| “I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.” |
| —Isaiah 43:11a |
For many years now, I have had the privilege of using an instrument called the Gregorc Style Delineator™ to help people learn more about their true “self.” Developed by phenomenologist, Anthony Gregorc, Ph.D. (http://www.anthonyfgregorc.com/), this instrument helps disclose certain pre-wired ways in which people perceive information—take information in—and how they process and order this information out. The instrument reveals which of four well-described Mind Styles™ is dominant in an individual. I have witnessed several thousands of people become positively affected, as they learned to understand themselves and as they learned how to better understand their relationships with others.
Through this experience over the last 35 years, I have learned that most of us do not have as clear an understanding of who we really are as we may think that we do. So, an instrument such as the Gregorc Style Delineator™ offers people who are willing to seek to know themselves an absolutely wonderful way to begin to do so. In a similar manner, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and followers of His journey, we strive to know more and more about God.
I read a blog post recently that decried those who have invested the time to study Systematic Theology—that is, a way of systematically categorizing what the Bible teaches about God. Such a course has become one of the mainstays of almost all of the Evangelical Christian seminaries. The blogger felt that Systematic Theology gave some students an overriding arrogance because it made them believe that, having studied Systematic Theology, they actually now knew and understood God. While, in reality—this blogger asserted—all they were doing was cloaking God in their presuppositions.
I heartily disagree with the premise this blogger deposited on the Internet. It has been my personal experience that studying, in a systematic way, what the Bible reveals about the magnificent God who loves us—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—only makes me all too keenly aware of how very little I know about Him.
God is so magnificent and so beyond my comprehension that I can only fall on my knees and worship Him. The little that He reveals of Himself to us is the major motivator for us to realize how enormous He is and how very tiny we are. Arrogance is the very last feeling I receive when I systematically study what the Bible teaches about God.
I am grateful that through the Bible—God’s precious written Word—He has shown us enough of Himself to convince us of His immeasurable greatness. For example, take note of these words from God recorded by the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:11-12:
“I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.”
The “Great I Am”—that, in fact, is the God who loves us, who pours out His mercy and grace on us, who has drawn us irresistibly to Himself, who has cleansed us from our sins through the very blood of His Son, Jesus. We bow before Him and glorify His precious and Holy Name.
As we begin another day, let’s remember that while we can never, even partially, comprehend the full glory and majesty of God this side of heaven, we can seek Him through His written Word and find glimpses of His greatness. We can worship and adore Him. We can honor His love for us by extending His love to others. We can put our selfish wills under the subjection of His Holy Spirit. And, we can rejoice that this nearly unknowable God has loved us with His everlasting love.
