If the mind of God as discovered to us in his Word and works is so vast and deep, what must his mind be in all its undisclosed resources in the infinity and eternity of its existence?
~John Bate (Seventeenth Century)
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
~ from Hebrews 4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
~ from John 1
Oh beloved, it is true. We serve a G_d who is beyond our ability to understand. We know Him. But just as we begin to think we get Him, His goodness bursts beyond our feeble attempts at comprehension.
We seem to think that by studying His Word, that we could gain full knowledge of Him as a subject. But just as we begin to understand a passage, we reach a steep trench that falls away into the depths of His manifold wisdom.
Then, upon missing the meaning for ourselves, we look to the commentators. But upon reading their words, we often come away more confused than when we began. It is not that they are even wrong, but the Word seems to be saying something else to us from the very same words. Oh, it is not that the truth is any different, but that the application and direction they take from the text would guide us along a different path.
We then try to look to the original languages and syntax. We study the cultural context of the writers and the forces (political, economic, social, linguistic and the like) that were bearing on them. We do this thinking that we will get enough light to understand the entire story. And while these studies do give a glow to the text, they do not enlighten us enough to catch the full meaning of the words.
Upon being beaten by the incomprehensibleness of G_d, we think if we just dive further back into the original languages and understand the jots and tittles of the Hebrew and the tenses used and the type of Greek that went into a given passage, we might be able to get our minds around it. And as useful as these activities may be, we only come away with what we had in the beginning: a linguistic range of meaning that can be applied to words.
And one day we get it. All of this is on purpose.
G_d never designed the Bible to contain all the truth of who He is. Surely it is all truth, and knowing and receiving the truth in the Word of G_d is completely able to guide us into a relationship with Him. It is The authority for life and practice. And where i disagree with the Bible, i am wrong.
Can we see it though? The Word of G_d should not be confused with the Bible. Oh yes, the Bible is His Word! But to think that He should be contained by some 66-78 books (depending on the flavor of your Canon, AND neither would this fool of a writer say that we should add any more books from any other source.), is the height of hubris on the part of the Church.
There is an astounding, infinite Depth and Goodness and Light and Life and Love to the One-in-Three who is the Word behind the words of the Bible. His Trinity alone decimates the ability of language to describe Him. Even words like infinity and eternity are too small, for they are but the dwelling He has enfolded Himself into for the purpose of interface with existence (which He is beyond).
And in all this awesomeness of Him who was, is, and is to come, we begin to see the purpose of the Bible. It is the linguistic platform through which He launches His thoughts into our soul and spirit. It is the eternal-focus lens onto who He is. But just as glasses are not seeing, the thoughts of the Bible are not nearly complete. They are the jumping off points He uses to lead us into all truth. However, the even more astounding thing we find is that as we loop back to the written word, it resonates more deeply and widely to what He is teaching us on the inside. And the words themselves then show us even more depth of who He is. It is as if the words of the text are alive.
They are beloved.
It is Him. He is speaking directly to you through the words. Dwell with Him there. Stay in the word, for this is where you will begin to hear the Word’s voice. And when He speaks, just listen and learn and obey. Oh, and don’t get in a hurry. It will take an eternity to mine the riches of His Word, and there is plenty for all.
Dig in.
