Tag: Jesus Christ

Our Role As Priests

Our Role As Priests

Marissa

Jesus is coming again. We know this; it’s promised over and over again in the scripture. We hold on to this promise, letting it contextualize our lives now and give us hope for the future.

That’s not where the story ends, though. There’s still more after Jesus’s second coming. Satan will be locked away, the faithful believers will rise from the dead, and they’ll live and reign with Christ for 1,000 years. This is the time we’re looking forward to now as we celebrate Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). And there’s still more to the story after that–when the rest of the dead will live again and God will dwell among people here on earth.

One of the things God reveals about the time after Jesus’s return is that we’ll be filling certain roles. Those who believe in, covenant with, and faithfully follow God now are told they’ll play a role in this future. We’ll either still be alive or we’ll be raised from the dead and welcomed into His family. And in that time, we’ll be priests. In fact, in many ways, we’re priests right now.

Serving in God’s Kingdom

In Revelation, John opens by saying that Jesus “has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father” (Rev. 1: 6, NET). This is echoed again in a song “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders” sing to the Lamb before God’s throne.

“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals
because you were killed,
and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God
persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Revelation 5:9-10, NET

Something happened at the cross which changed us and our role in the story. We’re not wandering around on our own anymore; we’re purchased for a specific appointment. God the Father and Jesus Christ choose and work with people from every location and background who are all destined to be part of a kingdom; His kingdom. If we’re part of this group, then we’ll be priests. We’ll even reign with Him, though that role is more about serving people than ruling over them (Matt. 20:25-28; 23:10-12).

I don’t know about you, but I find that an intimidating thought. Rule? As a priest? Me?!? There’s got to be some mistake. But we also know God chooses the sorts of people that don’t seem obvious; those who are unqualified by human standards and/or who realize the qualifications they have don’t mean much (Jer. 9:23-24; 1 Cor. 1:18-31). He wants rulers and priests who are humble; who realize they’re here to serve and help people toward a closer relationship with God.

Image of a young woman standing in church reading her Bible, with text from Rev. 1:5-6, NET version: ""
Image by José Roberto Roquel from Lightstock

A Kingdom of Priests

Usually when we talk about priesthood in the Bible, we’re talking about the Levitical priesthood or Jesus’s priesthood “in the order of Melchizedek,” which superseded the Levitical priests. Yet while the Levites were set apart as priests who served in the temple, the whole nation of Israel was described as priestly.

Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Exodus 19:3-6, WEB

The whole nation wasn’t allowed to serve in God’s tabernacle or temple (that role was just for the Levites), but they were still called priests. God intended for the whole nation to be holy, acting as priests in many ways. Here’s what the NET translators have to say about this phrase:

“This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests—proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement.”

NET note on Ex. 19:6

In his One Year Worship the King Devotional, Chris Tiegreen puts it this way: Israel “was destined to be a priest between the world and its redeemer God” (Sept. 30 devotional). Ideally, the people joined to God in a covenant should fill a mediating, teaching, and worshipping role. They’ll be serving God faithfully and helping others who wanted to know God learn about Him.

Our Priestly Role, Now and Tomorrow

Image of a woman reading her Bible with the blog's title text and the words "As followers of God, we're 'a holy priesthood' today, just as Israel was chosen as 'a royal priesthood' under the first covenant."
Image by MarrCreative from Lightstock

Those of us in covenant with God today are part of modern “Israel” in a spiritual sense (Rom. 9-11). We’re grafted into the people of God and heirs with Jesus to the covenants. As part of that relationship with God, we’re part of His temple–His spiritual house. Jesus is the High Priest, but we have roles to play as well.

So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.” So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 Peter 2:4-10, NET (italics/bold in original to mark OT quotes)

Here, Peter says that we’re “a holy priesthood” today, just as Israel was chosen as “a royal priesthood” as part of the first covenant. As priests, we’re supposed to “offer spiritual sacrifices,” obey the word of God, and “proclaim the virtues of” God the Father and Jesus Christ. We get the chance to model service, worship, and faithfulness to the world. We also hold a role that involves teaching and showing people the way. This is a role we’ll hold in the future as well, in the time Isaiah looks forward to when he writes, “your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers; and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way. Walk in it'” (Is. 30:20-21, WEB).

In his letter to Rome, Paul said that Jesus called him to “serve the gospel of God like a priest” (Rom. 15:16, NET). Before his conversion, Paul was an influential and knowledgeable religious leader but he wasn’t a Levite (Phil. 3:5). He wasn’t part of the priesthood in his physical lineage, but Jesus Christ called him into a priest-like service. Jesus is doing the same for us today. We’re called into God’s temple as part of His temple for a specific purpose. We’re here to serve, to worship, and to teach. We are starting to fill this priestly role today and we’ll come into it fully after Jesus’s return.

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Featured image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Better is One Day” by Matt Redman

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Where Is Your Name Written?

Where Is Your Name Written?

Marissa

I started this post partway through writing last week’s about God never forgetting His covenant with us. One of the verses I quoted in that post was Isaiah 49:16, where God says, “Look, I have inscribed your name on my palms.” I really wanted to study that, but knowing I’d probably not get back to the other post if I went off on a tangent, I saved it for this week.

One reason this verse caught my eye is that we’re in the midst of the fall holy day season. When I got the idea for this post, we were between Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). A common Jewish greeting during the Days of Awe between Trumpets and Atonement is, “May your name be inscribed in the Book of Life!” The Jewish people see these days as a time of repentance, reconciliation, and reconnection with God. They hope that on Yom Kippur, God will choose to write their names in His book of life for one more year.

Yom Kippur was a key moment of yearly atonement; the only day when the high priest could enter the holiest part of the temple and present a sacrifice to cover the sins of all God’s people that year (Lev. 16). It wasn’t the only time for repentance, though, and the book of life isn’t explicitly connected with this day in scripture. Today, Yom Kippur is a reminder of His atoning sacrifice, a day to humble ourselves and recommit to God. It also looks forward to the day when Satan is put away and there are no barriers between God and His people.

I don’t think scriptures indicate that God decides on Yom Kippur whether or not your name is “safe” in His book for the rest of the year. He’s more dynamic and responsive than that–He’ll accept repentance and give salvation any time during the year. For believers today, Jesus’s sacrifice and the security that comes with being in covenant with Him is a constant thing. However, God does talk about writing our names (usually in a book rather than on His hands) and He does have a book of life. Now, with Yom Kippur a few days behind us and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) beginning soon, this seems a good time to study how and where God writes our names.

Image of hands holding little lights at dusk, with text from Isaiah 49:15-16, WEB version: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you! Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

The Lord’s Book

As I began this study, I started by searching for the phrase “book of life” in three different English translations: WEB, NET, and KJV. This particular phrase only appears once in the Old Testament, where David prays his enemies would be “blotted out of the book of life” (WEB) or “deleted from the scroll of the living” (NET). The NET translators suggest that this phrase (which appears nowhere else) likely refers to a census scroll listing the living members of a community, rather than a reference to God’s Book of Life as discussed in the New Testament.

When we think of God’s book where He writes righteous people’s names, we immediately think of the Book of Life. That phrase has become so closely associated with this book that it even shows up in traditional Jewish greetings. I can’t confirm this, but I assume this had become a well known name for God’s book in the Jewish community by the time Jesus came along, and that’s why His disciples use “Book of Life” in the New Testament writings. The Jewish people didn’t just come up with the idea of a book of life on their own, though; they got it from the scriptures.

The first reference we find to God writing someone’s name comes from Moses. After the golden calf incident, Moses went back to God to beg for mercy.

Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.”

Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

Exodus 32:31-34, WEB

This is a fascinating exchange. I’m guessing Moses must have had some unrecorded conversations with God about this book to even know it exists. From this conversation, we learn that Moses knew 1) his name was in this book and 2) his name could be removed. We also learn that God won’t blot one person’s name out in exchange for forgiving someone else–if He removes someone’s name, it’ll be because that person “has sinned against me.” We could also add to that “sinned without repenting,” since we know God is eager to offer forgiveness. An everlasting covenant with people who He’ll give everlasting life is His end-goal.

Image of a Hebrew scroll, with text from Jer. 31:33-34, WEB version: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ... I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Image by me

Writing Those Who Belong

If you’re searching for information about books in the Bible, there are only a few tantalizing tidbits that speak of books God keeps and/or places where He writes down names. For example, Psalm 87:6 tells us that God “writes up the peoples” ( WEB), like He’s keeping a “census book of the nations” (NET). This seems to hint at two books God keeps–one where He records everyone and another (I assume the same one Moses talked about) where He writes the names of the righteous.

My frame wasn’t hidden from you,
when I was made in secret,
woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my body.
In your book they were all written,
the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there were none of them.

Psalm 139:15-16, WEB

Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name. They shall be mine,” says Yahweh of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.”

Malachi 3:16-17, WEB

One thing we can clearly tell from these verses is that being written in God’s book is a good thing. It’s connected to God knowing you intimately. It’s where the names of people God calls “mine” are written. We also see hints at some of the things people who are written in God’s book do and who they are. They’re God-fearing, honor His name, and they speak with other believers. This is similar to how Jesus talks about the church in Sardis.

But you have a few individuals in Sardis who have not stained their clothes, and they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy. The one who conquers will be dressed like them in white clothing, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, but will declare his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 3:4-5, NET

Last week, we talked about a verse where Moses says God “cannot forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them” (Deut. 4:31, NET). There aren’t many things that God can’t do, but forgetting about the people He’s engraved in His palms and written in His book is one of them. While we are cautioned that it’s possible for a name to be “blotted out” or “erased” from God’s book, we’re also assured of God’s continuing commitment to those who do their best to follow Him. It takes perseverance and the humility to ask God for help since we can’t do this on our own, but we can overcome and walk with Jesus in the white clothing of righteous deeds (Rev. 19:6-8).

Image of a woman wearing white, with text from Rev. 3:5-6, NKJV version: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Image by Lucas Allmann from Pexels

The Book of Life

The New Testament is where we start seeing the phrase “book of life.” Paul mentions it once, urging one of this readers to assist those “in the gospel ministry … whose names are in the book of life” (Phil. 4:3, NET). I wish we had records of Paul’s other teachings on the book of life. It sounds here like it’s common knowledge among his audience, though from our perspective this is the first time it’s mentioned in the New Testament. All the other information about it is in Revelation.

We already quoted one of the book of life verses from Revelation. Two others contrast those who will worship the beast power with those who are written in “the book of life belonging to the Lamb” and will stay faithful to God (Rev. 13:7-9; 17:7-9). The final verses look forward to a time beyond Jesus’s second coming, even after the Millennium and Satan’s final defeat (Rev. 19-20). These verses align closely with a verse from Daniel. Let’s look at all three of those verses.

“At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. At that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.”

Daniel 12:1-3, WEB

Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:11-15, NET

Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God—the All-Powerful—and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur into it. Its gates will never be closed during the day (and there will be no night there). They will bring the grandeur and the wealth of the nations into it, but nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 21:22-27, NET

I feel woefully inadequate when it comes to writing about prophecy, but that’s where we find ourselves for these three verses. They’re talking about the resurrections that happen after Jesus’s second coming, in particular the resurrection after the Millennium when all the dead will come back to life and God opens the books (plural in Rev. 20:11). There are a few ways you could interpret this. The one I hear most often in my faith tradition is that God will open the books of the Bible so that people who’ve been resurrected can understand His law, then some time will pass so they have an opportunity to show Him how they’ll live with this new knowledge before the final judgement.

One thing we can say for sure is that God plans on deliverance, life, and light to come out of this. There’s an end for the wicked who refuse to live aligned with God’s way of life, but there’s also mercy and goodness and life for those who follow God. Here, we have a realization of God’s justice rewarding good and putting a merciful end to evil. These are sobering passages, but they also speak of a good future.

Writing God Inside Us

Image of a man's hands writing in a book, with the blog's title text and the words " If we're following God, then our names are written on His palms and in His book of life. Then, He writes His words into us."
Image by Pexels from Pixabay

So where are our names written? If we’re following God, then they’re written on His palms and in His book of life. And it seems that’s where we’re going to stay unless we do something to get ourselves erased and then don’t repent. God deeply desires to give everyone eternal life (1 Tim. 2:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:9). He even writes Himself into us to help make sure that happens.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. But showing its fault, God says to them,
“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
“It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.
“For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.
“And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.
“For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”

Hebrews 10:7-12, NET

God’s law is an expression of His character; a guide for how we can be in a relationship with Him. And He’s writing it inside of our hearts at the same time He’s forgiving and forgetting our sins. We also have a role to play in this; in Proverbs, we’re told, “Don’t let kindness and truth forsake you,” “Keep my commandments and live! … write them on the tablet of your heart” (Prov. 3:3; 7:2-3). Just as we want God to write our names and keep them close to Him, so we should also “write” His words inside us as part of internalizing His character.

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Featured image by Andrys Stienstra from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “Write Your Story” by Francesca Battistelli

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Humility To Keep Covenant With God

Humility To Keep Covenant With God

Marissa

Have you ever noticed there are things God cannot do? For example, “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18, NET). When we talk about serving a God who can do anything, what we really mean is that He has the power to accomplish anything He promises and to work things out which seem impossible to us.

The fact that there are some things God simply can’t do is reassuring when we look at what those things are. It isn’t just that God chooses not to lie–He can’t do it. Deception simply isn’t in His character. That means we can trust Him completely. When He makes a promise He’s going to keep it. He might adjust His plans in response to something we do (the way He delayed Nineveh’s destruction when the people repented) but He will never go back on His promises. One of the promises that He’ll never break involves the covenant relationships He establishes with people.

No Chance of God Forgetting

I’ve been writing about covenants again recently. I hadn’t planned to stay on this topic, but one verse read in a sermon last Sabbath caught my ear and got me digging deeper again. To get some context, this verse comes from Deuteronomy when Moses spoke to Israel before they entered the promised land. He recapped their journey so far, reminded them of times they’d disobeyed God, recalled military encounters, and spoke of Joshua taking over after his death. Then, he says, “Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you” (Deut. 4:1, NET). Now, he starts to remind them of the covenant promise they made.

Again, however, pay very careful attention, lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. … You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it and yet dark with a thick cloud. Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire … he revealed to you the covenant he has commanded you to keep, the Ten Commandments, writing them on two stone tablets.

Deuteronomy 4:9, 11-13, NET

Moses will recap this covenant as the book goes on, but first He talks about what will happen if Israel forsakes this covenant. If they break their relationship with God “and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will surely and swiftly be removed … you will surely be annihilated” (Deut. 4:25-26, NET). That’s a serious consequence, but it’s also not God’s final say in the matter.

In your distress when all these things happen to you in future days, if you return to the Lord your God and obey him (for he is a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.

Deuteronomy 4:30-31, NET

Notice the wording here: God “cannot forget the covenant.” Many translations say “will not” here, but the NET translators understand the Hebrew’s “imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.” Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon say this Hebrew word lo means “no” or “not” in a way that’s an “absolute prohibition.” In other words, there’s no chance–not in a billion years or under any circumstances–that God could possibly forget His covenant.

Image of a woman holding a baby with text from Isaiah 49:14-16, NET version: “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you! Look, I have inscribed your name on my palms"
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

What About Us?

That covers one side of the covenant. God’s not going to back out, break His promises, forget He’s in a relationship with us, or decide we’re not worth it. But we’re in this covenant, too. What about us?

You people of this generation,
listen to the Lord’s message:
“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?
Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you?
Why then do you say, ‘We are free to wander.
We will not come to you anymore?’
Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
But my people have forgotten me
for more days than can even be counted.”

Jeremiah 2:31-32, NET

God knows we’re not perfect. We are capable of breaking covenants, going back on our word, forgetting Him, or letting our relationships slip down on our priority list. Forgetting God is an insane thing to do–like a bride forgetting to put on her wedding dress and not even noticing. But people still forget Him over and over. That’s why, in His mercy, God built in a way for us to come back into covenant with Him.

Let’s read Moses’s words one more time: “if you return to the Lord your God and obey him (for he is a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them” (Deut. 4:31, NET). Remember that, through Jesus, we inherit the covenants God made with Israel’s ancestors. This promise includes us today, and we can come back to covenant with Him if/when we stray by following the same steps: return and obey. When we do that, He covers up our covenant breaking with His abundant love, faithfulness, and grace. He’s incapable of abandoning His covenant, and He makes it so that we can be counted faithful too.

Keeping Covenant With God

Image of a man sitting on a beach at sunset with the blog's title text and the words "When we realize our ability to keep covenant with God is a result of His mercy, it results in humility coupled with a sense of security. His faithfulness enables our faithfulness."
Image by Aaron Kitzo from Lightstock

Did you notice the sharp contrast between us and God here? He’s incapable of breaking covenant; humans have never been 100% faithful to Him. He’s committed to never walking away from us; people walk away from Him all the time. He’s holy and perfect; we’re fleshy and flawed.

A proper understanding of this contrast leads to an attitude we need in order to return to God and obey Him. We need humility. When we realize that our ability to keep covenant with God is a result of His mercy, there’s no room for feeling puffed up about ourselves. It’s His faithfulness that enables our faithfulness. When we have an understanding of how much we owe to Him and how highly He values us, it results in humility coupled with a sense of security.

For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity,
whose name is Holy, says:
“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 57:15, WEB

While we do have obligations as participants in this covenant, we don’t have to be afraid that God will cut us off if we make a mistake. We just need to humbly recognize that we can’t do this on our own and accept the same thing God told Paul: “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9, NET). We’re all weak compared to God, and when we acknowledge that weakness it opens up opportunities for Him to work in us powerfully.

God highly values His covenant with us. He promises to live with us when we’re humble and trust Him. He doesn’t hold our weakness against us. Rather, He loves us so much that He died to take away the death penalty humans earned for covenant-breaking and welcomes us into His family with open arms. We can trust Him. We can love Him without fear. And we can keep covenant with Him even though we’re flawed knowing that, with Jesus, “whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10, NET).

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Featured image by WhoisliketheLord Studio from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher

Falling in Love With the God Who Plans to Marry Us

Falling in Love With the God Who Plans to Marry Us

Marissa

If you’re reading this blog post the weekend it was published, then Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets, also called Rosh Hoshanna) is about to happen. This year, the first day of the seventh Hebrew month falls on Monday, Sept. 26. All around the world, people will blow shofars and gather to celebrate this day God calls holy to Him.

Last year, I wrote about the many different theories for what this day pictures. God simply calls it “a solemn rest for you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation” (Lev. 23:24, WEB). There are several ideas about what this day pictures in the New Covenant now that Jesus has filled the Law up to its fullest extent (Matt 5:17-20; see Thayer’s definition of pleroo). I think the strongest argument links this day with Jesus’s return to claim His bride.

I’ve been thinking about love and marriage a lot lately. I recently started dating a man I’ve been friends with for years and I’m kind of in awe of how wonderful this relationship is; I thought we’d be good together but I hadn’t realized exactly how good. This giddy, happy, can’t-wait-to-see-him feeling is how we should feel as we wait for Jesus to come back to earth. We should be longing to see Him, eager to have our Bridegroom give us His new name (Rev. 3:12).

Promised in Marriage

I know the idea of being romantically in love with God and having Him in love with us makes some people uncomfortable. For some, thinking of Jesus as lover as well as Lord is a struggle; the in-love emotion seems a strange thing to try and balance with the respect due God. I suspect it’s a particularly weird analogy for men in the church, who are asked to picture themselves as a bride for their spiritual relationship to Christ while also modeling His role as Husband in their relationship with their own wives if they get married (Eph. 5:25-33). Still, church as bride and Jesus as Groom is one of the most common analogies for our relationship used in scripture, so it’s worthwhile to try and wrap our minds around it.

Usually at this point in a study about Jesus as our Bridegroom, I’d start talking about Jewish wedding traditions. Today, though, I want to focus just on how scripture talks about this relationship. For more on the Jewish background and historical context, check out my posts “The Bridegroom’s Pledge” and “The Bridegroom Cometh!“

I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3, NET

There isn’t much room to argue with this verse. If we’re following Jesus, then we’re promised to Him in marriage. Our goal is to be pure for Him at that marriage; in other words, wholly faithful to Him now whatever our past was like. The “foolishness” Paul talks about here involves defending his apostolic mission from naysayers, moderate boasting about the mission God sent him on, and the shocking idea that his readers might listen to someone preaching “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 10-11). It isn’t foolish to think of Jesus as our future Husband. It’s foolish to let anything distract from our focus on being faithful to Him.

Image of a man reading a book, with text from Rev. 19:7-8, NET version: "“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the All-Powerful, reigns! Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”
Image by Creative Clicks Photography from Lightstock

The Marriage Covenant

If you followed along with my recent Isaiah study, you might remember that the topic of God’s marriage covenant with Israel came up in Isaiah 40-66. When God established His covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai (often called the Mosaic covenant), He was setting up a marriage relationship (see Is 54:5-8). They would be His people and He would be their God. When they stopped worshiping Him or brought foreign gods into their hearts, He took that as adultery. Ezekiel 16 summarizes this well.

“Yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you,” says the Lord Yahweh, “and you became mine. … You were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. Your renown went out among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you,” says the Lord Yahweh.

“But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. … Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. …

“I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.” …

For the Lord Yahweh says: “I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. … Then you will know that I am Yahweh; that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done,” says the Lord Yahweh.

Ezekiel 16:8, 13-15, 20, 38, 59-60, 62-63, WEB

“Love story” is my favorite metanarrative the Bible gives us to describe the big, important story God is creating. When we pull back and look at God’s plan as revealed in the whole Bible, we see a story of romance where God married a people who were then unfaithful to Him, and whom He died for in order to bring back to Him. You’re simply never going to find a better love story than that. Even the most beautifully romantic fairy tales are pale reflections of God’s love for His bride. He’s passionate about us and He wants us in a faithful, lasting covenant relationship with Him.

Image of a woman with rolling hills in the background, with text from Isaiah 54:5, NET version: “For your husband is the one who made you— the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name. He is your Protector, the Holy One of Israel. He is called ‘God of the entire earth.’”
Image by PhotoGranary from Lightstock

Falling in Love With God

There’s a really interesting connection between love and obedience in the Bible. The greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:28-34, WEB). All the other commandments depend on loving God and loving your neighbor (Matt. 22:36-40). Love is the basis for our obedience; the foundation for following God’s other laws. It’s also a lot easier to enjoy being obedient if you’re in love with God and trust that His commands are good for us.

But what if you don’t feel “in-love” with God? Real love is as much an action as it is a feeling, so we can (and ought to) do the things that people who love God do regardless of how we feel. As much as I enjoy relating to God’s word academically, though, I also think it’s appropriate to get excited about God and our relationship with Him. There’s likely more than one way to do this, but one of the things that helps me connect with my love for God is reading about His love for me.

Image of a smiling woman worshipping with the blog's title text and the words "As wonderful as it is to be in love with God now, how much more wonderful will it be after He comes back for us, marries His church, and establishes His kingdom here on earth?"
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying,
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.”

Jeremiah 31:3, WEB

“I will betroth you to me forever.
Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.
I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness;
and you shall know Yahweh.”

Hosea 2:19-20, WEB

God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!

Ephesians 2:4-5, NET

In just those three verses, we see God passionately declaring His love for His people, and one of those people reminding us of the “great love with which He loved us.” The reality of God’s love is awesome. We were dead and His love brought us back to life. We made mistakes and He still wants to keep us with Him forever. He treats us with loving kindness and calls His love faithful and everlasting.

We are recipients of God’s love now, which is an incredible thing. We’re still waiting, though, for a time when things will be even better. When Jesus returns, we’ll “be like Him” and we’ll get to “see him just as he is” (1 John 3:2, NET). Make no mistake, Jesus is present with us now. We don’t get to see Him, though. Our conversations don’t happen face-to-face. As wonderful as it is to be in love with Him now, how much more wonderful will it be after He comes back for us, marries us, and establishes His kingdom here on earth? That’s the sort of wonderful, exciting thing we can look forward to as we begin this fall holy day season.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely. … He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I come quickly.”

Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.

Revelation 22:17, 20, WEB

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Featured image Jess Bailey from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “Even So Come” by Chris Tomlin

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Covenant Relationship: Our Inheritance in God’s Family

Covenant Relationship: Our Inheritance in God’s Family

Marissa

As Christians, we often talk about the importance of a relationship with God. We might describe this relationship as that of child and parent, or two friends, or bride and groom (all comparisons used in the Bible). Those descriptions are aspects of the main type of relationship God wants to have with us. He calls our relationship a covenant.

BibleProject has an excellent short video summing up covenants in the Old Testament and how Jesus brings them into the New Testament church. It’s a great introduction or reminder of what’s going on with covenants in the Bible. If you’d like to read about covenants here on my blog, I had a couple posts on covenants back in 2016, which I revisited and summarized last year in “Revisiting the Deep Things of God’s Covenants.”

As the main way that God establishes relationship with people, covenants are a vital part of our Christian faith. However, they’re not discussed nearly as often as you might expect given that central importance. Covenants come up fairly often at my church, but from what I’ve heard that doesn’t seem to be the case more broadly speaking (I’d be very curious to hear how much your churches talk about covenants if you’d like to leave a comment!). Given that vital role covenants play, I felt that this would be a good time to revisit them, particularly as we draw closer to the fall holy days.

Image of a man pushing doors open, with text from Romans 12:11-13, NET version: "brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh (for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.”
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Inheriting Covenants with Jesus

The aspect of covenants that I find most fascinating (and which BibleProject also touches on in their video) is that Jesus makes it possible for the promises of the first covenants to pass down to us today. The covenants God made with Noah, Abraham, the people of Israel, and King David included promises and (for all except Noah’s covenant) conditions for their descendants. Covenants typically involve agreement from both parties to follow the terms of the covenant. For example, in the Mosaic covenant, God promised Israel would receive abundant blessings for obedience and He would be their faithful God if they would be His faithful people. He also promised curses for disobedience, though He assured them He would never break the covenant even if they did.

The Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants all contained a promise that the Messiah would come and set things right. We now know this Messiah (the anointed one of God; Hebrew mashiach and Greek christos) is Jesus Christ. As a human descendent of Abraham, Israel, and David, He inherited all these covenants (Heb. 1:2). Since He was sinless, Jesus is the only human being who kept up our side of the covenant bargain and fully deserved to inherit the covenant promises. Jesus is also God, and He fulfilled God’s covenant promises as well by providing Himself as the substitute to pay our death penalty for breaking covenant.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Hence even the first covenant was not ratified without blood. … Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Hebrews 9:15-18, 22, NET

Let’s linger on this idea for a moment longer. Jesus is the heir of all the covenant promises. He’s also God, who made the covenants in the first place. The covenants belong to Him and–following His Father’s plan from the beginning–He died and willed the covenants to us (Gal. 3:29). Thanks to Him, “we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:16-17, NET). That’s amazing. It’s a simple, straightforward statement and yet I can barely wrap my head around it. The covenants, the inheritance, the grace associated with God brining us into a relationship with Him–it’s incredible.

Image of a girl reading in church, with text from Romans 12:14, 17, NET version: "all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. ... And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.”
Image by José Roberto Roquel from Lightstock

Inheriting the Nature of God

When we’re heirs of God alongside Christ and participants in the covenant God makes with His people today, we inherit many wonderful promises. One of the greatest of those promises is that we’ll be part of God’s family as children. We’re all “heirs of the grace of life” and, “since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life” (1 Pet. 3:7; Tit. 3:7). As heirs, we’re going “inherit” His nature and share in real, eternal life.

See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children—and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him. Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure.

1 John 3:1-3, NET

There isn’t a scripture that explicitly says we’ll inherit the nature of God, but putting all the ones we’ve been looking at in this post together that seems like a good way to sum-up what’s going on here. We are “heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him” (Jam. 2:5, NET). God has been planning this for a long time, and He accomplished making us His children “by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will” (Eph. 1:5, NET).

As His children, when we receive our full inheritance “we will be like him” and “see him just as he is” (1 John. 3:3, NET). This is one of the most amazing truths contained in the Bible. God’s plan revolves around wanting to expand His family. There’s already a Father and a Son, and they want a much bigger family. That we’ll literally be in God’s family is one of the more audacious claims that’s a core part of Christian doctrine, and yet Jesus pointed out “those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken)” (John 10:31-36, NET). I like how C.S. Lewis talks about this at the end of “The Weight of Glory.”

It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship.

C.S. Lewis “The Weight of Glory”

How would it change the way you live if you really remembered all the time that every human being (including you) could be part of God’s family? Pride isn’t really an option if you realize you’re not the only one to whom God offers this gift and that no one really deserves it. Our covenant inheritance recontextualizes our lives. We’re part of God’s family, citizens of His kingdom, and in a covenant relationship with the Father and Son.

Image of a woman with her hand raised in worship, with text from Romans 12:18, 28-29, NET version: “For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. ... all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
Image by PhotoGranary from Lightstock

Part of Something Bigger

In the introduction, I mentioned that the study of covenants is particularly fitting as we approach the fall holy days. This season includes Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets, also called Rosh Hoshanna), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles) and Shemini Atzeret (the eighth-day or Last Great Day following Sukkot). In Exodus 31:16, God calls the Sabbath “a perpetual covenant” and in Leviticus 23 God calls His holy days and sabbaths sacred. All of God’s holy times–including the ones coming up very soon this fall–are signs of being in covenant with God (Ex. 31:13).

“I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he will live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. …

“I am Yahweh your God. Walk in my statutes, keep my ordinances, and do them. Make my Sabbaths holy. They shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.”

Ezekiel 20:11-12, 19-20, WEB
Image of four people walking into church with the blog's title text and the words "Covenants are how God describes His relationship with us. Since they're so important to Him, understanding them better and participating in them fully should be important to us as well."
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

If you read the context for these verses, you’ll see that God was hurt and angry when His people rejected His Sabbaths along with His covenants (Ezk. 20:8-26). Keeping these sabbaths is a key part of what we do when we’re in covenant with God. That’s one of the interesting things about a covenant; when you’re part of one, there are things you’re supposed to do. It’s less of a “do this or else” sort of thing and more of a “in this family, here’s how we act and here are the things we do together.”

For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects—bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:9-14, NET

As people who have a covenant relationship with God, we’re part of something much bigger than ourselves. He’s called us into His kingdom and His family as “sons and daughters” (2 Cor. 6:16-18). And much like if you’re part of a big, close-knit family where everyone goes over to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving every year, God wants us at His table for His feast days now and in the future (Is. 66:22-23; Luke 13:29).

My family has been keeping God’s Sabbath’s and holy days my whole life. It’s pretty much the same thing year after year, and yet I’m amazed at how much more meaningful these days keep getting. These rhythms of worship provide a spiritual structure for the year and regular reminders to keep deepening our relationship with God. You might be nodding along right now as you read, or you might not have any experience with keeping these days. Whatever your religious background, I encourage you to think deeply about the relationship God has called you into and what He asks of those who are in covenant with Him. Covenants are how God describes His relationship with us. Since they’re so important to Him, understanding them better and participating in them fully should be important to us as well.

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Featured image by Pearl from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Who am I” -” by Casting Crowns

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But What if the Bible Doesn’t Seem to Make Sense?

But What if the Bible Doesn’t Seem to Make Sense?

Marissa

Most of us want to think of ourselves as reasonable people. When need be, we can think logically and rationally about things and come to reasonable conclusions. We know at the least the basics of how to recognize fallacies in other people’s arguments and how to put our own thoughts together.

For those of us living in Western nations (and I’m guessing some other locations that have been influenced by Western ideas), the education we received in relation to logical reasoning is based in Grecian and Roman philosophies. This system of reasoning and logic laid the groundwork for our scientific method and our ideas about how to figure out if something makes sense.

When we apply our modern human reasoning to the Bible, sometimes there are things which seem odd to us. We might notice contradictions in the text. We might wonder why God would tell people to do certain things, or why He makes some of the choices He does. We might look at some of the connections New Testament writers make to the Old Testament and think their conclusions seem far-fetched. And when we look at the Bible and it doesn’t make sense, we might become frustrated with our own limitations or we could become skeptical of God’s word.

The first of those problems has a fairly simple answer: pray for wisdom and understanding. James says that if anyone asks for wisdom in faith, God will give it to them (James 1:5-6). Paul adds that if we’re off-the-mark in our views, God can reveal the truth to us (Phi. 3:14-16). When we’re in a relationship with God, He also gives us His holy spirit that Jesus said “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13, WEB). When we’re frustrated with our own lack of knowledge or understanding, we can take those frustrations to God. He might not give us the exact answer we’re looking for right away, but He will always help those who keep asking and seeking (Luke 11:9-10).

It can also help to keep in mind the things that I’ll suggest people consider if they think God’s word doesn’t make sense. There’s a dangerous sort of arrogance in thinking there’s something wrong with God just because He doesn’t make sense to us. Similarly, there’s danger in dismissing God’s word because we’re not sure how to wrap our heads around it or we think it’s just a good book rather than His divine revelation. There’s a lot we could say on this subject, but for today’s post I want to focus on just two things we can think about if we’re struggling with the idea that things in the Bible don’t make sense.

Image of a girl reading the bible, with text from Romans 11:33 and 1 Corinthians 2:16, NET version.
Image by José Roberto Roquel from Lightstock

The Wrong System of Measurement

Suppose you come across a woodworking project, like a little birdhouse, at a resale shop. You like the way it looks so you take it home and plan to use it as a pattern for your next project. You get out your tape measure and start making notes. The roof is just shy of 7-7/8 inches long, and not quite 4-3/4 inches wide. You keep taking measurements and it gets more and more frustrating. Why didn’t the builder use nice, even, sensible numbers instead of all these not-quite-right fractions?

Then suppose you turn the tape measure around to the side with centimeters. Suddenly, the roof is exactly 20 by 12 cm. The problem wasn’t with the person making the birdhouse. The problem is you didn’t understand what system of measurement they used in the first place.

This is very similar to what happens when people approach the Bible with a cultural mindset different than the one the original writers use. The Bible is a text from the ancient Middle East. Even though we believe God is the ultimate author of the Bible, He still used people in that culture to write His word. When Jesus spoke to people of His day, He used examples and analogies they could understand. Those of us who are far removed from that original context (in terms of both time and cultural philosophies) often have a hard time figuring out the Bible. That’s not because there’s something wrong with the Bible or we’re incapable of understanding; it’s just that we need more contextualizing information.

For example, in Western culture we like having reliable rules and we think they ought to apply to everyone in the same way. If a rule is bent or broken for one person and not others, we call that “unfair” and complain about a lack of justice. If we see what looks like a rule in the Bible and then God does something different, we might think He’s unjust or that there’s some kind of hidden rule system that He’s unfairly keeping from us. But things are different in non-Western cultures where “rules apply except when the one in charge says otherwise. Westerners might consider this arbitrary; many non-Western Christians consider this grace (Richards & O’Brien, p. 174). That’s how Paul can (arguably) call Junia an apostle in Rom. 16:7 even though women don’t typically hold that office (p. 172).

That example comes from Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes–a book I highly recommend to anyone who wants to understand the Bible better. Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus is also a great help with that. These books are excellent “tools” for making sure you’re using the right system of measurement when interpreting God’s word. You might be able to find one or both of these books in your local library, and here are the Amazon links if you want to check them out:

Image of a man sitting under a night sky, with text from Isaiah 55:8-9, WEB version.
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

God’s a Lot Smarter Than You

There’s another truth that we need to acknowledge if we want to work through parts of scripture that don’t make sense to us. God is smarter than us. And when someone is a lot smarter than you, plus they have a perfectly clear perspective on everything going on, sometimes you won’t be able to make sense of what they’re doing.

For some people, it’s easy to admit that they’re not the smartest person in the room. For others, our intellect can be a stumbling block that gets in the way of a close relationship with God. This latter one is something I can struggle with. I get prickly when someone insults my intelligence or implies that I don’t understand what I’m talking about. I rely heavily on my ability to research things thoroughly and find good answers. I preen inside when a professor complements my writing or calls me an “academic.”

However, an academic understanding of scripture isn’t how we have a relationship with God. Our spiritual temperament might lean more on logic, reason, and knowledge (as Gary Thomas discusses in “Sacred Pathways”), but intellect isn’t enough to have a relationship with God. We also need humility and love. We need to admit that no matter how much we study, we’re not going to learn everything about God because the depths of His knowledge are unfathomable. We need to humbly marvel at–and love–the God who is way smarter than us, and ask Him for help when we’re struggling to understand something in His word.

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:2-8, NET

Sometimes, the “testing of our faith” is an internal struggle rather than an external trial. We might wrestle with our own doubts, questions, or fears related to God’s word. We’re not abandoned during those struggles, though. Sometimes I think we worry if our trials are doubt-related then we don’t deserve to ask for God’s help, but the truth is that He’s is eager to help everyone seeking His kingdom to understand and know Him more fully. Even the tiniest spark of faith is enough for Him work with if only we’ll come to Him and say, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24, WEB).

Shifting Our Focus

Image of a woman studying her Bible with the blog's title text and the words "We can eagerly seek knowledge of God while also humbly admitting that we don't yet know everything (and that's okay)."
Image by MarrCreative from Lightsock

There are still parts of the Bible that don’t quite make sense to me. But I think now I’ve reached a point where I trust that God knows what He’s doing even if I don’t understand it. I can also trust that someday He’ll help me understand those things, even if that “someday” doesn’t happen in this physical life.

I can also shift my focus off trying to make sense of everything and onto following Christ’s example. When Paul and Peter say we should have Christ’s mind, they aren’t focused on knowledge so much as on peaceful relationships (Rom. 15:5), God’s wisdom inside us (1 Cor. 2), service (Phil. 2:5-7), suffering, and freedom from sin (1 Pet. 4:1-2). There are far more important things to focus on than trying to make sense of everything in the Bible or put God into neat little categories. There is great value in knowing the Bible and understanding doctrine, but that’s all secondary to knowing God.

“Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom.
Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might.
Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches.
But let him who glories glory in this,
that he has understanding, and knows me,
that I am Yahweh who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth,
for I delight in these things,” says Yahweh.

Jeremiah 9:23-24, WEB

Paul quotes these verses at the beginning of 1 Corinthians when he’s counseling his readers not to let disputes and pride get in the way of peaceful relationships in the church or following Christ. Even the smartest among us don’t have anything to boast of when we compare ourselves to the wisdom, goodness, and glory of God. With this shift in mindset, we can pursue a closer relationship with God and eagerly learn more about Him while also humbly admitting that we don’t yet know everything (and that’s okay).

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Featured image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “God of All My Days” by Casting Crowns

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