1 John 1:1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have gazed at, and our hands have handled—concerning the Word of Life!

How we were meant to live—in God-absorbed and God-animated life—was put on display in Jesus of Nazareth.

We are grounded in eyewitness accounts of the historical manifestation of the Eternal entering our spatiotemporal world. These accounts were recorded in the New Testament, proclaimed through preaching, and have been passed down through the ages to us today.

I like how Lesslie Newbigin says, “Ultimate reality was no longer unknowable: it was available to us in the person of Jesus Christ, who was made known to us in the New Testament and the preaching of the church.”

If ultimate reality is actually personal, and visited us 2,000 years ago in human form, then we don’t get to make all the decisions or ask all the questions. We comply with the decisions and have to answer questions posed to us.

Newbigin gives a great analogy: As long as you’re talking about someone who is not in the room, you can say what you want, can paint whatever picture of them you wish. But if they suddenly enter the room, it all changes. You need to stop talking and allow the person to speak for themselves.

God has entered the room.

Our life is about getting to know the Person who gifted us with said life, more than mastering the right way to live, more than figuring it all out.

We seek and find. We don’t seek and figure out. Because we’re not studying some impersonal thing or idea to conquer.

We’re pursuing relationship with Someone we may have interaction with.

We find, in the true sense of the word, because we discover (un-cover) that beyond all we’ve ever known, Someone is there, who has known us and loved us from before we were even in the womb, and, overwhelmed, we can’t help but love back.