Drawing near to Christ is the only thing. He has been so gracious. I keep wanting to qualify that statement with "over the weekend," when in truth...it's always. Merely, I've been particularly aware of His graciousness this recent weekend--time spent in worship and studying His Word with a 1,000 or so other saints in attendance at a conference to study the Scriptures. A foretaste of what it will be to praise Him in heaven, continually, and to ever be coming to know Him and love Him more acutely.
What a blessing, though, to have been granted opportunity to spend something of 72 hours in devout pursuit of Him in conversation, study, and praise--concerted, collective pursuit, with each and all truly directing each and all to Him, continual. Oh, how great a blessing.
If only we all were always apt to turn one another's eyes to Christ, no matter the circumstance--that all our conversations would strive, concertedly, to glorify Him by turning all thoughts and experiences out only in context of the truth of His sovereign majesty and unfathomable mercies. He is merciful--God is.
Our continued existence attests quite clearly to that fact, for those with eyes to see and a heart to know.
The long and short of the entire weekend is that His Word is living and active. Given to us by a God who has spoken. Who speaks. And who will speak. Via His Scriptures. All of which is utterly enough for our every need. And if we doubt that or feel inclined to be opposed to the sufficiency of Scripture, we need pray that He will help us to rest in knowing that He has spoken, and it is enough.
His self-revelation to us through the prophets and in Christ is so much more than we could ever exhaust, over a lifetime's pursuit of understanding. "New" revelation is a strange thing, then.
Which...isn't to say that He doesn't guide, individually. But...according to His Word. Not ever in contradiction to it.
And the point which is most difficult, of that, is to realize that there are some matters which require a significant amount of prayer and study to comprehend--and some matters which seemingly truly are beyond human grasp. These seem to be the matters which end up being the most divisive amongst brethren, as there are proof-texts which each side of any given such divide can cite to establish and maintain their stance. But proof-texts fall short of determining definitive understanding of His ways, when they fall short of consistently accounting for the entire revealed counsel of God.
Where there are seeming contradictions, as one of the teachers I've learned from has noted, this indicates deeper theology. Something much more intricate than can be grasped by a superficial assessment of apparent statements, but which requires ongoing pursuit of understanding the Lord's nature as revealed contextually and comprehensively regarding such seeming contradictions.
Like as not, his nature's complexity isn't something which can be easily grasped, given He is simultaneously one and three. Three in one. In a way which I am still humbled to even attempt to grasp, for fear of misrepresenting Him--though I know God the Son walked amongst us, in submission to God the Father, and empowered by God the Holy Spirit. All one sovereign Being, though three Persons. That...is beyond me to entirely grasp, though I see it as apparent in what has been revealed and sovereignly ordained as codified Holy Scriptures.
These things are mysterious. Though, recently, I'd heard the ancient connotation to that word--mystery--isn't present in modern interpretation. Mystery had some implication of a thing which was once hidden but which is increasingly revealed, unto increasing depths of knowing and understanding. Not something which is ever and always wholly unknown. Not wholly unknowable, just requiring diligent pursuit of understanding in order to grasp.
He's said that those who seek (and continue to seek) will find.
The end of this weekend was very graciously concluded with dire warnings not to take lightly the Word of God nor to presume that we are (any of us) exempt from the warnings clearly given through the New Testament epistles. Rather, we should take all the warnings to heart. Primarily, those which Jesus directly gave, recorded via the gospels.
Like as with John 5:39-40. Salvation in not in the Scriptures, themselves, not in anything we say or do. Not in our desires. Not in ourselves, at all. We all are sinners. Salvation is in knowing Jesus, period.
Those who know Him, personally, are the ones receiving His forgiveness and being imputed the righteousness which is necessary to escape the wrath to come. There's no other way.
We must intimately know Jesus Christ, Himself. In Spirit and truth. And the whole of Scripture speaks of Him.
Apparently, Martin Luther called the Bible as a whole the cradle of Christ--something in the nature of presenting Him to the world, from start to end, while also revealing the law (which is a schoolmaster pointing to Christ) and revealing ourselves and our wretchedness to us (which directs us entirely to the need for Christ's salvation--His redeeming sacrifice on our behalf and the subsequent imputation of His own righteousness to us). The whole of the Scriptures point to Him. That we may wholly, with all our beings love God (Jesus Christ, who died for our redemption) and love others (those for whom He also died). And live in entire submission to Him, as such.
Which is only possible as we walk by His Spirit, not by our own private understanding nor solely by the thusly directed means of our own fleshly abilities (though overt ability be God-given). Salvation is only to be known as by knowing Him, though. And we can't dredge up an understanding of these matters by mere logic, no matter how we might try.
So there's the call to repent, for the Kingdom of God truly is at hand. God has come, in the flesh. He has paid the price of our redemption: living without ever erring, satisfying the debt of punishment due us by enduring it Himself, overcoming death as thereafter to impute to us the righteousness required for us to dwell in God's presence. He triumphed over all, that we can have victory in Him. Jesus Christ is our own and only means to enter God's presence, after this life on earth. He is our salvation, our redemption. He is. Unification with Him is all which allots victory. And, as He is also the ultimate Judge and King of all...He is the one with whom we will all have to do, at the final call.
So come to know Him, now, as King and Master...as to receive deliverance from sin, death, and the wrath to come. Turn to Him now, to receive His eternal life. For He is life. In His presence is fullness of joy. Heaven is thus to be in His presence. Nothing higher. Nothing other.
His is the eternal weight of glory. Someday to enter His presence with singing, with praise, with prostration in reverence will be all which could ever be desired by those who love Him, in truth. To fall at His feet in abject and utter abandon and submission will be the sum of all desire, knowing the truth of sin's wretchedness, His mercy, and His absolutely unfathomable grace toward sinners such as we.
Someday. Someday we will all enter His presence. Best to make peace along the way.
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