Beams, Streams, and Shadows

Upon becoming a Christian, I was immediately arrested in soul by one reality above all others: the exceeding beauty and loveliness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Suddenly, it all - and by all, I mean all, everything - made complete and utter sense. He was the scarlet thread that bound all other beauty within Himself - "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Romans 11:36).

The universe at once became infinitely more familiar to me. In the very same moment, however, the cosmos took upon itself a deeper mystery, a haunting beauty that was wholly other - indeed, a holy otherness. I began to see the world around me not as a random assortment of rocks, trees, skies, and seas, but as a staggeringly beautiful manifestation of material glory clothed in the resplendent, infinite, and transcendent robes of Him who made all things. Every echo of glory I savored in the night sky, each whisper of mystery and beauty I caught in the tune of a song or in the setting of the sun, now pointed back to Him with thunderous applause.

However, I did not come upon this revelation on my own. While I was but a sapling in Christ, He led me under the boughs of far sturdier, older trees than myself. Men who had long since been employed in His service; solid oaks in His pasture that were planted by Him many years before I was born, nurtured by His tender hand, bearing fruit in and out of season for His glory and the good of others. I tasted the loveliness of Christ first and foremost in His Word, and then through the words of other men: C.S. Lewis, Jonathan Edwards, C.H. Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer, Paul Washer, and John Piper, to name but a few, though the list could go on lengthily.

These men taught me to see and savour the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. These men taught me that Christ's command in Matthew 10:37 - to love Him more than mother and father, sister and brother, more than wife and life itself - is not a burdensome crucible to be coldly obeyed, but rather a great sweetness to be embraced and cherished. Indeed, it is the very purpose for which we were made and saved. When the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to the exceeding beauty and worth of the Lord, the One to whom all good things point, then suddenly the things of this world begin to grow strangely, strangely dim. Our heart then cries out alongside the aches and groans of the psalmist,

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73: 25-26).

The soul thirsty for Christ's glory looks around at the great realm of nature and finds his heart wanting. The mighty seas and rolling hills are no longer enough. The Christian's soul has been widened, deepened, so much so that only his Creator can now fill this vast expanse. "Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you" (1 Kings 8:27), and how much less so the things of earth! How much less so the heart of man! And yet, glory of glories, mystery of mysteries, "'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man'" (Revelation 21:3).

Mother and father, sister and brother, the sweetest of children and the most beautiful of spouses cannot compare with the beauty of the Lord - nor can they, nor should they. These were not made to bear such a task. To love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever, is the end for which we were all made. Jonathan Edwards penned this reality in the following words,

"The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. . . . [These] are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the ocean."

To feast on the beauty of Jesus, to inquire about His temple and rest among the folds of His robe, that is what we were made for. The beauty we find in one another are but droplets that trickle from the Ocean, streams and shadows apart from Him. All beauty, goodness, comfort, kindness, humor, joy, peace, and love that we catch but a glimpse of in one another is a ray that leaps from the Son Himself.

I am of the firm conviction that one cannot love a good thing too much. As C.S. Lewis once wrote in his most famous essay, The Weight of Glory,

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

The Lord does not mean to deprive us of any good thing. He is our highest good, our chief end, and He will not allow us to compromise or settle with lesser things. To love anything more than Him, whether it be sex, spouse, or your own family, is to dishonor all these good things, yourself, and above all, the Lord. We cannot properly love others or the good things of this life if we seek to enjoy them outside of the Lord. Whether you like it or not, He has made us in such a way that lasting satisfaction simply cannot be secured apart from Him - we were not meant to properly function outside of communion and fellowship with our God.

When our affections are properly ordered with Him seated upon the throne of our hearts, a marvelous reordering of things begins to take place. The Lord commands that we love Him more, not that we love others less. Just as a rising tide lifts all ships, so does an ever-increasing and ever-deepening love for Christ increase and deepen all other affections. As our hearts are poured out in love and worship of an infinite Savior, we become better equipped to love those finite beings all around us - our mothers, fathers, siblings, and families. In this way, we secure a lasting, eternal happiness for ourselves by directing every iota of our soul's affection towards Him, while in the same moment bringing everything and everyone along with us before Him to worship.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is A to Z, East to West, the Sun and the Son Himself, the Ocean from whom all truth proceeds, containing within Himself all things good, holy, and beautiful. He is worthy, and He is beautiful: fear Him, obey Him, love Him, worship Him.

"And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17).