So Just What ARE The "Deeper Things of Christ", Anyway?

[seoulsearch]

Hey everyone,

Something I have been wanting to ask for a very long time is, what ARE the "deeper things of Christ" that I hear some Christians talk about?

Here's what I mean: I've been raised in church all my life, so I have a fairly decent knowledge of what Christians talk about. Whether in churches, small groups, or right here on CC, I have often heard some believers say they are concerned with "the deeper things of Christ." For some, it's an honest-to-goodness push to get us all to really think about what God wants us to be doing during our time on earth. For others... Well, to be honest, I feel as if it's a way of telling the rest of us that we're too shallow and meaningless when it comes to our Christian lives.

I certainly understand that there is ALWAYS room for improvement. But sometimes when I hear this term ("the deeper things of Christ"), it feels more like a judgment and a implication that, "I'M someone who thinks DEEPLY about the Lord... are YOU??? Prove to me that you're going 'deep enough'!!"

And so I find myself asking the following questions:

1. Are "the deeper things of Christ" a general set of things we should ALL be concerned about? Or could it be something very personal, and very different for every person?

2. Do you have to be learned or scholarly to contribute to "the deeper things of Christ"? What about people who can't read or are uneducated, whether in modern day society or ancient times when Christians were taken as slaves?

My own Grandpa, a WWII vet, was a farmer. For him, there was no time for deep study or scholarly degrees. But, he loves Jesus, has lived a very long life, and I'm sure, in a way that God holds dear to His heart, my Grandpa's very existence and the stories he has to tell count as an important part of the deeper work of Christ. (After all, how many people remember seeing the transition from wagons to "horseless carriages", or seeing electricity in your house for the very first time as it was becoming available?)

3. What, to YOU, are the deeper things of Christ, and how are these things an active part of your life?

I am someone who needs a two-fold sequence in my faith. First, I need to learn and study the principles. Secondly, I need to SEE them APPLIED. I've never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the bunch , so for me, it's not enough to learn what God has to say. I have to SEE it lived out in every day life in order to truly understand and really take it to heart.

One of my own personal "deeper things of Christ" was to attend a court date of a certain prison inmate several years ago. Just one of his many crimes was shooting his parents--one survived, and one did not. I had the extreme privilege of meeting and speaking with the surviving parent, who was generous enough to talk with the attorney and myself for a lengthy amount of time.

What struck me to the core was that this person had completely forgiven their own child for committing such a heinous crime, which included ending the life of their own spouse. And yet, this person came across without bitterness or hate, just concern for both their child and for the safety of other family members (which I can't imagine trying to balance.)

Even the attorney said, "Your capacity to forgive is amazing," to which, this person replied, "You never give up on your kids, and you never stop loving them." I was completely dumbfounded. If I had even an inkling of the ability to forgive as this person... I can only imagine the deeper ways God could use me. This encounter was one of the most important lessons I've ever had in my own Christian walk.

What about you? What do you feel are the deeper things of Christ, and what keeps you motivated to seek and actively participate in them?

P.S. I know people are going to ask why I didn't post this in the Bible Discussion Forum.

Reason #1 is because I don't feel like getting slaughtered for asking a question (though I do know the very headline is bound to draw in a few stragglers.) Reason #2 is because married people always seem to tell us singles to take advantage of our time alone to develop a deeper relationship with Jesus, and so, I'm asking the people here about what that journey may look like.

Thank you all in advance!

 

[Lynx]

Remember Zacchaeus? Remember when Jesus stopped below the tree where Zacchaeus was and said "Zacchaeus get down here because we've got some things to straighten up in your life?" Wait... That's not quite how it went.

All Jesus did was go and have lunch with the dude and suddenly he was straightening up his own life, promising not to take anything he shouldn't from anyone, promising to give back 4 times what he had taken from anybody that he shouldn't have... Zacchaeus understood some of the deeper things.

 

[mattp0625]

I am not an expert in this particular phrase. I think some would take this to mean becoming a bible expert. I would boil it down to basic principles for living. The following is a non-exhaustive list:

Love each other (as I have loved you)
Feed my sheep
Take this all of you and eat of it...
Have faith like to a grain of mustard seed
When you did this for the least of these, you did it for me.
The content of Matthew 5-7
Confession and repentance
Prayer

 

[Lynx]

[video=youtube;szhVMraVdPQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szhVMraVdPQ[/video]

The deeper things are what you find when you move beyond what God can do for you, to realizing what you can do in Christ for others. And I don't mean giving money to charities or helping a little old lady across the street. There is a power that comes with being a Christian, but we are not given this power just to make our lives easier. We are given it to affect the world around us.

 

[DuchessAimee]

I think what the deeper things of Christ are are going to depend on the believer.


I can hear the stampede from the bible discussion forum heading over here. Now HOLD ON! Let me explain my statement.



Not every believer is on the same "level" in their relationship with Christ (ie time knowing him, maturity, etc) so the deeper things are going to very. Think about it like this...





"New" Christians are putting down roots. The deeper things of Christ are rudimentary and often comforting. They're the book of Romans (doctrine 101). They create stability, they learn how not to be blown about by every wind of doctrine. As their roots grow and are placed in strong ground, the trunk is developing tough bark by dealing with sun, annoying birds, storms, couples who carve their initials into them. In other words, new believers are discovering the deeper things of Christ by interacting with the world and the body of Christ. They're dealing with people who hurt them, who burn them, who befriend them, welcome them, and who ultimately drive them back to Jesus.

"Mature" Christians are growing branches and eventually producing fruit. The deeper things of Christ are amazing and wonderful, but also often hard to hear. They're cutting, piercing, sometimes surprising because we thought we had that principle down from five or ten years ago. They're book of Philippians (the one church Paul didn't yell at lol) and it's also 1 and 2 Corinthians (a church so bad it got two letters!) These deeper things prune the branches, they cause tremendous growth and fruit to be produced. But, man, it hurts! I've heard and seen the Gardener carry the pruning tools over to me, and I've begged him to prune someone else. However, there comes a point where I will ask him to prune away what he deems necessary because I need him more than I need myself.

And there are two things I've noticed from some mature Christian trees. One, it's forgotten that pruning happens more than once in a lifetime. That's my personal issue. And two, most Christians, whether mature or not, think they're done growing whenever they've chosen a particular time. You cannot ever fully know the mind of God, you cannot ever finish growing in him. Which is why we cannot ever exhaust the deeper things of Christ.

 

[zeroturbulence]

I'm quite sure there are no "deeper things of Christ". The story of forgiveness that you described is simply a story of amazing forgiveness. There isn't anything 'deep' about it.. in other words, there's no secret Christ-taught method or formula that the forgiver knows about that we don't know about. What that person has was special, yes.. but it does not require further christian study to understand it.

The scripture says that we must become humble like "little children" in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. To me this means that we must follow the Lord with pure hearts and minds and not be concerned with a search for deeper meaning in what Christ taught. If one searches for deeper meaning they will probably find it, but one can search for deeper meaning in anything.

Matthew 18:3-4
"Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.…

 

[Blain]

The deeper things of God is something that he reveals to you the deeper and closer you get to him. They are the hidden and deep secrets of his heart and yes Seoulsearch your story of forgiveness is one of them because such a deep and amazing level of forgiveness shows great love and both these things are a very big part of who he is. Think of his heart as a vast deep and endless sea, the deep and hidden secrets that lie in it are endless, now imagine you sinking in that sea because you are falling more and more in love with him and as you continue to sink you are astounded by the beauty and wonders you see in that heart of his, things about him about us about his kingdom about faith- amazing and incredible things that few ppl have ever known.

We could have faith and live and be in love with him for a thousand years and yet we still haven't even cracked the deep and hidden secrets of God. he doesn't reveal such things simply because you know the word or simply because you have great faith, he requires a deep and intimate love and that's it. seoulsearch it sounds to me as if you already are being shown the deep and hidden secrets of God♥

 

[Shouryu]

*searching brain...searching brain*

Really trying to think of any point in the Bible where I've read "the deeper things of Christ."

Drawing a blank. I could be wrong, I've been wrong before. Hold on, going to search it on youversion.com.

...

UH OH! YouVersion.com is unable to locate the phrase "the deeper things of Christ" in the ASV, ESV, HCSB, KJV, NASB, NIV, or NKJV translations of the Bible.

*sniffs*

I smell...Christianese!!!

Look, you wanna "dig deeper" into Christ?

Read the Word. Study it, devour it, and LIVE IT. Pray and LIVE IT. And the Spirit will reveal Christ to you more and more. And the more you learn, the more you'll thirst for more knowledge. And man, I mean LIVE IT. Serve Him. When you serve, you glorify, and when you glorify, you serve. That's it. That's how you "get deeper" with Christ. It's JUST A RELATIONSHIP, yo. What you put in is what you will get out. Ain't nothing mystical or secretive about it. The nearer YOU draw to HIM, the nearer He will draw to you. ^_^

 

[Femalelamb]

Im no scholar but I've been on a recent journey to know God more and to love Him rightly and to love others rightly. I also desire to have such a close relationship with Him that I'm one with Him and His people as Jesus prayed we would be. So as I'm reading over the post in this discussion these verses came to mind. So I thouhgt I'd share.

John 3:6-8 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of The Spirit.

Romans 8:5-17 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

So so I pray Ephesians 1 over all of us:

Ephesians 1:2-23 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. In Jesus' mighty powerful Holy name, Amen.

 

[Lynx]

Shouryu: There's Proverbs 25:2. It doesn't have the word "deeper" but...

But that's probably not what many mean when they speak of deeper things.

 

[DeShoregirl]

Philippians 3 talks about pressing in to know Jesus and become mature in what He taught us - to make it our own. Hebrews talks about drinking milk vs. eating the meat of the Gospel. But I think your post is more of a response to the judgment of others that they pressed on to deeper things and you didn't. What are they, level judges or something? You reached level 2 and they hit level 7?

Remember Paul's admonition from Galatians. If anyone preaches anything other than Christ and Him crucified, run.
If you know Him, your growth in Him is His responsibility. He will see to it that, as John 15 says, every branch in Him bears fruit. Stay in the Word and you will never be in danger of missing out on the deeper things.

 

[Breeze7]

The deeper things of Christ

1. set of things we should all care about?

the things from the bible of Christ yes, those are things we should all be concerned about Love, Charity, Healing, Fellowship/friendship, honesty, faithfulness...

2. different things for all people?, and do we have to be educated?

Yes of course they are different for all people because Grace manifests in a different way in every persons life. I have seen certain people have more of the joy side of Christ because for reasons unknown there suffering on earth is less. I find it something to pray about. Have to be educated? Ah yeah, sometimes. Without knowledge, specific and certain knowledge, one is no less special yet they are missing distinction, a distinction that makes a difference.

3. What are the deep things of Christ?

Our lives will show us that. The deep things of Christ are his mystic side in my thought. The miracles but also christs own insight into the power of his father. How Christ became so at one with the father and power. Some feel he was just that, just was, but in his time on earth he taught others how to be near. It was taught to some the things that others would not hear and did not have eyes to see.

 

[slave]

Well there are the scriptural conclusions to that answer and then there is my list.

My List:

A willing mind..
Jesus Himself.
a Sanctified life. Consecrated wholly to God, thru Jesus Christ.
Love that results in a life willing to suffer for others even unto death.
Hope.
Grace.
Contentment in all things.
even the fact that he is the Alpha....I can't grasp the fact something has always been here...no starting point. Beyond me to associate with that experience.
My personal favorites.... there are more but you get the point.


Biblical conclusions:

Unfathomable in their nature.

Comprehended only by the Spirit of God.

Only Partially revealed to us.

 

[zeroturbulence]

There is nothing more to learn about God or Christ which is not already revealed in the word..

"You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
(Deuteronomy 4:2 NIV)

Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
(Proverbs 30:6)

 

[zeroturbulence]

All we really need to understand Jesus is this..

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

(Matthew 22:37-40)

 

[MissCris]

Two short thoughts on this that don't really answer the questions asked, but are what I immediately thought of after reading all the posts...

My husband and I were listening to a podcast a few days ago, and while I can't remember the guy's name, I remember he said this- "If you aren't producing fruit, you're going to be disciplined so that you bear some. If you Are bearing fruit, you're going to be disciplined so that you produce More."

This same guy also talked about salvation and the confusion Christians feel over it being a free gift- he said, basically, yes, salvation is free...but it will cost you your life.

Those are just a couple of examples of things that I understand now that I wouldn't have gotten a decade ago. I guess you could say that they're some of the "deeper things of Christ"...although I think people who throw that phrase into conversation are acting like pompous- well, anyway, that's all I got on this subject.

 

[jb]

So Just What ARE The "Deeper Things of Christ", Anyway?

The Melchizedek High Priestly ministry of Christ... Heb 5v10-6v2 (esp 5v10,11, 6v1)...

 

[seoulsearch]

I'm really enjoying reading what "the deeper things of Christ" means to different people... and I hope that anyone who feels moved to do so will continue to share what's on their heart.

The entire topic always reminds me of this passage:

Matthew 11:25--"At that time, Jesus declared, 'I thank you Father, Lord of heaven, that you have shown to the UNLEARNED what you have HIDDEN from the wise and learned."

I think of this passage every time I ("accidentally") wander into the Bible Discussion Forum.

 

[Femalelamb]

Is God searchable? Yes
is this search exhaustive? No