How to be a Know-It-All

 "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen." 2 Peter 3:18

    On June 7, 1996, my parents gifted me with a Bible. On the dedication page, my mom wrote the reference to the verse above, the last written words of the Apostle Peter. 

    Like the impetuous Peter, I sometimes think I know-it-all. I can relate to him when he drew a sword in the Gethsemane garden in defense of Jesus (John 18:10). I'd like to think I'd be ready to follow my Lord fervently, even to prison and martyrdom (Luke 22:33). If we're honest, any of us would rather be remembered as being heroic than being the one who denied even knowing Christ (Luke 22:57). Like Peter, my hopes would also be blotted out by the blood of an executed Messiah.

    That's why Peter's advice above keeps coming back to me; these are words of wisdom spoken by someone who knows. There are two keys to unlocking the wisdom. First, I must grow in grace. This requires humility, a stepping-aside in love to be a better listener, to get off my high horse and wash the feet of others (John 13:14). Second, I give Him the glory both now and forever! Apart from Jesus, I can do nothing (John 15:5).

    When Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus, he said, "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19, emphasis added)

    Upon reading that, I wondered how I can know something that "surpasses knowledge"? 

    It wasn't until I looked back upon the doodle I had made when journaling the verse. I had drawn a horizontal line to demonstrate how wide and how long is the love of Christ. Then, I had drawn a vertical line to express how high and deep it is. Lo and behold, there before me was a cross!

    If I want to be a know-it-all, I must set aside my Bible and just bask in the Presence of Christ, to let His love pour over me. 

    Life goes full circle. Before the Fall of Mankind, Adam used to walk with God in the cool of the day, perhaps talking about the animals or gazing up at the galaxies in wonder. Since sin entered in, God and Man have pined for one another, keenly missing the blessing of that fellowship. Thanks be to God, the bridge has been mended by the Cross! The vertical and the horizontal meet in the middle as the vortex of history swirls around Calvary. 

    When the ascended Christ restored the repentant Peter over breakfast on the shores of Galilee, He did so by asking, "Do you love me?" (John 15-19) Jesus asks the same of me and of you before bidding us to "Follow Me." 

    That's when the real learning begins.

"Be still and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10

"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." 1 Corinthians 13:8

     

The Rainbow and the Cross

 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of the flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Colossians 2: 13-15

    After Bible study the other night, my friend and I were treated to an awesome sky designed simply to delight us. As we drove home, it was challenging to stay in my lane as I craned to see this spectacle. The dark cloud bank on one end lay in stark contrast to the setting sun at the west, where the brooding bunch reluctantly parted, ushering in a golden splendor that bathed shadowy trees in a holy illumination. 

    As we rounded a bend, the crowning glory came into view as a full rainbow arched across the dramatic vista stealing our breath. By that time, it became clear I needed to pull over to take a picture. After obtaining the best view, I shared it with my friend, lamenting the telephone pole that stood in the way of the otherwise perfect pic. 

    Then my friend wisely commented, "But did you notice the pole is in the shape of a cross?"

    Indeed, what I had perceived as being "in the way" became the focal point of the photograph as the cross, with all its redemptive hope, took center stage over the now secondary rainbow.  It was a blessing to see these two symbols of God's covenants with mankind occupying the same scene. 

    Once home, gratefulness for God's promises filled my heart as I pondered the photo.

    After the great flood, God said to Noah, "Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." (Genesis 9: 14-15) 

    Just as the ark saved Noah and his family, the blood of Christ provided salvation to all who believe in His name. As Jesus said at the Last Supper, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." (Luke 22:20) By His death on the cross, He ushered in the new covenant spoken of in the Old Testament when God said, "I will be their God and they will be my people...For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31: 33-34)

    How many people have stumbled over the cross, seeing it as an offense that is "in the way" rather than the very thing that has the power to save them from an eternal doom? My prayer is that the love of God breaks through their clouded heart with holy illumination, accepting Jesus as their personal Savior.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18