years. But it won’t last. They won’t last. Because our God is a consuming fire. And while I may wish to see their wills conquered now and their souls converted to Jesus Christ, I know if they are not then the Righteous Judge will do what is right in the end. None shall escape. No wrong will go unaccounted. No evil unpunished. Justice will be done, harmony restored, and the world saved.

Pastoral Application: On November 4th, Jesus is Still Lord

No matters what happens in the election this week, Jesus is still on the throne. He is Lord of all lords and King of all kings, and he certainly presides over all presidents. If President Trump is re-elected, it will be because God put him there. If Joe Biden is elected, it will be because God put him there. In either case, God will have his reasons, and your preference will not change his sovereign plan. No matter what party has a majority in the House or Senate, no legislature can ever alter God’s unchangeable laws. They may deny, defy, or disobey God’s law, but they can never unseat, redefine, or change them. What God says is true, even though all men may prove liars.

I sympathize with Christians who say they cannot vote for a proud, immoral, and unrepentant man with a clear conscience. I have no sympathy for believers who say because they find such a man objectionable, they can vote for a party and platform that promotes murder of the unborn, celebrates sodomy, sanctions sexual rebellion and madness by normalizing transgender disorders, sanctions theft by government power, and excuses violent scoffers who set fire to cities. I can find common cause with worldly and profane people who are excluded from membership in the church. I have no common cause with those whose purpose, plan, and priorities are demonic.

It is not my place as a pastor standing in a pulpit to tell you whether you ought to vote or for whom you ought to vote. As far as I am concerned, the most important vote you cast will be on your knees, and whether and to what extent you participate in our political process beyond that belongs to your liberty of conscience. I can tell you that while voting is not a sacrament, and we are voting on civil magistrates and not spiritual pastors, nevertheless, your participation in the civil sphere needs to be consistent with what you affirm in the ecclesiastical sphere, because Jesus is Lord of all. You cannot confess Christ on Sunday and deny him on Tuesday. You should not recite and affirm his moral law on the Lord’s Day and entirely disregard it on election day. We do not expect any President, Senator, Representative, Governor, or Councilman to meet the biblical standards for elders. We do not ask that they abide by the theological truths and strict ethics that guide our own lives. That does not mean we should celebrate, value, or endeavor to promote secularism. You may be willing to grant freedom of conscience to the goblins, but the orcs and Uruk-hai will not return the favor. I am not hoping for an administration that will establish the United States of Presbyteria. I will continue to hope, pray, and advocate for an administration that does not offend the holiness and justice of God.

God ordained three spheres of authority: the Home, the State, and the Church, but he has retained authority and control over each of them. You may be the head of your household, but you are there to do God’s will, not your own. The same may be said of leaders in the Church, and it is just as true of leaders among the nations. God raises men to positions of authority for his own purposes, and when he is finished with them, he puts them down in the same way a craftsman sets down a tool. That is all our civil magistrates are: tools in the hand of the true King, whether they know it or not. The Church’s proclamation of Christ, in part, reminds rulers who they are.

The Church and State ought not to be conflated, but Jesus is Lord of them both. Each must remain in their distinct spheres of responsibility, but the Church has a prophetic role to speak God’s law and Word to those in the State and in the Home. If we do otherwise, we are failing in our duty. If we are content to allow a secular state to go its own way apart from the will of God without rebuke, then the Church will answer for her negligence. The Church must serve as a teacher and guide to both the State and the Home. The spheres of authority are separate. The divine authority by which all three are to be governed is not. God’s Law applies equally to all; it transcends time, place, and people group. The Bible may be the Church’s book, but God’s revealed Word governs every creature and all of creation. We are not campaigning for America to be a Christian nation in the sense some might use that term. But we will continue to pray for God’s kingdom to come and for his will to be done, on earth, in this church, in our homes, and in America, as it is in heaven.

Conclusion

We are citizens of an heavenly kingdom, the New Jerusalem, the City of God, but we also have a kind of dual citizenship. I am an American citizen and patriot. If I did not love my country, then I would not be so concerned about what is happening in America right now. But while this world is my home, eschatologically--the well-meant but misguided theology of familiar hymns notwithstanding--the kingdoms of this world are not my true home, and my place here will not be fully realized until America and every other nation of men have passed away and the kingdom of Christ rules over all and in all.

You belong to an unshakable kingdom, and it will still be unshakable on Wednesday.

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. (Psa. 118:9)

Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. (Psa. 146:3)

Make vows to the LORD your God, and pay them; let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared. He shall cut off the spirit of princes; He is awesome to the kings of the earth. (Psa. 76:11-12)

Trust in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord. And be at peace forevermore in him. Amen.

Focus on the Fundamentals

People are constantly looking for shortcuts. Whatever they hope to accomplish, they want to accomplish it faster, sooner, and with less effort. Losing weight, acquiring a language, learning a musical instrument, playing a sport, or adding professional skills: we want to do more, better, in less time. There may be some ways we can learn, work, and grow more efficiently and effectively, but watching videos on YouTube and reading articles online about how to do something will only be helpful to a point. You have to practice what you hope to learn. You have to internalize knowledge and skills, and that can only be done through (tens of) thousands of hours of deliberate repetition.

Most people are looking for hacks, shortcuts in the learning and developing process. But that is not usually what is needed. A fascination with hacks is often counterproductive, because time and energy is spent on determining the best way to proceed rather than doing the work necessary to move forward. This is not to say how to do something is irrelevant. We want to be efficient and effective. But no amount of efficiency or effectiveness in design can substitute for doing the work deliberately and consistently over time.

Focus on the fundamentals. View your discipline, project, or activity as a craft to perfect rather than a goal to complete. It may be both, but the former will help you cultivate the mindset and habits most conducive to quality and success. Be determined to master the basics. Never outgrow them. Never look for the shortcut around them. Drill the fundamental movements, skills, and information with concentrated attention, repeatedly and frequently, over a long period of time. Make the repetition a form of meditation. Forget about when you are finished. Put all of your energy into the rhythm and process. You cannot practice this way if you are always looking at the clock, eager to be done.

This advice can help you learn the piano, excel at French cooking, acquire a second language, master a martial art, or become competent at coding in multiple computer languages. But I am writing primarily as a pastor to church members. Think of the application of these ideas in discipleship. This is how you develop a deeper prayer life, learn the doctrines of the Christian faith, express the fruit of the Spirit more consistently, and memorize entire books of the Bible. There are no shortcuts here. You don’t just need a better routine, though routines are important. You need deliberate and consistent practice, focused on the fundamentals of whatever you are seeking to learn, grow, and do. Where would you be as a disciple of Jesus if you devoted one hour per day to learning, immersing, and practicing the disciplines of grace? --JME

Cheerful Annoyance

Is it possible to be frustrated by circumstances, annoyed by difficulties, concerned about possibilities, and cheerful at the same time? Not only is it possible, to whatever extent the former may be appropriate, to the same extent the latter must be mandatory. We often speak of Christian joy as an attitude based on objective, transcendent, and immutable realities. In other words, Christians rejoice in all circumstances because God’s Word and work is true and unchangeable. Our peace, joy, and hope are grounded in who God is, what Christ has done, and what he has promised to his people. Christian joy is a conviction, decision, and disposition, not an emotion. We can and should rejoice no matter our present circumstances or how we feel at any given point in time. But we must be careful not to divorce this spiritual joy from temporal and personal emotions. The two are distinguishable, but not separable; they are different, but closely related. Christian joy is a decision, expressed in action, and it will transform our emotions.

The Christian’s joy is an attitude that gives priority to what is eternally true over whatever may seem, feel, or even be true at a given moment. My shoulder is sore, but Christ endured the pain of Hell and quenched God’s wrath against my sin forever. Both are true. Which truth will dominate my heart and mind and determine my attitude today? My child fell ill with the same chronic affliction that has been a defining feature of my life for more than 31 years, but Jesus has promised to return and put an end to the curse, to heal every sickness among his people, and to wipe away every tear from our eyes. Both are true. Which truth will I meditate upon each day? I sometimes feel as though my work as a minister accomplishes very little, that hours spent in study, teaching, and pastoral care make almost no difference in the lives of God’s saints, that these labors are no more than beautiful music that people love to listen to but which makes no difference in their lives, but the Lord has urged his servants on to steadfastness, called us to labor for the glory of God and not for earthly fame or fruit, and assured us that no labor in Christ’s Name will ever be in vain. No matter how I may sometimes feel about ministerial labors, I must choose whether to walk by faith or by feelings. Faith is determined by God’s Word, not the ups and downs of my emotional experience. Walking by feelings makes my ever-changing emotional state the arbiter of truth and determiner of reality rather than the revealed Word of God. Who knows what will be true on any given day if my feelings decide it.

I did not inherit a cheerful disposition as a biological birthright, and I can’t say it was modeled particularly well in my formative years. But God has called his saints to joy, not to lives of sorrow, and so even though there must be tribulations and many tears will be shed on the way to Zion, believers have a duty to fight for joy and to deliberately delight in the things of God. When our complaints are set in the context of Scripture and the historical experience of God’s people, most are revealed to be pathetic and rather petty. I do not mean that we should be naively perky and oblivious to the real suffering in our world. It is not spiritual to laugh when we ought instead to weep. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

We will have tribulation in this life, but we can and should be of good cheer in the midst of it. How is this possible? By remembering and rejoicing in the fact our Savior has overcome the world. This is not naive optimism; it is Christian optimism or cheerful realism. Jesus has come and has overcome sin, death, and sorrow. That changes everything. The world is not getting worse, even if certain segments of human society are or appear to be. The world is not going to Hell in a handbasket, only the ungodly are being sent there. Jesus is keeping the world for his Church and preparing a renovation project like you have never seen. Our bodies may accumulate aches and pains, but this is only the approaching death of a decaying form that will soon be reborn and renewed in immortality. Our hope is not escape but resurrection. We do not surrender the field to the enemy; we wait for the King who comes to claim and clear the ground he has already won.

Do we really think our pains, political chaos, or public degradation are worthy of comparison with what Christ has already begun and will one day conclude? We should be realistic, yes, and not oblivious to the real suffering, sin, and sorrows that characterize our pilgrim life. But we should also be cheerful, even when troubled. Not embittered, not depressed, and certainly not fearful. I may be annoyed by my present circumstances, but by God’s grace I can and should be cheerfully annoyed and able to smile in the darkness because the morning has dawned. --JME

The Eternal Generation of the Son

On this week’s Tuesday Q&A I will be discussing a couple of questions on Christology and the Person of Christ, specifically on the eternal generation of the Son referred to in passages like Psalm 2:7, John 1:14 and 18, and implicitly in John 5:26. I dealt with these issues over the last few years in a chapel talk at a local Christian school, as part of a course in Christian doctrine in a homeschool coop, and while preaching through the Gospel of John. Since this is a complex and very important topic, I thought it might be helpful to adapt some of the written materials from those prior sessions into a blog post that could be referenced in conjunction with the recorded Q&A. Some of these ideas are difficult to wrap our minds around, but it is important that we learn to think properly about the Person of Christ and what we confess as a church in the ancient creeds. This is not written for an undergraduate or seminary level discussion but is an attempt to explain the eternal generation of the Son at a basic level understandable to interested church members without formal education in theology.

        As we study Christology, it is very important that we think biblically, theologically, and historically. The ancient creeds and historic confessions of the Church are invaluable resources for understanding Scripture and the theology which is derived from it. So many Christians today act almost as if they are the first people ever to read the Bible, but this is far from the case. The Christian faith has been believed, affirmed, studied, and lived for two thousand years, and while man’s work is always fallible and prone to error, we all should recognize that we are standing on the shoulders of giants as we read the Scriptures, and we should be willing to listen and learn from those who have gone before us.

        In this article we are discussing one of the phrases describing the Son of God in the Nicene Creed: “begotten of the Father before all worlds.” These words are very important in the history of the Church. They played a very significant role in guarding the true doctrine of Christ and the Trinity from false, heretical doctrines which arose in the 3rd and 4th centuries. This part of the creed refers to the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son. First, I want to help you understand what the doctrine of eternal generation is. Second, I want to explain why the Church has received it as a true doctrine of Scripture. Third, I want to show you why it is important both for the Church’s faith and for each of our lives.

What is the Doctrine of Eternal Generation?

        We have to be very careful when we are talking about the Doctrine of God including the doctrine of the Trinity and doctrines like the one we are considering today. This is because we are finite creatures, and God is the infinite Creator. He has stooped down and revealed himself to us in simple words that we can understand, but none of us can fully comprehend the magnitude of who God is or grasp the depths of the truth concerning him. It is very easy to fall into error by thinking God is like us. He is not. We are made in certain respects like him, but he is not like us in any respect. The similarity and comparison only works in one direction.

        Eternal generation has been confessed by the Church since ancient times but is prone to great misunderstanding. This doctrine does not mean the Father gave birth to the Son as a human father does with a human son. There is no time when the Son was not; there never was a point when the Son came into existence. The Prologue to John’s Gospel, among many other texts, settles that issue. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). In the beginning, the Son already was. He did not begin in the beginning. He is without beginning or end (Heb. 1:10; Rev. 22:12-13).

        The doctrine of eternal generation is the way in which the early Church clarified the precise relationship of the Father and the Son. Since there is one God who is the “same in substance, equal in power and glory” (WSC 6), we have to wonder what distinguishes the persons of the Godhead. The Trinity is not the Father plus the Son plus the Spirit, because that would mean there were three gods. The Trinity is also not one god who is manifest sometimes as a Father, sometimes as a Son, and sometimes as the Spirit. That would be Modalism—an ancient heresy which has never been more hilariously refuted than by our friends at Lutheran Satire. Eternal generation is the doctrine which helps us distinguish the Father and the Son. They cannot be separated, because there is only one God and both share the divine nature equally, but they are not the same person (hypostasis) because one is eternally begotten and one is not.

        Eternal generation means that the Son’s personhood, his existence as God, flows from the divine essence of the Father, not so that there are two essences, but so that they share the same, divine essence. Essence is the “what-ness” of the Father, Son, and Spirit. They are God: equally, eternally, and unchangeably. The early Church believed the Son is in no way inferior to or substantially different from the Father. He is not a lesser, younger, or subordinate god. He is God in all the fullness and power and glory of the Father. And that is what we should believe as well.

        Remember, this is not a generation that takes place in time. The Son is eternally generated. He always has been and always will be. It is spiritual, not physical. We may wrestle to understand this category—and a great deal more can and should be said in explaining it—but even if we cannot perfectly or fully understand it, we dare not discard it. It is too important to do that.

Why Do We Believe Eternal Generation is a True and Biblical Doctrine?

        Eternal generation is a way of stating in theological terms the relationship of the Father and Son that is described in Scripture. The Bible describes these two persons of the Godhead as the Father and the Son. This language draws a comparison to relationships we know, even though the reality of God’s relationship is categorically different: it is eternal and divine and perfect; ours are not.

        The Bible uses the term beget (γεννάω) to describe the Father’s relationship to the Son (Prov. 8:25; cf. 1Cor. 1:30). In John 5:26 Jesus said: “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” The early Christians who wrote the Nicene Creed were native Greek speakers and very close to the time of the New Testament writings, so they understood the implications of these biblical descriptions much better than many do today. They understood Jesus is the unique or only-begotten (μονογενής) Son of God because he is eternally begotten by the Father. This is why since ancient times the Church has believed and confessed these truths:

The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

And in this Trinity none is afore, nor after another; none is greater, or less than another.

But the whole three persons are co-eternal, and co-equal.

So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

        Analogies are very dangerous things, and we should not attempt to offer analogies for the Trinity or most aspects of the Doctrine of God. However, in the interests of making this easier to understand, I am going to share an analogy with you from the ancient Church. The great theologian and Church father Augustine wrote a series of sermons on the Gospel of John in which he discussed these truths. Listen to what he says about eternal generation in commenting on John 5:

How, says some one, has eternal begot eternal? As a temporary flame generates a temporary light. The generating flame is coeval [co-equal] with the light which it generates: the generating flame does not precede in time the generated light; but from the moment the flame begins, from that moment the light begins. Show me flame without light, and I show you God the Father without Son. Accordingly, the Son cannot do anything of Himself, but what He sees the Father doing, implies, that for the Son to see and to be begotten of the Father, is the same thing. His seeing and His substance are not different; nor are His power and substance different. All that He is, He is of the Father; all that He can is of the Father; because what He can and what He is is one thing, and all of the Father.

This is a biblical truth which stretches far beyond the grasp of our limited minds. God’s truth so far exceeds our knowledge that we must say, “Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom. 11:33)

What Difference Does Eternal Generation Really Make?

        Does it really matter? It all seems fairly obscure, hard to understand, and impractical. There have been some Christians over the last several years who have thought the doctrine of eternal generation is too difficult, too confusing, and that the Church would be better off without it. Not long ago a very prominent evangelical theologian, Wayne Grudem, whose work has influenced many, said, “Quite honestly, I find it impossible to say whether or not I agree with ‘eternal generation’ until someone explains, in ordinary English, what he means by it (not just what it does not mean).” It is all the more remarkable that this statement was written by the man who wrote what may be the most widely read and used textbook on Systematic Theology among evangelicals today. But let me assure you: we are not better off without the doctrine of eternal generation, nor can we downplay it in this way without risking great harm to the Church! The early Church knew how important this doctrine was and is, and the modern Church needs to know it as well. You are part of that Church, so you need to be diligent to understand why this doctrine really matters. Let me suggest two reasons as we conclude.

        First, the doctrine of eternal generation matters because correct theology is important for the existence and health of the Church. If the Church changes its doctrine of God, if we confuse the relationship of the Father and the Son, then it will not be long before the Church ceases to be the Church and becomes something else. The Bible warns us not to believe in “another Jesus” (2Cor. 11:3-4); we should be concerned about not believing in another eternal Son. The eternal Son of God who became flesh and dwelt among us is the same Son who is eternally begotten by the Father. If we remove that doctrine, we will begin to believe all kinds of other untrue things about the Son, and we will no longer believe in the eternal Son who is the Savior.

        Second, the doctrine of eternal generation matters because good theology helps us think better about God which helps us to worship him, love him, and trust him more. The less you know about God, the less motivated you will be to serve him. But the more you know about him, the more you will find your heart warmed and filled as you try to imagine the greatness, the glory, and the goodness of the eternal God. The Son is God, in every respect, in no way less than or inferior to the Father. But this Son chose to become a man as well; he took upon himself a real human body and a human nature. He endured temptation and weakness and pain and death, and he did it not because he needed to, but because we needed him to. We could not be saved in any other way. He did it because God loves his Church with a love none of us deserve. That is a marvelous thing. --JME

NOTES:

 

[1] τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων / de Patre natum ante omnia saecula.

 

[2] The Athanasian Creed, lines 20-27 http://reformed.org/documents/index.html.

 

[3] Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John, 20.8 http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1701020.htm.

 

[4] Wayne Grudem “Another Thirteen Evangelical Theologians Who Affirm the Eternal Submission of the Son to the Father,” Reformation 21 http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2016/06/another-thirteen-evangelical-t.php.