FROM THE DAWGHOUSE….
MEN ON OUR KNEES? SEARCHING FOR REVERENCE
Years ago, I read R.C. Sproul’s book The Holiness of God. The book humbled me in so many ways, the biggest of which was an awakening about my sense of how little I recognized God’s magnificence. God had become so familiar in my life that I was beginning to take Him for granted. It was also a moment when I realized similarly that the modern church and Christians had fallen into the same ditch I found myself.
Truth be told, R.C. Sproul’s book brought to light that my fascination with God’s love and mercy had caused me to lose sight of His majesty. My excitement at God’s approachability – friend, dad, personal prayer genie – had made me blind to His glorious power. I deeply understood that my God was a loving God, but had completely forgotten He was King…
I had lost reverence for Jesus. Can you relate?
I began to realize that reverence for the Almighty was not only missing in my life, but corporately, it was missing from our prayers, our communion, our songs. Even our preaching had often dispensed with it altogether; rather than bringing the flock a sermon from the throne, we’d become an institution of “feel good” messaging, brief chats, and small group discussions. In other words, in a bid to draw the world to Jesus without offending, we had cast away His majesty and glory.
We should all be asking ourselves, when visitors enter our Churches on Sunday, do we really have anything of distinction to give them? Our motivational messages can already be found on the shelves in bookstores. Our ‘gospel’ songs are available all day online. How about our prayers? Even those consist largely of petitions to a benevolent but hardly transcendent Creator. Rather than bringing the world to bow before a God they are fleeing from, we merely bring them to reflect on themselves and their wants.
Tough to hear, but I feel this is where Christians and the modern church reside.
And yes, I fully understand that there are many churches and Christians alike who deeply connect to the truth of the Gospel and what that means in their walk and ministry – I believe my church falls in that category. But sadly, that is not the norm, in my opinion.
The fact is, when we are deeply introduced to the true, unblemished, word of God – can we say a dose of Forge every week – we instinctively know that the Lord is speaking to us personally. That alone should evoke incredible awe and reverence. He is the Mighty One who speaks and summons the earth (Psalm 50:1). We owe Him a solemn bowing of the heart and knees in reverent adoration, not just a casual waving of the hand. Nothing less will do.
R.C. Sproul referred to the work of the German scholar, Rudof Otto in exploring this idea of God’s holiness. Otto employed a Latin phrase in expressing this sense of the holy. He called it mysterium tremendum. In other words, God is a mystery and immensely different from his creatures. So much so that we lack the words to accurately describe Him. Along with this awareness of mystery is a sense of fear or dread that our encounter with God brings – as Pastor Jason Quinones shared with us at Forge regarding the story of Zechariah at the Temple of the Lord.
The point is, God is God and any true knowledge of Him must include that sense of His weightiness or dreadfulness. Otto describes the human response as a “hushed, trembling and speechless humility of the creature.”
God is a King and His revelation displays His majesty. It is abhorrent not to reflect this in our worship and in our lives.
- There is nothing casual about the wiping out of the entire human race in Noah’s time in judgement (Genesis 6-8). It was a fearful act by the sovereign ruler of the universe.
- When God took on the greatest nation of the time (Egypt) in defense of His people, humiliating their gods and humbling their king, he was showing His majesty (Exodus 5-14).
- In giving the law to the Israelites, God descended on Mount Sinai in fire and smoke (Exodus 19:16). To a man, the Israelites could sense that here was the great God of all the earth. And they were terrified lest they should be destroyed (Exodus 20:18,19).
- When Nadab and Abihu trifled with God’s worship, He killed them (Leviticus 10:1- 2), sending a message throughout the Jewish community: God’s holiness was not to be taken lightly.
- Shortly before the Israelites attacked Jericho, God appeared to Joshua. When Joshua realized it was Him, he knelt in recognition of His majesty (Joshua 5:13-15). The same happened when Samson’s parents had an encounter before their son was conceived and born (Judges 13).
Yes, to encounter God is to stand before transcendent majesty.
And the revelation of God’s majesty is not just confined to the pages of the Old Testament. The height of His glory is revealed in the person and ministry of Jesus. His teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection confirm the truth of John’s testimony:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
- His dignity was so obvious that even His enemies feared to arrest him (John 7:45, 46).
- His majesty was physically displayed to His three closest disciples on the mountain, with a clear instruction that they listen to Him (Matthew 17:1-5).
- The dying thief could perceive His glory even in the midst of his suffering, and he humbly sought his mercy (Luke 23:40-42).
I, of course, could go on and on and on.
The entire thread of scripture speaks of a God fearful in holiness, majestic and sovereign over all that exists. If this God, the holy, majestic Creator and Redeemer revealed throughout Biblical history is my God…is your God…is the churches God, then let us again kneel in reverence – whether at home, at work, on the road, at play, or in our worship services.
In fact, our hearts are to remain on their knees forever, for that is where they belong.
Joe Bouch
FORGE Winter Springs
