In the book of Isaiah, the
Lord declares, “How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to
another,” (48:11.) He will never give up His title or yield His supremacy. He
is untouchable, invincible and eternally glorious. In our celebrity – obsessed
culture, fame rises up and then fades away – one minute someone has it, the
next minute he or she is nowhere to be seen, and then someone else enjoys or
endures their fifteen minutes of fame. God, on the other hand, will never allow
Himself to be defamed, nor will He let His glory pass on to another. He is the
undisputed heavyweight King of all Glory.
The Lord God Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, stands set apart from all other. We are the created,
and He is the Uncreated. Around Him revolves and unfolds the story of His great
and eternal glory. And yes, right through the very heart of this epic narrative
rons a beautiful thread of grace – He is the steadfast God of love – and there
is mercy to be found on every page. Time after time we find ourselves amazed by
the blessings He lavishes on us. Yet let’s not be fooled into thinking that
this Story is all about us. It never has been, and it never will be. God is
very passionate about His own glory.
He is not like one of us.
He is utterly incomparable – beyond the furthest horizon of our imaginations.
He is off the scale of our comprehension. We have merely known the shadows of
the mighty deep.
The God we worship is
clothed in mystery. He reveals and He conceals. He invites and He hides. He
confounds and He confides. The God who rests but never sleeps. Who thunders and
whispers, terrifies and befriends. Whose anger lasts only a moment, but whose
favor lasts a lifetime. Who is all – consuming yet kind, all – knowing yet
capable of forgetting the sins He forgives. The God who wounds and binds up,
who injures and who heals. The King whose footstool is the earth, yet humbly
washed the earth from the feet of those He discipled. Who reigns in righteousness
yet carried our shamefulness. Who walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of
the day, yet sweated drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane one agonizing
night.
The God of the smallest
detail and the grandest design, who issued or nate designs for an extravagant
templet yet found pleasure in the humblest offering of a widow’s two tiny coins
there. The suffering servant. The sinless friend of sinners. The Savior who
hung in agony on beams of wood He Himself had called into being. He is fearsome
yet welcoming, unfathomable yet knowable. The God of kings and beggars,
presidents and paupers. Who Fathers the fatherless and works through our
weakness. Burning with holiness, yet refreshing and graceful.
He who is worshipped by
the multitudes of heaven yet rejoices over a single returning heart. Perfect in
every way yet able to help those who are being tempted. He who is faithful even
to the faithless, for He cannot disown Himself. This is the God we worship –
the God of all mysteries so bright.
I find it inspiring to
read the earthly accounts of JESUS CHRIST in the Gospels and then flick
straight to the heavenly description of His glory in the last book of the
Bible. We encounter a JESUS who is fully human yet fully divine. Many find it
easy to picture the man JESUS found in the Gospel writings of Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John. And it’s crucial to feed on these amazing accounts of the 33
years JESUS spent walking on earth. But if we’re to grasp the bigger picture,
it’s essential also to feast on the revelation scripture gives us of the
eternal, glorified King JESUS.
In Revelation 22, He is
revealed as “the bright morning Star” (v.16,) “the First and the Last, the
Beginning and the End” (v.13.) He is the triumphant Lion of Judah (see
Revelation 5:5.) He is the Ruler of the kings of the earth, crowned with many
crowns. With justice He judged and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire,
His feet like glowing bronze and His mighty voice like the sound of rushing
waters. Yet within the very same passages, we encounter Him as the Lamb who was
slain. Christian worship must contain both the cross and the crown.
When we encounter the
whole CHRIST, we find an incredible mix of power and patience, glory and grace.
He speaks in words of both tenderness and toughness, rebuking the heard heart
yet welcoming the broken sinner. There is a certain kindness in His majesty.
CHRIST is neither a hard taskmaster nor a soft touch. To the woman who caught
in adultery, He spoke words of tender discipline: “Neither do I condemn you… go
now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11.) He is easy to please but hard to
satisfy – the smallest offering of an honest heart will bring Him pleasure, yet
He also has an insatiable desire to see us live out of lives of the utmost
holiness.
If the Holy Spirit should
come again upon as as in earlier times, visiting Church congregations with the
sweet but fiery breath of Pentecost, we would be greater Christians and holier
souls. Beyond that, we would also be greater poets and greater artists and
greater lover of God and His universe.
“Who can sound the depths of God’s
glory?
Every single song falls short.
No poetry says it well enough.
No melody expresses it beautifully
enough.
Our lives themselves become the song,
living every note of our existence in
response to God’s glory.”
I LOVE YOU, JESUS.
YOU MEAN EVERYTHING TO ME.
YOU ARE MY SHIELD AND MY VERY GREAT REWARD.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BLESSING ME TODAY WITH THE FULLNESS OF
YOUR LOVE..
LOVE,
Yhang > 3
cabreraflorina.blogspot.com/ios.florinac@gmail.com
