Mystery

SCRIPTURE:  Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16

QUOTE: Because we cannot fully grasp what we seek to understand in contemplation, we ought the more to live in the mystery itself so that we may become in participation that which we seek to contemplate.
– Robert Webber, The Divine Embrace

THOUGHT: Perhaps I have too many bees in my bonnet these days, but here’s one that manages to get me every time. I  don’t like it when people try to take all of the mystery out of faith, and I get a little nervous when someone speaks as if they know it all. It’s as if mystery is a dirty word or something and the only thing that can be believed is what is already known. What about Isaiah 55:8-9? For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God seems to be in the business of thinking and doing things we cannot understand.

Yes, Jesus is the great mystery of God, and he has come, we have seen him through Scripture and encountered him personally. That mystery is revealed by the God in heaven who reveals mysteries (Daniel 2:28).

We don’t have to wonder if there is another, different savior of the world coming, but the mystery from which true godliness springs is great, even still. Everyday, we seek to understand more of it, without demanding or pretending that we know it all. And we do that, not only by studying and praying, but by actively living into what we cannot fully comprehend. We become in participation that which we seek to contemplate, said Robert Webber, and I love that word picture.

What we are walking out, this faith in things not seen, is filled with mystery, and we must rely on the Holy Spirit of God to be our helper. I don’t know about you, but I feel like God did that on purpose. We are not complete without his son or his spirit, we are just casting about in our humanness, making up answers as we go.

We are wired to be dependent on our God, made in his image but lacking his capacity. But, sadly, the human condition wars against that, seeking independence from God instead.

PRAYER: Oh God, you still hold mysteries, and you still reveal mysteries in your time. We are made in your image, but without the enormous capacity to love as you do, to think as you do, to act as you do. Help us trust you as the source as we walk out this faith in things not seen.