Which verses would you take to the desert
island?
Then God said, ‘Let us make man in
our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the
birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the
creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created Man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-7
The first is one from the context of creation for
that is the primary context for humanity presented to us in scripture, just as
it will be the final context for the new humanity in the Second and Last Adam,
Jesus Christ, in the new heavens and the new earth of the eternally new
creation at last.
But I also choose this passage because in it I
believe we get one of the earliest intimations of the Fatherhood of God. I
think this becomes clear if one compares the phraseology of this passage with
the almost identical phraseology applied to the Adam-Seth, father-son
relationship in Genesis 5:1, ‘When God
created Man, he made him in the likeness of God … When Adam had lived 130
years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him
Seth.’
Before she goes into labour, she
gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever
heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born
in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in
labour than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring to the moment of birth and
not give delivery?” says the Lord. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to
delivery?” says your God. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you
who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you
will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and
delight in her overflowing abundance. Isaiah 66:7-11
This passage has dominated and shaped my life for much
of the past 24 years, in that vv7-8 were the words through which the Lord spoke
to my heart about becoming involved in setting up Highland Theological
Institute in 1994, which became the Highland Theological College. At a time
when a small group of us were being challenged to start a college from scratch
within 5 months when we had absolutely no staff, no premises, no resources and
no students. It seemed so impossible. We found ourselves saying, ‘Who has heard of such a thing?’ Then the
Lord directed me to this verse which I had never taken any notice of before.
The result was that a college was born not quite ‘in a day’ but within 5 months. And, perhaps there is a sense in
which it was born ‘in a day’ – the
day I took God at his word.
Years later, as we went through some of the college’s
early struggles, the reassuring words of v9 spoke to my heart again and again. And
even now as I write this, vv10-11 have been blessed to my own soul in a fresh
way as I wait in faith and expectancy for renewal and revival of God’s cause
again in our land – whether in my day or in a coming generation, I wait for it
and work and pray towards it.
The Lord your God is with you, he is
mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his
love, he will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
One of Scripture’s truly magnificent verses. This
verse reveals to us both the might and the loving tenderness of our great God.
These are words that assure us of the Father’s presence with us and power to
save us from any and every difficulty, danger, or whatever. But they speak also
of the Father’s delight in us his children, even as he expressed that delight
in Christ at his baptism, as he set his face towards all that lay ahead
climaxing in that other ‘baptism’ which awaited him at his death. This speaks
of his tender compassion towards us, like a mother quieting a distressed or
tired child until they fall asleep in loving arms. They speak of the Father,
singing sweet lullabies over our heads.
After this I looked, and there before
me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe,
people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were
wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they
cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the
throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around
the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before
the throne and worshipped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and
thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where
did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they
who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne
of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence. Never again will they hunger; never again
will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For
the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them
to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7:9-11
Ever since 1975, this has been one of my very favourite
passages of Scripture. Then, as a two-year-old Christian (having been born
again in 1973), I found myself on mission in France with Operation Mobilisation.
During the first week of preparation and training, about 1000 of us from
several continents and many countries of the world gathered often in times of
worship during which we all sang the same songs but in our own language. For
me, that experience was a foretaste of heaven and the new creation with the
people of God from every nation, language and cultural group worshipping and
serving God and the Lamb in the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Who would you like to
find on the island for company?
I have found this to be by far the
hardest of these questions. Eventually, I have decided that, if I’m not able to
have the company of my wife, Annice, then I would plump for John Knox, one of
the great heroes of the Scottish Reformation. Knox has had really bad press in
much of the past century or two but I would love to have time to sit and chat
with him and find out from the man himself what he learned from Calvin and the
other European Reformers; also, somewhat anachronistically, what his views would
be on the theology of the Westminster Confession, to discover from the man
himself where the Confession’s theology differed from his own (as is often claimed
today in certain circles).
Which song would you
take to the island?
As a Scottish, Highland
Presbyterian you might expect me to choose a Psalm, so I won’t disappoint you.
I have a number of favourites, but perhaps for this purpose the metrical version of Psalm 73:25-28 (1650 Scottish Psalter)
would be appropriate. This is one sung at our wedding in 1981, it reminded us
that even as we committed ourselves to one another for our lives together,
there was a greater commitment that we had each made to God years earlier,
through Christ, which we wanted to re-affirm at the time of our marriage.
The words seem particularly
appropriate for a desert island, where one would certainly long for human
company. How much more should we long for the company of the Man from Heaven!
Whom have I in the
heavens high
but thee, O Lord,
alone?
And in the earth whom
I desire
besides thee there is
none.
My flesh and heart
doth faint and fail,
but God doth fail me
never:
For of my heart God is
the strength
and portion for ever.
For, lo, they that are
far from thee
for ever perish shall;
Them that a whoring
from thee go
thou hast destroyed
all.
But surely it is good
for me
that I draw near to
God:
In God I trust, that
all thy works
I may declare abroad.
I would certainly wish to have one of the great hymns of the cross
which lies at the very core of our faith. I thought first of choosing the hymn,
‘There is a fountain filled with blood,’
not least because of the words ‘redeeming
love has been my theme and shall be till I die,’ which must surely be the
main theme of every preacher’s ministry?
Eventually I have plumped for the
much more recent Getty and Townend hymn, ‘The Power of the cross,’ which
captures what, for me, lies at the heart of the message of the cross, the
sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and of Christianity as a whole – substitutionary atonement through Christ. This is one of the few songs that has impacted my own
soul deeply in recent years. Time and time again, the singing of it has left me
broken and in tears, particularly when sung after the preaching of a message in
which the cross has been powerfully proclaimed.
Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.
This, the power of the cross:
Christ became sin for us,
Took the blame, bore the wrath:
We stand forgiven at the cross.
Christ became sin for us,
Took the blame, bore the wrath:
We stand forgiven at the cross.
Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face
Bearing the awesome weight of sin;
Every bitter thought,
Every evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.
Written on Your face
Bearing the awesome weight of sin;
Every bitter thought,
Every evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.
Now the daylight flees,
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
'Finished!' the victory cry.
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
'Finished!' the victory cry.
Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death,
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death,
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.
Finally, I would have something
with a clear eschatology, a song that may not be familiar to many in the UK, ‘One day we’ll see him face to face’.
This song was written by the late Rev Dr Geoffrey Bingham, leader of New
Creation Teaching Ministries whom I met in Australia in 1999. It speaks of
present experience as we anticipate with longing the fullness that awaits us in
the new creation. (The music for this song can be found here.)
One
Day we’ll see Him face to face,
And then our hearts will beat as one,
That day we’ll know the glory of His
grace,
As we on earth have never known.
Sometimes we are surprised by joy,
Sometimes a bliss unbidden comes,
And in that moment
of enriching love
Come intimations of our home.
Our hearts are gladdened in this
world,
When grace gives sudden sights of
love,
But oh, how richer when our hearts in
hope
Reach out to fuller bliss above.
’Tis then the sights of heaven abound,
And flood our tired hearts with pain,
The tears of wonder flow in ecstasy,
And we are fully home again.
The years of sorrow and of strife,
The sin that brought a holy shame,
The guilt our hearts could never
wholly hide
Will never visit us again.
Dear Lover, Saviour, Jesus Christ,
Our present life is hid in Thee,
But oh! The wonder when we are
unveiled
In glory of our liberty.
Till then we live in present hope,
In patience of the coming sight,
And those who share with You in glory
now,
We then will meet with great delight.
Delight and bliss and joy and love,
As now our hearts cannot contain,
Will flood us as we see Him face to
face
And we are wholly one again.
