“Now we understand that everything visiblehas its origin in the invisible.”
(Heb. 11:3b, MB)
In the previous teaching we had a closer look at the phrase in 1 Pet. 1:9: “the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls,” within the context of the unfolding argument in the chapter as a whole. This context showed that there is a discrepancy between salvation/redemption that is presented as a present experience, TODAY, and that with which the word salvation is qualified in verse 9: the end.
And with that the theological discrepancy could be solved in quite simple terms. The term the end, in Greek the term telos, means “end … termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be (always of the end of some act or state, but not of the end of a period of time)”. The term the end may in no way be understood as the future project of the sanctification of the soul! The term the end can, according to Thayer, also be translated as “the end to which all things relate, the aim, purpose,” in other words, your calling or purpose. You don’t need to make the cut, your soul does not need to be made complete – the born again soul is already sanctified!
We ended the teaching with 1 Pet. 1:25, but it is of the greatest importance that the previous two verses are read along with this one, which we were not able to get to in the previous teaching.
1 Pet. 1:23-25 reads as follows: “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’”
Remember – earlier in 1 Pet. 1:3, in pericope 2, we learnt that the process of becoming born again was gifted to the believers. In verse 25 we find out that this process occurs through immortal (and thus spiritual, and invisible, albeit real) seed, through the LOGOS of God. In his book The Pursuit of God, the respected theologian A.W. Tozer writes the following: “We take a low and primitive view of things when we conceive of God at the creation coming into physical contact with things, shaping and fitting and building like a carpenter. The Bible teaches otherwise: ‘By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth …. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.’”
We sadly often reduce the Logos to only the historical figure of Jesus; the Logos is much more than this – it is also the Logos of God. The apostle John however made it clear in John 1:1 that the Logos is not only God, but was also “with God,” as Prev. 8:30 notes (“I was beside Him as a master craftsman.”). [Remember: “The personification of Wisdom is more than merely a literary device.” (John Y. Campbell: A Theological Word Book of the Bible, p. 284.] It is eventually in John 1:14 that we read that the logos is also manifested in the Son: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” No wonder 1 John 4:2 foregrounds the great mystery of Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh.
A theologian such as Anthony Buzzard, in his book The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity’s Self-Inflicted Wound, convincingly explains why the term logos should then for instance also be considered and translated as “divine reason and creative order”, “plan” or “purpose.” In his Word Studies in the New Testament (vol. 2) Marvin R. Vincent describes logos as, amongst other things, “embodying the divine will” (p. 27).
When you become born-again there is the implantation of the logos seed of who God is, but also who Christ is (Gal. 3:16), WITHIN YOUR HEART. The seed contains the complete blueprint of God for you, but it also incarnates the Son within you. With this in mind we realise that Jesus is like a grain of wheat that falls on the ground and died, so that He can bring forth many sons (John 12:24), he becomes “the eldest of many brothers” (Rom. 8:29, NJB), “having brought many sons to glory” (Heb 2:10, LITV). But then verse 11 makes it clear: “For both the One sanctifying and the ones being sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers …” The Mirror Bible makes the implications very clear in its translation of the following verse: “Because both he who carried out the rescue mission, as well as those whom he saved and restored to innocence, originate from the same source. He proudly introduces them as members of his immediate family.” Also note – they are “restored to innocence” – obviously this is only applicable to the soul dimension.
In paradise man did not only lose his spiritual dimension, but also lost the innocence of his soul – “having lost the good of original grace and innocence” (the Douay-Rheims-commentary to Gen. 3:7). Oswald Chambers explains it beautifully in My Utmost for His Highest (August 8): “If the Son of God has been born into my human flesh, then am I allowing His holy innocence, simplicity, and oneness with the Father the opportunity to exhibit itself in me?” It is then absolutely understandable that John 1:13 explains becoming born again as follows: “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”.
Thus, to return to 1 Pet. 1:23-25 again: we now have a better understanding of what becoming born again, from the immortal seed of God, through the living logos word of God, means. When this happens, that person lives for all eternity, not only as a spiritual being, but also with a sanctified soul. In this section this “inner man” (Rom. 7:22; 2 Cor. 4:16; Eph. 3:16), who is invisible and eternal, is contrasted with the external man (2 Cor. 4:16), who is visible and mortal: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
Realise this: the word word in the last sentence of 1 Pet. 1:25 is the word rhema! Although you are born-again through the Logos, you have received a specific rhema-expression from the Logos, and within that your plan and purpose has been encoded. This is written into your spirit and your now sanctified soul! As we noted at the conclusion of the previous teaching – the rhema-identity is the sanctified cornerstone of the born-again soul. Therefore Heb. 11:3b (MB) makes this very important statement: “Now we understand that everything visible has its origin in the invisible.” This is a completely new side of the visible/temporal and invisible/eternal dialectic that we’ve presented up until now. It links well to the principle that 2 Cor. 4:16 suggests: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
It is clear that with rebirth the body does indeed gain a body invisible-to-the-eye (as Jesus had after He arose from the dead), which looks like you in physical terms, with for instance the specificity of a particular body’s markers, like scars (John 20:27). Therefore, many people (including disciples!) did not recognize Him, but when their spiritual eyes were opened, they could see who it is! Look at how beautifully the following is said about the visitors from Emmaus in Luke 24:31: “Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.”
- Selah: Ponder the opening Scripture and its implications.
- Read: 103-108.
- Memorise: 103:15 (note the wondrous synchronicity!).
- For a more in-depth understanding: Read Tozer’s book.
