Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Scripture is so much bigger and so much smaller than the sentimental and superficial eye may see. To look upon the text with ever increasing delight in its riches that reveal the beauty and glory of God is far different from approaching it merely for a word, a motivational message, validation of one’s own bias, to tear down an opponent, or for sentimental and mystical means. Such a man will never know its power and beauty. He has not beheld it, shall not behold it, and cannot begin to comprehend or appreciate its richness.

That man who begins to search its depths finds no end, and yet finds beauty incomprehensible, while the Spirit reveals more and more of its glory the deeper he goes into the text. And though he goes so deep, he often returns again to its surface only to discover endless beauties he did not see before. Now those depths have made richer the beauty at the surface. The deeper he goes, the more beautiful the surface becomes.

The longer he abides in its abundant riches, the more rightly he sees himself and thinks himself no better than the man who has just been born again. For he, like him, has experienced new life as a gift. Though he may possess that by which he may encourage the new saint in his way, teaching him in the truth, they stand upon equal footing before a holy God, justified by faith alone in Christ alone. What a gift.

Oh, no man can truly comprehend it. The heart oft takes flight, tears sting the eyes, and joy swallows up sorrows as the mind thinks upon such mercy, such grace, such wisdom, such power: that God would save enemies of such holiness, regenerate them, and declare them justified by the perfect life and death of Another, the only One worthy and able to save them, Christ Jesus, truly God, who took upon Himself the form of a servant, adding flesh to His deity, living the righteous life we could not live, and dying the death we deserve, willingly doing so for the glory of God.

How can it be that the heart forgets such benefits, such beauty, such grace, such mercy? It attendeth not to that sweet counsel of the Lord by searching deeply into His Word and oft finding riches even upon its surface. God’s Word is never bitter, though the heart may grow bitter. It is the rich bread upon which every dear saint finds his delight. He daily partakes of it, and the soul is satisfied.

The Spirit works in the man for whom the daily partaking of the Word is not mere duty or superficial reading, but delight upon which he meditates day and night. The heart and mind, the will and emotions, all are being transformed according to the will of God. Such is the man whose desires are increasingly conformed to the will of God through the Word, and therefore he prays according to that will. His delight is in the Word of God, and his desire is that the will of God be done.

What good plans might there be but that which God has ordained and shall surely come to pass? In whom shall the saint trust for his care, his needs, and his desires, but the One who does all things well? Let the heart abide in the Word of God and the mind meditate day and night, such that the saint is set in watchfulness to behold the good that God has ordained. For He can do nothing but that which is right, good, holy, and just.

And in His mercy and grace, they contend not against His other perfections. Rather, the wonder is this: that God’s grace is abundant and His justice fully satisfied in Christ toward all who trust in Him. Even in His discipline upon His children, they shall find mercy and grace. They shall not despise it, but be humbled under it, lest they should be found illegitimate. All God does is good.

In the rising and setting of each new day, eternity itself testifies: before anything existed, God. The Triune God, in need of nothing and no one, created. There was no longing in Him, nothing incomplete or lacking. God created to display His glory and His power.

If at the beginning it is settled in the heart of man that God created because something in Him was lacking, or because He desired companionship, then before Genesis 1 we have already stumbled. “In the beginning God.” Yes. And “in the beginning God created,” not from need, but for His own glory.

The fall of man came as no surprise to God. He is not a weak deity imagined by the minds of men. He has revealed Himself in creation, wherein all may behold His glory and ascribe to Him the glory due His name. And He has given us His Word, that there we may behold His glory in a way we shall never exhaust.

The dead hear the external call through His Word, and as the Spirit works, many hear the effectual call whereby men are saved. God’s Word is not mere letters rearranged to tell stories from the perspectives of men. It is the Word of God, His self-revelation for every generation. It is living and powerful, and no man has ever exhausted its depths or fully searched its surface. Yet every man who studies God’s Word with delight, seeking truth with a humble heart and mind before it, finds grace wrought afresh within him through these gracious means.

Dear saint, delight in the Word of God and meditate upon it day and night.