Day 19: The Deep things of God
Ok. So you have been a Christian for some time, or are thinking about becoming one. Remember, that a Christian is one who knows, loves, and follows Jesus Christ. Some people think a Christian is someone who reads the Bible, goes to church, doesn’t steal, lie, commit adultery, or one who does good moral deeds. However, doing good moral deeds doesn’t make you a Christian. It only makes you moral. Today there are a lot of good moral atheists who do good deeds but do not have faith in Jesus Christ. Who is a Christian then? A Christian is someone who knows, loves, and follows Jesus Christ. You may have grown up in the church and a Christian home and consider yourself to be Christian, but the real question is “are you A CHRISTIAN?” Have you made the decision for yourself, or have you been following or believing in Jesus because your parents do? Today is a great day to choose to follow Jesus because you want to and because you have decided to.
The ABC's of the Christian Faith
Obedience is the sign of spiritual maturity. While some people think that knowledge or understanding Bible prophecy is the sign of spiritual maturity, the Bible tells us that in the spiritual realm “the opposite of ignorance is not knowledge buy obedience.” It’s not how much you know, but how much you use. Are you growing as a new believer or as a Christian every day of your life? As a leader, are you growing every day of your life and ministry, or are you just repeating your first year of leadership over and over again for 5, 10, 15, or 20 years? Think about it?
Our Bible passage today is based on Hebrews 5:11-13.
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.”
The writer of book of Hebrews, which many believe to be the apostle Paul, tells his readers that though they ought to be growing spiritually and becoming spiritually mature by eating a spiritual diet that consists of solid food, they still need to go back and drink milk as new babes in Christ because they have failed to grow spiritually. What are those elementary truths that Paul is referring to? We find the answer in Hebrews 6:1.
“Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God.”
According to Paul, the elementary teachings about Christ are repentance and faith in God. Repentance, we know to be a gift from God, and faith is likewise a gift. New believers should study and learn about how to experience repentance from sin and how to grow in their faith in God. However, Paul is upset with readers because they are no longer new babes in Christ. Instead they have been in the faith for some time now and it is apparent that they are not growing spiritually which leads them to a life of obedience. They need someone to teach them the ABC's again and to give them spiritual milk instead of solid food. Just like it’s ok for a baby to drink milk, a new believer needs to drink in the ABC's and elementary teachings of God’s Word. However, once the new believer becomes mature in Christ, he or she needs to move on to solid food, i.e., the deep things of God.
The Deep things of God
I like what Howard Hendricks says in his book, “Living by the Book.”
“The Bible was written not to satisfy your curiosity but to help you conform to Christ’s image. Not to make you a smarter sinner but to make you like the Savior. Not to fill your head with a collection of biblical facts but to transform your life.” (p. 19)
Life transformation is what God is after. Like a loving father and parent, God first gives us spiritual food that is easy to eat, and then after we have grown by practicing obedience to His Word, He gives us something heavier. However, the goal and object of Bible study is always the same: To make us more like the Loving Savior! So how about it? Are you ready today for the Deep things of God?
1 Corinthian 2:9-11 speak about the deep things of God and how we can discover them.
“However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”]—
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived the things that God has prepared for those who love him. However, as a follower of Jesus Christ, God reveals them to you by the person of the Holy Spirit. As your teacher and guide, the Holy Spirit leads you to discover and understand the “Deep things of God.” What are the deep things of God? I think we can start by defining what are not the deep things of God. The deep things of God are not mysterious things that only a select group of people can understand. In the first century, the Gnostics believed that there was a special hidden wisdom that only a few received. God’s deep things are not like that. They are available for all to receive, experience, and live. The deep things of God are not necessarily difficult to understand, but may take study, work, and prayer to understand more clearly.
Perhaps Peter wrote about Paul’s writings this way, referring to them as “hard to understand.”
“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. “ (2 Peter 315-16)
With the aid of the Holy Spirit, we can understand the deep things of God more clearly. He teaches us and guides us into understanding God’s truth more fully, including the deep things of God.
"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26
"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." John 16:13
So what are the deep things of God? It all depends. While for some they are Bible prophecy, with dates, and doctrines, for others the deep things of God are the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Holy Trinity or Godhead, the nature of Jesus Christ, and the plan of salvation. Karl Barth, the imminent theologian of the 20th century was once asked what was the greatest discovery he had made about God and the Bible in his many years of studying, teaching, and writing about theology and God. The old professor said, “Jesus Loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” Wow! These are the words of a children’s Bible song coming from the mouth of the greatest theologian of the 20th century! Amazing!
The deep things of God lead you to want to follow Jesus more closely in your life. I would suggest to you that some of the deep things of God that He has chosen to reveal to us are:
1) The Plan of Salvation
2) The Nature of the Godhead (Trinity)
3) The nature of Jesus Christ
4) The Incarnation of Jesus Christ
5) Others
Becoming a Deep person of Faith
Deep things require deep minds and deep persons of faith. You can become one today. Remember that a person of spiritual maturity is not someone who knows a lot, but someone who lives what they believe. A deep person is someone who has a longing and thirst for God, and is not satisfied with the superficial. Someone who is “deep” is not satisfied with reading a Bible commentary or hearing a sermon. A person that is a deep thinker wants to study the Bible for themselves, and wants to have God teach them personally one on one. For that reason we need pastors, teachers, and evangelists to help teach God’s people “How to study the Bible” for themselves. Today God is looking for deep Christians to reveal to them the deep things “of God.”
Richard foster writes in his book, The Celebration of discipline:
“Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.” (p.1)
Are you among those deep people? The good news is you can be. Some people think that topics like “the love of God”, the Incarnation, faith, etc. are the ABC subjects for only new believers. They believe that the spiritually mature are those who study and understand Bible prophecy and difficult subjects like the Heavenly Sanctuary, the 2,300 days, etc. However, I have discovered that a deep person in spiritual matters has to do more with their passion and pursuit of God than with their knowledge of the Bible.
In Psalm 42:1-2, David gives us an insight into what being a deep person in spiritual matters is all about.
“As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?”
If your hunger and thirst for God are greater even than food or earthly gains, then you are becoming a deep person. You’re not satisfied with the superficial, but you long for a constant friendship and communion with God. You want to spend time with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in intimate communion. Nothing can separate you from God or His love.
Conclusion
Do you want to become a deep person? Not a person that knows all of the names of the judges or contestants on American Idol, or all of the new movies or video games that have come out this month. Instead, you want to be a deep person who longs and thirsts to be satisfied only with the presence of God in your life. You can, if you will come to Christ today just as you are, and drink of the water that He wants to offer you.
“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17
Practical Steps
1. By God’s Grace, decide to be a deep person. Psalm 42:1-2. Don’t be satisfied with a superficial understanding or knowledge. Always take things to their logical conclusion. Don’t accept something just because your favorite Bible teacher tells you its true. Check it out for yourself. Deep people are not easily deceived. Superficial people are easily deceived.
2. Deep people stay humble before God and others. Be humble, not proud. If God has blessed you with becoming a deep person, don’t let others know. Keep it to yourself, but when you are given the opportunity to speak or share with others, speak and share humbly in the name of Jesus’. Bless others with the things God has given you.
3. Don’t be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthy good. In other words, be the salt of the earth and light of the world. Go into your community and help someone in need. Don’t just study the Bible and wish you were already in Heaven. Many people all around you are going to hell. Do something about it! Let your theology and practice become one ministry.
4. Read, read, and read. And turn your television and internet off. Don’t waste you time on things that will not make you a deep person. Read widely, and in many subjects and areas. God will use those things when you have stored them in your heart and mind. Think Big!
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