Today I watched a documentary about North Korea with my daughter. It was a part of a project her English teacher assigned to her. The film described the vital role propaganda has played in shaping North Koreans’ view of their country and the rest of the world. In the United States we are bombarded with propaganda also. Misinformation and lies abound. If you aren’t discerning you will be deceived. It’s important to realize that truth is not relative. You do not define it. Truth stands independent from belief. Your belief doesn’t make something more or less true even though you might be very sincere or emphatic. The proper and healthy way to respond to the truth is to come under its authority rather than trying to put yourself above it. Many times doing so will be uncomfortable and costly, but it’s necessary and worth it.
Since God is truth you must approach your relationship with him the same way. God transcends you. You cannot create him in your own liking or limit him to your understanding. God told the prophet Isaiah, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
We see God’s transcendence in the extraordinary ministry of Jesus while he walked this earth. He is fully God yet he humbly became a man. His miracles and his message astounded people. He was innocent of any wrong doing yet he became the sin of the world in order to save all who turn to him. He is the King of kings yet he came to serve and not be served. He brought life, freedom, and power not by physically overthrowing the Roman regime, but by spiritually triumphing over sin, death, and Satan (Colossians 2:13-15).Jesus taught that life with him in God’s kingdom is very different than life in this world where people choose to rebel against God. Many times Jesus described the contrast paradoxically. I list some of these paradoxes below along with some written from apostles who were inspired by Jesus. Instead of me explaining them, I challenge you to discover their meaning by reading about them in the Bible. As you study ask God to teach you what they mean.
- You must lose your life to save it. (Mark 8:34-38; 2 Corinthians 4:8-11)
- You must be poor in spirit to become exalted. (Matthew 5:3; Luke 18:9-14; 2 Corinthians 6:3-10)
- You must be weak to be strong. (1 Corinthians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Philippians 4:12-13)
- You must be last to be first. (Mark 9:35, 10:43-45; Matthew 19:30, 20:16)
- You will receive more by giving. (Luke 6:37-38; Acts 20:35)
- Be in the world, but not of the world. (John 17:16)
- God brings good out of bad for those who love him. (Romans 8:18, 28-39, 5:1-5; James 1:2-4; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
These statements run so contrary to what most people expect. People spend so much time and resources vainly pursuing what doesn’t last only to find it doesn’t even fulfill their deepest needs. You were made for more than what you can ever achieve on your own and more than anything this world can offer. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Listening to and obeying his words brings freedom and enables you to experience the abundant life only found in him (John 8:31-32, 10:1-15).
Paradoxes seem impossible at first, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Ask God to help you align with these truths. Only then will you enjoy his awesome, everlasting life which is worth giving up everything to obtain (Matthew 13:44-46). Jim Eliot, a Christian missionary who was killed bringing the good news of God’s love and salvation to the Quechua natives of Ecuador, put it this way, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”