“All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Perhaps the Son is saying to the Father, “Thy little ones need some wind and rain: their buds are hard; the flowers do not come out. I cannot get them made blessed without a little more winter weather.” Then perhaps the Father will say, “Comfort them, my son Jesus, with the memory of thy patience when thou wast missing me.” In a word, let us be at peace, because peace is at the heart of things—peace and utter satisfaction between the Father and the Son—in which peace they call us to share; in which peace they promise that at length, when they have their good way with us, we shall share. Before us, then, lies a bliss unspeakable, a bliss beyond the thought or invention of man, to every child who will fall in with the perfect imagination of the Father. His imagination is one with his creative will. The thing that God imagines, that thing exists. When the created falls in with the will of him who “loved him into being,” then all is well; thenceforward the mighty creation goes on in him upon higher and yet higher levels, in more and yet more divine airs. Thy will, O God, be done! Nought else is other than loss, decay, and corruption. There is no life but that born of the life that the Word made in himself by doing thy will, which life is the light of men. Through that light is born the life of men—the same life in them that came first into being in Jesus. As he laid down his life, so must men lay down their lives, that as he liveth they may live also. That which was made in him was life, and the life is the light of men; and yet his own, to whom he was sent, did not believe him.
Commentary
by Leah Morency
Recalling the August 19th excerpt, the opening lines from MacDonald are this:
"The bond of the universe, the harmony of things... is the devotion of the son to the father....For there can be no unity, no oneness where there is only one."
Our bond, harmony, peace with God, is through being made into true sons and daughters of our father. MacDonald envisions Christ saying "Thy little ones need some wind and rain: their buds are hard; their flowers do not come out." And what is it that keeps us from this peace with God but our own hearts needing to be opened.
Reflecting on my own heart, my own experience with "wind and rain" which has worked to soften my heart, immediately what came to mind were the final lines of the U2 song Cedarwood Road. Bono sings of some of the hardship and pain of his growing up years, but at the end he sings
"A heart that is broken,
Is a heart that is open,
Open open"
What a comfort to know Gods end is our creation taking place in Christ, to break open our hearts so that he can "get them blessed."
He will treat us as a true father indeed.
To come to the point of Hebrews passage 12:6: For the Lord disciplines the one he loves...
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
- Hebrews 12:6-14
Today the final installment of The Creation in Christ ties the teachings of obedience to peace, and creation to where they meet, in Christ. In Christ, the birthplace of our existence, the "perfect imagination of the Father...one with his creative will" is where we begin. In Christ the father creates, when our hearts are open in his, in peace and harmony with Him.
To find this harmony, in His will and be a part of our own creation, we are called to see follow and believe in Christ.