The Old Humanism...

"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep." --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


Humanism isn't a newfangled idea or concept but was an idea concocted or developed by the Greeks in antiquity. They sought to make man the measure of all things or that everything is related to man and interpreted with him in mind (known as Homo mensura in Greek). This was promulgated chiefly by Protagoras. The actual roots stem from ancient times (postdiluvian or after the Noachian flood, aka the Deluge) when the people sought to make a name for themselves (cf. Gen. 11:4). Man has always had trouble with the truth because his pride gets in the way; he tends not to accept the authority of God and seeks to be his own man. Sin is basically that: the declaration of independence from God. As it is written (Rom. 1:28, HCSB): "And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God...." In fact, Voltaire went so far as to define God thus: "Man has created God in his image." And Sigmund Freud went on to insult God as being a "projection."


By definition, humanism is the deifying of man and the dethroning of God! Men have tried to make a name for themselves since the tower of Babel (cf. Gen. 11:4). Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed unashamedly that "God is dead," which meant that He either doesn't exist or is totally irrelevant. They exalt man and ignore God or make Him irrelevant, even declaring Him dead. What kind of God dies? But our God refuses to and will not die! What they are doing is worshiping man, because man is by nature a religious creature that is hard-wired to worship someone or something and never can claim to worship nothing even if he's a self-proclaimed nihilist or atheist. They are parading themselves and are braggadocious of their own achievements, not God's accomplishment, and in this way are very religious. John Dewey, who co-wrote Humanist Manifesto [I], in his book Common Faith, posited that we can be "religious" without "religion" or claiming no official or affiliated religion.


It sounds offensive to say, "Glory to man in the highest!" This is counter-intuitive but is what they are maintaining unawares. Man is not worthy of worship but man cannot but worship someone or something. Humanists tend to live in the here and now and refuse to let God into the reckoning. Without God in the equation, man is without purpose and hope and is empty. This void or God-shaped vacuum can only be filled by God according to Blaise Pascal! Sartre said that unless one considers God in the picture, man is a "useless passion." Christians, on the other hand, live their lives in light of eternity, not just for the mundane and the present circumstances--they can live above them and have hope for the future that lifts the spirit. Augustine of Hippo is known for maintaining that man is restless until he finds his rest in God.


Humanists live for themselves like animals in heat avoiding pain and seeking pleasure. But Christians live for God and have a higher purpose in living that brings meaning and definition. They have a destiny to live out and a reason for being. I want to point out that even Christians can become humanists by letting their pride get in the way and becoming self-centered and selfish and losing track of the will of God, seeking short-term pleasure in life instead of a life defeating evil and the power of sin. And when Solomon says that there's nothing new under the sun, he's right in that even Adam and Eve were humanists when they ate of the proverbial apple and sought their own wisdom, pleasure, and meaning in life independent of God's will and love.


We must realize that God has a purpose for everyone and Christians realize fulfillment in God only. God even made the wicked for the day of evil. When we have served our purpose God may call us home to glory, but we're all here for a purpose that we may not be aware of. Paul said in Col. 1:16 (MSG): "...[E]verthing got started in him and finds its purpose in him." We are all here for a reason and must never say as the old proverb goes: "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!" Those famous words are in Scripture and man has always been guilty of this kind of thinking.


Julian Huxley wrote Religion without Revelation to point out that we can be good without God and don't need God or believe in absolutes to have ethics or morals. That's basically what Satan has always tried to convince man since the Garden of Eden: We can be good without God, or we can be as gods! This is what's so deceiving of false religions because they may seem good on the outside and people are tricked into thinking that they mean well, but Satan knows how to insert just enough error to be dangerous and inoculate one from the truth and deceive with an element of truth.


In conclusion, we'll never arrive at objective truth (true regardless of whether it's believed and apart from personal input or perspective) unless we start with God in the picture, as Athanasius said, "The only system of thought into which Jesus Christ will fit is the one in which He is the starting point." We must not begin with man and explain the universe or explain away God, but must begin with God and explain everything else: reality, man, the world with all the academic disciplines, current events, and history. The Bible starts out as rational,, "In the Beginning," and it's theological as well as rational, even without realizing it or becoming atheists, they are practical atheists maintaining: "Down with God; up with man!" Au contraire! The divine viewpoint should be: "All the world is relative to Christ," according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Carl Henry said, "The Christian belief system is relevant to all of life." Soli Deo Gloria  

Seeking God's Face...

"The light of the glory of God is given us in the face of Jesus Christ," whom to see is to see the Father's face in spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 4:6). NB:  Jonathan Edwards said that the main business of the Christian life is seeking God!  We are told to seek His face ("My heart says this about You, "You are to seek My face,"  LORD, I will seek Your face.  Do not hide Your face from me..." (Psalm 27:8-9, HCSB).  God is not hiding or playing some game of cosmic hide and seek, He's waiting to be found and will reveal and authenticate Himself to all sincere seekers, but not triflers. God hides Himself that we may earnestly seek Him. ("If only I knew where I might find Him" per Job 23:3)  God's whereabouts are as near as the mention of His name! 

This search for God never ends but begins at salvation and will end at the beatific vision in glory when we do see His face.  We don't know Christ after the flesh but should recognize His Spirit at work and moving in the body, as it bears witness with our spirit (cf. Romans 8:16).  God as the Hound of Heaven seeks us who are the lost sheep:  "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me" (Isaiah 65:1, NIV).

When Christians say, "I found it!" what they really mean is that God found them and revealed Himself to them as the hymn Amazing Grace goes, "I was lost but now am found."  Pascal also mused:  "I would not have found God had He not first sought out me."  God wants to make His face shine upon us in blessing us, and  this is His commitment to us as believers. Blessing and seeing God's face are correlated. 

The inauguration of Christ's ministry (the official initiation ceremony) at His baptism included the Father's stamp of approval and official blessing, and He knew His mission and that God was with Him--that's His name:  God is with us!  You could say Jesus was coming of age and His rite of passage.  "... [I]f only I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus..." (Acts 20:24, ESV).   We are to embark on our mission with God's blessing also and know that God is with us too.  We are blessed in the Beloved by association.  Having this ministry from God or ordination to His service we've also been commissioned), we can anticipate the continual blessing and prosperity of God in whatever we do to His glory and in His name. 

As we get to know Christ, we grow in likeness, for we are all works in progress and Christ wants to show Himself in our witness.  Remember, God isn't finished with us yet and always finishes what He starts (cf. Phil. 1:6).  You might think of us as a slab of marble that the divine Sculptor is attempting to make into a statue of Christ, and what he does is take away everything that doesn't resemble Christ!  We all have some rough edges to get smoothed out and that's why we are put through the crucible because our faith is more precious than silver or gold and must be tested for our sake.

To receive God's blessing, we must have faith and make the commitment to go on in self-denial to "follow Him [in lordship to salvation] more nearly, ]getting] to know Him more clearly, and to love Him more dearly,"  as quoted from Richard of Chichester.  Moses came to know God face to face, like a friend and his face, was hid with a veil to hide the glory. There is something about a person having spent time in fellowship with the Lord.  It was obvious the disciples had been with the Lord after the resurrection appearances.

Receiving God's blessing gives us a new outlook on life and new hope, purpose, and meaning in life.  With God we have dignity!  Without God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless, according to atheist Bertrand Russell.  The more we are assured of His blessing and approval of us, the more confident we get to attempt more in God's name and to venture out in even greater things expecting even greater blessings.   It is true that the greater blesses the lesser, and also that we also ought to bless one another!

But we are saved to be a blessing (cf. Zech. 8:13).   God wants our cups to run over!  One function of the body of Christ is to be a blessing to the community in mission (cf. Jer. 29:7) and to bless the members of the body in ministry to one another. We all can bless each other with our spiritual gifts and teach one another in discipleship or mentoring.   May we pray God's blessings on each other.

The more we become like Christ, the more blessings we receive in Him to share.  We are blessed to pass it on.  "But He gives more grace..." (cf. James 4:6)!  There is more to salvation than being forgiven:  to seek the Lord's sanction and blessing in all our labors. We should see God at work in us.  And we are to ever seek God's blessings in our work for temporal as well as spiritual things.  He blesses us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:3) and the promises to Abraham that God will bless those who bless us is ours to claim, for all who have faith in Christ are children of Abraham (cf. Gal. 3:7,29) and we are joint-heirs of Christ.

In prayer, we can access or gain entree into the throne room of God for prayer in boldness (cf. Heb. 4:16), as Moses spoke to God face to face as to a friend, and to whom no prophet ever did again.  What unrealized, untapped potential there is in prayer there is when we have faith in Jesus' name. 

The antithesis of seeking God's face is to be hiding from God or the truth.  Sooner or later we may meet our "burning bush" and confront God and have a moment of truth with Him.  Then we are sanctified by the truth (cf. John 17:17) and realize its power over us.   We are to "contend for the faith" or the truth delivered to the saints.  The polar opposite of truth is apostasy and this is not the final lot of the believer.

If God were to withhold His grace from us for any length of time, we'd be without hope and God in the world, just as George Whitefield said of a man going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God go I."  God can harden the heart of a person who rejects Him in judgment much like He did to Pharaoh when he didn't believe the miracles Moses performed with the "finger of God."  For God hardens whom He will and has mercy on whom He will (cf. Romans 9:18); it's His prerogative to do as He reserves the right to do with His ultimate free will.     Soli Deo Gloria!