Hector Morrison, Inverness

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.

This, the power of 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.

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.

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.

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.