7 Minutes
The divine sculpting of the sapphire stone tables, in form and content, serve as the example for the firmness of the truth that we receive in the word of God. In form, the word is written and spoken. In content, the word is revelation, inspiration, and providence and it addresses us personally. Like the appearance to the elders seeing God, we too see God in the Word in the Person of the Son. The sapphire foundation and the sapphire throne are one in the same. And this stone was cut out of the throne by God as will be the stone that becomes the great mountain. The stones themselves are the work of God. Both represent the narrative and the foundational importance of God’s law.
Exodus 24:10, 11, 12 Ezekiel 1:26 Exodus 32:15, 16 Daniel 2:34, 35, 44, 45
What is meant by sculpting the word of God? We understand that to sculpt is to produce a three-dimensional representation. The first dimension is the gospel in “word” which embraces all truth. The second, the gospel in “deed” validates how one lives, how one loves, and how one behaves. It is the call to join Christ in purpose. Lastly, the gospel in “power” is the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is how the word sculpted designs our character.
When we are truly converted, the truths in the word of God will convict us deeply. We will want to understand what it means to be truthful in Christ. We read, study, and discuss the bible and we are often moved by the message. But, by it, do we do the business of God? The most freeing thing we could possibly experience is being willing to put it all on the line for the cause of Christ, whether he asks us to or not. We must be freed from the divided heart. Every word of God is a test and we know the sorrow of the times we are in. When we are moved by the word of God, yet forsake to carry out its principle, we fail the test. Oh, how my heart hurts so much to have to continually write about our difficulties. God gives us the truth of the word in black and white, and then He asks us to come unto Him to reason in His word that we may see the colors in the mirror of truth. God routinely tests His people. Not so that He will learn what we will actually do, because God already knows all things that we have done, are doing, and will do. Instead, it is for the strengthening and purification of the faith of God’s people so we might learn to depend on Him more. We can grow through tests.
Furthermore, when God reasons with us, He speaks to us in discovery terms so that we might hear and know that He chooses “now to use us” according to His purpose. The word of God is well supplied with testing verses related to God’s expressions where He speaks in human terms, in human ways, as He reveals Himself to and through His people. The problem we have is that we have “little understanding”. God tests us to find out if we love Him with all our heart. But if God knows all things in the present, then doesn’t He know if we love Him or not? Of course He does. So, this is a problem of our understanding. God is testing us so that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened. This, that our inner moral and spiritual life develop a spiritual character. The heart is the real us. This inner person, who is the real us, sees and knows things that are not identical with what the eyes of the body can see. The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know. We feel it in a thousand things. There is a spiritual seeing, through and beyond natural seeing. There is a spiritual hearing, through and beyond natural hearing. There is spiritual discerning, through and beyond natural reasoning.
This is how sculpting the word, shaping and forming it, helps to conceive of the innate knowledge of God and His will as a kind of mold in the human heart. This mold, or sculpted purpose is designed by God in every human heart with a shape, or a form, that corresponds to the glory of God. In other words, if the glory of God were seen with the eyes of the heart, it would fit the mold so perfectly that we would know the glory is real. We would know we were made for this. God, testing us to prove the genuineness of our faith means that the hollowed-out shapes of the mold, which are perfectly shaped for the all-satisfying glory of God, may be packed hard with the love of the truth of His word. If we are to grow in faith, in truth, in wisdom, then we must learn to step up and seek God’s perspective. The word of God does not tell us to look at others. We are to test God’s word while remembering that we belong to God, and we are in God’s hands. The test is not to see if God is right or wrong...God is always right. The test is to see if our love for Him is so accomplished that we can be entrusted to speak His truth.
The concept of truth has clearly fallen on hard times, and the consequences of rejecting it are ravaging human society but especially those who are professing to be a people who claim to want to know truth. There are some who receive the word of God as the truth constructed by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of convicting and convincing the faithful in the ways of God. These use collective judgment, reasoning with every line of precept. Then there are some who cynically consider truth to be preference and opinion. Whenever someone tries to dissociate truth from the knowledge of God, they are attempting to escape righteousness. They deny and suppress the essential connection between God and truth. If they had any degree of sobriety, they would realize that truth and knowledge find their coherent significance in the same fixed source, namely, God. When God is the starting point of reasoning and we respond to what is revealed, we will find certainty in the embodied narrative of the word. Authentic godliness invokes God as a witness that He might corroborate the great message of salvation. What if a truth is presented to you that destroys what you thought was true? Would you shield yourself from correction by hardening your heart or condemning another?
The reality of truth is that no assumptions can validate it. We need to examine the whole truth. Consider the multifaceted perspectives offered. Regard that there may be a wider picture of the whole truth that you did not see, some of what you’ve come to accept as truth may need to be repositioned. You must determine to accept nothing but the truth. You may have layered your truth with opinions, perceptions, reactions, and conclusions that are not, in fact, consistent with the whole truth. Truth may be packaged in more than one revelation. The master learner begins at a single point and proceeds to produce an acceptance of the truth, revelation by revelation, understanding by understanding. Some truths are deeper and more impacting than others. Trust the truth and knowledge will come to you.
Proverbs 18:13
We come together to reason to prepare for what God will reveal to us. There must be a longing in our wanting to be in the presence of God. When we long for God, we go out of our way to worship, to study. When we long for God, we go out of our way to pray, to think about God, to be in conversation with God. And none of these things feel like tasks on a list because they spring out of our love for God, our desire to be in the presence of God. When was the last time you went out of your way to study with God? It is not the schedule that is being tested, it is the heart. Do you ever wonder, if in fact, you do long to be in the presence of God? I do hope that we know that love needs to be cultivated. In knowing that, we might want to also cultivate a longing to be in the presence of God. God wants to draw us closer, deeper into His love and grace.
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