The Call to go Deeper

Introduction:

There is More.

In the New Testament, particularly in the writings of Paul, he called his audience to a deeper relationship with God.

1 Corinthians 3:1–2 NIV

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

To the believers in Corinth, a church that Paul himself planted, he uses this same language on them. They were on the milk of the word and we’re ready for the meat of the word. He said that he wasn’t even sure if he could address them as spiritual, becuase they acted more like the world.

Let’s take a pause here and remind the church that we aren’t supposed to act wordly. What is wordly? People who do not have Jesus.

If you have Jesus then there needs to be a marked difference in you. It starts right in here, right in our hearts, and it’s evidenced externally as well. Jesus on the inside, working on the outside. That wasn’t just a Sunday school song, but it was supposed to be a anthem to the work that God is doing in our life. People need to come around you and KNOW that there is a difference with you.

Ephesians 3:8–12 NIV

Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

To the church in Ephesus he calls his message a mystery, it was boundless riches in Christ. He uses language here that lets them know that the only way you reach these boundless riches is to understand what was previously a mystery. This doesn’t happen by association or proximity, you need to go and look for it. You want to understand this mystery? Then you need to pay very close attention to what God revealed to me so that I can share with you.

Hebrews 5:11–14 NIV

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

To the Hebrews (Jews), Paul questioned their desire to even understand. Paul was trying to teach the Hebrews about the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, but he throws his hands up and decides to just rebuke them. In his rebuke he tells them that they can’t even tell the difference between good and evil.

Paul had an expectation that they would be further along than this. He expected them to have moved on from knowing the difference from right and wrong.

[TRANISITION]

So what I need for you to understand as we read these letters from Paul to the early believers is that there is depth to God.

Is salvation difficult? Absolutely not. Jesus already did the work on the cross, and our part is to repent from our sins, receive his forgiveness and make him our Lord and Savior. That’s the good news. That’s the gospel.

But beyond that, Paul makes it clear to the church that we can go deeper in God. Not everyone is going to want to go deeper and some people are happy to stay where it is safe, but God is absolutely calling people to abandon what is safe, and to abandon what is comfortable, take up their cross daily and become a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

Deep is Up & Down

Genesis 49:22–26 (NIV)

“Joseph is a fruitful vine,

a fruitful vine near a spring,

whose branches climb over a wall.

With bitterness archers attacked him;

they shot at him with hostility.

But his bow remained steady,

his strong arms stayed limber,

because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

because of your father’s God, who helps you,

because of the Almighty, who blesses you

with blessings of the skies above,

blessings of the deep springs below,

blessings of the breast and womb.

Deuteronomy 33:13 NIV

About Joseph he said: “May the Lord bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below;

In these texts, we read about Joseph’s blessings, first from his father Jacob, and repeated by Moses to the tribes of Israel. The use of the word “deep” in both passages is used to illustrate that Joseph would have both heavenly and earthly blessings. They are represented both as rain and rivers.

Remember, this is a blessing that is being spoken over Jospeh’s life and these examples are meant to be analogies.

When the deep is spoken of in Joseph’s life it was both up and down.

There is a truth here that we can apply when we talk about the deep, and going deeper in God.

As we ascend upward in our search of God, He descends downward in his work within us.

In order to go deeper in God, we must allow Him to do a deep work in us.

God does his best work in the deep

As I continued to word study “deep” I began to see that God does His best work in the deep.

Genesis 1:2 NIV

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Here it is in the very beginning of the Bible that when God saw the deep, he began to hover. I want you to get that visual for a second. Hovering isn’t just a location but more importantly it’s a posture. It’s the posture that God was getting ready to create by the power of his voice, and he decides to hover right over the deep.

Genesis 2:21 NIV

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.

As Adam was in a deep sleep God pulled Eve out of him. Adam means man, or humanity. Eve means life. So it wasn’t until humanity was in a deep sleep that God could pull life out of Him. Again, God did his best work in the deep of sleep.

Genesis 15:12 NIV

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

Genesis 15:18 (NIV)

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land...”

When Abram was in a deep sleep God spoke to him and told him about what his descendants were going to endure as slaves in Egypt, but then he goes on to tell him about the land that they would eventually inherit. Of course we know this as the Promised Land. In the deep God showed Abram a vision of the land, and the favor that was in store for future generations. Land that to this day is inhabited by his descendants. It was established all the way back in the days of Abram, while he was in the deep.