I cannot tell how He will win the nations,
How He will claim His earthly heritage,
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of east and west, of sinner and of sage.
But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory,
And He shall reap the harvest He has sown,
And some glad day His sun shall shine in splendour
When He the Saviour, Saviour of the World, is known.
In a way that no mortal mind can understand because of its wonder, its glory, its power and cosmic scope, God will reap the harvest of a people made in the fashion and image of His only Son. And, though we cannot take it fully in while limited by our own mortality, we should know this: our Father speaks to us in the Scriptures to bring us to a place of true understanding concerning His eternal purposes which are in Christ Jesus. Those purposes can only be realized in the union between God and man: both in Jesus as head of the new creation, and in us as we come forth in new creation reality. This realization sets the scope for two Scriptures that we will consider briefly:
1 Tim 3.16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh...
Mk 4.13,14: And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word.
In all of God's overtures to us, He speaks of things that we have not seen and cannot understand: He speaks of heavenly verities, while we are steeped in the lesser realities of a fallen creation. It takes a deep inner working for us to be trained and equipped to hear the Voice of the Spirit clearly. And, even when we hear, how can we understand? The language of heaven -- the language of the Spirit -- has no basis of translation into our speech. It is as though a man blind from birth is told of the wonders of vivid color!
But thank God that He has bridged the infinite chasm between us in Christ! Thank God that there is now a Man after His own nature, and we have a kinship with the Father, and can now be introduced to heavenly things.
All that God does is necessarily shrouded in mystery to us. In fact, the whole of the Scriptures can be viewed as a parable, given to us by God, because we cannot yet bear plain speech. By this I don't mean that the Scriptures are merely symbolic or interpretive, or that there is no literal truth or historical accuracy in them. What I mean is that through them he introduces us to much higher realities and a more real, more substantive plane of existence. And what He has been gracious to speak to us in these precious words is absolutely necessary, because, without them, we cannot arrive at our destination or fulfill our eternal purposes.
God was manifest in the flesh! What a wonderful paradox that both reveals and enhances the Mystery of His Being. That God came in the flesh is the beginning of the disclosure to us of His nature, but also reveals unto us the "so much more" that we have not yet comprehended of His Majesty and Glory. Paul is saying to Timothy that God, coming to us in human flesh, wrapped in mortality, tabernacling among us, is that which both initiates us and draws us ever deeper into the wonder of His Being. In fact, this is the basis of all that God says to us through the Spirit (read 1 Jn 4.1-3).
"Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow." So begins the parable of Jesus to His followers in Mark 4. And before He discloses it, He says: "Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?" There are other parables He wants to tell us as well, but this one is the key to our understanding, and a comprehension here will open the door to all of God's future speakings to us. This emphasis is His, not mine; if we do not take this in, receive it and believe it, dwell upon it and live from it, we will always struggle and will open ourselves to deception. "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God [v. 11]" to them "that were about him with the twelve," when He was alone. This means you and me, if we will come, not merely the select group signified by the twelve. But we must come when He is alone. This parable is only revealed in the closet.
"The sower soweth the word." This is why God will reap a divine harvest from the earth. Divine seed has been sown! The Word of God, most precious of all seeds, sown into the earth! That seed is our connection with a different order, and is, of all treasures, the most precious and costly that we could possess. The parable makes clear that it must be nurtured and protected above all else, lest that seed should be snatched from our hearts by the Evil One, or wither in tribulation, or simply be forgotten among our other concerns. If given reverential place, and treated as the wonderful treasure it is, it will -- wonderfully, mysteriously! -- bring forth much fruit.
Think of it! The seed of the Word, God's Son, and the Brightness of His Glory, in us! Christ in us, the hope of Glory! No wonder that we are now partakers of the divine nature; nothing less would be fitting repast for the King who dwells within. Did you know that when Paul wrote those words to Timothy -- "God was manifest in the flesh" -- the context was the church? He manifested Himself in Christ; just so He intends to manifest Christ in us.
If the wonderful possibilities of our union with God in Christ come alive to us, we will become true worshipers. If we see this glorious salvation in its reality -- the poverty from which we have been delivered, and the abundance of our new place in Him -- we will give God ten thousand thanks. And so we shall, for endless ages to come.
-GHS
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