Surprise!
“As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God.” —Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Do you like surprises? When we were little kids, my parents tried to surprise us by taking us on an outing to an undisclosed destination. We kids were entirely in the dark until my dad blurted out something like, “Hurry up, or the Wax Museum will be closed by the time we get there!” I recall my mother’s disapproving look directed his way for divulging the secret. But I also remember still being confused about where we were headed, not knowing what a Wax Museum was! Surprises are great if you can comprehend and appreciate what they reveal. (I’m still a little surprised that my folks’ idea of a surprise was a trip to the Wax Museum!)
We humans should not be surprised that we don’t know the mind of God. Despite the many ways He has revealed His truth, our finite minds limit our comprehension of His infinite knowledge and plan. So we study theology. The study of theology is the systematic, academic attempt to make sense of His revelation to us. But no matter how long or deeply we study theology, we will fall woefully short of fully grasping the full knowledge of the unknowable God. There will always be mysteries on this side of heaven, and we will likely be surprised when we know the answers.
He has let us know what we need to know for now. Beyond that, we trust Him. We come to Him by faith. But there will always be questions about why things happen the way they do. However, we should eventually stop being surprised or disappointed that He doesn’t do exactly as we want or ask. Questions should not lead to rejection but a more profound understanding that He is God and we are not. He didn’t keep it a secret: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8). What we can know is what He has revealed to us. So we should dedicate our lives to learning what we can know about Him and being obedient to what He has revealed.
We can also know this about God: Nothing surprises the Almighty. For example, look at The Church. The rejection by the nation of Israel of her Messiah may seem surprising to us, but it didn’t surprise God. His plan included The Church. The Church combines Jew and Gentile into one family through the blood of Christ. This combination was a mystery to those who spoke for God in the Old Testament. The Apostle Paul called it “the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things” (Ephesians 3:9).
Yet God was not silent on the fact that He would reach out to Gentiles and include them in His plan. As He said to Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). Thanks to God’s plan, revealed in the Gospels, we know He accomplished this through Christ and the Church. God knew it in His infinite knowledge, looking forward. We get to see it looking back through the pages of His revealed Word.
The people of Jesus’ day may have been surprised that He did outrageous things like complimenting Gentiles on their faith. However, He did it on more than one occasion, even saying to a Gentile woman (someone way down on the sociocultural strata for the Jew!), “O woman, your faith is great” (Matthew 15:28). But little did the Jewish observers know, Jesus had some bigger surprises to come. First, he would rise from the dead, then turn to the Gentiles by sending His disciples to “all nations.” Ultimately, He would establish His body on earth, consisting of Jews and Gentiles. God gave us all we need to know to show Christ has done as He promised. And there’s more to come! So don’t be taken by surprise!
“But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” —Ephesians 2:13