Revelation's Tightrope
The Lord will always confirm the teachings of His written Word through a living experience of them. The Word of God is a person, Jesus Christ (John 1:14). He has always intended for His written Word to draw us into relationship with His person. Learning the Bible without experiencing its author leads to knowledge without love. Knowledge without love cannot change our hearts (1 Corinthians 8:1). We need both to be transformed into the image and likeness of Christ.
I once had a vision in which I saw Jesus walking in front of me on a tightrope, beckoning me to follow. On the left, I saw the words “objective revelation” and flashes of scripture. On the right, I saw the words “subjective experience” and flashes of people, events, and experiences from the past several months. As I followed the Lord’s leading, I instinctively understood that we were on the path to the center of God’s heart.
God’s agape love is active. It does something (John 15:13). Growing in our love relationship with Him means we yield our minds and bodies (Romans 12:1-2). We do this because of our standing as sons, not slaves (1 John 3:1). We actively love Him, ourselves, and others because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
When our focus becomes solely understanding and comprehending the written Word, we grow pride and religiosity in our hearts. This invites darkness into our lives, and our love of people grows cold. Many trapped by this line of thinking are not even aware that they are in bondage to it. We must avoid treating the Bible itself as an idol. In fact, we must avoid creating an idol out of our current understanding of Jesus. He is always evolving our personal and corporate understanding of His ways, character, and purposes. The Lion of Judah will not be contained.
Our knowledge of the Bible must serve our living experience of Him, and vice versa. What I receive through subjective experience (dreams, visions, meditation, prayer, encounter, etc.) will always be confirmed through the objective truth of His written Word. Likewise, what I learn in the Bible must be applied in my life in order to make my faith a living, dynamic reality. I must be responsible and courageous to release God’s love and power through my life. Faith without works is dead because only love in action can release the power of God (James 2:23-26).
Unhealthy fear of God has disarmed and disempowered our faith. This fear stems from a foundational misunderstanding of what Jesus was accomplishing on the Cross. Jesus is God Himself rescuing humanity from its own darkness. His intention was to not only forgive our sins, but to totally restore us to a living experience of Him. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love, not His anger or judgment (John 3:17).
Changing what I think about God changes my desire to approach Him and know Him. If I believe that God is an angry Father who is ready to withdraw favor with any misstep, my relationship with Him will never thrive. When I understand God is my Comforter, for me and never against me, I will experience new depths with Him. Our understanding of God must always be framed through the person of Jesus Christ.
We must seek the Lord’s teaching through both the Word and personal experience. We will begin to see more and more the intimate involvement of God in our lives , thus discovering the intricate connection between the natural and spiritual. There is no separation between these two realms. They coincide. As we yield to an experiential encounter with God, He reveals to us the hidden connections. This is the joy of the mystery of Christ.
The spiritual flows into the natural, but what we do in the natural enables and directs this flow. We enact spiritual changes through physical obedience. Paul speaks to this truth in the beginning of Romans 12:
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship." Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
Experiencing Christ does not mean we simply amass knowledge about the Bible. I can talk all day about Jesus, but if I do not think, act, and love like Him, my efforts are worthless. Many people come near to Jesus with their words, but their hearts (the inner man), are far from Him. Their hearts have been hardened, making it hard to truly encounter God as a loving, personal Being. Their insistence that “having faith” means merely assenting to certain philosophical truths about Jesus has transformed them into modern Pharisees. Their love for others has grown cold (Matthew 24:12).
Uncovering deeper truths of the written Word require us to yield to Christ in our lives and experience. We must be ready and willing to encounter His Presence in any way that He desires. Likewise, we must frame our subjective experiences, as tame or wild as they may be, through the power and authority of the written Word. Deeper wisdom and knowledge about the Word will always enables a more powerful experience of God, but it’s up to us to step into it.
We are not left alone in this journey. We have the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). As He initiates experiences and encounters with Jesus’ Presence, He will always prompt deeper personal revelation from the written Word. When I walk this tightrope with Jesus, He reveals Himself in me, and I am drawn deeper into the depths of the mystery of Christ.
