1 Corinthians 13: 11 & 12
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a Child, but when I became a man I put away childish things. For now, we see in a mirror, dimly. But then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know just as I also am known.
At first look these two verses don’t seem to go together, but Paul is telling us our position in relationship to the knowledge of God. We exist now in a childish state ,Paul tells us. This is a good thing for Our Lord also admonished us to come to Him as little children. Our understanding of the true nature of God is not complete. We understand bits of the nature of God, and that allows us to fill in the rest, to have a broad understanding of God’s Nature.
A friend of mine the other day asked me if I had, had any “heavy revvies” (an old Bible College phrase meaning a deep revelation of God’s truth that one will get when reading the Bible). I remember my youth in Christ, those were heady days. We would read the bible and a truth of God would Burst forth in understanding in our brains and suddenly something that was dark to us had been illuminated by the Holy Spirit. My very first “heavy revvie” was on Mark chapter 4 and Pastor Larry can tell you that every thing I talked about , taught or preached on revolved around Mark 4, the sower and the seed. And this one scripture does give us a wonderful insight into the nature of God, and How we come to be his. To this day Mark 4 features highly in all my scripture references. When the Holy Spirit opened that Scripture to me I had a piece of the puzzle. That truth of God squarely belonged to me, and I held tightly to it. Over the intervening years there have been more similar revelations, more pieces of the puzzle. Studying the Bible and meditating on what you have read will bring the revelations, those puzzle pieces , to you.
When you look at the picture at the top of the page you will see it is a stained glass mosaic representation of Jesus. And looking at the complete picture the mind is able to connect the pieces to form a reasonable understanding of what is presented. Each one of those pieces of glass by itself could represent such a revelation. Held by itself it does little to illuminate the mind to the picture it is part of. Only when we take these revelations and compare them to the whole, do we begin to see the nature of God.
Now we see the mirror dimly. Our understanding of Jesus, Our knowledge of Him is never fully complete while we live on this earth, but we can lay the puzzle pieces of those “heavy revvies” that we get together as a whole, to begin to see the nature of God.
As we see regarding 1 Cor 13: 11 and 12 ,none of us have a complete understanding of the whole Truth of God, that we look upon the truth as through a glass dimly. Now while it is true that we will never know the complete Truth until we are with Him in heaven we can do something today to add to the knowledge we have. Notice I did not say OUR knowledge, because in fact it does not belong to us. It is God’s Truth, and while it resides in us it remains God’s truth , it is not flavored or changed by our experiences. God’s truth is not subject to conditions, or excuses or even tragedy. It is God’s Truth in us, unchanging, but always growing. If we seek the treasure of His knowledge.
His Treasure is His Word. And His Word Revealed. Every hotel room in the entire country perhaps the world has a copy of the King James Bible placed there courtesy of the Gideon’s. Every bookstore (excepting occultism types) at least carries one or two bibles with which to appease the crowds. (The fact that worldly books out number them a million to one is another story) I will wager that most the houses in America have at least one copy of a bible, in various states of disrepair But those wonderful books mean nothing to the lost soul. They are a collection of words which muddle the brain and hurt the eyes. The Words of God contained in the Bible are from the Mind of God and so it requires the Holy Spirit(1), (who is God) indwelling in us to reveal the words of God and the meaning. I spent many years seeking God and reading his Word, the best I could. Yet it was not until one man spoke the revealed word of God that the truth of liberty of salvation became clear to me. The Word is the seed, the Holy Spirit is the life that causes the seed to grow.
All of that said we can now say that the Truth of God resides is us all. But we do not have all the truth.
There were two men who once visited the same volcano and they sat down to compare notes. The first man remarked that the volcano was green and lush and had much wildlife. The second man reported that the volcano was a devastated area, with lava flows and rocks strewn everywhere. When they compared notes they decided that one of them had gone to the wrong volcano because their view didn’t match the other at all. But in fact they had seen the same volcano, one went to the north side which had been spared the volcanic wrath of the mountain. While the other went to the north side which had suffered the eruption.
This parallel serves us fairly well in discussing what we know of God’s truth. The constants? They both went to the same volcano, everything they saw was consistent with a volcano, but they had two very different views. So too can it be with the Truth of God. We have one view of the truth as it builds up in our lives as we add pieces through study and listening to others. While another person may have a different view. As long as both are consistent with the word, both are valid. Both are valuable and both are treasure.
So then we find the treasure of God….The Mosaic Pieces of God’s truth by interacting with other Christians. It is the revealed word in them that enhances the revealed word in us, and visa versa. You may find those mosaic pieces in your pastor as he offers his sermon, or you may find them in your friends as you discuss the Word of God over your coffee table, or over the internet. Or you might even find them in an “unenlightened” denomination. God is God, and He works all in all. The Holy Spirit indwells all who believe and He deposits His wisdom where He will. It is up to us to find it. By interacting with as many people as you can. Offering your mosaic pieces and humbly receiving those of others. And by offering The revealed Truth that you possess to the unsaved. Because Faith comes by hearing, the revealed Word of God.(2) It is by hearing the revealed word from you that a person receives the Faith to call upon God for salvation.(3) And upon salvation that person becomes a new depository of the truth.
It is important however to make sure what you are hearing is constant with the Word of God. We remember Paul admiring the Bereans because they heard the word gladly and then went and checked the word to see if it matched the Scriptures. So too must we, for there is a lot of wrong thinking. So we must hear the word and check it, even if it might be false. For the field containing that great treasure is full of dirt and rocks and mud, but it has the treasure. The only other choice is to stay clean, and miss out on the treasure. If you are unsure as to the scriptural validity of anything you hear, talk to your church leadership, Pastor(4) or myself , or anyone you know who you think strong in the word. Do not accept any new truth until you are sure it is constant with the bible.
Humility is the key to receiving those mosaic pieces. Too often we stand around and act as dispensers of God’s Truth. and in fact we are, but if we are not also receivers, willing to be taught by others, then we lose so much of the truth we could have gained, and our view of the volcano remains limited. I don’t know about you, but I have wasted enough time trying to be a pillar of truth, I want to be a receiver and a giver, and this way we will all be enhanced in the knowledge of the Truth of God.
Thank You Lord for your truth in our lives , Father I ask that you increase our knowledge of You by increasing our contact with our fellow brother and sisters in Christ. In Jesus name, ame
(1) This Scripture is given in support of the statement
* 1 Corinthians 2: 10-13
10But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
(2) Romans 10:17
(3) This Scripture is given in Support of the Statement
Romans 10
9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” 17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.