"That's NOT What I Meant!"

A friend told me of his challenging childhood with an abusive father. He had difficulty accepting God as a father figure because of his past experience. If God was anything like his father, he wanted no part of Christianity.

Another friend told me that he had imagined that if Christ visited churches today He would probably say, “None of you are 100% correct.”

In both cases I talked with my friends about the challenge to understand Scripture in light of the baggage of our past experiences and past teaching. Perhaps that is, in part, why James instructed:

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.   —James 3:1

We must never treat God’s word lightly asking, “What does that mean to you?” Rather, ask, “What did God actually say and what did He intend to communicate?”

Our Creator was not silent. He spoke into His creation a message with real content and meaning. God really did intend for man to understand something specific. In other words, God did not blurt out words without meaning, leaving us to interpret as we wish. He meant something.

How do we know that God’s Word is not left up to man’s interpretation?

The prophet Jeremiah wrote about a new covenant that was to be radically different from the covenant that God had with Ancient Israel.

“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”   —Jeremiah 31:34

Isn’t is clear that something would be communicated so that God could be known? The writer of Hebrews offers clarity...

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son….   —Hebrews 1:1–2

Take this thought one step further...

In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.    — John 1:1, 14

God revealed himself to the fathers of Israel, to Moses, and He revealed His message through the prophets. Ultimately, however, God communicated ’in’ His Son. Jesus was not merely a messenger; Jesus WAS the message! By listening to and watching Jesus, man can know, ‘This is what God meant!’

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.     —2 Peter 1:20–21

Every person carries past experiences and teachings that influence the way they interpret God’s message. Yet, His Word contains relevant content that came from His mind with meaning that He intended to communicate.

We must do our best to discern God’s message and respond to Him in faith and humility. Otherwise, we risk His rejection, “That’s NOT what I meant!”