03/06/2019
You say you are a Christian, but are you really? Have you taken the name of Jesus without having been born again? What a mysterious happening this is when we confess openly our faith in Jesus Christ, and go down in the waters of baptism. The joy and change that rushes over us leaves no doubt that our journey has begun, and that we are no longer dancing around the moniker of Christian, but have indeed become one. Are you still flirting with the flame of faith, or have you entered entirely into it... has it burned up the old you, and replaced it with the smoke and incense of a new and glorious person? Have you entered into the great mystery of faith?
“Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."”
John 3:7-8 ESV
As a young man I attended the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington Virginia, and those who go there are called cadets... well that is only partially true... when you first matriculate you are known simply as a “rat”. Until you have gone through an indoctrination that is intensely military, physical, mentally demanding, and lasts nearly a year, you are still a “rat”. It isn’t until your class is at last accepted by the Corp of Cadets, that you are no longer a “rat”, and truly become a cadet. There are many such rites of passage in life; but the transition from man to Christian is the only one that transforms your very nature, and secures for you an eternal life with God, and the beginning of insight into His boundless mystery.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 ESV
This year my daily devotional reading is “Morning and Evening” by Charles Spurgeon and today’s morning’s message contained these words concerning this very subject...
“Be assured that the name of Christian is not the same as the nature of a Christian. Being born in a “Christian land” and professing the “Christian religion” is of no value whatever without being born again. This is a matter so mysterious that human words cannot describe it...” - Charles Spurgeon
God is mysterious to us, and for many this mystery is incredibly frustrating. We like to put things into nice neat packages... even the gifts we give one another are placed into boxes and then wrapped beautifully in splendid paper, but God defies that by His very nature. We can’t place our faith in Him in a box, and no paper is glorious enough to improve its splendor. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is more than just His enduring the whip, or yielding to death. The redemption we receive by His resurrection is more than a team of trained medical professionals can accomplish by CPR or some other human means. There is a mystery in it that is so profound that it defies a simple belief, or explanation, and demands complete faith in the portion that defies all understanding.
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”
1 Timothy 3:16 ESV
When we look out over the ocean from the beach, and hear the waves crashing onto the land we are awed by it, but that is not the ocean. When we sail out onto the sea we are thrilled by its vastness, but that is not the sea. When we dive into its waters and swim among the coral surrounded by a diversity of creatures we are nearly overcome by creation, but that is not the entirety of it. This simple thing... the ocean... is contained and held in its entirety by the land and earth that surround it, and yet we say things like “the mystery of the sea” or the “mysterious deep”... how then do we view our God, who is bound by nothing, and think that we can understand His mysteries, or even count them?
“"Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.”
Job 11:7-9 ESV
So we say we are a Christian just by birth, or association, but it isn’t until we are submersed in Christ, and the mysteries of our faith in Him, that we begin the journey, and become a part of Him. It isn’t until we sputter into a new and transforming life, and call out “Holy are thou my God” in our first glimmer of Him that we become Christians. When He abides in us, and we in Him the mysteries begin to unfold.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
John 15:4 ESV
Are you a Christian? Have you taken the first step into the great and mysterious journey of faith we find in Christ as He leads us into God Himself? Consider this today!
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”
John 14:10 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for revealing yourself and your mysteries to us as we are able to understand them. Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ whose redemption, and through whom your grace flows, is such a profound mystery that it will take our lifetimes to begin understanding Him. Help us Holy Father on our journey of faith, and thank you for the title of Christian as we begin this pilgrimage towards you. How is it Father that we can abide in your Son and He in us? How is it Father that in so doing we come to abide in you and you in us? This mystery thrills our souls, and humbles us beyond words. Hear our worship and praise Lord, and know that even at its best it falls short of expressing our love for you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our mysterious God, whose most insignificant revelation of Himself can overpower us, and our senses. You are great Father, and your Glory consumes us like a fire. Praised be your name now and forevermore, and know that we long to prostrate ourselves before your throne and hear Jesus say “I know them Father!”
Rich Forbes