Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “From Dust to Stars”. A fitting finale to the book of Daniel, a true man of God. The example of his life has been a template for youth for millennia. However, the book bearing his name does not end with Daniel as the hero. Our God is the Hero. He is the One who knows the end from the beginning. He is the One who will rescue us. He is the One who will turn the dust of our humanity, to become the “stars” in the firmament of Heaven itself… for all who will.
As Seventh-day Adventists whose very inception swirled around prophecy, we read the book of Daniel with understanding and appreciation. So fascinating and illuminating to be able to know and predict the future. But in the process of dissecting the prophecies, we can sometimes miss the over-arching lesson. That lesson? As our quarterly has stated at the very beginning, “Daniel remains what it was when penned thousands of years ago; a powerful revelation of the love and character of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Introduction of page 2-3). This is the greatest lesson to us. The world’s future is important to know. But if we do not know the God of that future, our knowledge of the facts serve no purpose.
We Christians have developed quite a lexicon of our own vernacular. We use words and terms that can often obfuscate our ability to know God. Words like “justification”, “sanctification”, “glorification” and “atonement”. EGW recounts a very telling story:
“A little girl once asked me, ‘Are you going to speak this afternoon?’ ‘No, not this afternoon,’ I replied. ‘I am very sorry,’ she said. ‘I thought you were going to speak, and I asked several of my companions to come. Will you please ask the minister to speak easy words that we can understand? Will you please tell him that we do not understand large words, like justification and sanctification? We do not know what these words mean’.
“The little girl's complaint contains a lesson worthy of consideration by teachers and ministers. Are there not many who would do well to heed the request, ‘Speak easy words, which we may know what you mean’?
Make your explanations clear, for I know that there are many who do not understand many of the things said to them. Let the Holy Spirit mold and fashion your speech, cleansing it from all dross. Speak as little children, remembering that there are many well advanced in years who are but little children in understanding” (Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students pg. 254).
A great quote. Words like “justification” and “sanctification” are called “dross” by EGW (dross meaning “useless waste”). And in this she may be hitting on a telling point. We can hide behind words and concepts, instead of relating to the God of the words and the concepts. We can hide behind God’s righteous “covering” or appropriate Christ’s “merits” when in reality we really do not know our Righteous Father at all. What do we have to do with His “covering” or His “merits” when we don’t really know Him? We can hide behind “large words” without understanding the meaning. We can hide behind our religious duties, our religious participation, our good works… and be too busy to really know our God. But this is essential, vital. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Knowing God is everything. It’s not just an option.
So as we go into another quarter, let us not forget the great lesson from the book of Daniel. Our God is the God of the future… our future. He is the God of Love. And it is our high privilege to know Him as He is… and thereby to love Him.
With brotherly love,
Jim