Volume 17 Issue 3
I listen with interest as Netanyahu jumped from point to point in his recent interview on the BBC Satellite News Network. He was talking about how the access to information was creating a world unlike anything ever known to mankind. It is, he reflected, beyond the control of man to stop the present unprecedented flow of information, good and bad, correct and incorrect. It has become a revolution more powerful than armies or weapons, driven mostly by the Internet. Powerful men wish to stop the flow; they prefer to keep whole societies in darkness and oppression.
Information is the power issue of the day. The scientist wants to know about the source of information. It is the modern obsession, provoked in part by the dramatic discovery of the DNA code that is unlocking the very secrets of life.
Information changes things. Information sets up potential, it reveals purposes, exposes secrets; it builds up and it tears down. This is true because all things function in the context of specific information, which determines what is and what is to be. The living cells of all creatures contain the information that defines their make up and gives them their instinctive purposes. But from where does this information originate? Ah, this is a great mystery.
If the processes of materialism can somehow be shown to be the source of its own information (we know that all material things, mass and energy, are responsive to and controlled by information, as Einstein proposed) thats one kind of world. But, on the other hand, if information is nonmaterial, if is a mental entity, say, then that is an entirely different kind of world. In this later world we are left with the questions of causation. Where does the information come from? Who is the sender? What is the will or volition of the sender? Christian believers would say God is the sender. His will is at play in the flight of every bird. His artistry is displayed on the wings of every butterfly. He transmits the information that controls the whole of our magnificent world.
As a boy growing up in Indiana I watched with fascination as seeds of corn were dropped into the soil and, in total obedience to the encoded biochemical information, they germinated and grew to full mature ears of corn. God was the sender of this information, and His will was being unfolded in the process. The corn see could never have become a wheat plant or a watermelon because the information was there to dictate its encoded behavior.
We love to quote John 1: In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The word was made flesh. (John 1:1,12). There is something captivating about that verse. It fascinates us. It is unlikely that any verse in the Bible is more profound or filled with more potential hope for us than this wondrous declaration. In the beginning was the Word: the information, the knowledge, the logos, and the truth. In the beginning was God!
But what should really be exciting to all Holy Spirit people is that God lives in us. He is our information. The Spirit comes to teach us all things, give us direction, and reveal God purposes; to renew our minds, to satisfy us, to give us peace, to transform our lives into a new life. Being filled with the Holy Ghost means that God divinely instills in us His spiritual information. By this information we develop into His people. We become new creatures. We are thus separated from the world with its empty promises and painful realities. We are, through Christ, a Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood. This happens not because of human works or human wisdom, but by His Spirit. God in us is divine eternal information, the information we must have from the Creator to become His church. (Gal. 1:27) God writes a spiritual genetic code for His church, His body.
Information is changing the world. However, at the end of the day, society must come to Jesus. There is none other Name given among men. (Acts 4:12) The knowledge of the revelation of God in Christ (Phil. 3:14) is the most important information on earth. God was manifest in the flesh. For the church, this is our DNA, our encoded spiritual gene.
Netanyahu was only partly right; information will not win the war against terrorists. Otherwise, ancient lies will forever doom them, just as false doctrine will doom the Christian. But the truth will make us free.