In all of Church history, perhaps no two topics have generated more erroneous thinking than that of the Trinity and of the person and nature of Christ. To say that finite human minds have struggled to understand how the Godhead exists as three distinct persons of one coequal nature and substance is an understatement. The condemned heresies of Modalism (i.e. Sabellianism, Noetianism and Patripassianism), Tritheism, Docetism, Ebionitism, Macedonianism, Adoptionism, and Partialism all were contested and defeated by orthodoxy. Likewise, and similarly, men have also struggled to wrap their minds around the union of the human and divine natures in Christ. Here we find the heresies of Arianism, Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism. These too were challenged and defeated by orthodoxy.
My point with this little history lesson isn't to challenge you to research all of these large and hard to pronounce names (although there is great value in studying the history, both good and bad, of our faith), rather, I wish to simply illustrate that a great deal of time and energy has been spent, particularly in the first few hundred years of the Church, thinking through and wrestling with the truths of scripture. Christians have long understood the necessity of knowing and proclaiming what is true about God. But doing so requires a great deal of care and effort in studying the full counsel of God through his word. It is important to recognize that all of those heresies listed above began with someone's incorrect understanding or interpretation of scripture. The Bible has great power contained within it, but that power must be wielded with great care, lest it be used wrongly, to the detriment of God's people.
It would be nice if God had provided for us a nice compact little document that neatly condensed down everything that is true about him. But that is not how he has chosen, in his goodness and wisdom, to revel himself to us. Instead, he has chosen to work over the course of hundreds of years, through a myriad of divinely-inspired, human authors to slowly and methodically peel back the layers in an unfolding revelation of his person and his plan for human redemption. This means that students of scripture must, in many ways, act as explorers who follow the clues to find the treasure buried deep within. This is not easy work.
The basic paperback printing of the ESV Bible translation that we typically use for teaching at The Journey contains over 750,000 words on over 750 pages. If you use the popular ESV Study Bible, the word count probably triples and the page count balloons to over 2700 pages. That is literally a ton of information at your fingertips. Add to that the fact that the Bible contains numerous different genres, authors, styles, etc. and the challenge grows even more daunting. This leads many to feel overwhelmed; choosing to, at worst, simply neglect the scriptures all together; and at best become consumeristic in their interactions with it, preferring to simply rely upon what others have said about the Bible. The danger in both of these approaches, as stated earlier, is that history has shown us that a great deal of misunderstanding and misrepresentation of God has come from poor scholarship in relation to God's word.
Here's the deal. As much as Cody seeks to be faithful to God's word in his teaching, and as much as I try to do the same in writing these reflections, neither of us posses perfect understanding or theology. Whenever any of us encounter challenging concepts and ideas in the scriptures, like that of the hypostatic union (that Christ is both fully God and fully man), we can't help but have questions. Where do we then turn for answers? Who's responsible for your faith? Is it your pastor? Is it the authors and theologians you turn to? Is it Google? Or is it you???
You will always find me cheerleading for Bible literacy. I can't overemphasize the importance for each and every believer to be not just a reader of scripture, but a genuine student who approaches the scriptures with a desire to learn and understand. When we avoid or ignore the areas of scripture that challenge us, then we leave ourselves susceptible to being "tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine," as Paul warned the Ephesians. Whenever I read and study Hebrews, I can't help but get the feeling that the author shared my passion.
Each and every week, as we engage with this book, we see him weaving together the various threads of the Old Testament, as well as the teaching of Jesus and the apostles, to create a brilliant tapestry of the person and work of Christ. That's why we subtitled this series, "Putting It All Together..." To fully and completely understand who Jesus was: his nature, his mission, his teaching, his miracles, etc.; and what he accomplished: our atonement, justification, sanctification, glorification, etc. in light of that, we must be wise students, brave explorers, and astute detectives.
As students we come to the scriptures prepared to learn. A student is keenly aware of what they don't know. They require instruction and training. Every time we come to the scriptures, we must do so in humility, knowing that there is something for us to learn or relearn anew. Regardless of the maturity of our faith, we never outgrow our need for learning from God through his word. This is, at its most basic, a posture of humility.
As explorers, we must be willing to chase every clue, search every crack and crevice, and never grow weary of searching. We must be brave enough to face those things that intimidate us. An explorer will keep going until he finds what he is looking for, even if it takes a lifetime of searching. He never ceases to be amazed at the treasures he finds, but also maintains a thirst for more. This is, at its most basic, a posture of curiosity and wonder.
Finally, as detectives, we must be willing to methodically investigate every angle. When a detective puts together a case, they aren't content with guesses and theories, rather they desire to piece together the evidence to create a sure answer. Where an explorer will dig up the whole desert looking for an artifact, the detective will gather the evidence and study the details to ensure the treasure being mined is the right treasure and worth mining. Both come from a similar desire to uncover something, and both approaches have their merits and their place. At its most basic though, this is a posture of genuine concern for the truth.
We must be students, explorers, and detectives whose deepest desire is to rightly know and handle the word of God so that we might live in obedience to him for our good and his glory.
In Grace,
Chris Morris
If you missed this week's sermon (or just want to listen again), follow the link below to listen. Or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes.
Part 6 - Jesus is 200%
Questions discussed in this sermon:
1. Why is it important to understand the details of our faith?
2. Was Jesus fully human?
3. How does Christ's humanity make him the perfect mediator?
Next week's lesson: Hebrews 3:1-6
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