God's Treasure (repost)

(First posted 7/19/07)


As I meditate more upon God's love in action, which I believe is really the only way we'll ever even begin to walk in it ourselves, a couple more examples that come to mind are based upon two parables.

Steve McVey of Grace Walk Ministries (see his blog), when he was visiting my church a couple of years ago, shed light and opened my eyes to the beauty of God's love demonstrated in the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. I'll put it in my own words below.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matt 13:44)

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matt 13:45-46)

I've always, always, always heard that the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price is JESUS, and that we're to sell all we have so that we can have Him. But hold on a minute. How can we purchase what God gives us freely? And to think about it a little further, isn't there a price that Jesus paid so that God could have us? "For God so loved the world (the treasure, the pearls) that He gave His only begotten Son..."

...our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us... (Titus 2:13b-14a)

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all... (1 Tim 2:5-6)

Let's be real about this... Did we ever do a thing to seek out or to earn any of this? "There is no one righteous, no not one..." "There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God."

The pearl of great price. The treasure in the field. Isn't Jesus talking about us? And again, the price that was paid - isn't that what Jesus did? Isn't it Jesus who went looking for the lost sheep? All we can really do is to respond to what He has done for us! We cannot treat it as a debt, because He gave all this to us freely. And even our response is by His grace. How we've forgotten that the coming of Jesus wasn't about what we could do for God, but it was ALL about His love for us, and how He considered us so precious that HE did all this for us!

One of my favorite passages that gets to the heart of God's love in action is found in Philippians 2. We're encouraged to love one another, be of one accord, be of one mind, etc, by looking to the example of Christ:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:5-11)

By all of this we know God's love for us. He demonstrated it fully and perfectly.

When Jesus told the rich young ruler, "sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven," He Himself was in the very process of demonstrating it, by giving up His rights to deity ("selling all He had") and becoming one of us, coming in our likeness, being obedient to the point of death on a cross (giving Himself to us, the "poor")... and ultimately being exalted to the highest place, and receiving the ultimate treasure in heaven...

Us.

Matthew West - More

When God Ran

Benny Hester - When God Ran


And the only time... the only time I ever saw Him run...

Was when He ran to me
Took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest
Said My son's come home again
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said son, do you know I still love you?

...or rather be known by Him

I love getting to know God. I love learning about Him and I love growing in my relationship with Him. As I said in my previous post, Jesus said that this is eternal life: that we know God.

But have you ever found that the more you learn about God, and the more you grow in your relationship with Him, the more you realize how little you actually know Him, and about Him? :-) Each opened door seems to open up so many more doors with so much more to explore!

That shouldn't stop us from seeking Him and desiring to learn more about Him, and knowing Him more intimately. But in one little Bible verse, Paul opens us up to a completely different perspective that you don't often hear about, but that I believe is grounded fully in what the gospel is all about, and is vastly covered in the "love letter" that is the Bible. It's a short phrase that could very easily be missed, but when its reality sets in it could be of great help to us in understanding that there's far more to our relationship with God than us knowing Him.

Paul writes: "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God..." (Gal 4:9a)

My own paraphrase: "Sure, you know God now, by faith. But what it's really all about is that God knows you!"

God's love letter has always attested to this truth:

Isa 43:1
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.

Ps 139:1-16
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me,"
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.


We are known by God! I chose just a couple of the many scriptures that reassure us that we are known by God... fully & completely... and that it's a good thing! Many live in fear, and avoid the thought that God knows them, because of all the "bad" things they know they've done. But God knows us in such a way that He rejoices over us (Isaiah 62:5), He sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17). He knows us intimately and LOVES US DEEPLY! There is nothing about us that is hidden from God. We are fully exposed to God. And since He has placed us in His Son Jesus, by faith, He is very pleased by what He knows about us and that He knows us!