Something Solid

G.K Chesterton said “Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”

John Owen, the Puritan theologian, uses the phrase “finding the bottom” of the thing. In matters of faith, we need to “find the bottom.” We need something solid to stand on.

I’ve heard of lakes that are “bottomless.” Of course, that’s impossible. But it is possible that they have no “solid” bottom. That is, if you are sinking down to the bottom, hoping beyond hope that you can “find the bottom” and push upward to fresh air again, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

In matters of faith, we dare not base our approach to “life and godliness” on “suppositions,” on what we “like” to believe, but rather on the solid revelation given by God that tells us something sure about God and something accurate about ourselves.

My Awana student can be easily impressed with God. He is not used to hearing about God at a church, and so stories and descriptions carry a wonder that delights. Sin is a harder subject for him. He knows the concept, but not the difficulty. “What’s the big deal about telling a lie?” The penalty “seems” to outstrip the crime. But we must notice that the words “seem” and “suppose” are not solid words. They are soft and mushy. The certainly change over time, or with our moods. But when we discover the solid truths that this magnificent God is magnificently holy, and thus He cannot stand sin; and when we discover that our sins is not merely personal, momentary indiscretions, but an affront to the truthfulness of “God who does not lie,” that same God who made us to represent Him and His holiness in this world - well, it is then that we find something solid on which to bite down.

Why is this important? Because when we get past thinking about God in the abstract, and ourselves in isolation - it is then that we must think about how we can relate to God, or how He can relate to us. And it is in this divine-human contact that we must consider the outcomes of forgiveness, or condemnation. And we find, if we read the solid story of the Bible carefully, that God does both. He both forgives, and condemns. So how can we know how it will turn out for us? 

We find that the very real, High and Holy God, reached down to very real sinful and rebellious subjects by sending His very solid Son, Jesus, to die a real death, to really rise from the dead, never to die again, to give a real forgiveness to those who will solidly repent and find a ground of belief in the promises of God. Something solid.