The Importance of a Well-Balanced Diet

Proverbs 3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Our Father has given us everything necessary for our spiritual nourishment and overall well-being. First and foremost He gave us Christ; His finished work on the cross is the basis for all that is blessed in our lives (now and in the eternal age to come). In Him we have forgiveness of sin and perfect righteousness. Our Father has given us the Holy Spirit; by Him we are led into all Truth and furnished with all that is necessary for the transforming of our mind and the conforming of our souls to the image of Christ. The Holy Ghost quickens us, converts us, convicts us, and works faith and repentance in us unto the age to come. Our Father has given us His Scripture, the Holy Bible, by which the Spirit of God teaches us all that we need to know and by which we are exhorted, comforted, corrected, and otherwise thoroughly edified. In Christ, by the Spirit, His word becomes our food, our bread, our meat; it is our milk, our honey; even the cup of cold water by which we are spiritually refreshed.

But what of this Bible? We are told that the Bible is not this, and not that, and not some other thing. I disagree; for me, the Bible is everything because it reveals to us Christ, it points us to Christ, it leads us to Christ, all when made quick and powerful in our hearts by the Holy Spirit…. and for me, now more than ever, Christ is everything.

During this extended “time out” period, I have seen all the more, and with greater power, that the Bible is a book on theology; it is a book on psychology; it is a book on sociology; it is a book on ethics and morality. Indeed, the Bible is a book on history; on science; on poetry; on health; on economics; on politics; on family relations; on “self-help”… the Bible is not only a book on these things but it is the book on such matters — and no doubt many other such, ones that extend far into the “secular” realm, the dreaded “life application” realm. Christianity is real, it is living, it is Christ Himself working and revealing HIMSELF in us and through us everyday, everywhere, and in all things. He extends Himself into all avenues of our life — all of them. Granted, at differing points in our sojourn, He extends Himself into these matters in varying degrees; sometimes greater, sometimes lesser; but the LORD is LORD over all aspects of our life. When wielded by the Spirit, God’s word governs, rules, and instructs us concerning everything that we are to experience in this life. Everything that we are to face, everything that we are to do (yes, do) in this life is covered by the holy word. What aspect of the human experience remains free from the revealed will of God and His instruction to us concerning it?

But the cry goes out “the Bible is only about one subject… Christ and Him crucified.” Really? Is your Bible so frightfully myopic, so frightfully short-sighted and limited, that it only has one topic (as incomparably great a topic as Christ and Him crucified is)? I’m not asking you if your Bible has only one foundation, or one center-point, or one pinnacle, or one primary focus. I am asking you if your Bible is solely about the cross-work of Christ to the exclusion of everything else that God would have us to know, rest in, and do. If it is, you have a very different Bible than mine. You see, I have to ask the question — “Can we say that the Bible is ONLY about anything, any one thing?” Is the Bible so constricted, so narrowly-focused, that it is relegated to the status of being a book of… ONLY…?

My Bible is everything because my Christ is everything. My Christ is everything because of Who He Is, What He Is; What He Has Done, What He Continues To Do, and because the fullness of the Godhead resides in Him. In Him the Triune God dwells; and we dwell in Him if we are His; and the Godhead in us. In this light, I know that the word of God has much to say concerning everything that I need to know regarding my walk, my pilgrimage, during this sojourn. The Way has shown us the way through His blessed word and it is the Holy Spirit who effectually puts us on the way, leads us down the way, keeps us on the way, and gets us to our final destination in and with Christ who is our Way. Everything we encounter along the way is addressed and covered by the word of God… there is simply no only in play here. It is not Christ and Him Crucified Only and everything else is confusion, or distraction, or false religion. No, it is Christ and Him Crucified firstly and foremostly, and this is the Gate by which you enter into the Way of understanding concerning everything you encounter on your pilgrimage.

Ask your own selves — Why the false dichotomy? Who lied to you? Who decided that if the Bible is about Christ and Him crucified it cannot also be about everything else that God would have us know concerning how the crucified and risen Christ operates in our hearts and minds today? “Christ and Him crucified” permeates all biblical teaching; it is the foundation of all aspects of Christianity; it is the pinnacle of all that the word of God reveals (though it reveals much); it is the glue that binds and upholds all doctrine; all teaching; all topics; all disciplines. It is all-encompassing because God in Christ is all encompassing. When we open the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job (and well beyond)… we see all manner of insight into the mind of man (psychology); the social relationships, structures, duties, and shortcomings of man (sociology); instruction concerning suretyship, fiscal discipline, abstention from materialism, investment of wealth, giving to others, borrowing and lending, usury, etc. (economics). Remember also that all that God commands us to do, and commands us to abstain from doing, amounts to the Christian’s divinely-provided morals and ethics. Again, ask yourself, what Bible are you reading if this does not ring true, if the truth of it is not blazingly apparent? Who would even think to say that God’s word, in the light of Christ and Him crucified (and risen), does not instruct us in all aspects of our psychological, social, familial, economic, sexual, vocational, political, theological, and spiritual life?

“Christ and Him crucified” is not diminished when we take heed to God’s biblical admonitions concerning all avenues of our life; it isn’t denied or trodden down when we seek to live as Christ lived and to be conformed to His image by His grace as we read the entirety of His word… In fact, it is the opposite — “Christ and Him crucified” is corrupted; mocked; diluted and polluted when we have a lip-service form of godliness without the power thereof — the power that says “In HIM you are free, you are born again, you are of a new heart/mind/spirit, now go out and LIVE as such; serve God and seek ye first His kingdom and righteousness.” You see, I want to be exhorted to LIVE the truth! To have every thought brought into captivity; to have every aspect of my life, my LIFE, my quickened being, governed by God and His will for us — as He has revealed it to us. “Christ and Him crucified ONLY?“ No; not as many men mean it today… Not when you take into account the often neglected reality that “Christ and Him Crucified” points to Christ as a whole. What is Christ as a whole? It is God the Word made flesh and us, His elect, yoked with Him. 1 Corinthians 12:12 declares “For as the body is ONE, and hath MANY members, and ALL the members of that ONE body, being MANY, are ONE body: SO ALSO IS CHRIST” (not so also is the body, or so also is the church, but so also is CHRIST). Christ is the HEAD, first and foremost, but Christ is the HEAD and BODY as well. Christ is the Lord Jesus first and foremost, but Christ is the Lord Jesus with His bride in and with Him forever as well. Christ is the Lord who was crucified as our suffering, propitiatory, Substitute — the one who forever put away our sin by His death. However, Christ is also the body who was vicariously crucified in and with the Lord and eternally, vitally, united with Him. Christ is One; One with the Godhead and One with the Bride. We see Christ and Him Crucified not only when we see His Person, Attributes, and All-Glorious work on the cross (the chiefest manifestation of it) — but when we see the effects of His work detailed in His word as it pertains to our resulting LIFE experience in and with Him in this age and the age to come.

So you see, Christ is glorified when, in light of the great sacrifice the Lord Jesus made for us, we walk in a way that honours Him. His word is exalted when we cease to put limits on it; when we cease to put “only’s” on it; when we cease to put damnable interpretations on it. Scripture is exalted when, by God’s grace (and only by His grace), He with POWER, MIGHT, and VITALITY, works His word out in our lives. I do not want to be a head-Christian; a fact-only Christian; a thirty-years-from-now-“ONLY“-drinking-milk Christian; a “Christ and Him crucified only” Christian (to the exclusion of everything else that God would have us to learn, know, and LIVE). My desire is to be a led by the Spirit, through both the Word and the word, Christian; a “please apply Your word to everything I think, feel, say, and do” Christian; a “please do not leave any aspect of my life uncovered and unaffected by your word” Christian.

So in summary, my prayer and only hope is in a Lord Jesus Christ who so fills my heart, mind, and soul with Himself and the whole counsel of His word that I am sick of everything else. It won’t be perfect; there will be seasons of darkness, perhaps even many seasons (and deep darkness), but there is no light like my LIGHT, and no joy like the joy of a Christ who isn’t crucified just over there ONLY… but is crucified, and risen, in our hearts unto real Christian living, warfare, and day-to-day action… even, life application. I do not want a philosophical jesus, a debatable jesus, a hypothetical jesus, or a theoretical jesus — I need the real thing — I need the I AM Jesus; the Lord of Hosts Jesus, the Almighty God, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords Jesus — I need that all-permeating, binding every action, governing every aspect of my life, Lord Jesus.  Yes, may the Person of Christ, the Atonement of Christ, and the Victory of Christ be ever before me, first and foremost, but do not leave me without that divine psychology book, that divine economics book, that divine theology book, that divine covering every aspect of my life book — which is the Bible. My prayer, one that I trust He will answer, is that my Lordwill not leave me without His word impacting everything that comes about in my life. If every thought is to be brought into captivity to Him, unto obedience to Him, then I need a Bible that covers all of my thoughts, all of my feelings, all of my actions, all of my life. I know that I have such a Bible now… and I know, as a result, that I will be well nourished, watered, and fed. I also know that I will stumble and fall, and yet I know that I am already risen with Him and with all the brethren in Him. In light of this, let us all press onward towards maturity and seek that meat… that real meat… not the “types and figures” meat but that meat that consists of LIVING OUT THE WORD, by His grace, in Spirit and in Truth. Do not let anyone tell you that “life application” is bad… the Christian knows that life application evidences life; there is no life without application — faith without works is dead! We will not obtain life or keep our life by our works — but you are lying to yourself, and to others, if you think that you can live the course of your “Christian” life disdaining life application and righteous exhortations unto good works. Moreover, I ask that you exhort me as I hope to exhort you. Encourage me as I hope to encourage you. I need it. I have a long way to go, a long way… not only have I not arrived but I’m still taking baby steps at the beginning of the race; I see my great shortcomings but must press on nonetheless and encourage you to do the same — that is what we are called to do. Therefore, let us remove the shackles of an uninformed, Antinomian “Christ crucified only – don’t talk to me about godly living” message and embrace fully… the whole counsel of God, the entirety of His word. May our Lord give us all (all who are in Him) much strength, wisdom, and courage to grow in godly love, knowledge, understanding, and zeal.

To God alone be the Glory, in Christ Jesus.

Amen!