Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 6 Study # 5
July 21, 2019
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: The "place" God has in the undeniable realities of "creation existence" is as "The Root".
Introduction: With this last verse in the large section of
Romans 9-11, Paul declares the most foundational truth for all creation: God is the indisputable Lord over everything that had a "beginning". At the beginning of Paul's outburst of praise in
11:33 his declaration concerned "God", and in the declaration of the "proof" of his thesis that God's "wisdom and knowledge" transcends everything known to man, he asks regarding the "mind of the Lord". This puts "God" and "Lord" at the foundation of the outburst.
Thus, the "Him" (referenced four times in this last verse) is "God, the Lord", and the statements about "Him" all concern the most basic of all basic issues of Truth. So, we are going to look into these statements in order that we may be properly oriented to both the past issues of Romans 9-11 and the future issues of 12-16.
- I. The First Big Issue.
- A. Paul's "because" indicates that this "Big Issue" is the "Proof" of the depth of the wealth of God's wisdom and knowledge.
- B. This issue concerns the origin, instrumentality, and purposes of "Creation".
- 1. The first question has to do with Paul's meaning of "all things".
- a. Is Paul referring to every single "issue" that is an "issue"?
- b. Is Paul referring to what we call "the physical creation"?
- 2. The first answer is that Paul's reference is to "physical creation".
- a. 11:36 actually deals with the duality of "creation" in terms of "the outer shell" (the physical world) and "the inner reality" (the relational world).
- 1) The issues of "the outer shell" are three.
- a) Where did the physical creation come from?
- b) How did the physical creation come to be?
- c) For what purpose(s) did the physical creation come into being?
- 2) The issue of "the inner reality" is one: to whom does the "credit" belong?
- a) Paul's "to Whom [be] the glory unto the ages amen" is a deliberate declaration of the most fundamental issue of the relational creation.
- b) This use of "glory" is one of several related concepts of the word "glory".
- i. "Glory" sometimes refers to "a basic essence" (as in "attribute" or "attributes").
- ii. "Glory" sometimes refers to "an outward manifestation" in some visible form (as in "the glory of the Lord filled the temple" as a description of the visible "cloud" that filled the building).
- iii. "Glory" sometimes refers to "some form of 'recognition' by others of the underlying essence of some outward manifestation" (as in "attributing credit for an outward reality to an inner reality").
- iv. In this text, Paul's interest is the establishment of the "credit" for the existence of the physical creation as a "forever" reality.
- b. Because of this "outer"/"inner" duality, Paul's "all things" refers to "all physical things".
- C. As an issue regarding physical creation, there are three concepts.
- 1. The first concept is that of "origins": "Out of Him" came "all things physical".
- a. Hebrews 11:3 declares that the things which are seen were "made" ("came into existence") "out of" unseen realities.
- b. Human scientific endeavor has not solved the problem of the "whence" of creation except to demonstrate that when the physical atom is "split" there is nothing "physical" that remains.
- 2. The second concept is that of "instrumentality": "Through Him" came all things physical.
- a. This is John's point in John 1:3: "all things" came into being "through Him" without exception.
- b. This is focused upon the physical creation.
- 3. The third concept is that of "purpose": "Unto Him" all things "out of Him and through Him" exist.
- a. The physical creation exists most fundamentally as a means of illumination so that living, sensible creatures might "learn" about God so that they might participate with Him in Life.
- b. Every created thing has its place in providing "light" unto "Life" for those who "live".
- II. The Second Big Issue.
- A. There is only one part of this issue.
- B. This "part" is the issue of "to whom does the credit go for the existence of the entire universe of physical realities?".
- C. But, this "part" is not primarily about the physical creation; it is about the consequential, relational creation.
- 1. The "relational creation" is an inescapable consequence of physical creation because that creation resulted in "persons" for whom "relating" is the most crucial issue of existence.
- 2. We can say without fear of contradiction that the "relational creation" was the ultimate objective of God's creation of a physical world.
- D. And the aspect of "relational creation" that is most critical is the question of the final condition of that creation: Will it exist in permanent antagonistic chaos, or will it exist in permanent "righteousness, peace, and joy"?
- E. And that question brings "credit" into play: the answer to the "credit" question answers the "chaos" or "joy" question.
- 1. All "chaos" has its roots in "contrary values" and its pursuits in "deceits" regarding what is "true": this is the creature seeking the "credit" from accomplishments.
- 2. All "unto the ages Joy" has its roots in "uniform commitment to complementary values and Truth": this is the creature giving the "credit" to the One Whose accomplishments have resulted in Life by Love and Faith.
