Proverbs 25:2a. It is the glory of God to conceal things…
Can you keep a secret?
God is very good at keeping secrets. In fact, his secret keeping is one of the things that makes him so glorious. It is his glory to conceal things. To hides things. To keep things on a need to know basis.
By his very nature God is concealed from us. We are finite, God is infinite. We are limited, God is unlimited. We are earthly, God is heavenly. There is much more about God that we simply cannot understand than there is about him that we can understand. As Isaiah the prophet said, His ways are as far above us as the heavens are from the earth.
We tend to think of God’s glory only in terms of the things that he has revealed to us. His creation. His word. His power. But what about the things that God has concealed? Is it possible that the invisible things of God prove his glory just as much as the visible things? Of course.
The incarnation of Christ was once one of God’s most glorious secrets. Before creation, before the fall, before the law and the kingdom of Israel, before David, Solomon, Isaiah and Jeremiah, before anyone ever did anything, anywhere, God knew that he would become a little baby born in a manger in Bethlehem. And God kept that secret for thousands of years. Sure, he gave hints. Lots of them. He said a baby would be born to a woman (Gen 3:15). To a young unmarried woman (Is. 7:14). In Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). But what God kept secret is that the baby born to save the world would also be God. God the Son.
In the fullness of time, when everything was just right, God told this secret to the world by telling it first to a group of shepherds in a field.
Luke 2:10-11. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Even in that little baby, God continued to conceal things. His power and majesty. His wisdom and wonder. His authority and power. It was all veiled in flesh, soft, helpless, vulnerable, infant flesh.
And now it is our glory to search out the truths veiled in this mystery.
Proverbs 25:2b. [it is] the glory of kings is to search things out.
How can we be saved? What lengths is God willing to go to to save us? How should we live our lives? How does it make our union with Christ possible? These and many other of life’s biggest questions find their answer in the incarnation. Answers that, in Christ, we can continue to search out to the glory of God.
You: What things of God do you still struggle to understand? Why is it OK if we don’t understand everything about God?
You in Christ: What does the incarnation reveal to us about God and about us that we might not know without it?
Christ in you: Christ in you is a great secret revealed. How can your life reveal the truth about Jesus to the world around you this Christmas season?
Pray: Jesus, you are not a secret anymore. May I spend my life searching out the truth of who you are and who I am in you. Amen.
To Live is Christ 