Three Facets, on Focus

Three Facets, on Focus

The worldview of God’s Law begins with God.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our god, the LORD is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4

The worldview which we find in God’s Law—spiritual, covenantal, redemptive, comprehensive, religious, and attainable—can be constructed within a framework of three facets. We may imagine this worldview as contained within the borders of an equilateral triangle, in which all the facets are connected to one another and all are necessary for the integrity of the whole. These three facets may be examined under the following headings:

Spiritual vision: The unseen realities which are the larger reality of the Biblical worldview

Spiritual discipline: Those exercise regimens that enlarge our vision and shape our lives

Spiritual practices: The outworking of our vision and discipline in words and deeds

The first facet of this worldview triangle directs us to the spiritual vision which gives meaning, vitality, direction, and shape to all other aspects of the worldview of God’s Law. It is important to emphasize that the worldview of God’s Law is first of all a spiritual worldview. It makes no sense and has no abiding power apart from continuous awareness of, focus on, and engagement with the unseen world within which everything exists. Without a clear and compelling spiritual vision as the first “leg” of our worldview triangle, nothing else claiming to represent a Biblical worldview will be able to realize the full power of that glorious economy.

At the center, the fulcrum and focal point of the spiritual vision which we discover in God’s Law, is God Himself. The worldview of God’s Law begins in God, and is defined, sustained, and fulfilled by God. We cannot understand the worldview of God’s Law, much less expect to gain any real benefit from it, unless we focus on God as the defining feature and presence of that worldview, and submit ourselves, soul and body, to what we know of Him. When we focus on God in this way we observe, first of all, that God is One.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.