The Unicorn
I am falling in love with paradoxes...A paradox is defined as "a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true." What a perfect definition for experiencing life with God. He's both loving and terrifying, both meek and majestic, both gentle and wrathful, the list goes on and on. Looking through our limited lens it is often difficult to make sense of these attributes of God. But with further investigation and explanation (and I would add experience), these paradoxes of God are proven to be the only truth and the only reality; a reality we will all face someday.
During the week leading up to Easter, some call it Holy Week, I stumbled upon a daily devotional by John Piper. He wrote a beautiful word-picture of Christ that I would like to share with you.
"A little lamb was born all wooly-white with skinny legs and a wet nose, pretty much like all the other little lambs. But as the lamb grew into a sheep, the other sheep began to notice a difference. This sheep had a strange lump on his forehead.
At first, they thought he’d been hit, but the lump never went down. Instead, a large pad of deep, white wool grew over the lump and made it very soft and firm. The lump might have stopped attracting attention except for the fact that this sheep began to use the lump on his head in very strange ways.
For one thing, the lump seemed to weigh down his head so that he always looked like he was bowing and showing reverence to some invisible king. Then he began to seek out other sheep that were sick or wounded. He would use the firm, soft lump on his forehead to help the weak onto their feet and to wipe away tears.
Whole flocks of sheep started to follow him around, but the goats laughed him to scorn. Sheep were disgusting enough, but a sheep with a queer lump on his forehead was more than they could take. They harassed him all the time and made up jokes and taunts: “How come you hang your wooly head? Your lump made out of woolen lead?” And it just infuriated them that he would walk away from them and keep on doing his quiet works of mercy.
So one day the goats surrounded him and rammed him with their horns until he died, and they left him alone in the field. But as he lay there, something very strange happened. He began to get bigger. The bloody wool fell away and revealed a sleek, white, horse-like hair. The soft pad of deep white wool dropped off his forehead and straight out of the merciful lump grew a mighty horn of crimson steel unlike any horn that has ever been or will be again.
And then, as if by command, the massive Unicorn leaped to his feet. His back stood eight feet above the ground. The muscles in his shoulders and neck were like marble. The tendons in his legs were like cables of iron. His head was no longer bowed, and when he looked to the right or to the left, the crimson horn slashed the air like a saber dipped in blood.
When the sheep saw him, they fell down and worshiped. He bowed and touched each one on the forehead with the tip of his horn, whispered something in their ear, and soared away into the sky. He hasn’t been seen since."
This is an imperfect picture, but one that helps us behold Christ as both meek and majestic, gentle and dangerous. The fact is, many only see Jesus as the meek lamb and refuse to see Him as the mighty unicorn. We can't read scripture and only accept the warm fuzzy side of God. Do we fully believe in God as He really is or are we worshiping a false god of our own creation because that version is easier to handle? Belief does not require full understanding. God has revealed Himself to us, and calls us to believe He is who He says He is. We can have faith that the longer we are with Him, the more full that picture of His person will become. And one day we will all behold Him in His full glory. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess what some of us already know and believe...Jesus Christ is LORD. Our beautiful, mighty, terrifying, gentle, kind, loving, faithful, HOLY Lord.
During the week leading up to Easter, some call it Holy Week, I stumbled upon a daily devotional by John Piper. He wrote a beautiful word-picture of Christ that I would like to share with you.
"A little lamb was born all wooly-white with skinny legs and a wet nose, pretty much like all the other little lambs. But as the lamb grew into a sheep, the other sheep began to notice a difference. This sheep had a strange lump on his forehead.
At first, they thought he’d been hit, but the lump never went down. Instead, a large pad of deep, white wool grew over the lump and made it very soft and firm. The lump might have stopped attracting attention except for the fact that this sheep began to use the lump on his head in very strange ways.
For one thing, the lump seemed to weigh down his head so that he always looked like he was bowing and showing reverence to some invisible king. Then he began to seek out other sheep that were sick or wounded. He would use the firm, soft lump on his forehead to help the weak onto their feet and to wipe away tears.
Whole flocks of sheep started to follow him around, but the goats laughed him to scorn. Sheep were disgusting enough, but a sheep with a queer lump on his forehead was more than they could take. They harassed him all the time and made up jokes and taunts: “How come you hang your wooly head? Your lump made out of woolen lead?” And it just infuriated them that he would walk away from them and keep on doing his quiet works of mercy.
So one day the goats surrounded him and rammed him with their horns until he died, and they left him alone in the field. But as he lay there, something very strange happened. He began to get bigger. The bloody wool fell away and revealed a sleek, white, horse-like hair. The soft pad of deep white wool dropped off his forehead and straight out of the merciful lump grew a mighty horn of crimson steel unlike any horn that has ever been or will be again.
And then, as if by command, the massive Unicorn leaped to his feet. His back stood eight feet above the ground. The muscles in his shoulders and neck were like marble. The tendons in his legs were like cables of iron. His head was no longer bowed, and when he looked to the right or to the left, the crimson horn slashed the air like a saber dipped in blood.
When the sheep saw him, they fell down and worshiped. He bowed and touched each one on the forehead with the tip of his horn, whispered something in their ear, and soared away into the sky. He hasn’t been seen since."
This is an imperfect picture, but one that helps us behold Christ as both meek and majestic, gentle and dangerous. The fact is, many only see Jesus as the meek lamb and refuse to see Him as the mighty unicorn. We can't read scripture and only accept the warm fuzzy side of God. Do we fully believe in God as He really is or are we worshiping a false god of our own creation because that version is easier to handle? Belief does not require full understanding. God has revealed Himself to us, and calls us to believe He is who He says He is. We can have faith that the longer we are with Him, the more full that picture of His person will become. And one day we will all behold Him in His full glory. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess what some of us already know and believe...Jesus Christ is LORD. Our beautiful, mighty, terrifying, gentle, kind, loving, faithful, HOLY Lord.
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