The DaBible Code

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A lot of people I know seem to think of the Bible more like a code to break than a book to revere. That it is a great mystery to be solved -- a detective story of the divine kind. What brings this up? Last night, Pastor Mike Messerli completed a course of Revelation he was teaching at Crossroads. A common word that was spoken by his students during the course of the class was "What?" As in "What does this mean?" or "What is this going to look like?" Lost in the battle to discover the "what" was the "why," which is the real question to answer in order to gain spiritual food from the book. The "why" is this: God is on a mission to save mankind, which has been forewarned that continued rebellion will end in suffering and, eventually, eternal punishment. But we don't get caught up on the "why." We want to know "what"!

After all, inquiring minds want to know!

I believe that one of the great hindrances to the spread of the gospel and of the growth of Christian maturity in the Western World is the belief that we can explain everything in the Bible. That, while our doctrine proclaims the incomprehensible nature of God, we can through study, systematic theology, and cross referencing, explain all the major mysteries of God.

We can't. We're not meant to.

There is a reason God says, "My ways are not your ways and My thoughts not your thoughts. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways." in Isaiah 55:8-9. And again, "Who has known the mind of the Lord and given Him counsel?" (Job 42:3; Isaiah 40:13; Romans 11:34), I was Paul in Romans 11, the same Paul we study thoroughly and develop many facets of doctrine from, who proclaimed in his most theological work, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!"

Unfathomable?

To believe that we can "decode" all of the mysteries of the Bible is to place ourselves as being able to ascertain God's wisdom and ways. That we have the keys to ALL knowledge and mysteries. That the Bible is like one big detective story that involves us as its ace sleuths.

But we don't have access to the inner thought pattern of God, even though we have God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Will the Spirit explain some things to us? Most certainly! Second Peter 1:2-3 says the Spirit gives us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. He reveals Christ to us and shows us how we can walk with him in abundance and joy.

But the answers to some mysteries God reserves for Himself. Revelation is filled with many of them. Others involve such things as the Trinity and Holy Communion. We are not meant to know the answers to every question. What we ARE meant to know is that God has given us all we need to prosper in life and faith and love. And He has promised to take our wondering minds into His loving arms and give us assurance that He knows the answers and will reveal them when He is good and ready.

Be God's!

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