The Journey of Faith

Since my last post, I have been thinking about the concept of the journey of faith. I had never really thought about the Christian life as a journey in faith before. In my understanding, faith was something you either had or did not have in the sense that you are either saved or not saved. What I am beginning to realize is that saving faith is just the beginning of a journey which continues until we go home.
Marriage is a great example of this journey. God often spoke to his people in terms of marriage. He was the Husband of Israel (Jer. 31:32), the Church is the Bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7, 8). God uses these images to express His relationship with His people, so I would like to use this analogy also.
When you come to the point in a relationship with a person of the opposite gender at which you decide that it would be a good idea to marry them, typically you have a pretty good knowledge of that person. You understand certain things about their personality and character which are attractive and admirable. You marry them and think that you know them deeply, intimately. You think that you have "full knowledge."
Maybe the next day, or the next week or month or year, you wake up and think "Who is this person?" Why do you think that? Because you suddenly realize that you did not know this person quite as deeply as you thought! In the marriage relationship, full knowledge of our spouses is a journey. We grow to know them more. In some cases, this deepening knowledge causes the relationship to become more challenging. In others, this deepening knowledge leads to greater respect and admiration.
In marriage, this journey is complicated by the fact that each individual is (or should be) growing, changing, and becoming better as a person and as a Christian. Once we think we have full knowledge of our spouse, they learn something new and change they way they think, act, or speak. The result is that we must re-learn them. This constant flux in the marriage relationship keeps us on our toes. We can never stop learning our spouses, we may never come to full knowledge of them!
Applying this principle to God is infinitely greater! If one finite creature cannot fully understand another finite creature, how can a finite creature ever hope to fully know the infinite God? Yet this is the goal; this is the journey of faith.
Jesus said, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3) Paul wrote to the Colossians, "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light." (Colossians 1:9-12) In the benediction of his second letter, Peter writes, "You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." (2 Peter 3:17-18)
From these verse we can easily see how important the knowledge of God is to the Christian. We can also recognize that there is a growth process in this knowledge. God wants us to know Him! This is why He sent Jesus, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) This is also why the Scripture is full of declarations of God's character. Take for example Moses' experience on Mt. Sinai, "The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.'" (Exodus 34:5-7)
Even so, if we were to suddenly and completely come to the full knowledge of a being so holy and infinite as God, we would be destroyed. Even the glimpse that Moses saw caused a change in his appearance; his face glowed (Exodus 34:29-35). Isaiah's glimpse caused him to fall on his face and cry out, "Woe is me, for I am ruined!" (Isaiah 6:5) For this reason, God reveals Himself to us slowly as we are able to handle it. Thus is the journey of faith; we grow in our knowledge of our God. We learn to trust Him more as He reveals His faithfulness to us. As He guides us into truth, we make appropriate changes to our lifestyles to reflect His nature. As He reveals our sinful patterns of life, we confess our sins so He may forgive us. Meanwhile, we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory both now and until the day of eternity. Amen!