The Bible is a stream wherein the elephant may swim and the lamb may wade.
~Pope Gregory the Great (540-604)
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
~paul the Least of the Apostles in Ephesians 6
Oh beloved, there is a simplicity to the truth of the Gospel that makes it such that only the heart of a child can truly understand it. It is so profoundly simple that it can be written in a few lines.
And though a message like this can be intellectually comprehended by anyone willing to take the time to consider it, it is only in changing our minds about our need for it that we begin to understand its Beauty. And then, it is only in yielding to it that we really do lose our breath, and then gasp in the first respiration of the eternal air we will now ever breath in Him.
And as we come to see and feel the inexpressible joy of the salvation of the One mighty to save at work in us and through us, we begin to see that the entire body of the Scriptures as they have been passed down to us are, in fact, the Gospel expounded upon in its fullness.
Job, in the mystery of his own suffering knew, simply knew that He would see his Redeemer.
Eve was promised that the Seed she would bear, would bear the sins of the world and crush the deceiver’s head in the doing.
Abraham laughed mightily at the beautiful absurdity of having a son so late into his ninth decade (not with incredulity, rather with curiosity). And then he had the astounding and stark raving obedience to offer this same son back to G_d if G_d wanted him back. And in this belief, G_d accounted His friend as righteous.
Jacob caught a view of Jesus in the night and wrestled with the Same until it nearly killed him. And then, in the crippling touch of blessing from his Savior, he was freed from the fear and pain and scheming of his past.
Joseph cast himself upon the Loving-kindness of the G_d he simply knew would bring him through all his crises.
Joshua walked in audacity. He simply refused to be afraid. He, without shame, counted G_d as being in control and both willing and able to bring the entire nation of Israel through to the promised land.
David Loved his Beloved so deeply that his sin and failure with Bathsheba broke his heart and nearly brought about his own demise. And this brokenness is what made David a man after G_d’s own heart.
Isaiah saw the coming Messiah so clearly, that in reading the book by the same name in the Old Testament can often be mistaken for reading text from the New.
Jesus shows up and proves the whole thing true.
And on it goes….
Then, one day it happens to us. Somewhere in our reading and our yielding, we come to the place where we somehow now deeply understand that these stories are not merely archetypes or allegories of the truth. They are not stories about some god who is really good to people. No, rather, these are writings about people in whom is the very same G_d, who is at work in us.
And then, He takes us even further. We come to know that the gospel is not just really good news. The Gospel is Him. For, as we read, the formulas of text and grammar become mere accouterments to Word of G_d now at work within us. For He has written His law on our hearts. Now, surely the text is true and authoritative. But what we find is that the words do not lay out the way to Him. They lay out the truth that He is The Way, He is The Truth, He is The Life. Said simply Jesus is the Gospel. And the Love which He is, is the power that drives the Gospel.
And then as He begins truly lead us into all truth, the depths of the riches of the book and its Author begin to fall away from our view. The gargantuan canyons of precious, Love-drenched Truth simply launch out beyond all comprehend-able horizons – and eternity then dawns before us. We, in this moment, begin to understand… We already know it all – and yet it will take forever for us to find out that this is true. Yet even in this conundrum, we know the One who will take us on the adventure. For He is the One who has made the adventure possible and will show us the joyful depths – for those depths are the depths of His great heart of Love for us, and He alone knows the way to center of that place.
Beloved, His Spirit will lead us into all truth if we will let Him.
Oh let Him!
