Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

28. The Atonement 

The death of Jesus Christ was not an accident. Jesus came into the world in order to die. He told us that thing was planned in eternity (1 Peter 1:20) (Acts 2:23). He knew he was going to die, and He knew the exact time. 

There are some false theories pertaining to the death of our Lord: 

1. Ransom theory: Jesus was “paying a ransom price to the devil in order that He might liberate those who were held captive” (313). 

2. Anselm’s theory, the satisfaction or commercial theory: “when man sinned, the honour . . . of God had been wounded . . . So the teaching was that our Lord had come to pay tribute to the honour of God” (313).

3. The moral influence theory: “God forgives even without the cross, but the cross of the proof of God’s love” (314). 

4. The death of Christ is just an example: “we still have save ourselves and we save ourselves by imitating His examples” (314).

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

27. Christ the Priest 

“The priest is one who represents us with God” (297). 

“For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘You are my Son,/ today I have begotten you’” (Hebrews 5.1-5). 

We are told that “he must be taken from among men in order to be their representative,” “he is chosen and appointed by God,” “he is active in the interests of men in things pertaining to God,” and “he has to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (299). 

In addition, a priest must be holy (Leviticus 21:6-8). 

Jones continues, the “priest is essentially a mediator who does two main things. First, he propitiates by sacrifices; second, he intercedes on behalf of the people” (300). “The priest propitiates by making offerings and sacrifices” and offerings and sacrifices are “piacular” (301). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

26. Christ the Prophet 

Prophet is “‘a man of God’, a messenger from God, one who has been given a word to speak by God” (292). In addition to foretelling, prophets “were sent by God to warn people, to chastise and rebuke them, to remind them of the character of the law, and of God’s promise” (292). 

Jones tells us that we “need a prophet because we need to be delivered and saved from the ignorance of sin” (291). Here, Christ “represents God with us; He speaks for God and from God to us” (292). 

Christ is the Prophet. Look at Deuteronomy “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (18:15). The Gospel of John tells us, “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’” (6:14). Jesus Christ also claimed to be a prophet (Luke 13:33). In John we read, “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (12:49-50). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

25. God-Man: The Doctrine 

This chapter emphasizes that our Lord Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man: “one person, two natures, the two natures unmixed, joined but not mixed, not fused, not intermingled, remaining separate, God and man” (282). It is essential to assert these two natures of Christ because “we must assert the manhood because since man sinned, the penalty must be borne in the nature of man. No one can bear the penalty of man’s sin except someone who is man Himself; it is the only way to redeem man. Then the payment of the penalty involves sufferings of body and of soul such as a man alone can bear; sufferings which God could not bear” (282). Moreover, Jones further explains, “He has to be a sympathetic high priest,” and “He can only be a sympathetic high priest by having a human nature, by being ‘in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin’ (Heb. 4:15). It is because He is like us that He is able to bear with us. He understand us, He knows our feelings and our frailty. We have a high priest who has been ‘touched with the feeling of our infirmities’ (Heb. 4:15). He knows us in that sense because He has a human nature” (282). In addition, “in order that His sacrifice might have infinite value, He had to be God as well as man” and “in order to ensure a perfect carrying out of the law, in order that might bear the wrath of God redemptively, and free us from the curse of the law, without the fear or failure, it was essential that the Godhead should be combined with the manhood” (283). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

24. Evidence for the Deity and Humanity of Christ

Firstly, Christ is divine. 

1). Certain divine names are ascribed to him: Son of God, his Son, my Son, Son, the only begotten Son of God, the first and the last, Alpha and Omega, Holy One, the Lord, the Lord of glory, Emmanuel, great God and Saviour Jesus Christ (266-267). 

2). The Bible ascribes to Him certain divine attributes: omnipotence (Hebrews 1:3), omniscience (Matthew 11:27), omnipresence (Matthew 18:20; Matthew 28:20; Eph. 1:23), eternity (John 1:1), immutability (Hebrews 13:8), pre-existence (Colossians 1:17; Philippians 2:6). To sum up, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9). (267-268). 

3). There are certain divine offices which He is said to hold and to fill: He creates (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews (1:10), He preserves everything (Hebrews 1:3), He claimed the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:5), He also claimed power to raise the dead (John 6:39-44), He has the power to transform our bodies (Philippians 3:21), judgment is committed to Him (John 5:22-3; 2 Timothy 4:1). (268-269). 

4). Statements in the Old Testament which are made distinctly of Jehovah are, in the New Testament, ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ (269). 

5). The way in which the named of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son are coupled together (269). 

6). Divine worship is ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ (270). 

7). Our Lord’s own self-consciousness and His own specific claims to deity (270). 

8). The virgin birth (271). 

9). His resurrection (Romans 1:4).

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

23. The Incarnation

There are nine important statements concerning the doctrine of the incarnation: 

1). “the doctrine of the person of our Lord, and the doctrine of the incarnation in particular, show us again the all-importance of the doctrine of the Trinity” (256). 

2). “the doctrine of the incarnation asserts not that the eternal triune God became flesh, but the second Person in the triune God became flesh” (256). 

3). “the doctrine of the incarnation does not say that it was merely an appearance or a form that was taken on by the second Person in the Trinity, but that it was indeed a true incarnation; He did come in the flesh” (256). 

4). “The doctrine of the incarnation does not say that it was the divine nature that somehow became united with human nature and so formed a person”; instead, “it teaches that He took to Himself flesh and appeared in this world in the likeness of man—not a new person, but this eternal Person” (257). 

5). “the doctrine of the incarnation does not teach, neither does it involve the idea, that a change took place in the personality of the Son of God” (257). 

6). “we must never so state the doctrine of the incarnation as to give the impression, therefore, that we say that the Son of God was changed into a man” (257). We should say, “He became flesh, or that took on flesh” (257). 

7). “our Lord did not merely take the appearance of human nature; it was true human nature” (258). (See Hebrews 2:14, 16; 2 John 7). 

8). “The doctrine of the incarnation asserts that our Lord took unto Himself a full human nature. It was not merely partial, it was complete” (258). 

9). “He took on this complete human nature from the Virgin Mary” (259). (See Matthew 1:1; Hebrews 2:14-18). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

22. The Lord Jesus Christ 

Jones points out the Lord Jesus Christ is not only central but also vital: “The truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ is the central and the most stupendous fact in the history of redemption. It stands out as the unique event in all history. This truth concerning Him is the biggest and most as astounding event of all” (245). All history points to Him, and He is indeed the turning point of history: the birth of Jesus Christ divides up history into BC and AD. Add that, Jones says the “Bible itself makes it very plain and clear that the whole essence of the Christian is dependent upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ” (245). Jesus Christ is vital in Christianity: “The Christian faith is entirely concerned about Him, who He is, what He has done, and what He has made available and possible for us” (246). 

Firstly, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies and promise. 2 Corinthians, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (1:20). Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promise that was given in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). There are some other passages regarding to the prophecy of Jesus: 

* “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:1). 

* “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,/ who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,/ from you shall come forth for me/ one who is to be ruler in Israel,/ whose coming forth is from of old,/ from ancient days” (Micah 5: 2). 

* “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 5.6). 

* “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). 

* For to us a child is born,/ to us a son is given;/ and the government shall be upon his shoulder,/ and his name shall be called/ Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,/ Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace./ Of the increase of his government and of peace/ there will be no end,/ on the throne of David and over his kingdom,/ to establish it and to uphold it/ with justice and with righteousness/ from this time forth and forevermore./ The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). 

* “Who has believed what he has heard from us?/ And to whom has the arm of/ the LORD been revealed?/ For he grew up before him like a young plant,/ and like a root out of dry ground;/ he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,/ and no beauty that we should desire him./ He was despised and rejected by men,/ man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;/ and as one from whom men hide their faces/ he was despised, and we esteemed him not./ Surely he has borne our griefs/ and carried our sorrows;/ yet we esteemed him stricken,/ smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:1-4). 

* “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;/ I will take you by the hand and keep you;/ I will give you as a covenant for the people,/ a light for the nations” (Isaiah 42:6). 

* Psalms 22. 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

21. The Covenant of Grace in the New Testament 

We must remember that there is only one covenant, but there are differences in the two dispensations. 

“First, -we must emphasis the superiority of new dispensation of the one covenant over the old dispensation of the same covenant. The old was mediated through the servants, Abraham and Moses, but the new has been mediated through the Son of God” (24). 

“Second, the truth in the old dispensation was partly revealed and partly hidden in the types and shadows. But in the new dispensation it is clearly revealed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, in what He said, taught and accomplished and in the work of the Holy Spirit” (240). 

Third, “in the new dispensation it is not only clearly revealed, but the revelation has been, of course, increased and made clear by the incarnation of the Lord Himself and the work of the Spirit” (241). 

Fourth, “the new dispensation is superior to the old. Under the old dispensation the revelation was largely carnal and material in form, whereas now it is entirely spiritual” (241). You will see in Hebrew, “but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (9:10-12). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

20. The Covenant of Grace in the Old Testament 

Covenant is “an agreement or a pact which is entered into by two parties, the two parties generally being more or less of equal standing,” and “in the covenant two sides bind themselves to the fulfillment of certain promises given on the basis of certain conditions” (224). Jones underscores that “the thing that we must keep in mind is that the priority of God must be emphasised. The covenant is a gift of from God which has been ushered in by the death of Christ, and because it comes from God it is something which is certain, and inviolable, and unbreakable” (226). Originally God made a covenant with Adam, but he failed, so “from there on God made a new covenant, which is called the covenant of grace” (226). First of all, God has “promised to be a God unto man,” “certain temporal as well as spiritual blessings,” and “a way of justification” which includes “the promise of life eternal, the giving of the Spirit, and the full application and working out of redemption in my sanctification and ultimate glorification” (227). And “we are called upon to respond by faith, by the desire for all this, and by faithfulness and obedience to God in these new conditions” (227). 

For Jones, Genesis 3:15 is the announcement of the gospel: “I will put enmity between you and the woman,/ and between your offspring and her offspring;/ he shall bruise your head,/ and you shall bruise his heel.” Humans cannot be saved if they are friends of devil and enemy of God, so they must first become an enemy of the devil. Besides, God promised to help man to fight against the enemy. And the real seed of the woman is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Secondly, the covenant God made with Noah in Genesis 9 tells us that God promised that the force of nature would be bridled, and man was protected against the violence both of man himself and beasts. This is “simply a temporary legislation,” “common grace” (230). 

Thirdly, “there was the covenant made with Abraham” in Genesis 17 (230). It was by Abraham’s faith that he entered in to the covenant and began to receive the blessings. Not only the promise concerning the land, there was “the great promise of a spiritual seed, that all the nations of the world were going to be blessed in Him” (231). Romans tells us that “Abraham was justified by faith, justified in a spiritual sense—justified from sin, he was forgiven, he was adopted into God’s family, and made the father of the faithful, the father of all believers” (231). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

19. Redemption: the Eternal Plan of God

It is necessary to take a general view of the doctrine of redemption.

Firstly, “redemption is entirely of God” (214). It is emphasized that the Bible “is an account of what God has done about the redemption of man” (214). It is not that the Lord Jesus Christ needs to placate God for us, for we know 2 Corinthians tells us, “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (5.19). Jones clarifies, “[t]he biblical case is not that Christ, as it were, has to appeal to God to change His mind. It was God who sent Christ; it was God Himself who took the initiative” (215).

Secondly, “salvation if all of grace. It was done in spite of man’s rebellion, in spite of man’s arrogance, in spite of his folly and sin” (216).

Thirdly, redemption “was all planned before the foundation of the world” (216). We are bound by time, so it is impossible for us to grasp it. “But God is outside time. God sees the end from the beginning and all things are always in His presence” (217).

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

18. Original Pollution

Original pollution means, firstly, “the absence of that original righteousness which Adam had” (200). Add that, “[w]e are also born with the presence within us of a positive evil” (201). It is not “merely a disease; “it is a sinful and, therefore, a guilty condition. We are guilty because we are polluted” (201). It is not merely a deprivation; “it is something which is positive, a positive inherent disposition towards sin” (201). 

“How, then, does this condition, this absence of original righteousness and the presence of positive evil, manifest itself in fallen humanity?” (201). It shows in total depravity and total inability. 

a). Total depravity: 

This idea is often attacked even by Christians because people invariably attach a false meaning to it. Total depravity “means that man in his fallen condition has an inherently corrupt nature, and the corruption extends through every part of his being, to every faculty of his soul and body”; “[i]t also means that there is no spiritual good in him” (202). To elaborate more: that means someone “is at enmity against God and God’s holy law” (202). To put it another way, “all that person’s powers are misused and perverted” (202), and “what we are told about our state in a condition of total depravity is that we are in the flesh and acting according to it” (205). What does flesh mean? “[F]lesh in the Scripture is almost invariably opposed to the spirit, and especially to the Holy Spirit within us. So flesh means the working of that nature which we have inherited from Adam, that which is entirely natural, and which is entirely without the influence of the Holy Spirit upon it” (205). Another definition is that flesh “is the principle, or the seat of the principle, which in fallen human nature resists the divine law and wars against the spirit” (205). Thus, the characteristics of life are these: “The condition of being ‘in the flesh’ means that the balance has gone” (206). We are “controlled by self instead of by God” (207). We misuse all out faculties. We are “all slaves of Satan” (209). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

17. Adam’s Posterity and Original Sin 

The immediate consequences of the fall are stated in the following passages: 

a). Genesis 3:14-16, “he LORD God said to the serpent,/ ‘Because you have done this,/ cursed are you above all livestock/ and above all beasts of the field;/ on your belly you shall go,/ and dust you shall eat/ all the days of your life./ 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,/ and between your offspring and her offspring;/ he shall bruise your head,/ and you shall bruise his heel./16 To the woman he said,/ I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;/ in pain you shall bring forth children./ Your desire shall be for your husband,/ and he shall rule over you.” 

b). Genesis 3:19, “And to Adam he said,/ ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife/ and have eaten of the tree/ of which I commanded you,/ ‘You shall not eat of it,’/ cursed is the ground because of you;/ in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;/ 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;/ and you shall eat the plants of the field.” 

c). Romans 8: 20, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope” 

The universality of sin is asserted throughout the Bible. (See Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:10 & 3:19; 3:23, James 3:2, 1 John 1:8, 1 John 1:10). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

16. The Fall 

It is affirmed that what was written in the Bible concerning the fall of humans shall be taken as literal history. (See Job 31:33; Hosea 6:7; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14). 

Genesis tells us these: 

a). “[E]vil, sin and temptation came from the outside; they came from Satan, using the serpent. . . . and he had perfect free will to decide what to do with it” (182). 

b). The steps to the fall: the serpent attacked the woman, and she listened to the slanders of the devil against God. She “began to doubt God’s word and God’s love” and to “to look at the thing which God had prohibited” (183). She began to “desire it and to lust after it”; finally, it is humans’ “definite act of disobedience” (183). We cannot answer what made them do this, but the “most we can say is man’s moral constitution, his being made in the image of God, and his possession of free will, at any rate held the possibility of his disobedience” (183). (See the corresponding verse: 1 John 2:15-16). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

15. The Divine Image in Man

Verses:

* Genesis 1:26-27, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’27 So God created man in his own image,/ in the image of God he created him;/ male and female he created them.”
* Genesis 5:1-3, “This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”
* Genesis 9:6, ““Whoever sheds the blood of man,/ by man shall his blood be shed,/ for God made man in his own image.”
* James 3:9, “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”
* Ephesians 4:24, “and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
* Colossians 3:10, “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

There are several points that need to be made:
* First, “It is generally agreed that there is no real difference of meaning between ‘image’ and ‘likeness’”; it is “the idea of a mirror and a reflection” (169). (See 2 Corinthians 3:18). So when we say man is made in the image of God, “we mean that God made us in such a way that we are some kind of a reflection of God” (169); that is to say, man was “a kind of reflector of something of the divine glory itself” (170).
* Second, “this term is used after the fall, as well as before the fall”; that is to say, “the image of God was not entirely lost when Adam and Eve sinned and fell” (170).
* Third, “it is something misleading to define the original image of God in man in terms of what we are about regenerate man”; that means “what happened in regeneration is not merely that we are restored to the condition that Adam was in before he fell, but we are advanced beyond that” (170).
* Fourth, “there is a difference between man as he was made at the beginning by God, and the manhood or the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ” (171).

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

14. The Creation of Man 

First of all, Lloyd Jones talks about the uniqueness of the creation of man.

a). In Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” It is quite clear that “the three Persons of the blessed Trinity held counsel together before man was created” (154). Besides, “there was a kind of pause” between the creation of other things and man (154).
b). When God created man, there is no such phrase “after their kind” (154).
c). God created man in a very peculiar and distinct way: “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7); that is to say, “there is a distinction between the body and the spirit, the material and the immaterial parts” (154).
d). Man “was made Lord over the whole of creation, over all nature, over all creatures, and all the beasts” (155).

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

13. Providence 

There are three powerful arguments for the doctrine of providence: 

a). The fact of prophecy: “Prophecy is not merely foreknowledge, it is a guarantee—that the prophesied events are going to happen because God is in control” (143). 

b). Answers to prayer: “If you did not believe that God controlled everything, there would be no point in praying” (143). 

c). Argument from miracles: “if it were not the case that God has His hand upon everything, and is controlling everything, then miracles simply could not take place at all” (143). 

Providence: “that continued exercise of the divine energy whereby the Creator upholds all his creatures, is operative in all that transpires in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end” (143). 

• And there are three aspects of providence: 

a). Preservation: “that continuous work of God by which He maintains the things which He has created, together with the properties and powers with which He has endowed them” (143); in other words, “He keeps everything in being” (144). (See Psalm 104: 28-30; Acts 17:28; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). 

b). The governmental aspect of providence: “the continued activity of God whereby He rules all things to a definite end and object, and does so in order to secure the accomplishment of His own divine purpose” (144). (See Psalm 97:1; Psalm 103:19; Isaiah 40:15; Daniel 4:34-35). 

c). The aspect of concurrence: “the co-operation of God and His divine power with all the subordinate powers according to the pre-established laws of their operation, causing them to act and to act precisely as they do” (145); in other words, “God works through them. They have their own operations, but God is over all these operations” (145). (See Psalm 104:20-21; Psalm 104:30; Amos 3:6; Matthew 5:34). 

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

12. the Creation of the World 

First of all, certain general points must be made: a). “we are not given a fully detailed account or philosophy of creation and yet we claim that the account which we are given is wholly accurate” (127); b). “God made everything out of nothing. The world has a distinct existence but it is always dependent upon God”; c). “The Bible does not give a reason for creation. It did not happen as the result of a need in God; there was no necessity for it. Neither was it because of His love. It was a free act according to His will and glory and, ultimately, we do not know the reason why” (128).

Lloyd Jones states, “creation was the work of the triune God”: “So it is the perfect work of the Three-in-One-out of the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Or, as it has been expressed: the being is in the Father, the idea is in the Son and life is in the Spirit” (128). (See John 1:3; 1 Corinthian 8:6; Col. 1:16).

As for the “time” of creation, Lloyd Jones indicates that there is no time with God (128). Also, the words that are used in the Bible concerning creation are these:
a). bara: “calling into being without the aid of pre-existing material. . . describes divine activity”;
b). asah: this means “to prepare out of exiting material”;
c). yatsar: this means “to fashion out of pre-existing material” in Genesis 2:7(129).

What exactly happened at creation?
“Day 1: The creation of light.
Day 2: The creation of the expanse and the separation of the waters.
Day 3: The separation of water and dry land and the preparation of the earth as a habitation for man and beast
Day 4: The creation of light-bearers
Day 5: The creation of the birds of the air and fish of the sea
Day 6: The creation of the beasts of the field, cattle and creeping things and man” (130).

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son Martyn Lloyd Jones

11. The Devil and the Fallen Angels

First of all, Lloyd Jones talks about the names of the Devil: Satan (Adversary), the devil (slanderer), Beelzebub (he is the prince of the devils), Apollyon, the angel of the bottomless pit, the prince of this world, the god of this world, “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), the dragon, a lion, Lucifer, that old serpent, the evil one. 

Secondly, the devil is a person (117). Please see the Gospels of the temptations of our Lords (Luke 4:1-13), and Satan in Job 1 and in Genesis. Lloyd Jones wants us to realise that “apart from the sin that is in us, and the evil of our nature as the result of the Fall, we are confronted by a person outside us who is tracking us down, a person who has a kingdom, of which he is the head, and which is highly organized, and his one great concern is to destroy the work of God” (118). In Ephesians, it warns us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Satan was created: “On the day that you were created/ they were prepared” (Ezekiel 28:13). And he is the highest form of being, the head of all created beings, and that his function is to worship God, and to present to Him the adoration of the entire universe: He was anointed guardian cherub (Ezekiel 28:14). He was blameless in his ways from the day he was created, till unrighteousness was found in him (Ezekiel 28:15). It is because his heart was proud due to his beauty (28:17). (See also Isaiah 14:12-15).

The power of Satan is even greater than the power of archangel and the power of man (See Jude 9; 2Peter 2:10-11). He is a “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8), “leviathan” (Isaiah 27:1), and “dragon.” Through reading the Book of Job, we also know that “the devil can affect and influence our bodies” (121). (See also 2 Corinthians 12:7).

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

10. Good Angels

The term angel means “messenger” (103). Lloyd Jones begins the theme with this: “angels were in existence even before the creation of the world” (103). Angels are created beings, and they “have spiritual bodies. . . . as our Lord’s human frame became a spiritual body, a glorified body, after His resurrection” (104 & 105). Angels never die, and they are inferior to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, but superior to man (105 & 106). (See Luke 20:36; Psalms 8:4-6). 

There are certain names of angels: spirit (Ephesians 1:21), holy angels (Luke 9:26), the elect angels (1Timothy 5:21), ministering angels (Hebrew 1:14), cherubim (Ps. 99:1; Ezek. 10:1-22), seraphim (Isa. 6:2), and living creatures or the beasts (Revelation 4).

Angels are “symbolic of our ultimate salvation and glorification, and of our eternal existence in the immediate presence of the glorious God” (107). The number of angels is countless (See Matthew 26:53; Luke 2:13); the Scripture tells us there are “myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands” (Revelation 5:11). 

There is a division both in status and in work among angels (108). Archangel, Michael, is the chiefest of all, the supreme (See 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 1:9; Daniel 10: 13). Gabriel is the angel who “stands in the presence of God, waiting, as it were, to be given a message” (108). (See Luke 1:26; Luke 1:19).

Great Doctrines of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son/ Martyn Lloyd Jones

9. The Eternal Decrees of God 

The eternal decrees of God are “things which God determined and ordained before He had done anything at all” (93). The reasons for considering this difficult doctrine are these: a). “I must take my whole Bible,” b). “it will reveal to us fresh aspects of the glory of God Himself,” c). “it will save us from many errors,” d). “I know of nothing that gives me greater consolation than this particular doctrine” (94).

The methods for considering the doctrine are these: we must “get rid of your prejudices and any kind of party spirit,” and we “must not approach this subject philosophically”; in other words, we must approach the subject with humility and reverence; “we must approach it by faith, and with a ready admission of our own limits” (95).

* The first principle of the doctrine—the eternal decrees of God—is that “from eternity God has had an unchangeable plan with reference to His creatures” (96). (See Eph. 1:4; Gal. 4:4).

* Second, “the plan of God comprehends and determines all things and events of every kind that come to pass”; that is “all things are ultimately determined and decreed by Him” (96). All things must include “the free actions, the voluntary actions of free and voluntary agents” (97). (See Eph. 1:10-11; Proverbs 16:33; Matthew 10:29-30; Proverbs 21:1; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13). 

* Third, “even sinful actions are in the hands of God” (97). (See Acts 2:23; 4:27-28; Genesis 34:8; Genesis 50:20). Lloyd Jones explicates, “In view of what we have already agreed about the holiness of God, we must at once say this: God does not cause evil in any sense or in any degree. He does not approve of evil. But He permits the wicked agents to perform it and then He overrules it for His own and holy ends” (98).

* Fourth, “all the decrees of God are unconditional and sovereign” (98). To be more specific, God’s decrees are not dependent in any sense on human actions or by anything that people may or may not do, and not in the light of what He knows people are going to do. “They do not depend upon anything except God’s own will and God’s own holiness” (98). (See Daniel 4:35; Matthew 11:25-26; Eph. 1:5; Romans 9:11-14; 9:15-18).