The Word Revealed

By His grace God has made Himself known to the world.  The living God spoke with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses to whom He gave His law.  Moses emphasised how accessible and understandable God's law was in Deuteronomy 30:11-14, "For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' ¹⁴ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it."

God and knowledge of His laws was not in a far off, inaccessible location found by the wisest or most pious among them.  They did not need to develop technology to launch into space to find answers to life's questions, nor did they need to invent submersibles.  They did not need to be professors like Indiana Jones who followed clues, deciphered riddles, found relics and made discoveries to know the exact spot where they needed to dig.  God's people simply were called to love God and do the things He told them to do.  Now we know how easy it is for people to complicate things, and the Law of Moses was no exception.  The Jews went beyond the letter of the Law by defining how to properly do what God said.  Jesus went further still by illuminating the thoughts and intents of our hearts that condemn us as sinful even when we have followed the Law without fail.

Jesus fulfilled the Law and summed it up in a sentence:  to love the LORD with all our hearts and our neighbour as ourselves.  Jesus gave a new commandment, that we would love one another as Jesus loves us.  Our righteousness is not according to the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ who has redeemed and reconciled us to God.  Jesus, the Word of God, has come near us--into our hearts by faith--and provides the Holy Spirit to help and guide us into all truth.  Ironically, we can feel like opportunities for ministry are far off.  We imagine we must have a particular role or ministry in the church to be fruitful, or more education is required for us to understand and enter into the deeper things of God.  People think the satisfaction they long for will be enjoyed after they are married, are in the mission field, are part of a larger or smaller church.  It is a wonder disillusionment does not derail them from faith after they actually have what they sought and still lack peace or satisfaction they assumed was guaranteed.

Though we often complicate things, the truth remains simple and very near us:  our peace, satisfaction and fruitfulness is found in Jesus Christ alone.  We do not need to go to a foreign field to freely serve God, for we can walk in His love to people in our own houses, at our jobs, in our current sphere.  The person who thinks there will be a feeling of accomplishment after preaching the Gospel to 10,000 people in one arena will be disappointed, but we can be blessed beyond words by sharing the Gospel with a friend we are eating lunch with.  We can walk in the light of the Gospel to help mum clean the kitchen, choosing to deny ourselves for the sake of obedience to Christ.  Deuteronomy 29:29 said previously, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."  The secret things only God knows have great allure, but Jesus has revealed Himself to us as LORD and commanded us to love one another.  We can do this today, right where we are, today.  What wisdom and satisfaction we have at hand in Jesus who leads us to do God's will!