The Rock

When I was enlisted in the U. S. Air Force, I had the privilege of traveling to Kathmandu, Nepal. It was a fascinating place to visit for a young man in his late teens. Two things stand out in my mind from the trip. First, was the size of the bats. I remember eating pizza on a roof top restaurant around dusk and seeing gigantic creatures flying overhead. At the time, I assumed they were large birds, given their size; however, the waiter informed us that they were indeed bats (ewww)! The second thing was taking a rickety bus to a mountaintop at dawn and watching the sun come up on Mount Everest. The scale of the mountain range was so enormous that it was surreal, disorienting even.

I think about Mount Everest nowadays as the largest rock (well, rock formation to be totally accurate, but I’ll call it a rock here) I’ve ever seen. I’ve since been to Colorado Springs, CO several times and atop Pike’s Peak - the effect is the same; its size is so overwhelming that it unhinges primitive bearings such as depth perception. It’s a unique, intoxicating feeling, which is why folks like John Denver and Katherine Lee Bates wrote songs about it.

Then, I think about how truly insignificant the two aforementioned “rocks” are compared to The Rock, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
The English language is entirely insufficient to fully articulate the vastness that is Christ. Truly, the best we can ever hope to do is describe Him in a way that isn’t insulting. We must defer to His creation to receive glimpses of His immensity, using our best language to direct attention to His marvelous work. Mount Everest is one good example. How about the Grand Canyon or deep space for others? Again, the best we can hope for is to communicate a visceral reaction to something that transcends our finite minds. Possibly, but certainly not wholly, we might relate the immutability of Christ to a mountain.

Just to put things into perspective, Christ is so much larger than anything on Earth that pure faith, as a gift from Him, the “author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2), is able to move that which mere humans presume immovable. By the power of His awesome Word, faith alone could move Mount Everest. It seems unfathomable, but it’s true.

And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
There’s a reason why great mountain ranges exist. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). God uses nature to impress divine scale upon mere mortals. Though we are incapable of fully understanding all things pertaining to God (Job 26:13-14), He has been gracious enough to “wow” us.

The natural minded man in his folly worships and serves so-called “mother nature” and the multitude of her elements. He takes the enamoring parts of her and idolizes them. When they fail his expectations, he wallows in his own insecurities. Mountains may be among the most majestic sights on God’s green Earth, but they are nothing compared to their Creator. The same goes for animals and even human beings. We are nothing compared to the Lord God. That is the scale we must cling to. “A just balance and scales belong to the LORD” (Proverbs 16:11a). When we do, our sense of security blooms.

For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God,
The God who girds me with strength
And makes my way blameless?
He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And sets me upon my high places.

He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.
You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
If Mount Everest could speak, it’d say something like, “Listen, I’m but a speck in the hand of God. Do not lean on me for guidance. I’m sick and suffering, too, in need of the Redeemer. Come, Lord!”

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
Let us cling to the Rock of salvation. Our peace, joy, security, and confidence rely on this.

O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
There is no one holy like the LORD,
Indeed, there is no one besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.
May we eternally rest on the words of The Rock, Himself.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”
So, the next time you’re atop a mountain, beside the sea, or gazing at the stars in wonder, remember who made it all. Remember how much greater our Creator is than His creation. God cannot be confined to human observations alone, like the size of a rock. The next time you’re utterly blown away by something as magnificent as Mount Everest, say to yourself, “That’s a mighty big rock, but it isn’t THE Rock!”

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins