The Christ Centred Cosmic Civilisation
Rod Dreher wrote “to order the world rightly as Christians requires regarding all things as pointing to Christ”
Christ is the One in Whom in all things consist and humanity is not the measure of all things. If a defining characteristic of the modern world is disorder then the most fundamental act of resistance is to discover and life according to the deep, divine order of the heavens and the earth.
In this series we want to look at the big model of the universe that the Bible and Christian history provides.
It is a mind and heart expanding vision of reality.
It is not confined to the limits of our bodily senses - but tries to embrace levels fo reality that are not normally accessible or tangible to our exiled life on earth.
We live on this side of the cosmic curtain - and therefore the highest and greatest dimensions of reality are hidden to us… yet these dimensions exist and are the most fundamental framework for the whole of the heavens and the earth.
Throughout this series we want to pick away at all the threads of reality to see how they all join together - how they all find common meaning and reason in the great divine logic - the One who is the Logos, the LORD Jesus Christ - the greatest that both heaven and earth has to offer.
Colossians 1:15-23
The Christ Centred Cosmic Civilisation
Episode 55 - The Divine Word: Language Reflecting the Trinity and Unveiling Eternal Truths
Can the simple structure of a sentence reflect the eternal nature of God? Join us as we uncover how the seemingly mundane elements of human language can mirror the profound intra-Trinitarian relations between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. With insights from Vern Poythress, we explore the divine truth encapsulated in our words and how Jesus, as the Word of God, orchestrates and sustains all of creation. Discover how internalizing this divine Word can create a harmonious unity between our inner lives, the cosmos, and the eternal life of God.
Next, we delve into the transformative power of words to define and reveal divine truths, focusing on the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 11:25-30. See how childlike faith unlocks the mysteries of the Father, offering rest to the weary, while human cleverness falls short in finding true meaning. We emphasize the intrinsic order and definition of the universe through the Son and underscore the necessity of seeking wisdom and rest in Jesus. Tune in to get a glimpse of our next topic, where we will explore the mediating and priestly nature of language, further expanding on how words bridge the human and the divine.
The theme music is "Wager with Angels" by Nathan Moore
Well welcome to the Christ-Centered Cosmic Civilization as we continue our examination of language. So where we've got to is that we can say that the most basic features of language are established within the living God in eternity. The living God in eternity, the fact that language can give us truth, is called In the Beginning Was the Word. This is on pages 252 to 253. He says In the clause the father loves the son. The structure of the clause expresses the eternal activity of the persons in relation to one another. Language, in this respect, is rooted in God's eternal intra-Trinitarian relations. Specifically, the clause structure is related to God's eternal intra-Trinitarian relations.
Speaker 1:The truth that the Father loves the Son is the archetype. The truth that the Father loves Paul or Mary or any of us is an ectype. That is, it is derivative truth related by analogy to the foundation in who God is. God in himself. Language expresses truth.
Speaker 1:The sentence the father loves the son expresses the truth that the father loves the son. We can make a distinction between the sentence on the one hand and the reality on the other. But the reality is meaningful reality, a meaning derived from the meaning in the mind of God. God expresses his mind in his word. The Son is the word, the expression of the Father, as the word expresses the Father. So a sentence that God utters expresses the truth that the sentence formulates. For example, we do understand and grasp the truth that the Father loves the Son. Through the sentence that states the Father loves the Son, the utterance gives access to truth in imitation of the word giving access to the father. Okay, so there's a lot in that from Verne Poitras, but what he's trying to say there is that sentence like because speech is grounded in the eternal, intratrinitarian life of God. Sentences that describe that eternal, intratrinitarian life of God, sentences that describe that, really do describe it, and that when we utter a sentence like the father loves the son, that isn't just us saying something or projecting something or imagining something or wishing something, or it's as what some people like to say. Something like that is the way that God has expressed himself, or life of God Father, son and Spirit, therefore, and that sentences can be spoken in that eternal, inter-eternal, trinitarian life and that the Father does in fact speak this truth therefore, does in fact speak this truth. Therefore, we can like a sentence like the father loves the son really is true of the eternal life of god, like god can describe his own life in sentences eternally and we can repeat those sentences and have comparable meaning. That there's an archetype, an original kind of sentence that can be spoken by, say, the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit, and we can say that sentence in our own languages, human languages, such that there is a genuine sharing of real truth and meaning.
Speaker 1:So we must never cease to marvel at the fact that, cease to marvel at the fact that mere words, mere human words we say the word mere there in a provisional way but mere human words or strange sounds from our throats or marks on paper that constitute words. We can never cease to marvel at these things. The sounds from our throats, of marks on paper can carry, really carry, eternal truth. These apparently weak and sounds and scribbles have been given to us no-transcript. So words are like priestly they can convey heavenly truth to earthly listeners and speak earthly truth to a heavenly listener.
Speaker 1:Now we'll come back to this concept of words as mediators later, to this concept of words as mediators later. Let's zero in again on the idea of Jesus as the word. So we've already touched on this, but I think we need to explore it more that when God created the world. He did this using language, through words, but more than this, he created all things through his Son, who is the Word. Genesis 1 and John 1 both explain how the Father created the universe through his word, and in Proverbs 8, when Christ is presented as wisdom, or the craftsman of creation, who is wisdom, we get that similar logic. When the father began to create the heavens and the earth, his very first work was to bring forth his eternal word, setting that word as the foundation of all that he was going to do. That divine, eternal word, who was given birth and established as the mediator of all creation, is the same wisdom who speaks to us and whose words are the key to life.
Speaker 1:Christ, the word and wisdom of God, is the logic of all creation and his word is to be the logic of our own hearts and minds. So that's important, because we're saying that there is a, a word and wisdom. That's that. By that we mean the spirit filled son. The spirit filled son is the word and wisdom of god, eternally, before the universe even exists. God in himself, transcendently.
Speaker 1:There is this word that is the full and perfect, exhaustive expression of all that God is. So all that God is has been expressed eternally and exhaustively in the word. And then that word is spoken in such a way that that word orders the whole creation, the heavens and the earth, and so that word holds all things together in the heavens and the earth. And that word is also spoken to us and must become part of us, in us. That word must dwell within us, hidden within us, so that that becomes our way of living and thinking and feeling. And then in that way there is this harmony between ourselves, our inner life, our outer life, the way we live, the way we feel, and so on. The world around us, the heavens and the earth around us, and the very eternal life of God, all of those things are all brought together in Christ, in the word. So when he is the center of the, you know our doctrine of God, the universe of the, you know our doctrine of god, the universe, our own human life, church life, all that, he can hold all that together, from the eternal life of god to the earth under our feet, to our own living and thinking and feeling and so on. An identity, this is the word that defines or expresses all.
Speaker 1:So let me just read from Proverbs 8, and just let's listen to that as this word of the Father that defines the whole creation but also is to be listened to by human beings and made the pattern of life, the way, the truth and the life of human beings also. So not just the external world out there, but our internal life and action. So listen to this. It begins with this eternal action where the father cannot do anything without bringing forth this word. That must be his primal action, to bring forth his word if he's going to act at all, and that he brings forth this word. And because he's brought forth this word as his first action, therefore everything else in creation can be ordered. And then the point is, if that is true of the whole world and of humanity, we must pay attention to him. So so listen, proverbs 8. The Lord, it's Christ speaking.
Speaker 1:The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works before his deeds of old. I was there long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be, when there were no watery depths. I was given birth when there were no springs overflowing with water, before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills. I was begotten Before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the foundations of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight, day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in humanity.
Speaker 1:Now then, my children listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways, listen to my instruction and be wise, do not disregard it. So can we see that sense of the, that the, this word of the father is begotten of the Father. Before all things, before the universe ever came to be, he was always begotten of his Father, always there, he's brought forth as the first action that when the living God is going to act in creation, revelation, redemption, always he is brought forth and he is the one who makes sense of all things. He is the one who's given order to the whole creation, this word, this logic, this logos of the father. He's the one who's given order to everything. He is the word we need to hear. And we see if we pay attention to the creation of the universe.
Speaker 1:In Genesis, chapter one, we see the how this word functions to hold all things together, to make sense of everything, this speech of the Father who, through the Son Because on each of the days of creation the Father speaks, defines, describes and appoints the heavens and the earth with his breath, through his word. It's just we, if we've read it many times, we just often couldn't forget that this is this the father speaking his word, describing, defining, uh, dividing, and so on on, using his word to do it. It's not a kind of mere act of will, inchoate will. It's literally done by speaking. And so I have this quotation here. I can't remember where I got this from, but it just says Genesis 1 contains no less than eight 14, verse 20, verse 24, verse 26,. These speech acts that create. In addition, there are two speeches of blessing Genesis 1, 22, and Genesis 1, 28 to 30. 28 to 30. And there are three places where God assigns names Genesis 1, verses 5, 8 and 10. So you can see the eight commandments, two speeches of blessing, three namings.
Speaker 1:It's all this activity of language being done to make the heavens and the earth what they are. In speaking the world into existence through his own eternal word, the Father gave to all things meaning and order. That means this the the creation does not await human minds to make sense of it. Like the, the understanding, the universe does not need us. The universe has been understood, comprehended before, before we ever existed. So the creation does not await human minds to make sense of it. But before anything existed, it was all planned, understood, designed and described by the Father through his Son, in the power of the Spirit. All things, all meaning, all truth was in Christ, the Word from the moment of creation, and all things are held together by this Word. And again, that's powerful word.
Speaker 1:Again the idea that not just the initial creation of all things but its continued existence is sustained, held together by speech, as if Jesus, the divide emperor, still speaks, commands, describes, defines, divides the whole of the heavens and the earth, and he does this by simply speaking. So if the father, son and spirit shared language for infinite ages before the universe existed, and eternal divine language, we see how words and language have a primal quality, a foundational character. Before human beings ever existed, language already existed and all human language is derived as a gift from that eternal language of God. Before any human ever spoke, language had already described everything. So we do not create meaning and truth with our words. Before any human words, there was the eternal word of the father, who expressed all that the father had to say in eternity and in human history.
Speaker 1:Now why that's important? It takes us a little bit into that Matthew 11, 25 to 30 speech where Jesus says look, everything in heaven and earth has been given to me or handed over to me or entrusted to me by my father. No one knows the son except the father. But no one knows the father except the son and those to whom the son reveals him. And how Jesus says the father loves to hide things from those who think they're clever, but reveal them to little children. And then Jesus is able to say come to me if you're weary and worn out and I will give you rest.
Speaker 1:That to language is that it can feel like an impossible work to describe the universe and make sense of it, and that we may, or even just the meaning of our own lives and we may, feel overwhelmed by meaninglessness and we want to know who am I? What's the point of my life, how am I able to describe the meaning of myself? And we might, in anguished ways, pour out our hearts into our journals or just keep it all locked up in ourselves, stewing away with our own thoughts and inner dialogue, and it takes us down and down into darkness and despair and depression easily, because our when, if we are, if we are disconnected, like our words are powerful, but if on our own, they're out of control and, uh, so easily out of control and so easily out of control and out of focus and unable to speak wisely and well, understanding that eternally, in the divine life, the universe has already been described and defined thoroughly, exhaustively, and spoken into being, described into being. It's as if the Father, through the Son, simply speaks out how he has imagined the universe to being. It's as if the father, through the son, simply speaks out how he has imagined the universe to be and in describing it verbally, it comes to be and therefore the universe is intrinsically already described and defined and understood and given meaning and everything like that.
Speaker 1:And so when we what Jesus is saying, like I know that you are trying to do what is only me is, only I can do, only I can hold together the heavens and the earth by my powerful word. Like, if you set yourself the task of trying to do something like that, you will be crushed by it and in your cleverness, god will deny you light. Light in your cleverness if you're trying to say try to, because what the clever person is trying to do is replace Jesus, take the place of him, the eternal word of the Father. And so if we attempt to do that and in our cleverness try to replace him and him and say, no, we will make sense of the heavens and the earth, or even just makes. I'll try to make sense of my own life, I'll give my own, my own identity, my own meaning, and when we do that, we are making ourselves enemies of the father and he will prevent us from finding light and peace if we do that.
Speaker 1:But if instead we come as little children and look to Jesus and say, no, you are the eternal word of the Father, of the Father's love, begotten earth and worlds began to be that he has already defined and described all things and even us. He knows us and described us and defined us and described us and given us meaning before we ever came to be. And if we come to him in that childlike way, we find rest, rest for our very souls and then we learn from him a wisdom, a way to live that is light and not burdensome, but is fruitful and can be in tune with the heavens and the earth, as we've already thought. Now, when we come back in our next episode, let's think more about the way that it's something we've touched on or hinted at the way that words can bridge or are mediators or even have like a priestly capacity. We've already touched on this, but I think it'd be good for us to explore more of how words are mediators.