So for example take John 3:16, “God so loved the world that
he gave His only begotten that whoever
believes in Him, puts their confidence in Him, will not perish, but have
everlasting life.”
Now that’s a big idea. And often when we’re sitting around
talking about all religions being the same, I will raise the question if it
seems appropriate--- is there another religion that says that God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son. And suddenly there is silence in the
room.
And the other popular idea is what I call the nirvana view. And
the nirvana view is also what we call the New Age. It’s the idea that the world
that we see is an illusion, and that the real world is a world of
non-differentiation, where, for example, you and I are not distinct. We are
actually the same. And I’ve had students at USC that’ll come in and present
this line to me. And I’ll say, Do you mean to say that you are identical with
the wastebasket? And they will say yes. See, they’re committed to that idea of
non-differentiation.
The third view is the theistic view. That’s the one our
culture came out of…
The theistic view is generally pushed to one side, or
treated… treated as some odd artifact.
The fact is, now, that reality is totally unyielding to
false belief. Truth is unforgiving; it does not change if you have certain
opinions. No one has ever made a belief true by believing it. Beliefs are true
or not in terms of the reality which they represent. So if we get it wrong, we’re
in trouble. And I often define reality as what you run into when you’re wrong.
If you believe there is gas in your tank, and there’s no
gas, you will run into reality.
And Descartes, in a marvelously dry and philosophical
fashion, brings this out, the philosopher Descartes, because he says that all
evil in human life comes from will running beyond knowledge. That we are
willing things that are not based on knowledge, and that’s where all evil comes
from…
… But the truth of the matter is, knowledge is very limited,
and it grows very slowly. And I believe that if we say why that is, we’d have
to say that God allows knowledge to grow slowly in order that we might have
opportunity to grow morally, if you wish. Knowledge brings power. In other
words, very simply, knowledge brings power. Power brings responsibility. If you’re
not going to misuse it and hurt yourself and others, you’re going to have to be
the kind of person who wouldn’t do that, you see. And that’s our problem, isn’t
it. So at least for two centuries, there’s been a constant moan going up from
the scholarly world that we--- our moral growth has not kept up with our
technological development.
Jesus is still working on the stage, and that divine
conspiracy continues to grow.
Knowledge sets limits on desire. Our self-will is set
against truth and knowledge because truth and knowledge always limit what you
can desire. Our desires always exceed reality, and if you don’t know that watch
how credit cards are used. We will what is not. Right. Credit is one way of
willing what is not. And sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s not.
And that abandonment that you see in Jesus, is the abandonment
that we ourselves can live in joyfully and with delight and also with power and
with knowledge; and all of that comes together as God grows the human being into
the kind of character that Christ has. Now suppose that everyone had that
character. Or suppose that a significant percentage of the human race had that
character. And you see that life would be very different.
And that is the intention of the divine conspiracy in human
history. So what God looks for is the heart, always the heart. The heart is
where we decide what we’re really going to be. What is going to govern us. And
of course the central issue is surrendering of the will, abandoned to God,
delighted in Him, and His will. And then as that grows, then it’s perfectly
safe for us to have knowledge and power and son on.
And this theme--- Deus absconditus, to use the latin...
--- is an old one in the history of the church. Because God
doesn’t overwhelm you. God comes in ways that are gentle. And the reason for
that is because, if we--- if God didn’t hide from us, we couldn’t hide from
Him. So the basic idea here is that God hides to permit us to hide from Him, if
we want to. See He’s so big, that if He didn’t hide, we couldn’t hide. So that
you may need to think about that some…. God does not overwhelm us. He does not
jump down our throats. He remains hidden and available to those who seek Him.
“If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples
indeed. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John
8:31-33) See that’s the whole sentence. Jesus did not say the truth will make
you free. It won’t. But, confidence in Him, and living with Him, and being His
disciple, will enable you to know the truth in a way that sets you free.
Thanks to:
Dallas Willard
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