My Lord and My God
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
These are the well–known words of confession from Thomas, who, when confronted with the risen Lord Jesus Christ, fell on his knees and confessed. Such a confession is magnificent. He acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus and the fact that he is God. Thomas cannot imagine a Lord who is not God. There are many lesser lords among men, but Jesus is not less than God. Jesus is God. Our Lord confessed that he and the Father were one (John 10:30). The response by the Jews, when Jesus said this, was to pick up stones and seek to kill Jesus. They believed he was blaspheming.
Thomas confesses based upon what he saw with his eyes. He had stated previously that unless he saw in the hands of Jesus the mark of the nails and unless he placed his finger into Jesus’ side, he would never believe (20:25). Thomas confessed his faith because he saw. Jesus said to him in verse 29, “have you believed because you have seen me?” Thomas was surely strengthened in faith by seeing the risen Lord, but our Lord pronounces a blessing on all those who have not seen him yet have believed (vs. 29).
According to Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Not only this, but also without faith we cannot please God (Heb. 11:6). When Thomas saw the risen Lord he fulfilled Hebrews 11:6. He believed that God exists and that God rewards those who diligently seek him. Believing that God exists requires saving faith. It requires the biblical faith we see in the Scriptures. It is not any sort of faith (for there are many faiths and kinds of faith). No, this faith is God-given, particular and saving in its effect. It is God’s gift to us (Eph. 2:8–10). Faith is, therefore, the instrument through which we believe and receive God’s truth. Everything that God has revealed concerning himself, we believe. We believe in the existence of God. We believe because God has revealed himself to us. There is the evidence of creation and there is the evidence of Scripture. Creation is affirmed in Scripture as God’s revelation, but creation in and of itself cannot save or reveal the necessary cross work of our Lord. Creation reveals the Creator of all things. Scripture reveals the Redeemer of sinners. We call creation general revelation, and we call Scripture special revelation.
Sometimes the Bible says “Scripture says” (John 7:38, 42; 19:37; Rom. 4:3; 9:17; 10:11; 1 Tim. 5:18). In Romans 9:17, the Bible says: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’” We all know that it was God who said this to Pharaoh, so here Scripture is associated with God himself. Scripture is personified. Since God has authority, Scripture has authority. Scripture is not God. It is God’s revelation to us, but it comes to us with the full authority of God. This is why we call Scripture, God’s Word. He spoke, he commanded, he uttered—all are used to describe God’s revelation. It is not that God’s Word is in Scripture (as Karl Barth might say), but rather, Scripture is God’s Word. The very words we find in Scripture are the very words that God intended to communicate. They are his words. Scripture is God’s Word. This is important to grasp because it prevents us from tampering with truth. It prevents us from criticizing certain parts of the Bible. It prevents us from changing God’s Word into what suits us. We do not believe in evolution or theistic evolution, because God said he created all things (Gen. 1, 2; John 1:3; Acts 17:23, 24; Rom. 11:36; Eph. 3:8–10; Col. 1:16–20; 1 Tim. 6:13; Heb. 1:2; 2:10; Rev. 4:11). True science does not disagree with Scripture. All kinds of theories must be tested against the truth. We must never accommodate the truth to suit the theory.
Knowing God has its origin in God’s revelation. If God did not reveal himself, we would not and could not know him. We also know that this knowledge that we possess of God because he has revealed it to us is, nevertheless, not the full knowledge of God as God knows. Our knowledge of God is limited knowledge. God has not exhausted his power and knowledge simply because he has revealed himself. Scripture says that our eyes, ears and hearts have not seen, heard or imagined what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor. 2:9).
In fact, it is impossible for God to fully reveal himself to us because he is infinite and we are finite. Ultimately, no one knows the Father except the Son (Matt. 11:27); and those who do know, only know because the Son chooses to reveal the Father. The reservoir of what God has revealed will keep us busy for a very long time. Man confesses time and time again his perplexity at what he sees and studies. Just because there is an infinite depth to God does not mean that we cannot know him. We all confess the limitations of our finite minds and hearts, but the Christian recognizes and knows that a sovereign work of grace is needed to know God and the Lord Jesus Christ in a saving way. You can never measure saving faith in a test tube. It is not merely a set of propositions or statements (the faith). It is the life of the Holy Spirit in us.
Cicero (the Roman orator and statesman) stated that religion was evident in the minds and hearts of people. He said, “there is no people so barbarous that it does not believe in the gods.” Scripture says in Romans 1:19 that “what can be known about God is plain to ‘man’ because God has shown it to them.” God has revealed in creation to all people everywhere “his eternal power and divine nature” (Rom. 1:20) It is on this basis that all people everywhere have no excuse before God. Nothing is atheistic in the absolute sense. There is no atheistic world or atheistic people. The world and the human race is connected to God whether man acknowledges it or not. There is, of course, as Herman Bavinck so clearly states in his book The Doctrine of God, a practical atheism which is life without God in his world (Ps. 14:1; Eph. 2:12).
When man denies the true God he always fashions a replacement. This is idolatry as we find it in Romans 1. It is a dishonoring of God and the exchanging of God’s glory for an image. All idols are found in the heart. We may give those idols a visible representation or we keep them hidden in the heart. Just because modern man does not bow down to some wooden idol does not mean that he does not commit idolatry. He commits idolatry by nature in the simple denial of God and the satisfying of his pleasures. This why the sovereign operation of grace worked in the heart by the Spirit replaces the idols. We worship what we know. We love God because he loved us. We would never be moved to love God apart from regeneration. This means that a true confession of faith is the result of salvation.
Thomas can only confess and acknowledge that which he knows to be true concerning Christ because he was confronted by Christ. This is true salvation. When we are confronted by the risen Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit, we confess and believe. Believing and confessing is the fruit of a changed heart and mind. This is why salvation is by grace through faith. If salvation is a partial work of ours, then grace is gone, and what you have is not salvation but your own works. All true knowledge of God comes from God because he is the only reliable witness of himself. Therefore, we know God because God has revealed himself to us. Our belief in God is rooted in the truth of God’s Word, and on this basis alone, it stands against the tests of all inquiries and provides the Christian with an unshakeable sure repose for life and ministry. How else could Thomas go forward?