Mosaic

Life is like a mosaic in that everything in life can only develop and function as a multiplicity of things. No one thing is not made up of multiple things. That is fundamentally what any one thing is, namely, more than one thing grouped together and defined as one thing. Science pursues smaller and smaller parts of atoms and molecules. It would seem that the chain is infinite; we cannot find any one thing that is not made up of more than one thing. Indeed, it is not logically possible to imagine any "thing" that cannot be split into multiple things. There is nothing in the natural world that is not dependant on the function of some sort of unity of the things which make it up.

Furthermore, we can only create and develop something for a particular use and function by uniting multiple things to make one thing that is dependent on the multiple things. A car is made up of motor, wheels, windshield, frame, etc., all to make up one thing, which we define as a car. This is how human beings are subjective in their creating; we are only creative in our ability to unite multiple things to create one thing.

The mosaic is the perfect illustration of the nature of the human ability to create, namely, assembling an assortment of different parts to create and communicate one whole picture. I would suggest that there is nothing in life that does not function under these rules.

Therefore, the nature of things is infinite multiplicity and unity. A city is made up of buildings, which are made up of wood, sheetrock, windows, wires and an assortment of other things, which are in turn made up of even more things, and so forth, all to make one thing, namely, a city. This city could be said to be a part of a country, which is made up of other cities. A country, furthermore, may be a piece among other pieces to a continent, and a continent part of a planet, a planet part of a solar system, a solar system part of a galaxy, and so forth.

This is the function of Mosaic. As parts continue to unite, the picture grows and grows.

The question is, what is the big picture of everything? What is the biggest picture one can imagine - where all multiplicity unites and communicates one picture, in one chorus? To ignore this question would be against the weight of how everything in the universe works.

In Colossians 1:16 Paul says,

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."

If he is right, then Christ is the picture of the mosaic. Christ is the chorus of the choir of the universe.

Psalm 19,

"1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world."

In the 2nd century, Irenaeus accused the Gnostic heretics of treating the Word like a mosaic and rearranging the gems to make fox instead of a king.

Is this not what humanity has done to the universe? We are rearranging the gems of the universe to create a false image, rather than worshiping and serving the Creator, to whom all the glory of creation is pointing.

If this is our condition, then what is our remedy?

Our remedy consists in mending our greatest need - our need to see Christ.

The Bible speaks consistantly of our need for a knowledge of God.

Look at the love language of Hosea.

Hosea 2:20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know Yahweh.

And in Jeremiah God promises his people that "... no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares Yahweh."

2 Peter begins the epistle by this greeting: "May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

Paul defines his ministry by saying that Jesus sent him to the gentiles "to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me [Christ].'

He also says in 2 Corinthians 4:6 "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

This is the work of God: to open up our eyes to see and treasure Christ, whom the whole universe is pointing to and glorifying. Without the Gospel and work of God, we are blind to this, and we miss the picture that every molecule, every story in history, every tree, every rock, every galaxy, is uniting to communicate.

Don't miss the picture; it is Christ through all and in all. All things are by him and for him.