People mock Jesus off the cuff without any hesitation. People throw God’s name in with every four letter word. Is that a good idea? I mean… seriously… even if we forget about all the Christianity and religion and culture… is that a good idea?
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” James 2:19
Even the demons believe there is one God. Not only that, but they shudder at the thought of God. And we go about dragging Him through the dirt and damning people in His name? See… the funny thing here… that some people will never understand… is that God’s power, character, and might are not dependent upon our opinion of Him or our belief in Him.
Even as Christians, though, do we shudder at the thought of God? Do we see ourselves in light of all His power and all His might? Shouldn’t that make us shudder? We clearly don’t understand the true meaning of righteousness and holiness. The essence of righteousness and holiness have no place for anything other than righteousness and holiness. There is no place for sin……. there is no place for me. Even the demons can get this through their head. And they shudder. From a demons perspective:
The humans do not start from that direct perception of Him which we, unhappily, cannot avoid. They have never known that ghastly luminosity, that stabbing and searing glare which makes the background of permanent pain to our lives. If you look into your patient’s mind when he is praying, you will not find that. If you examine the object to which he is attending, you will find that it is a composite object containing many quite ridiculous ingredients. There will be images derived from pictures of the Enemy as He appeared during the discreditable episode known as the Incarnation: there will be vaguer – perhaps quite savage and puerile – images associated with the other two Persons. There will even be some of his own reverence (and of bodily sensations accompanying it) objectified and attributed to the object revered. I have known cases where what the patient called his “God” was actually located – up and to the left at the corner of the bedroom ceiling, or inside his own head, or in a crucifix on the wall. But whatever the nature of the composite object, you must keep him praying to it – to the thing that he has made, not to the Person who has made him.
– C.S. Lewis, “The Screwtape Letters”
One day, we will stand before God. But, do you know what the problem with this is? We will not be standing before our God. We will not be approaching Granddaddy or Santa Claus or the tooth fairy. We will be approaching the Holy God of the Bible, whether we like it or not… and whether we know Him or not.
Our feeble brains will never be able to comprehend His greatness, power, and sovereignty. He is always fighting against the box that we are trying to put Him in. And it’s our problem (not His) that He doesn’t fit.
I can only imagine, that one day I will be standing in line before the Holy God of the universe in all of His glory and splendor, putting together my reasoning for why He should let me into Heaven. I’ll struggle to recall all the good things I’ve done, the ways I’ve served people, the money I gave. But with each one of these, I’ll struggle to find a single instance where my heart and motives behind my actions were completely pure. Do I really want to rely on a good thing I did when I know my heart wasn’t even behind it? I mean, I know He knows the truth. I’ll then end up empty-handed… “Jesus, I’ve got nothing. I did all these things and helped these people, but even then… I know you can see my heart… even when I did these things my heart and motives weren’t pure. I have no reason You should have me in Your presence. I have nothing at all to stand upon.”
Or maybe… maybe I’ll stand there… looking at a Holy Father… on His throne… shining like the sun… surrounded by choirs of angels… Majestic. Glorified. Holy… commanding the heavens and the earth… with Satan under his feet…
And I’ll fall on my face. Why? Because of the instant realization that the God that I was serving on the earth is bigger than my box. I like to think He’ll look at me with a smile and tell me I had it all wrong. That He’ll stretch His arms out wide… and look at me… and smile. “Look. See ME in all of My glory.” And I’ll look back at my life and think, “What. in the world. was I thinking? Why did I not see this? Why could I not comprehend this while I was on earth? I had all of this power at my disposal? I had this living in and through me?” And I like to think I’ll fall to my knees… weeping uncontrollably at the joy of my hope coming to fruition… realizing that my spirit knew these things… and that my sinful flesh has disappeared… as I look up to see The King of Glory running to me with a robe and a crown… and I’ll feel love in its purest form… cherished and held by my Father… and the tears of joy as the creation is reunited with its Creator… as my soul is fulfilled by the One of whom it has longed.
God show us the truth of Your Kingdom… Your power… and Your glory.
