It is the glory of God to keep a thing secret:but the glory of kings is to have it searched out.
Pro 25:2
Who and what
It is pretty clear who God is in this verse. Well, God. But who is the kings the verse is talking about?
Both in Exodus as well as in Peter’s letters we find the answer to that. In the OT, the people of Israel were called to be a priestly kingship, and in the NT, that role shifts to the church.
Wait, I thought that Jesus is king? He is even more: he is King of kings. And we are the kings.
Therefore it is our glory to search out the secrets of God.
But what are those secrets of God?
I think we find out from the past as told in the Bible. What has been discovered by the heroes of the Bible all along? I would say, the ways and principles of God with man.
God’s ways with man
God started by creating man and then spending time with him on a daily basis. They were together in the cool of the day. We don’t know whether that was early morning or evening. Some would say it had to be morning just to start off your day right. Other place this in the evening, as they would love to show God what they have done. Whatever. God was there in person.
The fall changed all that and people had to find a way to encounter God. A journey of restoration started taking place, and has been for the rest of history of mankind.
God’s ways and his principles were discovered along the way. Be it the law or be it kingship, told by prophets or by judges. Be it grace and the cross, and later sola fide, saved by faith, or the gifts of the Spirit, or the fivefold ministry. Just look back at the long line of secrets from God we discovered and rediscovered,
Adam knew not of the Holy Spirit. The OT new little of Christ before Isaiah. Before Moses, there was no law. Before Abraham, there was no name for God.
Growing revelation
The Bible promises that revelation will keep growing. And we still are kings. Thus, I think it is save to derive that there are more secrets to be found that God hid for such a time as this.
I am convinced that God never stops hiding surprises for us. He goes from glory to glory, and so do we. Translate this with the verse above, and you get: God will keep hiding stuff that we are to discover.
Some people think that we know everything about the Bible and Christian lifestyle. At least if we combine everything that man knows. Sure, a single person does not contain all knowledge, but together?
Shortly before Luther, they thought that they knew everything about the God from the Bible. And along came the biggest restoration of truth since Jesus and Paul. But then, we surely knew everything, didn’t we? Just think about adult baptism, assurance of salvation, healing, the gifts of the Spirit, the fivefold ministry, priesthood of all—just to name a few.
People in the third century had to cover up with a new theology for the gifts not flowing any longer in their midst. They said that after the Bible, the perfect had come, gifts were not necessary any longer. People in the late 1800 were convinced that this was true through century long teaching and experience. Imagine their shock when they learned differently in the pentecostal revival.
How can we dare to think that we know it all. That would mean that we ceased to be kings, or that this is all there is to know. Because the Bible also tells us that God will restore all things. So this is all?
Looking in the wrong places
If it had been 400 years since last time something new was discovered, I could slightly understand why one would think that there is nothing new. But wait, I would be reminded of the time between Malachi and Jesus, the biggest discovery of man kind and all history.
But just like the pharisees, we look in the wrong places for revelation. They missed Jesus for he did not come as they expected.
Looking at billboards that announce Chrislam, melting Christendom with Islam, and seeing the antichrist’s work and the beginning of the end in that, will not draw us closer to God. Unless fear or pride—as in: I knew it—were the new way to God.
Looking to the mid east, applying Bible verses on newspaper articles, will not give us a clock to time the return of Jesus.
Looking at blood moons, visible in the US but not in Israel for the most part, and likening it with prophecies from the Bible literally, leaving out that those prophecies were given in signs and symbols, will not help us discover the secrets of God.
The secrets of God are not hidden out there. They used to be. In the OT, the law was external, on stone tablets. Now, it is written on our hearts. In the OT, God’s Spirit rested upon people, now he lives in us.
Where to look
The Kingdom is peace, righteousness, and joy. All three have one thing in common. They are on the inside of us. The Kingdom therefore is not out there.
There is only one place we can discover the secrets of God: within.
Do I mean eastern religion like meditation or humanism? By no means. I mean that the treasure is where our heart is in a very real sense. It is in our heart. In our inner most being. And in others. But its not about what others do, but who they truly are. Finding the new creation within myself and others, bonding, complement each other as different expressions of God’s character and talents.
And then you become those baskets, filled, pressed down and shaken together, running over, spilling the Kingdom into the world. And nobody will care about Chrislam and blood moons any longer, because they found much better. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Ready to go on a search?