Fifty-Three-Year-Old Preschooler

I matriculated at Liberty University (then known as Liberty Baptist College) in the fall of 1979. Since that first semester when I began Greek and theology courses, I have studied the Bible at a significant level for almost 36 years, including three degrees, all of which have increased my theological knowledge. Since 1988 when I became a full-time pastor, I have studied the Bible verse by verse in Greek and Hebrew for 10+ hours a week (not counting sermon and lesson preparation), I have averaged reading around 60 books a year (most of which have helped me focus upon the message of the Bible), I have read the Bible through over 30 times, and I have spent thousands of hours preaching, teaching, counseling, discipling, training, and talking about the Bible and God.

I give all this background because it helps you understand a discussion I had with myself not long ago. I am currently reading two books that are “knocking my socks off”—one about how God is glorified through both salvation and judgment and one that deals with why and how we glorify God by enjoying his creation and all the gifts he gives us in creation. Both are subjects I have thought much about, but in each I am learning, being stretched, experiencing stabs of joy as I think and pray about them. As I was meditating upon one of the books in the morning hours recently I said to myself, “Barnes, you are so slow and thick. I can’t believe you haven’t already covered this ground in all these years!”

Ah, but then a new thought hit me—one I believe that was carried by the Spirit of God. “I should not be surprised that I am still learning new things about God. After all, he is infinite. I will never know everything about him and I will spend eternity growing in my knowledge of him and my delight in him. The fact that I am still learning is a reminder of this!”

I then thought about some of the greatest Christian minds that have walked this earth: the Apostle Paul, Peter, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, J. I. Packer, John Stott, John Piper, D. A. Carson, and so many others. The best have not made it out of kindergarten in this age when it comes to the knowledge of our Lord. What that means is that at the most I am a fifty-three-year-old preschooler when it comes to my knowledge of God!

But what this focuses our hearts on is that all of us who are in Christ will have eternity to unpack who God is, his grace in his acts of kindness toward us, and in this expansion we truly will grow in our enjoyment of him!  I ended that morning not being discouraged, but with great pleasure—I (we) get to spend age after billowing age exploring God, his grace, his person, his work, his creation (the new heaven and new earth) and our fellow believers, ever-increasing in my capacity to love him, others, and to worship him. And those stabs of joy will forever increase in us. What an amazing thought!

As a result of that morning self-talk from God’s glorious Word, I invite you not only to enjoy getting to know him now, but to look forward to what we will experience for eternity. Oh, and don’t feel bad that you believe you are not that far down the road in your knowledge of God. Join the club!