Psalm 139:1-6 English Standard Version

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Who doesn’t like a good mystery? I cannot say, I am not one of them that can just let go of a good mystery. I am built that way and I am not alone. Not everyone is built this way and this may not help some who are about to read this thesis.

2 Corinthians 8:7 English Standard Version (ESV) But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you[a]—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

Footnote [a] Some manuscripts in your love for us

It is easy to get caught up in searching out the deeper things of God. There are thousands of years of documentation of Godly pursuit of knowledge. Paul, as Saul, studied under Gamaliel who was thought to be a leading scholar of his time.  Paul went beyond Gamaliel in knowledge of God and there can be a point in a diligent student’s life when they seek more than what their teacher has to offer.

The student exceeds the master. Pride masked in yearning for truth.

John 3:1-3 English Standard Version

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus answered Nicodemus but Nick did not ask a question. Jesus looked into his heart, knew what was bothering him and answered that question. Jesus has all the answers.

Some of us can get so caught up in being “the answer man”, the one that everyone turns to for answers, that we lose sight of Paul’s warning. We need to excel in grace.

Know-it-alls answer questions that haven’t been asked. That does not make us like Christ.

Ephesians 5:31-32 English Standard Version 

31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Which is it, our big brother or our betrothed?

What is the profound mystery?

The answer to the first question is both. The adoption into the family of God is stated as a current condition. We are in our current state being conformed. Betrothed however is related to a future state which will remain in effect until the wedding feast. Both are based on promises made by God which are conditional.

The first is justification by faith placed in the finished works of Christ. We have no say in the matter. Everything related to our justification and sanctification is the purview of God the Father and God the Father alone.

The second is one of betrothal that indicates a matter of gracious endeavors bestowed upon us as members of the body of Christ, His universal church, His betrothed. These gracious endeavors are identified in gifts and talents for the sole purpose of building and bettering His Church. 

While we have no say in the adoption process, we do have a say in the betrothal process. We have a relationship with the bridegroom and that requires communication. We cannot do what is asked of us unless we first hear His instructions, understand those instructions and love Him enough to carry out those instructions.

The reason we have no say in the adoption process is because that status never changes. There is nothing we can do to alter that condition.

The status of the bride is expected to change. While His love and commitment to His bride is inviolate, the betrothed is expected to grow closer to the bridegroom and learn to love Him in ways the world could never teach us. That is not a matter of flesh, it is pure spirit.

That is where the great mystery comes into play.