Skip to main content

No Form

When the Ten Commandments were first given, that is, before the first set of stone tablets (and certainly before the second set) was written, they were not given in pageantry. They were given in terrifying first-person reality. These events are described in Exodus 19 three months after the Israelites left Egypt. Thirty-nine years later, Moses recalled the events that surrounded the oral declaration of the Ten Commandments (Deut. 4-5); again in Hebrews 12:18-28, the events are described in contrast to something far more wonderful.

"Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice." (Deut. 4:12)

"You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully..." (Deut. 4:15)

"You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other." (Deut. 4:35)

"Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other." (Deut. 4:39)

There are two reasons that no image, no likeness, was to be made of God: 1) He isn't like any of His physical creation, so no creation could be like Him physically: "No form." 2) He isn't like any other god, because there is no other God.

God is not like anything or anyone. When He is described, it is not as a likeness. He is described in character - holy; as the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7 where His clothing and hair are described gloriously; where He dwells - "Heaven is my throne" (Isa. 66:1); what He does - "the God of Heaven who made the sea and the land" (Jonah 1:9), "Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world" (Isaiah 12:5). But these were visions of glory. They were described in such a way as to establish that there is no other.

Today, we do not make physical images, but we do make mental ones: images of form, and not of glory. These mental images are by very nature less than God.

When we think of God, let us think of Jesus Christ (and not physically):

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer." (2 Cor. 5:16)

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." (Heb. 1:3)

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." (Col. 1:15)

"Jesus answered: 'Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"?'" (John 14:9)

"They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. 'Sir,' they said, 'we would like to see Jesus.'...Jesus replied, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'" (John 12:21, 23)

This is how He wants to be seen: glorified.

"And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." (John 17:5)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why Is Obedience So Hard?

There are several reasons why obedience seems hard. I will comment on some of them and then speak positively on how obedience is easy. We think: 1) Obedience is an infringement on freedom. Since we are free in Christ, and obedience is somehow contrary to that freedom, we conclude that obedience is not good. Yet we know it is good. Thus, we become confused about obedience and are not single-minded. 2) Obedience is works. We who have been justified by grace through faith are opposed to works; therefore, we are opposed to obedience. 3) We have tried to obey and have failed—frequently. Therefore, the only solution is to disobey and later confess to receive forgiveness. It is easier to be forgiven by grace than to obey by effort. 4) We confuse obedience to men with obedience to God. Although these are sometimes one and the same (see Romans 13, 1 Peter 2-3, Ephesians 5-6, Colossians 3, and Titus 2), sometimes they are not the same (see Colossians 2:20-23, Mark 7, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, a

Getting Old

This is a post for those who are getting old or considering themselves old, from 65-100. Right now, I am 91.* I will be 92 in October. I have my own house, but I cannot live in it alone because of my physical inability to move around. One of my sons lives with me. All of us will have to make some adjustments. That includes money, relatives, your own ability and willpower to stay independent, etc. My advice is if physically and financially you can live independently, you should certainly do that. If you do, you will still need to have visits from your family frequently. You need your family. Even if you don’t need them to take care of you, you need them for the fellowship. The more fellowship you have, the longer you’ll live. If you can stay independent do it, but only if friends and relatives can see you often. In my case, I can’t walk, and I can’t do much physically. So, whether I like it or not, someone else has to get me up, get me showered, and get me dressed. I am blessed to have

Three Types of People Christians Aren't Loving

There are three types of people in the world that Christians do not love with the Gospel . The first type are the people we witness to but do not love. The second type are the unbelievers that we do not witness to. The third are people we love but do not witness to. That sounds like doubletalk. Let’s change it. 1) We witness to people we love. 2) We love everybody and witness to them with love. As Christians, we have the fruit of the Spirit—love. We are commanded to love our neighbors and our enemies. The first thing is to have the love. The second is to choose to love our neighbors and enemies. Sometimes we can’t make the choice because we have lost the fruit of the Spirit, love. We lack the fruit of the Spirit of love because we are under the chastening of the Lord because of unconfessed sin. In order to get the love back, we must confess sin. Once we get the love back, we can choose to love our neighbors and enemies and preach the gospel to them.   Written December 22,