I’m intrigued with the idea that a person can be only able to handle spiritual milk and not meat. In the context of our key verse for today, Paul let the Corinthians know that because they were carnal like babies, they could only handle milk teaching. So, he was only feeding them milk and not meat.
It intrigues me because I don’t want to be like that. I want the meat of the word. It belongs to discerning believers who are of full age (Heb 5:14). How do I know if I’m a meat person or a milk person?
Meat has chunks and requires some assimilation. Here’s an illustrative example of the difference:
Milk: “If I was the only person on earth, Jesus would have died for me.” How many times have I heard that, and perhaps said it myself? Notice how simple and straight forward that is. It’s a satisfying feel-good statement (with no Bible backup).
Meat: Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (not just my sins). Remember, with meat we assimilate. The first time lamb is used in the Bible is the famous story of Abraham offering Isaac, and Isaac wondered where the lamb was that should be sacrificed, and Abraham said, “God will provide himself a lamb.” (Gen, 22:7-8) It looked forward to the lamb of God, whom John the Baptist announced (John 1:29). He would be sacrificed to take care of the sin of the world that started with Adam and Eve. And in the end, we read this: And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8)
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world? That is something to chew on, for sure. A milk person might say, “that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with me. I’ll look for a verse that will help get me through today.” A meat person would wonder about and study what slain from the foundation of the world means, and rather than look at it through the lens of life application, it might simply lead to worshipping God for His awesomeness.
If I assimilate all this about the Lamb of God discussed from Genesis to Revelation, it’s apparent that a theme of the Bible is Jesus as the Lamb to take away sins…a plan set in motion before the world began and effective for everyone who will believe.
Now. If I was the only person on earth, would Jesus have died for me? Isn’t that just a bit absurd, considering the whole eternal plan of God through the ages we just breezed through?
To a milk person, Jesus and the Bible are all about me. Only the verses I can apply to my life today matter. To a meat person, everything is about God and His plan and His kingdom. I want to be a meat person and learn all about that.
Tell me what you think.
Jody