“There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid” (Prov. 30:18-19).
In Hebrew, the word “wonderful” is the word “phale,” and it can also mean miraculous. In Genesis 18, when God promises to give Sarah a child in her old age and she is doubtful, He asks, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” Is anything too miraculous? The same word is used to describe the plagues that God sent on Egypt: “And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go” (Ex. 3:20). “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11)
And the Psalmist sings: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Ps. 139:14). Wonder is a sense of amazement and fear, awe and curiosity – something that seems impossible, something that carries with it some secret, some magic. And often wonder is a sort of collision of unexpected realities. An eagle in the air. A serpent on a rock. A ship in the midst of the sea. A man and a maiden. Moses saw a bush on fire. Jacob wrestled with an angel. Job talked with God in a storm. Jesus walked on water and rose from the dead. Wonder makes you ask, “What is this? How is this possible? Who is this? How do you do that?”
It’s commonplace in our modern culture to insist that you must be true to yourself, and that of course means that you must know yourself. And so popular films often exhort heroes to look deep inside, to follow your heart.
But the Bible consistently tells us something very different. It’s actually in looking outside of yourself that you find out who are and what you are for. It wasn’t until Moses met God in the burning bush that He knew what his mission was. Job didn’t understand what was going on in his life until He met God in the whirlwind, and then realized that it was all too wonderful for him to fully grasp. Isaiah was commissioned after being granted a vision of God high and lifted up, where even the angels veil their faces because God is too wonderful. When the angel appeared to Manoah and his wife, Manoah asked, what his name was – and the angel of the Lord said, it was Wonderful. It was a secret, something they couldn’t fully understand.
Our problem is not that we don’t know ourselves. Our fundamental problem is that we don’t know God. And we can’t really know ourselves unless or until we know God. In His Light, we see light. John Calvin famously said that one true glance at ourselves, and we are immediately turned to God. The gifts of life and thought and beauty ought to immediately strike us as, well, gifts, glories, wonders, streams that must have some magical source. And even our faults and sins point us to God, since we realize there is something wrong with us. And to say that there is something wrong, assumes that there is something right in this universe, an ultimate standard, ultimate virtue, goodness, and harmony.
So wonder comes in the collisions of different, unexpected realities. Wonder springs from a realization of gift and grace and glory, of the impossibility of existence, lungs that breathe, hearts that beat, eyes that see, mouths that taste and talk, lips that kiss – all of creation radiating glory, beauty, and we have eyes to see it, mouths to taste it, and a Holy God giving it, filling it with His Wonder. And at the center of it all, is the God-Man Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, and the prophet said, He will be called Wonderful. He was fearfully and wonderfully knit together, fully God and fully man, filled with the Spirit, come for His wayward Bride. He is the eagle in the air, come to crush the serpent on the rock, riding the ship of the world through the seas of sin and death.
Chester, my charge to you today is to love and lead your wife in this Wonder. You must do this by being continually amazed at the wonder of Christ, His death and resurrection and His world. But one particular piece of His grace to you is Esther, and so cultivate a deep wonder in her glory and beauty and wisdom. But like all wonderful things, there is a particular glory in the juxtaposition, and her glory really shines as you lead her in obedience to Christ. Our world wants an individualistic, autonomous glory, but that really doesn’t exist. You can’t peer deep down inside and find yourself. Glory reflects. Glory shines. And God is giving Esther to be your glory, your crown. And this really is wonderful.
Esther, my charge to you is to likewise seek this wonder, but you are to do it in your respect and submission to Chester. The world is constantly trying to convince you to find your own glory all by yourself, but that is lie. There is no solo-glory for any creature. There is only reflected glory, and that is what makes us stop and stare. You already reflect the glory of your Maker, but today, you are also being assigned the task of crowning your husband. Delight in his delight in you. Let him lead you, and as you do, this will be a wonderful gift to you. And together you will be a real wonder to the watching world, like a city coming down out of Heaven, the wonder of God with His people and all things made new.
In the Name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen.
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