Beyond Words

Readings for today: John 1:1-3, Psalms 8, 104

Psalms 104 is one of my favorites. I imagine the Psalmist sitting down to compose this song about the nature and character and being and glory of God and basically running out of words. He writes and writes and writes, drawing on what he knows about God and what he sees all around him in creation. He uses all kinds of amazing imagery to depict a God who uses light like a garment and the skies like a tent curtain and the rain clouds for construction material and the winds for His chariot. This God is immense. One cannot see His beginning or His end. One cannot measure His height or His depth or His breadth. One cannot wrap their minds around His glory and splendor and majesty. One cannot begin to understand or fathom His power and authority. The Psalmist writes with wonder about God’s artistry and creativity. Over here is the deep, wide sea filled with innumerable creatures. Over there are the smoldering mountains where the wild goats play. It’s awe-inspiring to say the least.

And yet, none of this is possible without Jesus. The Word who was there at the beginning. The Word who was with God and fully God. The Word through whom all things were created. This Word gives life and light to all He has made. And most incredibly of all, as we will see when we get to John’s Gospel in our readings this year, this Word becomes flesh and blood and makes His dwelling place among us. The same Word that spoke all creation into existence speaks to us. He uses our words. He uses our voice. He speaks to us in a language we can understand. He teaches us using imagery we can understand. He reveals to us the nature and character and glory of God in terms we can understand. Jesus is the One who bridges the gap between heaven and earth. Jesus is the one who heals the division between God and humanity. Jesus is the one who tears down every dividing wall of hostility that once separated us from God. He is before all things and in Him all things are held together.

All things are held together. Including you. Including me. Including this broken world. You may be starting the new year on a high note. Everything looking good. Everything looking up. Everything going your way. Praise the Lord! Thank God for the many ways He has sovereignly orchestrated your life to bring you to this place of blessing. You may be starting the new year on a low note. Everything falling apart. Everything in pieces. Praise the Lord! Ask God to do what only He can do which is put the pieces of your life back together for your good and for His glory. You may find yourself somewhere in between. Again, praise the Lord! Look to Jesus to perfect your faith in the year ahead as you navigate the peaks and valleys that are sure to come.

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 3-5

Revelation

Readings for today: Revelation 1-5

I always find it strangely appropriate to end each year with readings from the Book of Revelation on the 2nd coming of Jesus even as we celebrate His first coming on Christmas Eve. Today is Christmas Eve eve. The day before the day. The day before God invades time and space and history. The day before eternity enters our temporality. The day before the Almighty comes to dwell with us. Even the idea of “revelation” is a shocking one when we stop to think about it. Why would God reveal Himself to us? Why would God cross the universe to be with us? Why would God become one of us? Before we get past the title of this book, we need to pause and reflect on the remarkable nature of a God who wants to be known. A God who wills be to known. A God who makes Himself known.

Too often we brush past these important questions. We approach the Book of Revelation as a roadmap or a timeline for the end times. We want to know when things will happen. How things will happen. When will God come again and make all things new. But the reality is no one really knows and the Book of Revelation is notoriously difficult to decipher and understand. So as you wade into this final book of the Bible, here are some basic ground rules. First, Revelation is written by John while in prison on the island of Patmos. In order to get this letter out to the churches, John had to write it in code. The Roman authorities would have screened every piece of communication coming in and out of the prison so John had to be careful. Second, the writing is “apocalyptic” which is a very specific style of writing known to many in the ancient world. The fantastic images and visions are hallmarks of this type of literature. Third, the churches John is writing to are under persecution. They are facing the prospect of torture and death on a daily basis. This book is meant to encourage and equip them so they can endure in the rough days ahead. Fourth, many different Christians approach this book from many different interpretive angles. There is no one way to read this book and we want to make sure to extend liberty and charity to one another as we go. Wherever you land on the “end times” theological spectrum, what’s most important is that we all agree Jesus will come again. 

Revelation is written to reveal God. That may seem obvious but it’s easy to forget. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬‬) God spoke the first Word in creation and God will have the last Word in consummation. He who began all things, will bring them to a close according to His will and good pleasure. God is. This is all we know. This is really all we can say. God stands outside the time and space continuum He created and will remain there looking in until He determines when it is right for His return. As John said in His Gospel, God revealed Himself to the world but the world did not recognize Him. He revealed Himself to His people, His family, and they rejected Him. When He comes again, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen.” (Revelation‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭CSB‬)

These are important words to reflect on as we end the year. They provide a good spiritual barometer to help us discern how ready we truly are for Christ’s return. Have we abandoned our first love? Are we facing persecution for our faith? What idols do we cling to? Do we tolerate sin? Are we ambivalent towards the gospel? Is our faith lukewarm at best?

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 6-10

The Vastness of God

Readings for today: Job 35-37, Psalms 144

A few years ago, I summited Mt. Sneffels. It’s one of 54 “fourteeners” (peaks rising above 14,000’) in Colorado and is known as the “Queen of the San Juans” because of the amazing views of the surrounding peaks and valleys. Those who know me well know how much I love hiking and climbing. Sneffels was peak number 15 for me and I’ve climbed several others multiple times. None of them are easy. In order to summit a 14er, one has to hit the trail very early. Sometimes before the sun comes up. You typically ascend thousands of feet so your legs take a beating. Sometimes there’s a nice trail, sometimes not. Depending the route, you can be dangerously exposed both to the weather or a potential fall. Many of them are over 10 miles round trip. You race the clock to beat the afternoon storms before they roll in. But the payoff is definitely worth it. Standing on the summit makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.

It’s also makes you feel very small. I think about the words we’ve been reading from Job when I think about my time on Sneffels or any of the 14’ers I’ve been blessed to climb. Words like “Do you know how God directs his clouds or makes their lightning flash? Do you understand how the clouds float, those wonderful works of him who has perfect knowledge? can you help God spread out the skies as hard as a cast metal mirror? Out of the north he comes, shrouded in a golden glow; awesome majesty surrounds him. The Almighty — we cannot reach him — he is exalted in power!” (Job‬ ‭37‬:‭15‬-‭16‬, ‭18‬, ‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭CSB‬‬) I can still see myself in my mind’s eye standing on the summit. It was a picture-perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky. I could see for miles and still my view was so limited. I could not see the foundations of the mountain on which I stood. I could not see to the end of the green valleys that stretched out before me. I could never determine the measurements of peaks that ranged all around. Only God knows these things. He laid the foundations of the earth. He stretched out His line and determined the height of each of the 54 14,000’ peaks as well as the 637 13,000’ peaks and the more than 1,500 12,000’ peaks. God laid the cornerstone for each and every one. He sunk the base of Mt. Sneffels deep into the earth so it would never tremble or fall. Reflecting on His omnipotence as I stood surveying the vastness of His creation took my breath away.

And then God showed me something even greater. As humbled as I was by the creative power of God, I was even more humbled by His righteousness. His holiness. His purity. The chasm that exists between the Triune God in all His splendor and majesty and glory and a weak and ruined sinner like me dwarfs any mountain I could ever climb. No matter how hard I try, I can never ascend to God. No matter how far I walk, I can never draw close to God. No matter how early I rise, there simply isn’t enough time for me to work out my own salvation. Shall someone like me find fault with God? Am I that foolish that I would put God in the wrong so that I might be right? If I am honest, the answer is yes. I am that foolish. In fact, my foolishness knows no bounds. I contend against God daily in thought, word, and deed. I often act as if I know best. I believe down deep that I am the master of my own fate, the captain of my own destiny. And when things go sideways in my life, my first instinct is often to complain to God. To act as I’ve been wronged or put out or somehow unfairly treated. Frankly, I am more than willing to condemn God in order to justify myself.

Thankfully, God isn’t done with me yet and He wasn’t done revealing Himself on top of that mountain. Like the great prophet Isaiah, I know “I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips…” (Isaiah‬ ‭6:5‬ CSB)‬‬ And still God loves me. Tears came to my eyes as I thought about the vastness of God’s love. It is wider than the valleys that lay before me. It is higher than the mountain peaks that surrounded me. It is truly measureless, boundless, infinite in scope. Despite my own limitations, I know there is an end to the earth. Given the right instruments and training, I know I could find the foundations of the mountains. I could stretch out a line across the valleys. I could even weigh the planet on a scale. Not so with God’s love. I cannot fathom it’s reach. I cannot grasp it’s heights or depths, it’s length or it’s breadth. It’s logic escapes me. It’s faithfulness astounds me. There simply is nothing like it in all creation.

Readings for tomorrow: Job 38-39, Psalms 145