Thinking About Grace...Part 12
"In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence" (Ephesians 3:12).
There's an old, old story that I'm sure you've probably heard...about a little boy who was intently coloring a picture. When his mother asked him what he was doing, he said, "I'm drawing a picture of God." The mother smiled, and said, "But, honey, no one knows what God looks like." The boy, without missing a beat, replied, "They will when I get done!"
Do you ever try to picture God? Do you ever dream or imagine what God looks like? Sometimes we picture God as merely a "big human being," and yet when we read the Bible, we have to come to the conclusion that God is so much bigger, so much more (to use an over-used word) awesome, so much more EVERYTHING than we can imagine. Moses, when he asked to see God's face, was put in a cave and told he would be able to glimpse God's back (Exodus 33:23). Isaiah said he was doomed because he had seen the Lord (Isaiah 6), and yet all he had really seen was the hem of his "garment." Over and over the Bible says no one can look upon God and live.
And yet...
Yet, the psalmist says he longs to gaze upon God's beauty (Psalm 27:4). And Jesus says that when we've seen him, we've seen the Father (John 14:9). And then there's Paul, who in the letter to the Ephesians waxes quite eloquently about this God we worship and serve. He is almost poetic as he talks about God's plan for the ages and for the world. And then, in the midst of that awesome (yes, still over-used) language is the short little verse at the top of this blog. These few words pack quite a punch, because they tell us that we can approach God with freedom and confidence.
Not fear. Not trembling. Not "certainty of imminent death." Freedom. And confidence.
How? When the Biblical witness is that even someone like Moses couldn't approach God without fear and trembling? I mean, I don't have the faith Moses had, to be sure. I can't speak for you, but I'd guess you don't, either. Why, then, does Paul say we can approach God in a way Moses and Isaiah and all the rest of the great men and women of God couldn't?
It's because of Jesus. It's because of grace. Paul says it's "in him and through him" that we can do this. It's because Jesus comes and offers us grace...we can do what we think we couldn't because Jesus will "vouch" for us. "He's one of mine. She's my follower. They are in me." And because Jesus the Son can approach the Father, so can we. In freedom. And confidence.
That's grace. Getting what we don't deserve. Without Jesus, we wouldn't be able to approach God and we would never really know what he is like. When we look at Jesus, we have "seen" the Father. When we walk with Jesus, we have walked with the Father. And when we come near to Jesus, we have been given great grace.
Thanks be to God!
There's an old, old story that I'm sure you've probably heard...about a little boy who was intently coloring a picture. When his mother asked him what he was doing, he said, "I'm drawing a picture of God." The mother smiled, and said, "But, honey, no one knows what God looks like." The boy, without missing a beat, replied, "They will when I get done!"
Do you ever try to picture God? Do you ever dream or imagine what God looks like? Sometimes we picture God as merely a "big human being," and yet when we read the Bible, we have to come to the conclusion that God is so much bigger, so much more (to use an over-used word) awesome, so much more EVERYTHING than we can imagine. Moses, when he asked to see God's face, was put in a cave and told he would be able to glimpse God's back (Exodus 33:23). Isaiah said he was doomed because he had seen the Lord (Isaiah 6), and yet all he had really seen was the hem of his "garment." Over and over the Bible says no one can look upon God and live.
And yet...
Yet, the psalmist says he longs to gaze upon God's beauty (Psalm 27:4). And Jesus says that when we've seen him, we've seen the Father (John 14:9). And then there's Paul, who in the letter to the Ephesians waxes quite eloquently about this God we worship and serve. He is almost poetic as he talks about God's plan for the ages and for the world. And then, in the midst of that awesome (yes, still over-used) language is the short little verse at the top of this blog. These few words pack quite a punch, because they tell us that we can approach God with freedom and confidence.
Not fear. Not trembling. Not "certainty of imminent death." Freedom. And confidence.
How? When the Biblical witness is that even someone like Moses couldn't approach God without fear and trembling? I mean, I don't have the faith Moses had, to be sure. I can't speak for you, but I'd guess you don't, either. Why, then, does Paul say we can approach God in a way Moses and Isaiah and all the rest of the great men and women of God couldn't?
It's because of Jesus. It's because of grace. Paul says it's "in him and through him" that we can do this. It's because Jesus comes and offers us grace...we can do what we think we couldn't because Jesus will "vouch" for us. "He's one of mine. She's my follower. They are in me." And because Jesus the Son can approach the Father, so can we. In freedom. And confidence.
That's grace. Getting what we don't deserve. Without Jesus, we wouldn't be able to approach God and we would never really know what he is like. When we look at Jesus, we have "seen" the Father. When we walk with Jesus, we have walked with the Father. And when we come near to Jesus, we have been given great grace.
Thanks be to God!
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