02/21/2019
Do you like to try new foods, visit new places, meet new people? Well be careful, because such desires for newness and diversity can lead you astray when applied to your faith. Our love for Jesus shouldn’t require us to meet Him like a stranger every day, and we should resist the temptation to change Him in some way each time we visit Him, or redecorate His House every time we enter His door.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”
Hebrews 13:8-9 ESV
As I have visited this church and that over the course of my life, I have come to the realization that what divides them one from the other most often began as a desire to find some new and exciting teaching or understanding of God, or Jesus, that excited the men within them. It came from souls that were not at peace, and could not find rest in their Father’s house.
“my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord."”
Lamentations 3:17-18 ESV
Epiphany, this is a word that has changed in meaning over the years, it once meant the manifestation of a divine being, and was used to describe Jesus manifesting Himself to the Gentiles, or even a moment of sudden revelation, but today an epiphany is most commonly meant to identify a moment of revelation, or sudden discovery that changes us in some way... not just in understanding, but more intensely as a life altering, and changing, event. Epiphanies in this sense are few in faith... hearing, understanding, and believing in Jesus Christ is one example, but nuances in baptism, or whether communion is to be taken often or just once a month is not. So as God reveals himself we experience epiphany in the ancient sense, but (even though it does happen) this doesn’t require us to be deeply changed in some sense... it could be a simple walk with God in the Garden of Eden like Adam experienced. Yet our need for new and exciting sensual input drives us to seek out thrilling new interpretations, even of the most basic truths of our faith, and these things can cause us to claim ownership and pride in them... at the expense of God’s glory.
God is unchanging and without variation in His character.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
James 1:17 ESV
And God’s Word is the revelation of His character so that too does not change...
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
John 17:17 ESV
But He does open our eyes to the truth that is contained in His Word, and this it done by revelation and understanding... not by creation, or change. Like God, His Word is unchanging, and the truth in it does not come, go, or require that we manipulate it to make it whole.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
Jesus is the Son of God, and this is foundational truth. Everything else in His life is built on this, and doesn’t change this basic truth. All truth is unchanging, otherwise it was never truth in the first place. Taking communion is truth because Jesus told us to do it... how often we do so is preference. Our liturgical processes are typically founded on God’s truth, but how we implement them... our preference in wine, who bakes our bread, what clothing we wear in church... all of these things are layered on top of the unchangeable truth beneath.
Don’t let your desire for excitement, newness, diversity, or change, cause you to remove or change the real truth in your faith. Don’t let those things that are preferences cloud your vision of what truth really is. Study the Word of God for meaning and understanding... not to reinvent His truth, or to experience some exciting new twist that would reinvigorate you. Lust is exciting, but love is deeper than that... Lust is like viewing, and smelling, the flowers on a plant, but love begins in the roots. God is Love, and that is truth.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your unchanging nature in not only your person, but also in your Word. Thank you Holy Father for hiding some of your truth from my understanding until the time is full for me to receive it. Help me Lord to find peace in the roots of your love and truth, and to study your Word seeking meaning... not to challenge your truth, or trap you in your Word. Who am I Father, that I should think I might know better than you, or even understand the depths of who you are? How vain am I to put words in your mouth. Have mercy on me when I say “God means this”, or “God is telling us that” when I read your Word. Give me the perfect measure of meaning that I am able to handle as I sit with you in study, or walk with you in prayer. Never let me claim to know your thoughts beyond what you have revealed to me. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who feeds truth to His children from the tips of His fingers, and gives them drink from the dew on the plants. Great are you my father who eclipses me in all things, and casts His shadow over me. Forgive me Merciful Father if I am presumptuous in my desire to be like you, and to understand you more, and let me rest in you always, finding peace in your truth and love until by your grace I gain understanding.
Rich Forbes