THIS is the aim of all our education - namely, exultation in Jesus Christ, who is God - forever and ever.

The price we must pay

We will talk next week about why the Word was made flesh - why Jesus Christ came: the central act of history, the death of the Son of God for sin. But this morning I want to draw attention to a price we must pay if we are going to pursue EDUCATION FOR EXULTATION in Jesus as God. The price is going to be controversy. On the way to exultation in Jesus, education inevitably leads to disputation. Why is this?

We live in a world of sin and futility and finitude. II Tim 4: 3 makes it clear that "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine". In Acts 20: 30 Paul warns the elders of Ephesus, "From among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them". And I John 4: 1-2 says specifically, "Behold, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God ... By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God".

If you believe in Truth and make it the foundation of your education, you will have adversaries. I say this because I want you to have a realistic view, and not a romantic one, about what it will mean in the coming years to be a part of the household of God and a part of EDUCATION FOR EXULTATION. Most of us love exultation. . But we don't love disputation. We would love to move straight from education to exultation all the time. From learning the truth to leaping with joy. From meditation to celebration without any disputation. That would be wonderful. But it would be cheap and short­lived, perhaps a generation or so. And then true celebration would collapse.