One TOE Three

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. -- Hebrews 11:3

When you think about it, the 1^st Century writer of Hebrews is making an insightful statement for the time and place.  Atomic theory goes back at least as far as the Greek philosopher Democritus around 400 B.C., but it wasn’t something generally considered or thought upon.  Democritus postulated an ultimate particle, something that has gone out of fashion as physicists continually find more particles with more bizarre labels.  I seek an ultimate Person who cannot be divided beyond the Trinity. 

My TOE (Theory of Everything) holds that spirit and consciousness created energy, matter, and all that we see, that the cosmos came into existence by the Word.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).  I believe all that is solid and material emanates from Life -- In him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4) – and not the other way around.  I believe the universe makes sense to humanity, that its underlying laws and principles can be discovered, understood, and put to use by humans because it was created by the Mind in whose image and likeness we are made. 

Jesus confronted some of His accusers and attackers in John 8:14 with this statement:  …  I know where I came from and where I am going ….  Though the Son is uniquely part of the Divine, like Him, we, too, have an origin in the heart of God and a destination in the presence of God.  Jesus is the only begotten Son, but we, too, are children of God and part of His family.  The material world is real but derived, and, as we very real people are reflections and images of the Lord, it, too, is a reflection of the ultimate spiritual reality.   

The big challenge in life is learning that what we can’t see with the natural eye and experience by the senses is what matters.  It is seeing the apparent emptiness of space as the matrix of material stars and planets and understanding all are one.  It is recognizing the Way in which we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28) and realizing we are one.

Knowing, Doing, Being Happy

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.  -- John 13:17

We are set free by the knowledge of the truth, but for what purpose?  When the Lord washed the feet of His disciples, it was a visible lesson as to how they were to treat one another, but it also tells us something about the nature that has been imparted to us.  Service is not only something we do; we are servants. 

Jesus, we are told, “knew that His hour had come”.  He also knew that “the Father had given all things into His hands”.  The Lord knew who He was, He knew His destiny, and He knew where He was in His path.  He understood perfectly His relationship with the Father, His authority and power.  Because of this knowledge, He served His chosen ones.  He did not do it to gain their admiration, to get something from them, to impress them with His humility.  He did it because He was stepping into the messianic role of the Suffering Servant Isaiah had depicted. 

God is certainly our King.  Jesus is described as King of kings and Lord of lords.  He is worthy of our honor, our respect, our gratitude, and our reverential fear and awe.  Is that just because the King is special?  Obviously that’s the case with God who is our Creator, in whom we live and move and have our being.  We cannot exist apart from Him.  Yet, I don’t think that is what God means when He reveals Himself as King. 

An earthly king who truly understands his position and responsibility is a protector, a judge, one who will lay down his life for his people.  He is a true servant.  While he has a right to demand the service of his people, it is for their good, their freedom, their prosperity, and their happiness that he does so. 

Thus, paradoxically, when Jesus took on the role of a servant in the upper room that night, He was also taking on the mantle of His kingship.  This is what a king does.  This is who a king is.  Having been given "all authority", how many of us would be able to freely give rather than make demands, to serve rather than demand obeisance, to humble ourselves rather than compel others to bow before us?  Nevertheless, this is exactly what the King of glory did, and what He expects of us.

If some people made the rules for the cosmos, they would make all of us perfect.  There would be no need for serving anyone else because each would be sufficient unto himself.  Would there be any need to have more than one?  Surely the One knows the answer, and I think He has given it to us. 

We are not going to be happy people if we are only served.  We are a kingdom of priests – servants of the Divine, or “kings and priests” under God.  To understand our destiny and fulfill it, to live in freedom and peace and happiness, we need to do those things we know – serve one another, because we are from the One, made one in Christ, growing into One.  

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me (John 17:20-23).