"The Enigma"

"The Enigma"

   

    "Jesus Christ our Lord... was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:3-4).

    The Lord Jesus Christ is the God who became man, and the man who remains God.  "Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16).  Thus, He occupies a being and existence unlike any other.  Eternity and time unite in Him.  Infinite power and humble limitation comprise His nature of Deity and humanity.  One ancient described the Savior as "the Beyond in the midst," joining the Apostle Paul in proclaiming the wonder of mystery regarding how such a One can even exist.  Christ Himself is an enigma.  The Bible unapologetically declares Him as such, never attempting to explain how a God who even "the Heaven of heavens cannot contain" somehow dwells within the boundaries of humanity (I Kings 8:27).  We must accept Him on such terms, realizing we can never begin to fully comprehend the One to whom we have entrusted our well being regarding both time and eternity.

   The importance of embracing the enigma involves the mystery not only of Christ's nature, but also of His working in the world.  He does not fully explain His doings any more than He fully explains His being.  He cannot.  Finite beings do not possess the capacity for understanding the ways of the Infinite.  We can know some.  We can know more.  But we can never know all.  We cannot even approach the threshold of complete comprehension regarding God and His ways.  Again, the very being of the Lord Jesus reveals such humbling reality.  We trust Him nevertheless, preparing us to also believe His truth when He works in our lives, the lives of others, and the world in ways that defy all comprehension and even imagination.  Indeed, Christians affirm a seeming impossibility: God dwells in and as a human being. "Emmanuel... God with us" (Matthew 1:23).  No other mystery compares.  No other enigma more drives us to our faces, even as it raises us to walk in trusting confidence.  We must therefore expect to frequently scratch our heads as God "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11).  He does so by the Christ who, rightly considered, will do the same.  "Great is mystery of godliness…"

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord?  Or who hath been His counselor?"

(Romans 11:33-34)

Weekly Memory Verse

   "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

 (I Timothy 2:5)