The Word
Yesterday I was listening to a lecture by John Lennox on the relationship of information theory with the description of God. While most people don’t often entertain these high-minded concepts it sparked a thought in my mind that some of the most simple questions can be profound. Then I was listening to a lecture by Ken Ham on how the words and structures we all think of as common place don’t really have meaning in the modern, multicultural world. I thought to myself, there’s nothing new there. I’ve written a book on the subject, a book I started almost seven years ago.
So, what’s new?
The thing is, I am. I’m what’s new. Every single day Christians all over the world are saying the same things they’ve always said. I’m constantly reiterating the same subjects over and over again. The message doesn’t change. In fact, the message is the same as it has been since the advent of humanity some seven-thousand years (give or take a few) ago. The thing that’s different is us. We change.
I know that as I grow and learn my perceptions and my reactions change. My understanding of subjects changes my opinions about not only myself, but other people. Many years ago I had a friend whom I considered intelligent, talented and wise. He was adept in social circumstances, always ready with a witty quip, or spry statement. As I’ve grown closer to the scriptures I find that my perceptions were all wrong. His quips were crass and biting, his wit sharp and slanderous. Over the years I began to see just how shallow and broken he really is. I changed. He changed. Yet, that’s not what caused the divide to widen. The division was in the Word.
When the Bible says that the Word is sharper than any two edged sword, it pertains to more than just separating the good from the bad. It cuts right through all of the things of men. It is a strong and stable force that stays steady and unchanging. The scriptures don’t change. The Word doesn’t change. We do. The question is, and always has been; what is your agent of change?
Information theory is about the existence of information. Information is immaterial, yet infinitely important. Information underlays every single thing that exists. The laws of physics are universal, unremitting, yet they are laws; information. The physical particles of all existence obey certain laws. The function follows a certain form, but very few are willing to define that form. We all, every single person alive, follow a form. Every function we perform is based entirely on a set of rules, rules that we have set up in our own minds.
Sometimes we attribute these rules to some exterior force. That gives us an excuse if something goes wrong. Sometimes we just make the rules up and that gives us an excuse as well. Yet, what must be understood is that all of the rules we make up are made up out of a self-determination; a free will. We choose which rules we want to follow, and then we follow them. Humans like to think of themselves as agents of free will, until it comes to some point where you make a mistake. Then it’s not about free will, it’s about the rules. Were you forced into speeding, or did you choose to go faster than the speed limit? Well, that all depends on whether or not you get caught.
Here is the long and the short of it; “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1
John prefaces his biographical memories of Jesus by placing us within a context; the Word. He assumes, first and foremost, that Jesus is the Word, that the Word was and is unchanging. That means that all perceptions of God, God’s messages to men, Jesus, and all future concepts of Jesus, are all based in the simple fact that God and the Word have not and will not change. Therefore, what has changed is not God, nor his Word. What has changed is us.
God is that underlying form on which all of the universe operates. He is the meaning behind all of existence, but moreover, he is the law upon which all things are predicated. This simple fact is the one thing that causes the problem. If we are agents of free will, then in this respect, there is no free will. No matter how hard we try, we don’t get to determine God. It is God who determines us. All of our excuses as to why we can’t follow the law are just that; excuses.
As my old friend drifted away I tried to show him what it was that I was learning. I tried to express to him the facts, then the physics, then the philosophy of what it was that I was growing more close to. He wanted nothing to do with it. He consciously made a choice to eliminate me from his presence. I had become a reminder of something, a bad taste in his mouth that he couldn’t stand. To him, I was changing and he was staying the same. What he didn’t realize is that because I was changing, so was he.
The thing that is most important is to understand; we change. We are the ones who get to determine where we go and how we get there. This is a magnificent gift. It is a dangerous gift. The gift we’ve all been given is a sword; a very sharp and powerful sword. You can be wise and learn how to stand behind it, or you can be foolish and stand in front of it, but make no mistake; the sword is there whether you believe in it or not. It is as sure as the existence of information itself; you can’t touch information, but it certainly will determine who you are, and what you do.
Loading ...