Surprise!

“As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God.” —Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Christian History, no. 29.

Do you like surprises? I remember when we were little kids, my parents were going to surprise us, taking us on an outing to an unknown destination. We youngsters were completely 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 scolding him for divulging the secret, but I also recall still being a bit confused about where we were headed, not having a clue what a “Wax Museum” was! Surprises are fine as long as you’re able to comprehend and appreciate the surprise once it’s revealed.

One thing we humans have to get used to is that we don’t know the mind of God. We can familiarize ourselves with what He has revealed to us, including in the pages of Scripture, through His Son and by observing His creation, but we are limited in our finite minds as to what we can comprehend of His infinite knowledge and plan. 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 all there is to be known of the unknowable God.

He has let us know what we need to know. Beyond that, we trust Him. We come to Him by faith. So, there will always be questions about why things happen the way they do. For example, if He knew exactly when a loved one would pass away, why do we bother to pray, entreating God to heal that person? Can we actually change His mind? And, if we could, didn’t He know that would happen too? So again, why bother praying? It gets downright confusing to try to figure out exactly how God thinks! The answer is really rather simple: He is God and we are not, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” (Isa. 55:8). What we can know is what He has revealed to us and our lives should be dedicated to knowing what we can know about Him and being obedient to that which He has revealed.

We can also know this about God: Nothing is a surprise to 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. To those who spoke for God in the Old Testament, this was a mystery (as the Apostle Paul called it, “the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things,” Eph. 3:9) although 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.” Gen. 22:18). Thanks to God’s plan as revealed in the Gospels, we know now that this was accomplished 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 compliment a Gentile on his or her faith. Yet, He did it on more than one occasion, even saying to a Gentile woman, (way down on the socio-cultural strata for the Jew!) “O woman, your faith is great” (Matt. 15:28). But, little did the Jewish observers know, Jesus had some bigger surprises to come. He would rise from the dead, He would turn to the Gentiles, sending His disciples to “all nations.” He would establish His body on earth. And don’t be caught by surprise, He could return at any time! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

“But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” —EPHESIANS 2:13 NASB