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John 21:25,
"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should
be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the
books that should be written. Amen."
This morning, different events fade from the scene of memory and even history.
There is an old saying that has much truth in it, "Don't get too concerned about
your legacy; no one will remember you shortly after you are gone." Untold
thousands and millions of people have lived and died in this old world down
through the centuries without so much as a note or a marker to evidence that
they were here. With unmarked graves and no documentation, how many have walked
the shores of time with not a mark left to show for it? While I appreciate
reading and studying history, we must always keep in mind that the historicity
that we have access to is not even close to the fulness of this world's past
events. Surely, we have preserved records of countless historical events, but
much, much more has happened in this world than we will ever know while we are
here.
Considering human history, the events that transpire, which of them were
world-changing, etc. nothing compares to the history and events that entail our
Lord's walk on this earth for 33.5 years. His coming to this world marked and
signaled many different things from legal justification in the sight of God to a
change of worship with other things as well. During all of His time here,
nothing was done or said in vain. Christ never took one step too many or too
short, nor did He ever utter an audible speech in vain as every word was
precisely perfect to a jot and tittle.
Christ's life upon the earth was the most important thing that has ever or will
ever happen, and nothing He did was for naught. Knowing these two things, how
marvellous is John's statement to us. John unequivocally declares that Christ
did more things while He was here than the world could possibly contain -
historically speaking. Should we have written for us every moment of those 33.5
years, all of us could not collectively get the fulness of the scope of Him
while veiled in flesh during that time. Putting all of these things together, we
should be able to draw some very important conclusions about what we do have
before us as a record of Christ's walk and time on this earth.
The first thing we should understand from John's statement is that if much, much
more could have been written then what is written does not just have purpose, it
has PURPOSE! If someone asked you to highlight your life with only 1 page to do
it, what events would you include? Christ gave us the important points to His
life by divine inspiration without one mark too many or one mark too little. So,
these purposeful words are a small portion of what He said and did. What happens
if different events of His life are repeated? Well, if all of these written
words are far beyond normal importance, we should pay even closer heed to those
that are repeated. For example, the account of the miraculous feeding of the
5,000 is the only miracle recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. (Matthew
14, Mark 6, Luke 9, and John 6) Other events of Christ's life are repeated
through the accounts, and each of these repeated events should fill us with even
more care to pay attention to them.
Another thing we should understand from John's statement is that Christ is far
greater than we are - even humanly speaking. We know, from plain Scriptures,
that God is far greater than we can comprehend. (Romans 11:33-34) Yet, this
shows that Christ (while still God) is far greater than we can contain even as a
man. Consider how much space the world would need to hold a record of your
entire life, even if you lived to 100+ years of age. What if it contained your
every speech, action, and perhaps even your thoughts? Doubtless, 100+ years of
those things would be immense in size, but would the world itself be unable to
bear it? Here we have a man that lived a short life (humanly speaking) and whose
life was immensely broader than the world itself to contain the scroll. Even as
a man, dear friends, He is far beyond us!
Now let us expand the thought somewhat to more than Jesus's life. While John
specifically states that he has reference to Christ's time on earth, let us
extend our thinking to the Scriptures as a whole. If Christ's human experience
on earth was greater than books and the world could hold, what about the mind of
God? Certainly the universe is not big enough to contain the thoughts of an
infinite God. We, as finite creatures, cannot fathom the rich depths to which
His mind is able to understand. But, the Scriptures themselves are a dictation
of a portion of His mind unto us. (II Peter 1:19-21) Every word is exactly as
God intended it to be to reveal and manifest to us some things about Him and
what He has done. (II Timothy 3:16-17) If this Book is a portion of God's mind
that He has seen fit to reveal to us in written form, what should that instill
in us?
One thing that should be instilled in us is that - as with repeated events in
Christ's life - we should be mindful of parallel passages. When something is
repeated in God's word (or emphasized in God's word), we need to be particularly
watchful as to the point. God did not have to emphasize anything in His book or
repeat it to make it true. It was already true, but He emphasized certain
points: saying Amen, calling it a faithful saying, audibly stating, "Verily,
verily," etc. Each repetition and/or emphasis should instill in us the most
alert mind as to its importance.
Finally, the last thing that we wish to investigate about this is that God's
complete word is still here. Should God have determined or been pleased to do
so, any number of books written concurrent with Scriptural record could still be
in existence today. But, they are not. This should strike even more heart felt
respect for the pages of Holy Writ in that they survive by God's pleasure when
so many other good writings have not. Read the books of Kings and Chronicles.
Over and over when kings die, we read about their acts, deeds, and words being
written in different books. Many of these books are those written by God's
prophets of the day. Do any of us have access to these books? Have any of us
ever read the books of Nathan, Gad, Iddo, Ahijah, or the other men of God that
lived and wrote during those times? No, they have long since perished from the
earth.
The point is that these works of men were not ungodly writings by unrighteous
men. They were writings by God's servants that faithfully tried to labour among
the people and wrote about different things that happened in their day. On the
surface, we might say that those writings are no more special than the ones we
still have. Yet, on a much deeper note, we understand the Scriptures themselves
declare that what we have before us is far, far more special than any of the
rest. The simple reason is that God breathed these writings by His Spirit's
breath while the others were good thoughts from God's faithful men.
Furthermore, what we have before us today in God's Holy Bible is not only a mere
fraction of God's mind, but it is also a small portion of God's historical
dealings with His people throughout time. Yet, they are all the purest form of
words that will be with us forever. (Psalm 12:6-7) While we do not have the
books of the above mentioned prophets, the book of Enoch, or many others, we do
have exactly what God preserved and providentially blessed us with as a thorough
and sufficient furnisher for all of life's endeavours. This last thought of
other writings going the way of all the earth should fill us with the deepest of
humility about our place in this world.
Personally, I have written quite a lot in my life. What if years from now none
of my writings exist in this earth? The question humbles me but also gives me
hope. If my writings are one day extinct from all human existence, God's people
years from now may not know anything about me or what I said. That is humbling.
But, here is the hope. What I fully believe and understand the Scriptures to
teach is that they will still have everything they need in written form at that
day. What they will have will still be God's pure and uncorrupted word that
teaches us about patience, gives comfort, and ultimately yields hope. (Romans
15:4) We can hope today that all that we need in this life, from a literary
standpoint, will still be here for those that come after us. We can have the
hope that they will still have preserved and available what they need. Is it all
there is about God or even all there is about Christ? No. If all of our present
day writings by present day men cease, will they be deficient? Praise be unto
Him that the answer to that question is also - no.
In Hope,
Bro Philip |