“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

The Bible is an open invitation to discover more about our God.

Incredibly, the One who defies description delights in us knowing him. How gracious he is to have left about 1300 pages that unveil his character and unlock the treasure of seeing him intimately. The world he spun into orbit demonstrates his powerful goodness and calls us to respond to his majesty and creativity. His Word illustrates, clarifies, and proves he is precisely all that and more.

Plop yourself in most books of the Bible, and he is visibly front and center, commanding our attention, showing us who is supremely in charge. Notice his appearance in various verses, in common phrases or unique lines that might be hidden at first. Take the unfamiliar book of Hebrew where we so rarely dwell, and open your eyes to all the places that declare his extraordinary identity.

Our God “left nothing outside his control” (Hebrews 2:8). We can feel secure in the realization that since absolutely everything falls under his control, our lives do as well.

Our God did “taste death” for us (Hebrews 2:9).  He swallowed the agony of the sin transfer of the world, gulping down the wretched separation from his Father so we would know perfect communion with him.

Our God is the one “for whom and by whom all things exist” (Hebrews 2:10). We gasp at the startling fact that we, too, exist for him, that our lives have meaning and purpose which he orchestrated from the beginning of time.

Our God “had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).  And we can hardly comprehend the magnitude of this one statement – Jesus being fully human and fully God, washing away our dreadful sins with his divine blood to restore our relationship with the Father.

Our God, “because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). From this declaration, we can rejoice that temptation does not need to define us. What Christ endured grants us the power to overcome the struggles and temptations of sin.

Our God is “faithful over God’s house as a son” (Hebrews 3:6), and we are allowed to experience his faithfulness in every conceivable way. Our God is “the living God” (Hebrews 3:12), intimately involved in our everyday world.

Our God’s “word…is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Imagine that! Is it any wonder that when we turn our face toward the Scriptures we are made new, challenged and chastised, drawn closer to him, made to feel loved and embraced, given strength to endure, and filled with his powerful Holy Spirit in order to live out our ordinary every day with his grace and strength?

Our God allows us confidently to “draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We cling to that assurance like a drowning man to a life-preserver tossed in his direction.

Black print on white pages, and yet living color erupts throughout. As we journey through our assigned days, we are invited to celebrate and discover the endless, all-loving, indescribable Lord. Our God meets us right where we are and takes us beyond anything we could possibly imagine.

Elizabeth A Mitchell

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