The Bottom Line
Pastor Jimmy Tucker
“Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways!” (Romans 11:33 NLT). There are many things in the Bible that we can’t explain or even understand. Satan tries to use these things to shake our faith, but it helps to know that we’re not expected to understand, but to believe. God has given enough evidence for us to believe if we want to. But God never removes the possibility of doubt.
It’s impossible for us to fully comprehend God and His ways. Even for the smartest and most-highly educated, God remains behind a cloud of mystery. We can only understand as much as He reveals to us. Beyond that, we continue to trust His Holy Spirit, Who is full of love and wants us to know Him better.
The Apostle Peter says “…Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction” (2 Peter 3:16 NLT).
Skeptics use the hard-to-understand portions of Scripture as arguments against the Bible and the God who authored it. But if the Bible could be easily understood and God’s greatness and majesty could be grasped by finite human beings, then the Bible would lose its divine authority and God’s great glory would be diminished. So, the skeptic’s arguments intended to show the Bible false, actually provide a strong evidence of the Bible’s divine inspiration and God’s greatness.
God has made the plan of salvation plain enough for us to take the necessary steps of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is for those who will humble themselves as a child and obey His Holy Spirit. Behind these simple truths are mysteries that overwhelm human understanding. Such as Jesus being born of a virgin, the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I say with Mary the mother of Jesus, “How can these things be?” But also like Mary, I believe.
“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12 NLT). The more I read the truths of the Bible, the stronger I am convinced that it is the Word of the Living God. I am aware of a certain pride that wants to be able to understand and explain every portion of Scripture. But when this pride crops up, I need to humble myself and acknowledge the impossibility of such a desire.
Pride and unbelief are more dangerous than a gunnysack full of rattlesnakes. In all eternity we will be ever learning and yet never exhaust the treasures of His wisdom and goodness. God intends for truth to be constantly unfolding to His people through the Holy Spirit of Christ Who dwells within us.
The Bottom Line: As you meditate on His Word, the truth will lift up your head and elevate your mind as no other study can.
Pastor Jimmy Tucker
(620) 223-1483
Diamond Community Church