The Original Face Book

By T. M. Moore | Published Date: January 14, 2013

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. Psalm 17:15

How should a Christian regard his Bible?

That seems like a question with an obvious answer. For the Christian the Bible is the Word of God, the revelation in writing of His divine will, the final bar of appeal in all matters of faith and life.

Most people who consider themselves Christians will agree with this definition, although with varying degrees of conviction.

But what are the practical implications of such a view, beginning, let’s say, with what we’re seeking when we turn to the Scriptures? Open the Bible, settle on a section to read, begin reading. What are you seeking? Some new insight into an old truth? A word of comfort or guidance? Better understanding of this book or doctrine?

What are we seeking as we engage the Bible through reading and study?

For unless we are seeking what God has secreted there, we will not find what He intends. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, Solomon advised. But it is the glory of kings – of those appointed to rule – to discover it (Prov. 25:2).

But we must know what we’re seeking before we can discover what God has hidden in the inspired words of Holy Scripture.

We can think of the Bible like one of those “Magic Eye” pictures. You know the genre. The surface is covered with some pattern – perhaps interlocking flying geese or a hounds tooth pattern, repeated over and over. Looking at it, on the surface at least, it just looks like so many geese or wedges or whatever.

To many people the Bible looks like so many ancient words. They can see some patterns – books, paragraphs, and the like – and they might even be able to trace out some topics or themes that connect the parts to the whole.

But like the Magic Eye picture, all these are but the surface of the tapestry of Scripture. Hidden within these books, paragraphs, words, patterns, and themes is a deeper reality. And it’s this God intends us to discover.

So you study the Magic Eye picture and a friend tells you, “Look carefully and focus clearly. The Parthenon is in there.” What? The Parthenon? How can that be?

So you keep looking, but nothing happens. You say to your friend, “I don’t see any Parthenon in there.”

“The Parthenon? Did I say the Parthenon? Sorry, I meant the U. S. Capitol. If you look carefully, you’ll see the U. S. Capitol begin to emerge.”

So you stay at it and, after a bit, sure enough, there it is, the U. S. Capitol in wondrous 3-D! It’s so real you can reach your hand into it. Now that you’ve seen it once, you’ll be able to see – really, to experience it – again and again.

As long as you were looking for the Parthenon, all you could see was the surface patterns. And though they were interesting and maybe even a little fascinating, they’re nothing to write home about.

But once you began looking for the right thing, then the patterns worked with your seeking brain to yield the hidden image.

That’s the way Scripture is. Just like that.

But if you’re looking for the wrong thing, you’ll always be disappointed. You might be looking into the Scriptures for, let’s say, the key to happiness, or prosperity and power. Or maybe you want the Scriptures to give up the secrets of, I don’t know, profound doctrine or political justice. So you keep looking, searching through the words and paragraphs of the patterns of Scripture, and, from time to time, you gather just enough of whatever you’re looking for to make you think there might be more of the same in there.

But it’s not satisfying for very long. And you know it’s not because it’s hard for you to spend much time reading and studying and searching the Scripture for whatever it is you seek. There are plenty of other things you need to get to, and if the Bible doesn’t deliver the sought-for boon in a short time, well, maybe it will next time around.

If that’s your experience, your problem is simple: You’re looking for the wrong thing.
The Bible has lots to say about happiness and comfort and peace and truth and doctrine and justice and a whole lot else beside.

But these are not what God has hidden in His Word. Not primarily, at least.

Look carefully at the Scriptures. Read the whole pattern, meditate on the connections, focus on each detail and every flowing line and theme. But make sure that, as you do, you’re looking for what God has hidden in His Word.

And what He’s hidden in His Word is His own glory.

The glory of God is His presence, emerging from the text of His Word, reaching up to embrace and envelope you, surrounding you with a mysterious spiritual warmth, crushing you with joy, and infusing you with His presence and power, opening your mind to His promises and binding your heart to Him with unspeakable love – landing you on the very lap of Him with Whom you have been seated in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), putty in the strong hands of the transforming Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3:12-18).

The Bible is the original Face Book. And the Face that is hidden there, concealed for us to discover and delight in, is the very Face of God.

“Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes” (Ps. 119:135). “‘You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me’” (Jn. 5:39).

If your reading and study of Scripture is dutiful, dry, and – be honest – dull, it’s probably because you’re looking in the right place for the wrong thing.

Look for the Face of Jesus in Scripture, and the glory of God that radiates from His presence in every word and line (2 Cor. 4:6), and you will discover an experience of God’s Word that can change your life, and to which you will eagerly and joyously return, for every deeper immersion, again and again and again (Jer. 15:16).