One Word

Imagine for a moment that we lived in a world where the Word of God was never given to us. Forget that we never could come to the Lord in a personal way, know what Christ has done, or even what our relationship with God was, let's just say that through the power of general revelation, mankind came to the knowledge that there was a powerful God who was worthy of worship. In this reality, all who came to this knowledge would have no relationship with God, no call to action for him, no idea what he had done for them, and no understanding of why they should serve him alone. And yet, it seems to me that the greatest desire of these people would be above all else: Communication. They would ask and ask and ask this mysterious figure for anything, a sentence, a phrase, a word, just to know that he was out there. Just to learn a tiny fragment of his character. And think if God sent them just one word in response their questions. If, in answer to the question of his existence, God simply struck down in stone the word "Yes", not only would there be immense celebration, there would be so much to learn about God from that word. He cares that we know him, he desires communication with us, he is relational, he can communicate in a human way, he is powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing and so many other nuggets about his personality. The people of that reality would not only worship him more, but have their faith bolstered a hundredfold, just from seeing one word from the Creator of the Universe.

Now then, how much more for us? For we live in a reality in which God has communicated with us with more than a word, a phrase or even a sentence. We have a 1,500 page, 66 book, historically and logically consistent revelation, with not 100, not 1,000, not 10,000 or 100,000 words, but a Bible with over 780,000 words, each one of them contributing to an absolutely massive understanding of the God who wants us to know him. How can we live in this reality, where knowledge of God is at our fingertips for those willing to seek it, and not fully immerse ourselves in every word and thought of his revelation? The words of the Bible are beyond merely true, they are the chosen words of God to reveal Himself to us. And in that revelation, he tells us about not only his glory and majesty and omnipotent, sovereign rule, but about how this God who is so far above us, still somehow cares for us. So much so that he died for the one's who have made no effort, who have "contributed nothing to their salvation but the sin that made it necessary" (Jonathan Edwards). This is our reality, and yet our inspired word from God collects dust on our nightstands because we don't like getting up 10 minutes earlier.

This is an exhortation to anyone unfortunate enough to have read this far, but mostly to myself. God's word is the most important tool he has given to us. It's how the Holy Spirit speaks to us, it is how we come to know God, it's how we defend against the flaming darts of the evil one, it's how we make disciple's for the kingdom, it's how we are encouraged in times of depression and loneliness, it's 100% authoritative, 100% efficient and 100% sufficient. Dive in. Every day, every moment, every instance, God's word is enough.

Letting Go

It seems like it's been a while since I posted on here. Life goes on, people come and go, days turn into months and here we are, back at school, back at life, back to life at light speed. I tend to be the kind of person with positive things to say and I just haven't had a lot of that recently, not that life has been terrible, but simply vanilla. And that is no one's fault but my own. You see, it seems that the stresses of a menial summer job and the repetition and rigmarole of schedule lulled me into survival mode rather than a desire to grow and thrive. As I sit back in a creaky desk in Virginia, I realize that I let a lot of things fly by me this summer. A lot of things I know I could have fought for, I could have protected: My time, my energy, my friends, but most importantly, my growth in Christ. This morning I sat in a auditorium with a couple thousand of my friends from the School of Divinity and the School of Music. And together we sang five words that, if true, will change a life forever: "Christ is enough for me". These words are a lot of things. The first of which: An understatement. For of course, Christ is more than enough. The beauty of the Gospel of Christ is that not only does it fulfill us, it overflows and spills into those around us. The full breadth of the Gospel isn't really even comprehensible this side of heaven, so of course these words ring true. But these words are much more than a statement of fact, rather they are a decisive. For, although Christ is more than enough, how many of us live that way? We can sing "Hallelujah, all I have is Christ!" but can we truly tell ourselves that we live that truth out? So then, these lyrics must be combined. "All I have is Christ and Christ is enough for me." This is a concept like the tagline of Othello: "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master." And that's yet another awe-inducing aspect of the Gospel. A five year old can understand Jesus' love for him, and yet when I am 92 I will have tasted but a small morsel of the full measure of God's goodness. Everything without Jesus is nothing, and Jesus plus nothing is everything. I've gone a little bit all over the place here, but the bottom line is this: The culture is trying to tell me a lot of things matter and my heart so wants to believe it. In fact it often does. But when my heart and head are full of lies, my roots dig down deep into the Truth, the one who was with God and was God, Elohim, Adonai, Jehovah, Yahweh, Mighty God.

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2nd Corinthians 12:9-10