Cathedrals are majestic buildings. When you look at the high walls, and look straight up to all the paintings on the ceiling high above you, it can feel really imposing. What a beautiful and colossal building! You can get so lost in it and feel so small, right? Every time the thought crosses my mind: ‘This is just a building, made by human hands. How great is God then? From what heights does He look down upon me?’
Text: Marie Tulin van Ekeren
God is a majestic God. Way bigger than something we have ever seen on earth. We can’t compare God with anything. He created the world from nothing. He is eternal. Big. Almighty. We can’t even imagine how He would look like.
There were some people in the Bible who have seen God from really up close. However, they could not see God with their earthly eyes either, because they would have succumbed under His glory! Think about Moses. He was allowed to see God from behind and had to sit in the crevice of a rock (Exodus 33). Or think about people who received a vision, such as Ezekiel or Isaiah.
When the apostle John was on the island of Patmos, Gods Spirit appeared to him, and showed him things that were unimaginable on earth. John saw “someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire.” (Revelation 1:13-14, NLT)
John knew well what Jesus looked like as human, because he had known Him very well. The One he saw now was also Christ, but in His heavenly body (after He finished everything on earth). He was so in awe of the heavenly body of Christ, that John had to do his best to find anything comparable to His appearance. ‘It looks like a flame.’ And: ‘The color looks like white wool.’
In short: the heavenly God cannot be comprehended by us people. God cannot show Himself completely to us, because we would not be able to handle it! What a great and awesome God. Shouldn’t we be afraid of Him then? Can we ever know Him?
The great God comes close
Fortunately, yes! Because God really wants it. How would we know? Because He comes to us Himself! God descends to a broken world and He wants to descend into your and my heart. Firstly, God gives his word to us: the Bible. That way, He comes very close. His words lie in your hands. In your own language. Think about it: what kind of questions would we have if we didn’t have Gods word! In the Bible God reveals Himself to us. You read who He is, who we are, and what His plan is for our world and our life throughout all histories.
Another pure expression of Gods descendance to this earth is Jesus Christ becoming human. It was His own plan that the Son of God would become really human. A human like you and me, but also God. Jesus grew up, learned to talk, and acquired knowledge. He was among the people and wanted to teach them a lot about His Father. He talked to people, ate with them, and healed the sick.
What a miracle that such a great God wants to descend so deep to you and me. Listen to what He says Himself: “The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” (Isaiah 57:15, NLT)
Wow. Is this verse not all-encompassing? The high and lofty God says of Himself that he lives in the high and holy place. And after that, He says He lives with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. With a broken human. With a small, tiny human. And with us, when we humble ourselves and recognize Him as our great God. That is a great promise!
Get to work!
What is your view of God? Do you see Him as a God who is far away, or who is very close? What does Isaiah 57:15 say to you about who God is and who He wants to be to you?
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