Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.” [Isaiah 6.5]
I think we do not take seriously Who God Is today.
Deep down, most of us have some sense that God owes us a manifestation of Himself so that we might really believe in Him. Of course, we know this is not true from what the Word teaches, but I think this sense of entitlement lies within us all to some degree.
Isaiah's encounter with God reveals what a manifestation of God actually does. It brings an overwhelming sense in inadequacy and therefore doom. Humility is all anyone in God's presence can experience (it is from this humility that all will worship Him - every knee bowing).
And yet, we hear 'good Christian people' say all the time, "When I get to heaven, I am going to ask God about..." as if they think there is an overdue explanation owed to them.
Just to be theologically accurate, a true believer in Jesus can indeed stand in the presence of God unashamed and unafraid. The problem with this lies in the descriptions Jesus gave of what a true follower of His looks like. People today look like a lot of things, but few look like Jesus. I have never once been mistaken as Jesus and I dare say anyone reading this has never experienced this either. All the while, Jesus' Words have stood the test of time in the Gospels saying His followers' lives and works would identify them as His.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. [John 14.12]
For this reason, I cannot recommend a nonchalant approach to grace standing before the Father unashamed and unafraid when our one purpose in life, to mirror Jesus' life and deeds to all, goes woefully unfulfilled. I think, like Isaiah, we will experience all the glory of His Splendor while at the same time experiencing a humility beyond imagination.
Jesus said it like this (speaking of Himself as the 'gate'):
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.13-14]
All WILL stand before God. Wouldn't it be best to be as best prepared for that moment as possible?
The author of Hebrews said it like this:
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. [Hebrews 10.31]
God is Holy. If Jesus walked in obedience to God, how would we ever think we can get by without that same attitude of submission?
Father, help us to take Your Holiness more seriously. Help us to take Jesus' commands more seriously. Help us to genuinely be "the few" and not "the many..."
No comments:
Post a Comment