With the turn of the year we have opened the Bible once more at the first page and have read of the fundamental origins which are basic to a correct understanding of the message of our salvation-“In the beginning”. And the record relates in clear unequivocal language the origin of all things, of the physical world and its animal inhabitants, of the beginning of law and order—laws that never shall be broken” with impunity; of the first great sin and of the primordial judgment which arose out of it, out of which eight souls were saved by water and blessed with promises and assurances of a “seed to bless the whole world”.
And we pass on now to review the “coming out” of bondage in Egypt with all its alluring temptations, which the people of God left behind, to experience the wilderness austerities by which they were disciplined in the ways of God—yet not with lasting profit.
Concurrently with these meditations we have taken up the “Book of the generation of Jesus Christ” which introduces us to a new beginning—a fresh origin with far-reaching implications for redemption out of a world of doubtful activities and interminable muddle into which it has fallen, and we are being reminded again by the Epistle to the Romans of the vast extent of the grace of God by which he commendeth his love toward us, and of the call out from the continuing darkness of Egypt that we might be sons and daughters of the living God.
This is an origin over which angels by the holy Spirit presided and gave their blessing, for, “to which of the angels saith He at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee”. Here we have the origin of the only one of the human race to render a full unquestioning obedience to the requirements of God and who, for the suffering of death, was crowned with glory, honour and immortality by a resurrection from the dead, in whom the law of the spirit of life” leads believers in him to fulfill the righteousness of the law and to overcome the inherent weakness of the flesh. This is an origin with stupendous consequences in that it stands high above the material and cultural origins of which we have been thinking and it takes us into the plane of spiritual association with God through fellowship in and with Jesus Christ. This is an origin in which we have to take part if we are to participate with Christ Jesus in the day of his glory.
In the moods of the world this sounds highly unrealistic, since it is not related to the material world of which we form a part, and it brings us to the contemplation that our own personal origins in the way of truth and life everlasting have to be brought up for periodical review so that we might be renewed in hope. Just as Israel was admonished to remember the pit from which they were hewed, so too must we. Every individual must look back occasionally into the foundations of his faith, otherwise he runs into false growths of doctrine and philosophy.
Similarly every ecclesia needs to delve back into its beginnings in order to preserve the spirit that set it afire. The originating motive of the ecclesia of Christ Jesus was the foundation of a permanent society of believers which should firstly foster its spiritual needs and promulgate the truth about the new spiritual order which began with Christ.
Variation from the new Spirit Order is natural to the weak flesh in which it is for the time being vested, but it has to be remembered that the variation begins most often with unremarkable trivialities. The trivialities excite one another into activity in succession, until in the end they accumulate into a major declension, and then the organisation is faced with a difficult recovery.
If there is one thing more than another which the ecclesia of Christ requires at this present time, it is the ability to settle itself back upon its foundations and revive the spirit which animated its origin. The world is full of confusion, but there is no reason for the Ecclesia to be the same.
All around us there is no lack of learning to frame and organise the world’s functions, but how little is the shallow thinking of mankind overcome in the struggle to attain security. Similarly in the Ecclesia there is no lack of learning about the faith that saves—and quite rightly so, and how proper that it should e increased—yet spirituality in mind and outlook is deficient, and with all the activity and commotion in pursuit of truth there is not the opportunity for the meditation out of which comes spiritual growth. The fundamentals are simple in form yet they comprehend all the small things of truth and knit them together.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay