Come Into My Garden pt2

Come Into My Garden (Part 2)
by George Warnock

God Must Reveal Himself

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt (pitched His tent) among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth" (Jn. 1:1, 14). Because He is God, He must make Himself known, He must reveal Himself. He is essentially Life, inherent Life, and Life must show itself to be alive. That Life is Light. Light must shine forth, for light is self-revealing. The Name of God speaks of all that He is in the nature of His being; but the Word speaks of this same God declared and spoken forth. And so we read, "For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name" (Psa. 138:2). Why is the Word above His Name? Because God is more glorious in the expression of His being, than He is in secluding Himself from His creation. What is a word, but the declaration and unfolding of that which is in your heart and mind? Words fail us many times, because of our inadequacy to say clearly what we mean. But in Christ the Logos, the Word, the expression of God's heart and being was so complete that the Word was Himself God, shining forth in the face of Jesus Christ: "The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way,Before his works of old.I was set up (anointed) from everlasting,From the beginning, or ever the earth was.When there were no depths, I was brought forth;When there were no fountains abounding with water.Before the mountains were settled,Before the hills was I set forth:While as yet he had not made the earth,Nor the fields, nor the highest partOf the dust of the world.When he prepared the heavens, I was there;When he set a compass upon the face of the depth;When he established the clouds above;When he strengthened the fountains of the deep:When he gave to the sea his decree,That the waters should not pass his commandment:When he appointed the foundations of the earth:Then I was by him, as one brought up with him:And I was daily his delight,Rejoicing always before him;Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth;And my delights were with the sons of men"(Prov. 8:22-31).

He was there, the Logos, the Word of the eternal God... yearning for expression, for manifestation, for the unfolding of the Father's heart. He was there in every phase of the creative work of God. "All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made" (Jn. 1:3). He was the Divine Artificer, seemingly separate from God because He proceeded from Him to live with men... but He was the Word of the Father in flesh. And so fully and completely did He reveal the Father that there was nothing lacking of the character and nature of God in our Lord Jesus when He walked here in the earth. Old Creation ... the Seed Plot of the New We have emphasized that God must fully reveal Himself to His creation, because of who He is. It was with purpose and design, therefore, that God did not annihilate the old creation and then begin to create a new one. He needed both creations... the one that fell into futility, and the one that He would raise to life and glory. The old creation became the fertile soil in which He would drop the seed which would bring forth the new. The old was to become the womb, out of which a New Creation would be born, And the old creation is even now in the bondage of corruption and decay, and travailing in birth-pangs, yearning for the deliverance that shall come with "the manifestation of the sons of God" (See Rom. 8:19-21).

We may be inclined to look upon the outflow of God's love in Redemption merely as the divine remedy for the Fall. True, it is all of that, and we must for ever praise Him for His glorious Redemption. But it is much more than a remedy. For the plan of Redemption preceded the creation of man, and the fall of man. God had an "eternal purpose" concerning His chosen ones, even "before the foundation of the world" (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 1:4; See Ch. 3:11). And in the Book of Revelation we see the Lamb as One "slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev.13:8). God saw fit to use the old creation, and fallen man in particular, as the vessel through whom He would reveal the fulness and completeness of His glory. How shall we know the fulness of light, if we have not known the darkness? How shall we know the greatness of God's longsuffering and patience, except he restrains Himself in painful forbearance during the reign of evil? How shall we know the infinite depths of His love, except through the revelation of the Cross, where God lavished His mercy and compassion on rebels such as you and me? God needed His infinite plan of Redemption for the full display of His own unsearchable attributes. However, we had better not try to figure these things out with our natural mind. By faith we understand the mysteries of God... not because He gives the wisdom to reason it all out, but because we know there is a rest in God when we believe what He has spoken. And so the apostle tells us, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God..." (Heb. 11:3).

He goes on to tell us that the things we see were made from the realm of the invisible and leaves it at that. With this kind of "faith understanding", if we may call it that, we "understand" what our greatest scientists cannot understand. They are spending billions of dollars in the hope of making this discovery: How did the universe come into being? We know how; because God has given us a faculty that is beyond that possessed by any of earth's great intellectuals--the faculty of faith. Where our minds can go no further, we can stop right there--and faith becomes the reason we understand. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Gen. 1:3).

Blessed are we if we can learn to stop right there, especially when we realize we are dealing with eternal things--and find true rest and joy in believing what God has spoken. We know that God allowed the old creation to sink into futility, in expectation of redemption (See Rom. 8:19-21). He causes the Light to shine out of the darkness. Out of the depths of sin and depravity, the righteousness and holiness of God shine forth in amazing grace. In a world of hatred and rebellion against God, He shows forth mercy and compassion and love beyond all the confines of sin and darkness. In man's age-long and persistent rebellion against his Creator, God is showing forth the depths of His patience and longsuffering in a way He could never have done before the fall of man (Rom. 9:22, 23). But let us beware lest in recognizing these principles we fall into the trap of calling evil good, and good evil. Lest we say that God cannot judge evil, because He designed that man should fall in order that He might redeem him. And lest we say that God made Satan just as he is now, in order to show forth His own glory. All such surmisings are not only vain, but they malign God; and the apostle tells us that those who say such things fall under God's righteous judgments. (See Rom. 3:5-8). Redemption, God's Masterpiece In the heart of the artist or musician or artificer--someone with special creative talents--there is always that inherent desire to bring forth their masterpiece. They try and try again, but remain unsatisfied. There is always that nagging sense of failure... "I haven't done it yet... I'm not satisfied. I cannot rest till I have done my very best... and this is not it!" And yet no matter how many times they try, they generally end up with the feeling, "It could have been better... I must try again".

Now God is the infinite Artist, and Builder, and Architect of all things. Unlike "masters" here in the earth He doesn't try, and try, and try again; but often it seems that way. And the evolutionist would like us to imagine that's the way it is. We might get the impression that God tried to make a perfect man when He made Adam... and failed. That He tried to bring forth a holy nation in Israel... and failed. That He tried to establish Aaron in a holy priesthood... and failed. That He tried to set up a powerful kingdom in David, or Solomon... and failed. But it was not that way. Rather He was demonstrating over and over again the futility of man, and the inability of man to maintain order and beauty in a fallen creation. But underlying all this was the scarlet thread of Redemption, while He waited in great patience and longsuffering for the day when He Himself would come on the scene, and bring forth the ultimate Masterpiece of His creative hands. And so we have the story of Redemption. It is there that God poured everything He had into the creative work of His hands, and found rest and delight in a people whom He created for His glory, For the apostle Paul tells us that "We are His workmanship" (Eph. 2:10).

o bring about our Redemption, God poured everything He had, everything He is... into the redemption of His people. So in reality "We are His Masterpiece!" It cost God everything He had... even His only Begotten Son. And we will never fully appreciate the glory of Redemption until we understand that it was God Most High who clothed Himself in flesh, and submitted Himself to the hatred and scoffing of His rebellious creatures for their redemption and transformation! And that it was in this great creative work that He found complete fulfillment and could stand back and say, "It is finished". He made this declaration, first from the Cross, and will declare it yet again from His exalted throne in the heavens (Jn. 17:4; 19:30; Rev. ).

For 10:7what He accomplished at the Cross must yet be consummated in a people made complete in Christ, and conformed to His image. The old creation could manifest but the limited rays of His glory. It took the New Creation for God to manifest the full shining Light of His glory, And the redeemed ones of Adam's race are yet to be revealed to the highest of His celestial creatures, as His ultimate and perfect Masterpiece. No wonder we are told that the angels desire to peer into these things that pertain to our salvation! (1 Pet. 1:12). And so in redemption:..We behold God in His infinite depths, as well as God in His infinite heights. We see Him stooping to lowest realms of darkness, to raise a people into the highest realms of light. We see the glory of His condescension, as well as the glory of His ascension. We see the glory of His weakness, as well as the glory of His power. We see the glory of His emptiness, as well as the glory of His fulness. We see the glory of His humility, as well as the glory of His exaltation. We see Him stopping in His steps, to hear the cry of a blind Bartimaeus, And we see Him riding majestically in the heavens, as the One who has conquered over all the forces of evil. We see Him riding into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, And we see Him ascending in clouds, with power and great glory. We see a bleeding Lamb, slain for our redemption. And we see the same Lamb, high and lifted up on the throne of Glory, with angels and cherubim falling down before Him, and the redeemed of the earth crying out.. "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev. 5:9).

And it is in and through this strange combination of the weakness of man and the majesty of God Most High, that He is seen as the Master Workman of the New Creation. In a way that no artist or musician has ever been able to do, God has invested everything He has, everything He is, in the people whom He has redeemed for His glory. He can do no more for us--other than to open our eyes and ears and hearts to receive and to perceive the fulness of His salvation. This is a great work, indeed; and for this we continue to cry out, and hope for, and expect. Then will He be fully satisfied. Then will He "rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing" (Zeph. 3:17) But let us not think for a moment, having come into this fulness of glory, that we have come to the end. In this life, when we come to the end of a matter, or to the end of life... we face deterioration and decay. But in New Creation life--how could we ever exhaust the riches of Him who is infinite and eternal? Even now as partakers of Eternal Life there is to be an expansion of His glory within us, and this must go on throughout eternal ages. Here in this brief period of our lives that we call "time" we can only pause for a moment, and faintly discern a new galaxy of truth and revelation far beyond the limits of our present spiritual constellation.

But as surely as we find ourselves caught up unto God and into His eternal purpose, the realms of eternity become more and more real to us. So we must continue to abide in Him, now and all our days, as we anticipate the glory that is yet to be revealed. For how can we know, except in the most incomplete and fragmentary way... what God means when He declares to us "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:7)? Nor do we say these things to encourage more research in those areas, for it is certain they will remain obscure to us until we become one with Him in His love. Rather, our hope is that He would bring us to greater humility and worship before Him, for knowledge can very easily blind our eyes to the more excellent way, and nurture pride in our hearts. "Lord cause us to know Thee more and more, and to see Thee as Thou art... as we linger in this brief realm of time for but a moment. Yes, we want to know more about those eternal realms of glory... but help us to understand we will only achieve our goal as we come to know Thee better. Purge our hearts from thoughts of greatness, and cause us to learn patience and humility, and to walk in love here in a world of hatred and malice. For knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up. Grant that with all patience and longsuffering we may come to a place of maturity in this life, rather than seeking to pry open the flowers of grace that Thou hast promised for the ages to come. For as surely as we do that... we may indeed smell a little of its fragrance, but we will never see the glory of the flower in full bloom."