“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:16
In a sense, it seems like a contradiction, doesn't it? In quoting from Isaiah, Paul makes the argument that no one can begin to truly understand or completely comprehend the plans, feelings, views and designs of God. At the same time, the one who belongs to Christ, and is led by his Spirit, shares the views, feelings, and purposes of Christ. So, while we are in the flesh, it is not possible for man to fully understand God's nature but, through Christ, His nature can be revealed through us.
I mention this because my mind has been wandering again. As I sit in the quietness, I have spent time dwelling on everything from the creation of all things to the crucifixion of the one who created all things.
This type of contemplation is not an attempt to understand the, "hows' and the "whys," of the the Father, but rather it is an exercise that draws me into the vastness of the God I serve. It allows my soul to begin to touch the immenseness of the Father who has chosen me, with all my faults and imperfections, all my blemishes and scars, and whispered in my ear, "I am Abba. You belong to me." And, it is there, in the stillness, pondering the awesome grandeur of all he has done, that I begin to see more of the glory of my Father. I begin to see more of the perfection of his plan and his purposes.
It is in that place, not understanding, but lost in the vastness of the glory, plan and purposes of the Father, I begin to see beauty. I begin to experience the beauty of everything that is God. In the end, Jonathan Edwards would argue, that is the goal of the Christian life, "To enjoy and reflect the beauty of God."
In these moments, when my soul is captivated by the shear immenseness of all things and the beauty of my Lord, there is complete contentment. There is remarkable peace. There is indescribable tranquility. They are instants in time which provide glimpses of future glory when time will be no more. They are occasions of prayer without words. Praise without sound. Worship that bows my soul in silence before my Abba.
It is here that I relate to King David's greatest desire and his passionate request :
One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4 (ESV)
God is holy, to be sure. His love is faultless, his plans and purposes flawless. His glory, reflected in all things, is indescribable. Every attribute of God is perfect in perfection. But, in eternity, when we gaze on all the divine virtues that make the Father who he is, we will see beauty. And, we will spend eternity gazing upon the sheer, continually increasing, beauty that flows from our Abba.
In these all to short times of silent prayer, my soul touches the outermost fringe of that beauty, and cries with deep longing, "Come, Lord Jesus!"
But I digress. Here's where my mind has been wandering this past week. The week in which we remember Christ's passion and resurrection.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made". John 1:1-3 (ESV)
And:
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (ESV)
My meditation has been on two thoughts from these verses. First, this Word, who both was with God and was God, created all things. And second, this Word somehow took on human form and dwelt with man.
Having the Spirit of God in me causes every part of my being to cry out that these words are true. And, with my mind, I can partially understand what this is saying. But I am not able to picture what this would even begin to look like. My mind cannot come close to grasping how it is remotely possible for the Word to create everything from nothing. In fact, I cannot begin to imagine what nothing would even look like. It's a God dimension thing that doesn't translate into my three dimensional world view.
The same is true of the Word becoming flesh. I get it. I even celebrate Christmas every year. But picturing how that happens in three dimensional terms is just not possible.
But the Father gives me the freedom to wonder. He allows me to take my three dimensional view, and try to wander in God dimensional territory. That is often where I get trapped in the vastness of God, and begin to sit transfixed, gazing on his beauty.
I wonder about the Word designing the perfect ecosystem on this blessed planet. Everything about it had to be ideal to support the life he was going to create on it. But, I wonder, when he created trees to gather energy from the sun he spoke into existence, and to convert the carbon dioxide that animal life would exhale into oxygen for that same life to inhale, what thoughts crossed his mind? When he created those trees, did he picture one of them cut into beams, and formed into a cross, in order to crucify the flesh he was going to become?
When he added thorn bushes to his perfect ecosystem, did he look toward the day when one of them would be used to form a crown of mockery that would be jammed onto the head of the flesh he was going to become?
When flax became part of his creation, part of the unique biosphere, did he envision the linen that would come from it being made into the garments that would be gambled for at the foot of the cross, or the robe that Herod would place on him to ridicule him? Did he see the flesh he was going to become being placed, broken, battered, beaten, and lifeless into the shroud of linen made from the seed of the flax he was creating?
When the Word placed iron ore into the ground of the favored planet, did he visualize the day it would be taken from the ground, smelted, and made into steel? Particularly, did he picture the day that steel would form the nails that would hold his flesh to the cross made from the tree he created? Did he imagine the same steel being formed into the hammer that would pound the nails through his hands and feet into the cold beams? Did he think of the steel that would form the spearhead of the spear that would pierce the side of the flesh that he would become?
There are so many things.
When the Word created man from the dust, and sent life giving blood pumping through his body, did he think of the future day when he would become flesh, and the life giving blood would drip from his body? When the Word gave man nerves to feel, and sense pain, did he imagine the pain that would be inflicted on him when he became flesh? When he gave man a body of flesh, did he anticipate the day the nails would be driven into the flesh of his hands and feet? Or the moment the spear would pierce the flesh of his side?
There are, obviously, no answers to these questions, for they belong to God's dimension alone. But, I consider them when I sit in stillness, not for answers, but because they take me to that place of the vastness of God. And from there, it is a short trip to beholding his beauty. And, for now, that is more than enough. For in that place, I become keenly aware that, while I may not know everything the Word was thinking when he spun things into existence, His Spirit bears witness to my spirit, that he was thinking of me. And, in that, there is rest.
