I'm Beginning to Understand

"For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ."

-Apostle Paul, Galatians 1:11-12

It is interesting that Paul the apostle refers to his knowledge of the gospel as "not man's gospel" and that he was not taught it. If anyone, Paul would be one of the few Christians who could say that he was, in fact, "taught" the gospel because he walked with Jesus. Instead, he phrases that he "received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." It paints an interesting landscape of what salvation looks like.

I think about strong, academic figures such as my Art History professor who studies Christian arts, scripture, and symbolism as a part of her profession as well as her life. She reviews pieces by the great Albrecht Dürer, who was the first Protestant artist who stood beside Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation. She studied this man of God who painted pictures that delivered messages of our new-found freedom from the law, the right for an individual to own, read, and interpret their bible, the terrors of living a lukewarm, desperate life, and the power that God's fully available armor can give during a walk in the valley of death & dying. She interpreted a plethora of crucifixion paintings, pin-pointing and scripturally (accurately) explaining every element down to the stroke. Honestly, she was teaching me about my God. After hearing this, one can understand why to this day it completely perplexes me as to how none of these truths ever clicked with her.

Paul makes it very clear that recognizing that Jesus is your Savior goes beyond a semester or even a reputable career in the education of His life and His message. He uses the term "revelation." It becomes apparent that there is more than merely understanding it. Such as if I now understood the importance of 'Going Green' or understood any other popular, self-righteous religion. There is a revelation of Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ. There exists a transformation. It is more than "Okay you got me; I'll go to church." This is not the primary goal of conversion. It is a recognition of utter and complete depravity and a desperate yearning for an effigy greater than anything this distraction-producing world can provide for us.

A taste that never leaves my tongue; a Word that never leaves my lips; a name that never leaves my heart.

This revelation of Christ reveals the gaping chasm in one's heart. The begging one's soul has for light is revealed. What good news is it to know that one can't possibly stay the same anymore! The world says "run" because it is a guilt ride to moralism. Never in my walk with God or time in biblical texts have I ever seen this. It has become clear to me that if one assumes biblical text to be a one-dimensional book of law-and-punishment, then this is how one will read it. It is unfortunate for them that this is not what these historical documents were written to function as. Every word, every story screams at the top of its lungs and points to Christ. Some louder than others.

Yes! This revelation of Jesus Christ is an opportunity to go back to the start; it is to slide one's roots into rich soil near streams of water. Watch the branches grow. Watch the fruits ripen. Feel the living water coursing through your insides.

So what do I make of this revelation now? I make it my everything. My first instinct is to ask "Why, is this predestination? How could this be? Is there only hope in those whom God chooses and not in anyone who seeks?"

A lesson worth learning is that God didn't commit a crime against his creation. Creation committed a crime against God and the Judge, in His incomprehensive grace, has simply allowed some of them to plead insanity.