"He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11.6).
This well-known passage tells us that there are two conditions for coming to God. The first is faith in His existence. Whilst we are unable to define One who is greater than the immense universe of which we on earth are such an infinitesimally small part, or understand the Being who has always existed in unvarying wisdom and power, a humble acknowledgement of Him is basic for our acceptance by Him.
It is a source of awesome wonder that this great Being has a purpose with individual men and women, and that of all the multitudes of people on earth He has chosen us individually, not only to eventually know Him, but to actually eternally share His perfect nature and attributes.
These attributes were perfectly displayed to mankind by Jesus, and this coming to the Father is through him. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out". And the ultimate objective of this greatest of honours is for man to experience flawless unity with this incomparable Being, and with His Son who now shares His honour and perfection. "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one".
That any of us should have part in this precious hope is entirely a matter of God's condescension and grace; and we should be always conscious of such a privilege. But mere consciousness is not enough. The second condition for "coming to God" is to acknowledge that He is a "rewarder of them that diligently seek him".
Coming to God in this ultimate sense will not be after an easy, leisurely stroll into His presence; nor is salvation a right bestowed on all those who first believe. It will be offered only after a lifetime of conscious, regular, diligent and sustained effort to reach as near as possible to the mind and character of the One with whom we hope to be united in the future. It is so easy to regard Him only as a God of mercy and love so that we complacently expect, even demand. His mercy irrespective of our way of life.
The inescapable Scriptural teaching is that for each accepted saint the future unity with God and Jesus will not be a new development, but an enlarged extension of the unity being forged now.
Hence the vital importance in our present lives of sound doctrine and right conduct that mirror the Almighty's attributes. "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1.5). In the spiritual sense of these words truth and righteousness are light, and error and unrighteousness are darkness. And we are called to unity with this God of light. If we go astray in regard to any of the doctrines of the Truth, or wilfully follow a way of life contrary to the Divine precepts, then we are walking in darkness. As John continues: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth" (v6).
This Divine light was perfectly manifested in the life and teaching of Jesus, the Light of the world. By following his example and making his teaching and commands the rule of our life, we begin to develop a unity with the Father that will blossom in the future. But the converse is also true. Failure to listen to the teaching of the Master means exclusion from this progressive unity with God. "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son (2 John 9, NIV). Some have tried to limit the implication of these words by claiming that the Apostle is here only talking of the doctrine about Christ, his nature, rather than referring to the whole of Christ's teaching; but this limited view is strongly disputed by those qualified to judge.
The practical application of these principles is as far-reaching as it is essential. As individuals and as a community our prime objective must be to walk in the light by implicitly following the teaching and example of him who was the perfect reflection of the Father's flawless purity. It is among such that the Father will be pleased to dwell: in a limited sense now, but in wondrous completeness in the future when the "tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them" (Rev. 21.3).
P.J.S.