In Ephesians 3:8, Paul says that he had been given the grace to “preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.” To the church in Colossi he said that hidden in this Man who is the mystery of God are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3). We must behold Jesus personally, and we must behold Him specifically. For these treasures of which the apostle speaks are hidden. They cannot be found merely by skimming the surface of New Testament language. Thus, you might say that we must behold Jesus thoroughly, or deeply.
These are both very true and do describe the heart of what I am trying to focus on here. Yet I chose the adjective specifically in order to draw attention to the details. Every detail concerning Jesus contained in Scripture is exceedingly precious, and our greatest joy must be to tirelessly mine the pages to uncover all we can about Him. One does not need academic achievements or intellectual prowess to access the riches of His glory. Only time, hunger, and love are required. In order to worship Jesus rightly and love Him supremely – in order to be a Christian – it is necessary to press beyond a collection of general statements about Christ and actually plunge into the minutia of what the Bible says about Him.
General affirmations about Jesus are valuable, but insufficient if they are not the product of thousands of pieces of truth that have been assembled into a summary. In other words, when it comes to Jesus, the only kind of good generality is one that represents a great deal of specificity. If general statements move from being a threshold to a destination, they are unhelpful at best. Consider, for example, the statement “Jesus is divine”. For every Christian heart this should be a joyful proclamation that stands as the culmination of scouring hundreds of passages from the Old and New Testament. The confession should be just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. What if, instead, this confession doesn’t have anything beneath the surface? What if it is a concept that floats about in one’s mind with no mountain of knowledge beneath it? I will explore the answer to this question and elaborate on the importance of having a specific knowledge of Jesus in the next post on this theme.
This post is part of the series titled Jesus at the Crossroads. If you would like to support this website and Stephen’s ministry, simply give via the Paypal link on the right or click here for more information on specific needs and different ways to partner with Stephen financially.
“Every detail concerning Jesus contained in Scripture is exceedingly precious, and our greatest joy must be to tirelessly mine the pages to uncover all we can about Him.”
Amen and amen. Strengthen us to this end Lord, and open our eyes “so that we may see the miraculous things,” the “wondrous things” (Ps 119:18) hidden within your Word.