LBCF 1689 Reflections (part 51)
Reflections on the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. 23 Aug 14 began a perhaps unbroken, orderly, and personal journey through my favorite written confession of faith. This will be my personal reflections on this beloved written codification of the Christian Faith which is according to a Baptist flavor.
NEXT-
Chapter 4, paragraph 1b: “…for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom and goodness, to create or make the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible…”
As we saw last time, the Triune God made this world. The title “Creator” is an exultant title. God is the eternal Creator of all things. The wisdom displayed in his creation is beyond all human comprehension. I see what we make as humans. Technology is amazing to me. We are hard at work as humans to create, showing the image of our Creator in it all. I’m amazed at technology, but it’s literally nothing next to creation. After all, it is the mind (electronic meat) he made that makes human things.
The wisdom of God in creation is denied a lot today. Not just in the delusions of Darwinian mysticism, but even among the church. When we say that this world as it is is not his design, his plan A, we strip him of his wisdom in creation. One truth that therefore seems to have no place in the theology of many today is his intention to demonstrate his wrath in his creation. Romans 9:21-22 asks us: “has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?” God made people and angels good, ordained the Fall of both, elected many (men) to salvation out of it, came to earth for a time to display himself to us, lived, died, rose, ascended and will come again to deliver everything to a glory that none (even Adam #1) have yet seen! He will judge the world. That’s called a Day of Wrath in the Bible. This is his plan A. It will be perfect in the end to a degree that even those in hell will attest to their hatred of his perfect judgment. We living idolaters don’t like to call this wisdom so we tinker with our tools to make another god we like more. One less wise perhaps, but more open to sin in his kindness.
Another point made here in this part of the confession leads to a more robust understanding of God’s perfect wisdom. It’s that God not only made all the visible stuff, but also all the invisible stuff. Speaking of Jesus, Paul writes in Colossians 1:16: “for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.” The old Manichean heresy is the heretical “Christianesque” equivalent to a Buddhist’s yin-yang. It’s also rightly called “dualism” by many in history. It is the idea that God and the devil (and that part of the “invisible” stuff) are in any way equals. God created all things including his devil that he will one day bring to justice. His wisdom is to be seen and praised in this, as it is, in its perfection.
NEXT-
Chapter 4, paragraph 1b: “…for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom and goodness, to create or make the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible…”
As we saw last time, the Triune God made this world. The title “Creator” is an exultant title. God is the eternal Creator of all things. The wisdom displayed in his creation is beyond all human comprehension. I see what we make as humans. Technology is amazing to me. We are hard at work as humans to create, showing the image of our Creator in it all. I’m amazed at technology, but it’s literally nothing next to creation. After all, it is the mind (electronic meat) he made that makes human things.
The wisdom of God in creation is denied a lot today. Not just in the delusions of Darwinian mysticism, but even among the church. When we say that this world as it is is not his design, his plan A, we strip him of his wisdom in creation. One truth that therefore seems to have no place in the theology of many today is his intention to demonstrate his wrath in his creation. Romans 9:21-22 asks us: “has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?” God made people and angels good, ordained the Fall of both, elected many (men) to salvation out of it, came to earth for a time to display himself to us, lived, died, rose, ascended and will come again to deliver everything to a glory that none (even Adam #1) have yet seen! He will judge the world. That’s called a Day of Wrath in the Bible. This is his plan A. It will be perfect in the end to a degree that even those in hell will attest to their hatred of his perfect judgment. We living idolaters don’t like to call this wisdom so we tinker with our tools to make another god we like more. One less wise perhaps, but more open to sin in his kindness.
Another point made here in this part of the confession leads to a more robust understanding of God’s perfect wisdom. It’s that God not only made all the visible stuff, but also all the invisible stuff. Speaking of Jesus, Paul writes in Colossians 1:16: “for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.” The old Manichean heresy is the heretical “Christianesque” equivalent to a Buddhist’s yin-yang. It’s also rightly called “dualism” by many in history. It is the idea that God and the devil (and that part of the “invisible” stuff) are in any way equals. God created all things including his devil that he will one day bring to justice. His wisdom is to be seen and praised in this, as it is, in its perfection.
Recent
Archive
2025
2024
January
Proving That Jesus is the Christ From the Old Testament. Part 4Proving That Jesus is the Christ From the Old Testament. Part 5Proving That Jesus is the Christ From the Old Testament. Part 6Proving That Jesus is the Christ From the Old Testament. Part 7Proving That Jesus is the Christ From the Old Testament. Part 8
February
March
July
August
December
2023
February
April
May
July
2022
January
February
November
No Comments