"Who? What?"

"Who?  What?"

   

    Not surprisingly, the Apostle Paul asked perhaps the two most important questions of human existence.

    "Who art Thou, Lord?" (Acts 9:5).

    "What saith the Scripture?" (Romans 4:3).

    The first inquiry occurred when the Lord revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus.  The second involved the Apostle's dissertation regarding Abraham's justification by faith.  The questions are corollaries of each other.  We find the answer to "Who?" in the Bible: "the Scriptures… testify of Me" (John 7:38).  This enables our understanding of "What?"  as God personally illuminates our Biblical understanding: "the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (I Corinthians 2:11-12).  Most importantly, we ask both questions throughout our earthly sojourn and walk with God, seeking to increasingly know Him and understand His truth.  Or, as the Apostle Peter commanded, "Grow in grace (personal reception of God's freely given favor in Christ) and the knowledge (understanding of Biblical truth about God) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).

     Who is God?  The Bible tells us.  What does the Bible mean?  God teaches us by His Spirit as we seek Him in His Word.  Thereby we "worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).  We must keep both questions at the forefront of our walk with the Lord, seeking Him in both personal and principled terms.  We must know Him and understand His truth in order for the train of our hearts, as it were, to travel on both rails of genuine worship.  Who?  What?  Paul asked the two great questions, exemplifying  our calling to spiritually journey with God on reality's dual rails.  Thereby we love the Lord in heart and mind, and thereby He prepares us to influence others by that same love as we bear witness to Someone we know, whose truth we understand.  

"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."

(John 17:3)

"Lead me in Thy truth and teach me.  For Thou art the God of my salvation, on Thee do I wait all the day."

(Psalm 25:5)

Weekly Memory Verse

    Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

(I John 3:16)