Marks on the Wall (2)
alike newborn babies, long for the 1bpure 2milk of the word, so that by it you may cgrow 3in respect to salvation, 1 Peter 2:2 NASB
Grow – First, we need to know something about the verb Peter uses. “auxánō means ‘to bring to growth,’ ‘to promote,’ ‘to raise one’s position,’ or intransitive ‘to grow,’ ‘to rise in repute or power,’ ;to increase.’”[1] It’s also important to note the use in the LXX: “‘to become fruitful,’ ‘to make fruitful,’ ‘to make great,’ ‘to grow.’”[2] Notice that the Jewish Greek of the LXX ties the word to the prime directive found in Genesis 1. Peter’s use draws from the earliest idea in the Torah. To grow means to fulfill God’s intention in the creation of Man, that is, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Spiritual growth is connected to tikkun ‘olam, to act as God’s agent in renewing the creation.
Heschel has some important remarks about the implications of this picture of growth:
“The dignity of man consists not in his ability to make tools, machines, guns, but primarily in his being endowed with the gift of addressing God. It is this gift which should be a part of the definition of man.”[3]
“The grand premise of religion is that man is able to surpass himself; that man who is part of this world may enter into a relationship with Him who is greater than the world; that man may lift up his mind and be attached to the absolute; that man who is conditioned by a multiplicity of factors is capable of living with demands that are unconditioned.”[4]
“Life is something that visits my body, a transcendent loan; I have neither initiated nor conceived its worth and meaning. The essence of what I am is not mine. I am what is not mine. I am that I am not.”[5]
“In our own lives the voice of God speaks slowly, a syllable at a time. Reaching the peak of years, dispelling some of our intimate illusions and learning how to spell the meaning of life-experiences backwards, some of us discover how the scattered syllables form a single phrase.”[6]
Growing into salvation is a long process, a slow development, a subtle transition year after year, a long journey in the same direction. How do we know? Look at the marks on the wall.
Topical Index: grow, auxánō, Genesis 1:28, Abraham Heschel, 1 Peter 2:2
[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 1229). W.B. Eerdmans.
[2] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 1229). W.B. Eerdmans.
[3] Abraham Heschel, Man’s Quest for God, p. 78.
[4] Abraham Heschel Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 36.
[5] Ibid., p. 62.
[6] Ibid., p. 72.
