Discovering the Essence of God
“My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; the
humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the
LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together. I
sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me
from all my fears.” -Psalm 34:2-4 (New King
James Version)
The ultimate goal of every Christian is to discover
the “essence of God.” We have embarked
on a journey of spiritual reflection during the
forty days of LENT with the goal of drawing
closer to God as revealed in His son, Jesus
Christ. With each new understanding of one
small facet of God, we experience a joy beyond
words. Seeking God in Jesus strengthens our
hearts and minds when faced with the struggles
and disappointments of life.
Philip Yancey, in his book Reaching for the
Invisible God, envisions Jesus as the
“magnifying glass” of faith. He tells of ordering
a special one-volume edition of the Oxford English
Dictionary for only $39.95. The only drawback
was the typesetting had shrunken the
words so small that no one on earth could possibly
read it unaided. Next, he purchased a magnifying
glass – the kind jewelers use, the size of
a dinner plate, mounted on a swivel arm. With
that he could pore over the shades of meaning of
any word in English.
The secret of using a magnifying glass is to
train the glass on one small area – a focal point.
Of course, everything around the edges of the
focal point grows progressively distorted. In an
exact parallel, Jesus is the focal point of our
faith. We need to keep focused on Jesus during
this Lenten season and beyond.
When our spiritual journey lingers on the margins,
pondering unanswerable questions about
the problem of pain, providence versus free will,
and other such matters everything becomes fuzzy.
Looking at Jesus restores clarity.
Many Christian doctrines are bothersome.
What about hell? What of those who die without
ever hearing about Jesus? It would be good to
consider the response of Bishop Ambrose, mentor
of Augustine, who was asked on his deathbed
whether he feared facing God at judgment. “We
have a good Master,” Ambrose replied with a
smile. We can learn to trust God with our doubts
and struggles by getting to know Jesus. I believe
this reflects the centrality of Jesus in the New
Testament. We start with Him as the focal point
and let our eyes wander with care into the margins.
By looking at Jesus, we will gain insight into
how God feels about what goes on “down here.”
Jesus expresses the essence of God in a way we
cannot misconstrue.
Blessings,
Joe
