Father and Sons

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.  – Galatians 1:15-17 (Emphasis added)

The passage above is quoted from my usual translation, the English Standard Version.  A margin note on the phrase “to reveal his Son to me” says that the actual Greek preposition is “in”.  This is what the KJV and most other translations say.  Young’s Literal Translation reads “to reveal His Son in me, that I might proclaim him good news among the nations, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood”.  Wuest’s Expanded Translation says “to give me an inward revelation of His Son that I might proclaim Him.” 

This reminds us of Colossians 1:27-28, “…this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Him we proclaim …”.

I talked about the persona a while back.  What I normally think of as “me” is the mask.  I become, through the processes, interactions, and relationships of this world, so identified and attached to the temporal self that I cannot believe there is anything else to “me”.  Yet there is a part that is permanent or eternal.

Paul, like the Mission Impossible team, was given an assignment.  I’m not sure he had much choice as far as accepting it, and it far exceeded the limits of even his great intellect and ability.  He was chosen to convey to all generations this truth that had been hidden, hinted at, obscured, and occulted:  the mystery of Christ in us.  We can argue about the appropriateness of the prepositional choice in Galatians 1:16, but there is no question about what the same, careful, highly educated writer says in Colossians. 

It seems that during his sojourn in the desert, Paul received the full impact of what the Incarnation, the Cross, and the Resurrection meant.  Forgiveness is not the end; it is the means.  Clearing the deck of sin is necessary in order that we might have Christ revealed – not only to us – but in us, and it is Him abiding in us that we proclaim.  The Babe in the manager, the Teacher, the Good Shepherd, the Lamb Slain, all of this is genuine, true and essential.  Jesus is Lord, and, like Thomas -- my favorite disciple, in His presence we can't help but fall to our knees and cry, “My Lord and My God.” 

Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, made a way for us where there was no way.  We could never jump higher than our heads, never even begin to reach up to God, no matter how tall our tower of bricks and slime.  But in Him, God descended the ladder, came down to where we could know Him, face to face, and where He could know us. 

The Bible calls Jesus our elder Brother, and us those adopted as His younger siblings.  The older shows the younger how to be a son. 

So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (John 5:19)