Mysticism is the belief that
union with or absorption into Deity, or the spiritual apprehension of knowledge
inaccessible to the intellect, may be attained through contemplation and
self-surrender. The kingdom of God ignited within us is divine mysticism as we
come into union with the Godhead and apprehend the spiritual revelation of
Jesus Christ, through meditation on God’s word and submission of Self to the Lordship
of Christ. It isn’t a formula we figure out - it’s something God does.
We spend too much time trying to
chart God on a grid, reducing Christian spirituality to formulas and depriving
our hearts of awe and wonder. Awe is a feeling
of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by great beauty, that causes one to
marvel. Wonder is a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear and
amazement that is inspired by authority, genius, transcendence,
or might – in God’s case all four. When
truly faced with the bigness of God, His supremacy, His majesty, His
sovereignty, His splendor, and His power, we have only two choices in response:
Terror, or awe and wonder. But we are
too proud to feel awe and wonder, and too fearful to feel terror so we attempt
to chart God, to dissect Him, predict Him and carry Him around in our dog and
pony show. We reduce Him to math, to a
formula, so we don’t have to fear Him even though fear is an appropriate
response, leading to wisdom.
We so much need to be
overwhelmed by God’s awe and wonder: Wonder is how we respond to the clear
understanding of who and what God is -- the Revelation of Jesus Christ as the
Apostle John would say, and Awe is the feeling we get when we release ourselves
to this glorious revelation. Awe and wonder are high octane worship. As Dr. Rabi Zacharias puts it: “The heart
desires wonder and magic.” Technology is
what our culture uses to supplement and satisfy mans desire for awe and wonder. The heart of man really longs to worship God,
to stand in awe and wonder of this infinitely powerful and infinitely beautiful
being who dwells in “unapproachable light” and loves us with the relentless passion
of a consuming wildfire. We don’t understand and can’t explain God’s “Bigness”
and our “Littleness”, but we can and should marvel that nothing we will ever
face is too big for our God. Divine mysticism… the awe and wonder of God, happens
above our arithmetic and formulas. The
more we climb outside our pat answers, the more our heart enters into
worship... the more we experience the Awe and Wonder of God...
DIVINE MYSTICISM
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