“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means God with us)” (Matthew 1:23).

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:12).

There is no “there” where God is not there.

God tells us that he is the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. There is nothing in the created world from “A” to “Z” where God is not already present.

God tells us that he is the first and the last. There is no time which God is not present. Theologians use the word “omnipresent” to describe God’s presence. There is no time – past, present, and the future – where God does not rule and reign.

God tells us that he is the beginning and the end. All of creation and all of eternity are God’s handiwork. God exists beyond time, beyond creation.

Why? What does all this mean? What does any of this have to do with us?

Because God desires to be Immanuel – God with us. For there is never a there where God does not desire you to be there.

God loves you. And it was this love for you that drove him to the cross to bear the penalty of sin so that we can be reunited with him through the resurrection and the empty tomb. God is crazy about you. You are the object of his delight.

Friends, know this:

God is with you,
God is for you.
There is never a “there” where God is not already there.
Rest in God.
Trust God.

“Jesus replied, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?'” (Mark 12:24).

The word of God is indispensable for the follower of Christ.

Jesus tells us there are two reasons why people are in error:

• First, you do not know the Scriptures
• Second, because you do not know the power of God

When you do not know the Scriptures, you do not know God. There is no other way to know who God is apart from the word of God. Knowing God is not about who I think God is, it is about who the Scriptures declare who God is. Knowing God is not about how I feel about God. Knowing God has nothing to do with how I feel about him. It has everything to do with who God reveals who is through his word.

The word of God is indispensable to the follower of Christ because God’s word reveals who he is, what his character is like. The more we know about how God has interacted with his people through the word, the more we are able to recognize God at work in our lives today. God will not act in a way that is contrary to the way God is described in his word.

Knowing God’s word is knowing God.

Second, the reason why we are in error is because we do not know the power of God. If we only knew how much God loves us we would fully trust God. Unlike all other religions that tell us how we ought to live, the God of scripture teaches us about a God who showed up in the flesh to submit to the very laws of God we are subject to so that God himself can show us how to live.

The power of God is expressed in sending his Son to live for us, die for us, and rise for us. The more we understand the power of God’s love for sinners the more we trust God.

The key to living a life of purpose and to live life the way it was meant to be lived is to measure our life to the rule of Christ.

“Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?”

This is another fantastic verse to memorize.

“Ignorance of the Bible is the root of all error. Knowledge of the Bible is the best antidote against all heresies” (J. C. Ryle).

“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:11-14)

A person can have gone to church all their life and be an infantile disciple.

A person can have important sounding titles – pastor, reverend, elder, deacon, teacher – and be an infantile disciple.

Being a maturing follower of Jesus has little to do with how long someone has been attending church or even titles.

Let’s take a look at how God defines immature, infantile Christians and how God defines mature Christians.

Immature/infantile Christians

• Needs milk, not solid food
• Anyone living on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness

There are a couple of descriptions that mark a baby Christian.

Even though they have been going to church for most of their lives, even though they have some important sounding titles in the life of the church, they are still drinking milk, not solid food. In fact, being an infant, they are still being fed milk, not taking on solid food on their own.

This is one of the primary marks of a baby Christian. They haven’t learned how to wean off milk and start learning how to feed themselves. They look like full-grown adults, but still need someone to feed them milk. The key characteristic is that even though they look like full-grown adults, they are still “unacquainted with the teaching about righteousness.” They are still babies when it comes to knowing God’s word.

And just like all babies, all they know is, “Love me, feed me, change me, hold me…” Me, me, me. When you have a church full of babies and not enough adults to care for them, it is exhausting.

There are a couple of descriptions that mark a maturing Christian.

• Solid food is for the mature
• Who by constant use have trained themselves
• They distinguish between good from evil

The first mark of a mature Christian is they have learned how to feed themselves. They don’t need constant feeding. They take the responsibility of feeding on their own.

They have been training themselves in God’s word by constant use. They put to practice what they read in God’s word. This is not a one time practice. This is an ongoing training. Going to the gym for one day will accomplish nothing except to make you sore. It takes constant training to get stronger.

Finally, because they have familiarized themselves with kingdom principles, they are able to discern between good from evil. They can smell out fishy faith in an instant because they know what the real deal looks like. Mature Christians are wise because of their familiarity with God’s word.

The cries of babies in a church are a healthy sign. That means that the church is growing. But it needs mature people who will tend to babies. That makes for a fantastic church.

I thank God that so many of you have taken the initiative to grow in God’s word. It’s still not too late to get into a small group. Get in the word and let the word change you!