Do We Really Believe What We Believe is Really Real?

I love stories. Whether they are bound in a book, captured on film, told around the flickering flames of a fire, or consigned to pixels and sound bites in a video game, this much remains true of my soul: I love stories.

Above all, my mind has always been drawn to fictional stories - like a moth to a flame. To put a finer point on it, I love those fictional stories that resound with echoes of truth. Though their worlds and circumstances may be composed of the imaginary, these tales nonetheless have one foot in reality just as the other is fixed firmly in the imagination. And, it is this one foot in reality that lends weight and credence to the other foot in the realm of make-believe. Indeed, the very best of stories are not saying anything new so much as they are expressing timeless truths in a new garb.

This is precisely why the imaginary worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis - Middle-Earth and Narnia, respectively - endure while other fantasy lands fade away into the dreary dungeons of distant memory. These lands are not the real thing, but they point beyond themselves to a greater reality; having been firmly established in the Truth, our eyes and souls lift upwards from the page to Him, the greater Aslan. The best fiction ought always to lead us from its own words to the Word Himself.

Permit me to continue on my dear friends Tolkien and Lewis for only a moment longer. Many folks remain unaware that Tolkien was instrumental in Lewis’ conversion. Recounting a conversation between himself and Tolkien in a letter some time after having come to Christ, Lewis wrote:

“These hauntingly beautiful lands which somehow never satisfy, - this passion to escape from death plus the certainty that life owes all its charm to mortality - these push you on to the real thing because they fill you with desire... Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened.”

Indeed, the story of Christ is, as Lewis puts it, the one true myth. It is a glorious truth that remains stranger than fiction. With that in mind, have you ever considered our own reality? Have you grappled with the fact that our world is one born out of the most curious of all possibilities? Have you ever had the sense that our reality is stranger than fiction?

Consider, for just a moment, what we as Christians profess to be true. We believe that this world and everything in it, realms both seen and unseen, are not the product of random chance or spontaneous spaghettification, but are in fact created according to the deliberate, purposeful, and eternal decree of a Living God. Furthermore, we believe that this God is a personal Being and far from a mere impersonal force. He has a personality, a set of well-defined and perfect characteristics, and an eternal, personal history. It also follows that, as a person, this God has things He loves and things He hates; He loves that which is good and beautiful, and He hates that which is evil and sinful. Indeed, as a personal Being, He is the very spring from which all personality, joy, and love pours forth.

We believe that His divine fingerprints - His characteristics and eternal attributes - can be found embedded within every iota of the things He has fashioned. Whether it be in the howling depths of the cosmos, in the soft bloom of a Spring garden, or in a piece of fine music, His aroma lingers on it all. As Christians, we believe that this God is perfect; perfect in character, power, wisdom, beauty, and moral integrity - God is the mountaintop of all completion, wholeness, and perfection. He is the happiest, holiest, and highest Being in all of reality.

Now for the strange part. We as Christians believe that this God, the one true God, has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is, we believe in the Trinity; one God who exists in three Persons. Not three Gods, but one Being in three Persons. We do not believe this to be true because it is convenient or easy to untangle in our minds - because, believe me, it is not. Rather, we are bound in our convictions by the truth of God’s Word that this is who God has revealed Himself to be, and that is the end of it. To believe in this wondrous mystery is to affirm the most basic - and profound - element of the Christian faith.

As Michael Reeves writes in his book Delighting in the Trinity, “If the Trinity were something we could shave off God, we would not be relieving Him of some irksome weight; we would be shearing Him of precisely what is so delightful about Him.” Simply put, without the doctrine - the mind-numbing, heart-warming, God-glorifying truth - of the Trinity, Christianity itself quickly unravels. Without the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the incarnation becomes irrelevant, the crucifixion weightless, and the resurrection impossible.

But because God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the mystery deepens. We as Christians believe that God the Father sent His only Son into the world (John 3:16). The Author of Life came into this world to offer His life as a ransom for many, dying upon a Roman cross for the sins of His chosen people. Through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, God the Son, we become washed of our sins and clothed in the spotless robes of His righteous, justified forever before the presence of the Father, filled with His Spirit, and heirs with Christ in eternity. As Christians, we believe that this same Jesus who died and took up His life again is returning, only this time His glory will not be veiled in the form of a lamb, but will erupt from His presence as a mighty lion coming to judge the earth in righteousness.

How is it that we do not daily buckle beneath the weight of such glory! We must learn to shake from our souls the spiritual malaise that so threatens our joy and glory anew in this great God of ours. Enough with the veil of familiarity; delight in Him!

Indeed, I could go on and on, but my hope is that this much has become clear: the world we live in and the story we find ourselves in is stranger than fiction. Perhaps Hamlet put it best,

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

When I first became a Christian, my church began a 12-week study on “The Truth Project” by Focus on the Family. While introductory in many respects, it was hugely influential to my thinking and theology, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all Christians, young and old alike. Throughout the study, oftentimes after a weighty passage of Scripture was just read or some new glorious truth touched on, Dr. Del Tackett, the study’s leader, would often pause and after a sigh look to the audience and simply ask, “Do we really believe what we believe is really real?” In light of such weighty truths, all of which we as Christians claim to believe, how do our lives measure up?

All these years later, I have never ceased to ask myself that question. Do we as followers of Christ act in such a way that affirms or denies the things we believe to be true? Do we really believe what we believe is really real? And if not, why not? I dare say we are often at odds with ourselves; so much of the time there exists a great tension, or gulf, between what we do and what we know to be true. We are in desperate need that the Spirit convict our hearts of those things that our minds claim to believe - like a white-hot stake driven from one into the other.

I say these words to myself first and foremost, dear brother and sister. O, how differently I would act - how zealous for the Gospel I would be! - if I truly tasted the reality in every waking moment that Christ loved me and gave Himself for me, that I am indeed clean, and that He reigns on His throne this very second, soon to return.

But take heart, dear brother and sister, for these things are true. The promises of God in Christ, the totality of His finished work on the cross, and the hope of glory to come, these truths are far truer, far sweeter, and far more glorious than our hearts can ever imagine. Scripture itself acknowledges and even anticipates this train of thinking when Peter writes these words in 2 Peter 1:16: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” Tim Challies, writing on the moment when we as believers enter Heaven, penned these words of great encouragement:

“We will know that though we dropped our anchor into the depths of an ocean whose bottom we could not see, it fastened securely to the rock. We will know that though we walked and limped and stumbled toward a city whose gates were obscured from our view, they opened to receive us. We will know that though we fought our way toward a destination we could see only with the eyes of faith, our faith was well-placed. ‘I knew it!’ we will shout in triumph. ‘I knew it was real! I knew He was true!’ we will cry, as we fall into the arms of the Savior.” 

Indeed, these things really happened. We are following the one true myth, the story to which all other stories point, “but with this tremendous difference that it really happened.” And because these things are true, we mustn’t be afraid to lean upon Christ and His word with all of our weight. Go out into the world and be encouraged to live in such a way that is worthy of Christ and everything the Bible says about Him, and ever warm yourself with this great truth: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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Photo by Jan Huber, Unsplash

I would encourage you to read Tim Challies’ full article, “I Knew It!”, which can be found here:

“I Knew It!”