Nothing New

"What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

The last hurdle I had to get over in my growth, was the truth that there is nothing new in Biblical knowledge or doctrine. This was a new concept for me and something I had to work through.

In the world today, becasue we are prideful human centered creatures, we tend to think we can do things better, understand things more, and grow in our mental ability. We tend to think that past generations had no clue and were living in the dark ages with minds that were stunted. We tend to think that as we grow in our understanding, we will discover new truths, new ways, and new ability. Yes, we are growing as a society and yes we are understanding more about the world around us. But when it comes to God, His Word, His people, and His truth, there is nothing new under the sun as the verse states above. God wrote His Word over 2000 years ago. God's Word has not changed since. God's Spirit came 2000 years ago. God's Spirit has not changed since. God has called a people for Himself and called them to be His Church. God's people have not really changed, spiritually speaking, since. So when it comes to new things discovered in the truths of God, that is just a lie of the Devil. The Devil wants us to think there are new things and new truths, when in reality they are simply a distortion of the truths from of old. And this is a hurdle that every Christian needs to get over to find growth in what God gave us millennia ago.

So when I was 25, I began to swallow the hard truths of God. I discovered as I swallowed them, as I drank deeply from the depths of God, I found the community of saints both past and present were echoing what I was reading and were teaching many of the truths that were jumping out from the pages of God's Word. And as I began to grow, I soon realized that the church had been saying these same things from ages ago. I soon discovered for example, that what Deuteronomy taught (we will never chose God without Him choosing us first), was the same truths that Paul taught in Ephesians, which was the same thing that Augustine taught that Calvin taught that Edwards taught that Matt Chandler was teaching. As I began to grow and see that there truly is nothing new under the sun about the truths and doctrine of God, the Bible became a living breathing acting magnificent colorful book. As I grew in my knowledge of God and discovered truths from old, the Bible became real and drove my mind to be transformed. And as my mind was transformed, so my heart and affections were changed and then I was able to do all for the glory of God. And as I cleared the hurdle of old truths for a new day, I was able to swallow more, learn better from those around me, and drink deeply from the history and teachers of the Church.

So that is my journey to where I am today. I am still growing, still learning, and still have much room to grow. But as I have cleared each of these 4 hurdles in my spiritual walk with God, I have discovered a faith that is not about me, not about what I want, not about what I think, not about my life, but a faith that is about changing the world around me for the glory of God alone. Things are still challenging. God is still very mysterious. But I can now say, 9 years later, that I am glad I was able to clear each of these hurdles, so that I can be a sharp, mature tool in the hand of my sovereign Lord who has a plan and ordains everything to happen around me for my good and His glory.