The Unsearchable Riches of Chris

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” (Ephesians 3:8, NKJV)

Paul speaks of himself as “the least of the saints”. I am sure if he was comparing himself to other Christians he would have somewhat to boast of. He could speak of his great ministry, mighty miracles, the many souls converted as a result of his ministry, the churches he established or even, the magnitude of the revelation he had received. Yet, in comparison to His wonderful Lord, he just saw himself as the very least, much like Isaiah who had to cry, “I am undone” in the light of the glory of God. Paul feels privileged to be entrusted with the glorious message of the unsearchable riches of his Lord in spite of his inadequacies.

When he speaks of the riches of Christ being unsearchable, he is not meaning they are so mysterious that no one can begin to look into them, but that they are so deep, unlimited and interminable that they are unfathomable. Those believers who get bored with the Bible, church, and those things that explore the riches of Christ, have not met the true Christ. Yes, we may be bored with church, sermons and study – if we are involving ourselves with the peripheral things that surround Christ. But get tired or bored with Christ? Never! He is so wonderful, glorious, majestic and infinitely beautiful that we could never get to a point where we have seen or discovered all of Him and His riches.

It is said that the hallmark of a true work of art is that every time you look at it, you see something you did not notice before. That is true of great paintings and also of truly great music. But look at the same painting too many times, or listen to the same piece of music too many times and familiarity will breed contempt. But that will never be true of our Lord Jesus. Just when you think there cannot be another facet to his glorious Being, yet another vista of His precious character opens up to our gaze.

Sometimes when I come across a beautiful book, I work through it slowly, savoring each page, knowing that I will soon get to the back cover and that it will then all come to an end. Sometimes, when the family sends us delicacies form South Africa, we eat them very slowly and in small amounts, knowing that we will soon come to the end of the parcel. Not so with Christ, we need never fear we will discover, taste or see all there is of Him. He is truly unfathomable and the more we discover Him, the more He shows us of Himself.

All the riches of this world can be counted, as there is a limit and an end to them. But the riches of our Christ are unlimited. They cannot be counted as they are infinite and, to catalogue them would be futile, as the whole world could not contain the books that would have to be written if we were to enumerate His riches. Of course, when Paul refers to His riches he does not refer to His gold and silver but to the riches of who He is. In Luke 16:11, Jesus speaks of the “true riches” and in Revelation 3:18 He speaks of gold tried in the fire that makes rich. The riches of Christ refer to Him and the essence of His being. We count riches in terms of things we add to our lives, but His riches are intrinsic to who He is. His love, grace, mercy, holiness, wisdom, glory, power and majesty are but some of His riches.

Job said: “Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven – what can you do? Deeper than Sheol – what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9).

While it is true that our ability to praise Him is limited by our very small vocabularies, I am still disturbed when Christians do not have much to say to Him and to one another during times of praise and also of testimony. We can blabber on for hours about a beautiful car or an exciting play during a sports event, but when it comes to describing the wonders of our glorious Lord, we seem to have very little to say.

We can watch soap operas year after year as the actors play out the same boring formula and then discuss the latest “events” for hours. Yet, when it comes to spending time with our Lord and talking about Him we find our attention wandering off to something more mundane. Oh, that we would once again just be gripped with the wonder and awe of a wonderful Savior! I cringe when I hear believers speaking about some worldly thing as being “awesome”. There is only One who is truly awesome and His name is Jesus. May we once again be enthralled, captivated and awed by our majestic Redeemer and may the things of the world grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Sometimes we are afraid of examining earthly things too closely because we know we will find some flaw or imperfection and we would rather not see those faults in the things we hold dear. However, we can magnify Him a million times and examine Him from every angle and peel back layer after layer and we will never be disappointed. He has no flaws, weakness or imperfections. He is altogether lovely, the fairest of ten thousand and glorious in His holiness.

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:33-36).

Anton Bosch

antonbosch@sbcglobal.net

3310 W Magnolia Blvd

Burbank, CA, 91505

Tel 818 846 5520