"God"

The religious world speaks of God as some "good 'ole boy" that is such a good friend. He is addressed as some familiar family member that you walk in on and give Him a good slap on the back. (Just look at their worship.) Some may say that we can enter His presence easily or we don't have a real balanced view of our Lord. To saunter into His presence, hands in pocket and very casual seems to reveal we don't know our heavenly Father all that well.

When Moses encountered God in Ex. 3:6, Moses was afraid to look at God so he hid his face. Isaiah, upon mourning the death of King Uzziah, encountered God "sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted."(Isa. 6:1) His reaction? "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips." (Isa. 6:5) He confessed his sinfulness. Here are two instances where men faced God and one averted his eyes while the other recognized his sinfulness.

What about Peter? Upon catching a record number of fish, amazement seized him and recognizing the presence of Jesus Christ, he states, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8) His Lord was holy, different and Peter recognized the presence of someone much greater even though he was grateful to be near Him.

Someone may speak, "But God doesn't want us to be shy when it comes to Him. We must be bold because He is our Father!" Really? It was the Almighty that told Moses, whom He was going to use as His instrument to deliver His people, to not come any closer and get those sandals off. It was God who ordered the people to keep their distance at Sinai and clothed Himself in fire on the mountain. It was Jehovah God who put two curtains up between Him and the people in the Holy of Holies. Paul spoke to Timothy, telling him that God "dwells in unapproachable light." (I Tim. 6:16). The Hebrew writer speaks of our pursuing the sanctification (holiness) or one will never see the Lord. (Heb. 12:16) Then later the writer teaches that "let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." (Heb. 12:28-29)

What are we learning? Should we crawl and grovel into God's presence? Is He on the verge of destroying us with a holy blow? No! The same man Moses who could not look upon and was told to keep his distance was allowed to see God's glory. (Ex. 33:18) God assured him of their relationship. But Moses was not allowed to see the face of God. There is warmth and intimacy in our approach to God but in that warmth and intimacy, there is still a holy protection. That's what many have never learned. They do not see God for who He is. Should we be afraid of Him now that Jesus has come and given us our access? Of course not! And yet...?