The mystery of the universe is held together by the power of God. The vastness of the universe is astonishing, and its infiniteness is immeasurable. The earth is only a small body in the solar system. There are innumerable stars that constitute a galaxy and incalculable galaxies that form the complete system of the universe. Hence, the universe is truly vast and boundless. Nevertheless, Christ, who is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of God’s substance, upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3). This shows that the Lord who created the heavens, the earth, and the universe is infinite in His authority and power.
As to God’s divine characteristics, they are even more mysterious and difficult to comprehend. According to the Greek, the word rendered divine characteristics in Romans 1:20 refers to the characteristics of God’s nature. The universe expresses not only the eternal and infinite power of God but also some characteristics of God’s nature. When you look up at the heavens, you see that the universe is bright, and this tells you that brightness is a characteristic of the Creator.
Moreover, the earth is full of life. Genesis 1 tells us that God’s creation focused on life. First, He created the inanimate things, and then He created the animate things, from the lower form of life to the higher form of life and eventually to the highest form of life. The lower form of life is the plant life, a life without consciousness; a higher form of life is the animal life, a life with consciousness; and the highest form of life is the human life, a life with the highest consciousness and perception. This shows that life is a characteristic of our Creator.
Not only so, the universe reveals love, though indistinctly. When God created man, He put love and kindness in man. Such a universe, which is bright, full of life, beautiful and orderly, and which also contains love indicates clearly that our Creator possesses not only eternal power but also glorious characteristics.
In order to express Himself, God first created the universe. Then, to reveal Himself more clearly, He inspired men throughout the centuries to write a book which is the Book of books—the Bible. The Bible was not invented by man but revealed by God. Its revelation of God, which is very thorough and detailed, far surpasses that which is declared through the created universe. On the one hand, if we had only the Bible without the heavens, the earth, and the universe created by God, we could not see the power of God, nor could we see His characteristics such as His brightness, beauty, and kindness. On the other hand, if we had only the creation without the Bible, what we can know or see of God would be superficial; we could comprehend only in a limited way all the things concerning God’s being and deeds. We thank and praise Him, however, that He has given us this Bible which reveals Himself. Two thousand years ago there were only the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, which depict God’s being and deeds in a very detailed manner. Later, the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written which reveal in an even clearer way the wonderful being of Christ as God’s embodiment.
Even though God created the universe to express Himself and used the revelation in the Bible to depict Himself, this was not sufficient. He Himself needed to come to be a man. When He became flesh and came into the human race, He made known His very person. Not only did He express His power and manifest His characteristics through the universe that He had created, nor did He only reveal all of His being and deeds through the Bible, but also He Himself came as a man, the Lord Jesus, to live on earth and be manifested among men.
In the six thousand years of human history, there have been many ancient sages, philosophers, and great persons in the East and in the West, but no one ever had the boldness to claim that he was God. Yet two thousand years ago, Jesus the Nazarene, who was born in the small country of Israel and raised in a humble family, declared that He was God! Was He lying? Was He insane? No, neither is true. He was sounder than anyone else. The words He spoke were logical and full of wisdom; moreover, every word He uttered was the truth and not a lie.
The God in whom we believe is not just one among many gods nor one chosen from among all the gods; rather, He is the only true God. This only true God did three great things. First, He created the universe; second, He gave the revelation, the Bible; and third, He became a man, Jesus Christ. Not only do we have the heavens and the earth, nor do we only have the Bible, but we also have Jesus Christ, the incarnated God, who dwells in us to be our life and everything. The sovereign Lord who created the universe is pleased to dwell in the created man. What a wonderful fact this is!
The Jews and the Moslems also believe in the only true God, but they do not know that Jesus Christ is the very God who created the universe, the very God in whom they believe. They can say only that God is in heaven; consequently, they worship a God who is far away and objective. However, the God whom we worship is not like that. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary; moreover, He was born in a manger and grew up in a poor home in Nazareth. At the age of thirty, He went out to preach, telling people many times that He was God. At that time many of those people were not clear that He was the very God, and even His disciples knew Him only in a superficial way. Therefore, after His resurrection, when He came into the midst of His disciples and appeared to them, they saw Him but did not understand that He was God. One of the disciples, Thomas, was not in the room at that time. The other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas said, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails and put my finger into the mark of the nails and put my hand into His side, I will by no means believe” (John 20:25). After eight days, the Lord Jesus appeared to the disciples again while they were gathered in the house, and Thomas was with them. Then the Lord said to Thomas, “Bring your finger here and see My hands, and bring your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing” (v. 27). Thomas could not help but bow down and worship, saying, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28).
Two thousand years ago God Himself came to earth. On the one hand, He became a genuine man so that He could die for us as our Redeemer to redeem us from our sins. On the other hand, as the true God, He was the life and the resurrection who could not be held by death. He died, and then He walked calmly out of death. Through His resurrection from death this God-man guaranteed, on the one hand, that His redemption is eternally efficacious, and on the other hand, He became the life-giving Spirit to release the divine life.
This life-giving Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Today when a man receives Jesus Christ, this Spirit enters into him. This is God entering into man to be mingled with man and to be his life. This is the gospel which we announce, and this is the God whom we preach. He created the universe and gave the revelation of the Bible. Moreover, He was incarnated to be a man and was crucified for us to accomplish redemption, and then He was resurrected from the dead to become the life-giving Spirit. This life-giving Spirit is our Redeemer and our Savior; He is our God, our Creator. He is the Lord Jesus Christ who dwells in us now to be our life and everything.
The eternal God created the universe and thereby expressed Himself; He gave the revelation of the Bible and thereby explained Himself; and He became a man personally and thereby manifested Himself in a living way. Then He died on the cross, shedding His blood for the redemption of our sins. Eventually, He was resurrected from the dead to become the life-giving Spirit. If any man is willing to receive Him as the Savior by repenting in his heart, confessing that he is a sinner, and accepting the redemption accomplished on the cross, this life-giving Spirit, who is the eternal God, will enter into him and be his life and everything.
This does not mean that we believe in three different Persons: one being the Spirit, another one being the Savior, and still another one being God. Our God is the Savior, the life-giving Spirit. Whenever we exercise our spirit, we have fellowship with Him. We do not need to seek outwardly; He is in us as the One who is our life and supply in a real and living way.
The God whom we preach has become the life-giving Spirit through incarnation, death, and resurrection. Today He is both God and man. When He came to be a man and lived on earth, He did not forsake His divinity. At the time He was here on earth, He was both man and God; He was the One who was God yet man. Therefore, some Bible expositors call Him the “God-man.” Hence, the Lord Jesus in whom we believe is not only God but also man. The Spirit who has entered into us possesses not only divinity but also humanity. Before we were saved, not only were we void of divinity, even our humanity was fallen. However, from the time we were saved, not only do we possess divinity, but we also have received the highest humanity for us to live a transcendent life. We do not merely adhere to outward regulations; rather, we have an element added to us, and that element is the excellent humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has become the life-giving Spirit to indwell us, possesses not only divinity but also humanity. Because of His divinity we can live out all the glory of divinity, and because of His humanity, we can live out all the virtues of humanity. Therefore, the glory of God and the virtues of man flow out spontaneously from one who is truly saved and who lives by the Spirit within him.
Our Lord is both God and man. Of all the biographies of the world, there is none like that of the Lord Jesus recorded in the four Gospels of the New Testament. When we read these Gospels, not only do we marvel at His divinity, but even more we are moved and attracted by His human virtues. His behavior, His attitude, and the way He treated others were too wonderful; His humanity is unsurpassed. We praise Him! Such a God-man is pleased to indwell us. He passed through incarnation, death, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit. Now He is waiting for us to call on Him and believe into Him. Once we call on His name and receive Him as our Savior, He enters into us, and thereby we have an organic union with Him. When we open ourselves to Him, love Him, and desire to be joined with Him as one, we are filled and possessed by Him every day. In this way what we live out are the glory of divinity and the virtues of humanity. What a glorious, wonderful, and sweet life this is! Here we have victory, sanctification, and the growth of life.