“If there is a God, then how do you explain . . .?” I’d guess that most of us have heard this demanding question before, especially from friends and family who are not believers or who are struggling in their faith. The desire of man to have the God of heaven and earth explained to him in quantifiable terms has led many away from the faith. But as you’ll recall, Paul refers to us Christians as “stewards of the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1)
A large portion of what we believe and confess can be described only as a mystery. Creation makes no sense to our feeble human reason—how could God create everything from nothing in only six 24-hour days? Again, to human reason the sacraments make no sense—how can Christ’s body and blood come to us in plain bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins? Baptism makes no sense—how can water and a few words cleanse someone of sin? The incarnation makes no sense—how could Jesus be both truly God and truly man? The resurrection makes no sense—death seems so final!
As Moses gives his farewell address to Israel before his death in the closing chapters of Deuteronomy, his words remind us that the answer to the incessant question, “how do you explain . . .?” is simply and often this: you don’t.
Our God and His ways are so much higher than we and our ways are (Isaiah 55:9) that there are many such secret things that belong to the Lord which we will never be able to fully grasp on this side of eternity. But what God has revealed to us and to our children is both trustworthy and eternal. After all, He has already revealed to us the most dumbfounding, incredible act of love by sending His own beloved, perfect Son to suffer and die on the cross in our place. Why would God sacrifice so much for sinful people who have nothing to offer in return? Because we can’t fathom a love that deep, the very foundation and chief tenet of the Christian faith makes absolutely zero rational sense. And that’s okay! We are not called upon to understand why “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) We are merely called to believe it. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Having been redeemed through Christ’s blood, we may now strive to do all the words of the Law in faith. We may look at all these mysteries of God not in frustration but in joy, content in knowing that even those truths we can’t comprehend remain truths, nonetheless. He who revealed them to us does not lie (Numbers 23:19). The Gospel motivates us to hear and faithfully follow God’s Word to His glory, and it gives us peace in knowing that we don’t need to understand the secret things of God to believe them and rejoice in them.
What has been revealed is our precious treasure forever. What has not been revealed belongs to the Lord our God and will be understood clearly when the Lord calls us to our eternal rest. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV), “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV)
The answer to the incessant question, “how do you explain . . .?” is simply and often this: you don’t.
is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Spokane, Washington.