(Isaiah 55:8-9 NASB) – “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Our God is far beyond our understanding. We cannot contain Him in our limited knowledge. But our God is generous to let us know the mysteries of the scriptures. That’s why Paul says in the letter to the church of Corinth,
“…we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard , And which have not entered the heart of man , All that God has prepared for those who love Him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit…” (1 Corinthians 2:7-10)
And in another place,
“the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” (Colossians 1:26-28 NASB)
Isn’t God great for revealing Himself and His plans to us?
A particular scripture can be interpreted in a number of ways. But we need only one perspective, the true one and that is Jesus for He is the WAY. We misinterpret scriptures when we take Christ out of it. Old Testament is most often misinterpreted. This is how we interpret, “Look at this man. These are his good deeds and these are his flaws. This is what you should be doing to live according to God’s plans.” Isn’t this similar to the moral value lessons we had in our elementary school?
Dear friends, the Bible is about Christ. He is the main character. Taking some examples from the Old Testament.
1. We see Abraham was called righteous.
“And he believed in the Lord , and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6 NKJV)
Abraham obeys God to sacrifice Issac in Genesis 22. If we read the life of this great man of GOD, we see that many times he failed to trust GOD’s promises. But GOD’s faithfulness made him righteous. It is indeed not our acts of faith that makes us righteous but our faith in CHRIST (Romans 3:22).
2. We may have heard of Moses’ strengths and weakness, But do we realise that it was never about him.
Moses himself says to LORD,
“If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”(Exodus 33:15 NASB)
In the same way, we need to realise that it’s not us who are going to fulfill what GOD wants from us. But we have to be confident of Him.
“ …confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 NKJV)
3. We most often think GOD anointed Gideon since He was brave enough to thresh wheat in the winepress when people were hiding from Midianites. Actually, if we read more about him, Gideon was more of a coward. Yet he was able to subdue Midinanites because of GOD’s anointing. Likewise, our strengths and weaknesses does not play any role in what GOD wants from us. It is His grace alone that is sufficient for us and His strength is made perfect in weaknesses.
4. Finally, David the man according to GOD’s heart – was not completely perfect and blameless. Therefore, he says,
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.”(Psalms 32:1-2 NKJV)
He knew that he didn’t have the ability to fulfill the Law. He recognized that in his flesh he could not walk according to GOD. Thus, he leans on GOD’s mercies. Similarly, we have to acknowledge that what we can’t accomplish is freely given to us in the completed work of CHRIST on the cross. This enables us to grasp the real meaning of “blessedness” about which David sings. And helps to see that we are being transformed in the same image of CHRIST by His works and not because of our works.
All these people believed on God, it wasn’t about them but GOD. Are we preaching about Abraham, Moses, Gideon or David? Or should we be preaching about God? All scriptures are entirely pointing to CHRIST and HIS works. Don’t portray it the wrong way!!
The (his)story of Abraham, Moses,Gideon or David in the Bible pertain as part of special intervention (election/anointing) of God in these and other characters for a special mission according to the plan and purpose of God for a limited demography. In doing so one may interpret its extended purpose was to prepare them and their generation for eternity. As the writer said, their stories can be interpreted in many ways according to the perception of the interpreter. But the immediate effect of their role was limited to a people of a particular jurisdiction.
The Bible present Christ Jesus to whole humanity for a different purpose. It is an all inclusive redemptive package for the whole humanity who fall short of the glory of God. Salvation is not for a few Abrahams, Moseses, Gideons or Davids. There are no limitations of demography or jurisdiction. In fact it is something that matters for our eternity future. It is for everyone who believes in His Great Redemptive purpose. Talking simply about Christ has no meaning. The sweetness of the Gospel ( Bible) is that it ends up with my own story. It simply speaks about how ” Benjamin” the sinner became “Benjamin” the saint through Christ Jesus, and so you can too!