The deep things of God

"The kind of faith Jesus invites us into doesn't skirt the big questions about topics like God and Jesus and salvation and judgment and heaven and hell, but takes us deep into the heart of them." --LOVE WINS Rob Bell

I suppose we are all designed to have an inquiring heart - Jesus himself was found asking questions in the temple when he was 12 years old. It looks like Jesus understands our innate hunger and thirst for the deep things in life, and in this respect, the kind of faith Jesus invites us would involve deep questions about God, Jesus, salvation, judgement, heaven and hell. I remember Jesus challenged his disciples to answer his question "who do you say that I am?" I believe he would want every one in every generation to think about this question as well because it is a key to finding answers to those big questions. It is also a question that each person has to answer for oneself and not go by what others say about him.

I am reflecting that we all have the spirit who is the candle of the Lord, searching the deep things of God, like the woman sweeping the whole house for that lost coin. I understand Jesus' question in terms of knowing his true identity, which in turn is about knowing ourselves. As Aristotle put it, knowing ourselves is the beginning of all wisdom. Hence, when we know who Jesus is, we know our true self and origin.

When we see our true identity in the image and likeness of Christ, we see God, for he who has seen him has seen the Father. Thus we see ourselves as one with the Father, as Jesus is one with him. Thus knowing ourselves, as I understand it, is the beginning of wisdom to find our own answers to the other big questions on salvation, judgement, heaven and hell.

At this point of my journey, I see salvation in terms of awakening to our innocence and know who I really am. Judgement to me is a matter of evaluating my value and worth in the light of my true identity - this is the boldness we have in the day of judgment, for as he is, so are we in this world.

Heaven is the state of being when we are like little children, not knowing good or evil, who simply live in the warm embrace of the presence of love, and living in the present. Jesus said to the religious Jews that unless they become like little children, they will by no means enter (or experience) the kingdom of heaven. He also said the kingdom of heaven does not come by observation but is within us.

Hell, as I have learnt, is simply a state of ignorance, as Jesus said to Peter that upon the rock of our true identity he will build the church (who are called out of darkness) and the gates of hell (ignorance) shall not prevail against the church. We shall awake from the illusion of separation and overcome fear, guilt and condemnation.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it is the glory of man to search out a matter, as proverbs says. The kind of faith Jesus invites us would involve searching out the deep things of God and in the process, we discover more about ourselves, which will determine the quality of our life on earth, such as how much of heaven we will experience on earth, as in how we all can live a life of love, grace and acceptance.