Understanding the Word is a Spiritual Experience, Not an Academic Experience

There is an experience for which we are hopefully all familiar. One which is simultaneously humbling and encouraging. It is that distinct moment of clarity which occurs when you have finally comprehended some topic of study which has been eluding your grasp. Within the experience is the satisfaction of having learned, the relief of having progressed through your incomprehension, and the humble realization that your understanding was imperfect and limited. It is that experience of obtaining understanding. You could say, it is the delight of learning simply for the sake of learning.

But perhaps this experience is not as universal as I have made it out to be. Perhaps yours is another experience. Perhaps yours is an experience of continual frustration and misunderstanding. Repeated attempts at developing your academic acumen have only left you embittered to the whole process of learning.

Well to both parties, there is an exhortation.

For those who appreciate learning and are driven by a desire to obtain knowledge for knowledge's sake, remember this. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. There is a spirit of learning which is necessary when approaching the Word of God and it is not a spirit of pursuit unto personal validation of your intelligence, nor is it a spirit of  curiosity seeking novel and fresh intellectual stimulation. No, it is a spirit of submission to the Spirit of God and His teaching. We are not those seeking to learn simply for the sake of learning. We are those in pursuit of the intimate knowledge of a God who has communicated to us through His Word.

For those who despise or are otherwise disillusioned by the experience of learning, remember this. God Himself is your teacher. Any previous lack of comprehension is irrelevant to the work of the Spirit in illuminating your mind to what God says in the Word. Jesus' words in Matthew 11 remind us that He alone knows the Father, and that He extends an invitation to learn from Himself, because He is a lowly and gentle teacher. We need not fear the pursuit of knowledge, because our teacher is divinely gentle and kind, ready to bring clarity into our confusion.

So then, what is the first and most important principle to consider in our pursuit of a deeper knowledge of God through His Word? It is the cultivation of that necessary attitude of purposeful dependence upon the Spirit and humble submission to the leading of the Spirit. Cultivating this mindset is not something that be accidentally stumbled upon. We have to understand where the Spirit is leading in order to follow Him.

Beautifully, there is a great simplicity to following the Spirit, because the Spirit has a singular focus -- the Man, Jesus Christ. The work of the Spirit to those who believe on Christ is to increase the understanding of the Person of Christ, to declare His work and the benefits that have been granted because of it, and to empower the appropriation of His own nature unto all who receive Him. In short, what the Spirit wants you to comprehend as you open the Word of God is this: The Bible is all about Jesus.

There is no other lens to read scripture through. Only by viewing the scripture through Christ can true understanding be obtained. The Word is not primarily about moral instruction, historical narrative, or religious engagement. This cannot be overstated: The Word of God is not about you. It is about God's progressive revelation and fulfillment of the promise of Christ, and your participation in the plan He has of elevating Christ above all things in order that all things will be united in Him.

May we be submitted to the Spirit by prayerfully and intentionally remaining focused on Christ as the exclusive revelation of God and the superlative purpose of all of His plans.