INTRODUCTION
Searching High and Low
At the close of his storied life, Moses climbed the slopes of Mount Pisgah. From that summit, God showed him the lay of the Promised Land. Horizon to horizon, it stretched beneath and beyond him, blessed in every direction. For forty years, he had wandered through the baking wilderness dreaming of this moment. At last, he could see the carved ridges and fertile plains, the cool rivers and glistening seas that made up Israel’s God-given homeland. In one glorious, wide-sweeping vista, he drank it all in.
Paul had a similar moment when he picked up his pen to write to the church in Ephesus. What began quietly turned into a cataract of sheer wonder. The first chapter of Ephesians builds into a soaring chorus. You can hear the sound of Paul’s eyes widening before the greatness of God’s mad plan. It is the song of his overjoyed heart searching for the bottom as he was inundated with grace, his spirit trying to catch its breath as he laid out all he had witnessed. His pen was scratching furiously, just trying to keep up. By the time he got ahold of himself, he was already in chapter four.
Perhaps you have been on such a hike. The slog of climbing through the tree cover and brush shields you from the view, and the change in elevation is so gradual you do not even sense it. But then chance comes when the trees thin and the clouds lift, and you turn around. There is nothing but open heaven and vast earth before you, and a panorama to leave you speechless. What just a moment before was familiar and small is now enormous, limitless, and shimmeringly beautiful. That is what happened to Peter, John, and James at the Transfiguration.
But Moses assures us a view like this is not limited to spiritual mountaintops or giants in the faith. It is closer to us than we can imagine. As he put it:
“It is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.”1 This panorama is woven into the Scriptures, where every page and every word are brimming with grace and glory. Only look, leaning on the Holy Spirit to guide you as a Sherpa, and you will see it. He promises those who search will not walk away disappointed. Everyone who seeks finds.
What you will see is Jesus. You will begin to see the outline of His face and His hands, His eyes and His hair, His frame and His feet. You will see His picture again and again across the Bible’s many books and stories, and it will dawn on you that He is the only character God has written about. You will understand what is meant by, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path,”
2 for you know Who the way we travel is. The lamplight floods Him. You will grasp then that Jesus is Christ crucified. That is the only message the Word declares. You will see
