HF129 - The Ever Present One
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004
Subject: Bible Study HF129 - The Ever Present One
Hebraics,
The song says...
Time after time I was searching for peace in some void. I was trying to blame all my ills on this world I was in. Surface relationships used me 'til I was done in. But all the time someone was waiting to free me from my sin.
Then the chorus...
He was there all the time. He was there all the time. Waiting patiently in line. He was there all the time.
In this study I want to deal with the mystic side of a believer's experience in the Lord. (I use 'mystic' in the sense of something that inspires wonder. Jesus inspires wonder in and to all true believers.)
This is Bible Study HF129 - The Ever Present One.
We may find it strange to say that the Old Testament people of God had
experiences with Jesus Christ. Well, they did. They simply did not know
Him by that name. They knew Him as "the Word of God," as "the Messenger of
Yahweh," as
the Redeemer," as "the Form of God," as "the Glory of God," even as
"Salvation," and especially as '"the Ever Present One," that is, "the I
Am."
One writer even spoke of Him as the "Son." The sage said, "Surely I am more stupid than any man. Neither have I the understanding of a man. Neither have I learned wisdom. Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One." He went on to say, "Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His Son's name? Surely you know." (Cf. Pro30:2-4)
Let's take just one term in particular, that is "the Form of God." When God met with Moses above the mercy seat, Moses saw what was called the "form" or "similitude" of God. This is brought out when the Lord rebukes Miriam and Aaron over their presumptuousness in regard to Moses. The Lord said, "My servant Moses, He is faithful in all his household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of God..." (Num12:8)
The Hebrew word for "form" is 'temuhah.' There is no way to escape what this term means. Moses saw an appearance of the Lord God of Israel, called "the form of God." Thus we hear Paul say, "Who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped." (Phil 2:6) The apostle clearly intended this to be understood that Jesus was the one Moses had direct relations with in the former testament.
This was the case with all the prophets of old and with many others who belonged to the Lord. Abraham had visitations with Jesus. David saw Him in the sanctuary. Jacob wrestled with Him. The mother and father of Samson saw Him. The list goes on and on. These ancient people of God had visitations with the very One who would become incarnate as the historical Jesus Christ.
What is the point in all this? The point is that "He was there all the time." Is it no wonder that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. It says, "When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." He added, "Because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." (Cf. Luke 19:41-44)
Now for the mystic side of our union with Christ. Yes, each of us has had our visitation from the Lord. Not just a visitation. Actually the visitations stretch over time. This is why believers cannot always speak of an exact moment upon which to base their salvation. As a believer matures in their walk with the Lord, they become more aware of the total of their life, including those days before coming to know Jesus Christ personally, and they will simply say, "He was there all the time."
Why is this? It is because Jesus is the Ever Present One. His footsteps can be seen across the pages of history. He is from time without beginning or without end. He has always been in the bosom of the Father. He has always been present in the lives of those who belong to Him. This is why Jesus could say to the Jewish questioners, "Before Abraham was born, I am." (John 8:58)
This is also why Jesus could give the disciples a final message before leaving the earth, saying, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matt28:20) And where it says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever," this is a reflection off the "I Am" revelation of the God of the Bible.
It is important not to mistake what this means. This is not an issue of the Trinity versus the Oneness versus the Armenian doctrine of deity. All those doctrines have some man-made elements in them. What the apostle tells us is that Christ is God's mystery. What this means to believers is that Christ Jesus is our own wonderful mystery. He is the wonder of our faith. This is why I like to refer to Jesus as "the Man called Wonderful."
Actually "Wonderful" is another Old Testament name that can be applied to the Lord Jesus. When David said, "Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory," He was speaking of this One that we love so dearly, Jesus Himself. Paul said that Jesus is the Power of God. John said that Jesus is the Glory of God. David was beholding the Ever Present One, the One called Wonderful.
Isaiah speaks to this in saying, "For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (9:6)
And the parents of Samson wanted to know what the Messenger of Yahweh's name was, He said to them, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is Wonderful." (Judges 13:18)
Then David gives us this marvelous Psalm that speaks to the very heart of the wonder of our walk with Jesus. In Psalm 139, David used the term "wonderful" more than once. Let's listen to a few snippets of Psalm 139:
"Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it." (vv4-6)
"For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well." (vv13,14)
"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You." (vv16-18)
Was David speaking of the Ever Present One? Indeed. And when David writes, "When I awake, I am still with You," it always triggers a memory on my part. (I've shared a bit of this in prior studies.) As a wee lad my mom use to kneel beside me at my bed as I prayed the simple prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake. I pray the Lord my soul to take."
As a little child I had consciousness of the Lord. Yet I knew nothing about Him. I only knew that I was calling someone, Lord. My heart was the heart of a tender child. Did I believe in Him. Yes, with all my heart. Was the Lord there? O yes indeed. He was there all the time. He knew me from eternity. Yet it would be another twenty years before the Ever Present One would actually speak directly into my heart, letting me know that He had been with me always.
It was 1964. I'm married but my spiritual life is in disarray. In fact I had no spiritual life to speak of. This thing called conviction has settled so strong on me that I'm in total misery. But it happened. I began reading the Bible. My mind is full of questions. Passing to John 14 a thing of mystery happens. My attention is arrested. These disciples are asking the Lord questions that are my own questions.
Finally Philip says, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Boy, did I key in on that. I wanted to know something about the issue of the Father. And it was at that moment that the Ever Present One spoke directly to me. He said, "Have I been so long with you Buddy, and you have not come to know Me? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show me the Father?'" (vv8,9)
I was transfixed. Tears trickled down my cheeks on to the pages of the Bible. I knew at that moment that the One to whom I had prayed, "Now I lay me down to sleep," was this Jesus. What the disciples later said about Jesus, I could say that very moment; "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32)
Some time back a Jewish believer asked me what I thought was the most important message that I ever preached. My response was simple. I only have one message. I preach Jesus Christ. I will preach Him a thousand ways, but it will always be the same Jesus. What else is there? Jesus said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Rev1:8)
But I did not say this to be coy with my brother. It is simply the truth. In my 40 years of ministry I have learned that the book is all about Jesus. There is no part of the book that is not about Him. He is the Ever Present One. When God said, "Let there be Light." the ancient Targums said that this was the Light of Messiah. Jesus is the light of the world. He is the glory of the Father revealed.
And as the Bible begins its closure, we once again hear, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Rev22:13)
What then is the last sentence to be read as we close our Bible? It says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." (v21)
The study is open.
Blessings,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)