There is a
word used by Chambers in this entry which is at the heart of the issue he has
pursued the last three days. The word is
more comfortably used to refer to our standing before the Creator and Master of
all things. But when applied to the One
who defines it, it becomes terrible even more than it becomes logically
necessary. The truth is that my Master
is Holy. And this is a frightening thing
when compared to my profane life inside and out. Moses spoke with God face to face, and yet
could not gaze on His glory, but had to be hidden, seeing only the trailing
final tendrils of it.
The Holiness
of God obliterates the existence of all that is not as pure as it is. That is why it is so frightening; “For no man
has seen me and lives (Exodus 33:20).” This
holiness takes the “otherness” of God to the extreme that is logically
necessary for One who has Created this cosmos.
There truly could not be imagined a way for us to reach through the
otherness of such a One. What I discover
is that for this One to reach out to His created beings requires a concession
on His part. This concession is required
to bridge the gap between the magnitude of the holiness of such vast power and
such limited frail ones such as me.
To stand in
the presence of God with anything that is not what He has designed is to be in
contempt of the One who made me, and all creation. The nature of my sin is that I want to be my
own master and my own god (my pastor reminded me of that Thursday – Thanks Pastor
Rod!). Such a nature stands in contempt
of the One who truly is Master and God of all, not just me. How can I exist in His presence with such a
nature? If Moses could not as the friend
of God, how can I? There is no fix available
that I can produce or provide that will enable me to stand in the crushing weight
and furnace fire that is the Holy Presence.
The glory of
my Master is something I have seen in a vision, toned down to fit into my tiny
head. To enter from a dark hallway, I had
to pass through a membrane that filtered out all my impurities. I arrived in dirty tattered clothes and Jesus
gave me a new robe to wear. Even with my
new robe, the pain in passing through the membrane was enormous. It was like I left more than half of myself
behind in the dark hallway. But after
the pain I stood in the brilliant presence of my Master. I could not see His face, only such light
that would blind me as the sun, and yet I could look anyway. That “membrane” and the One giving me the new
Robe, they are the same.
The Creator
and Holder of unimaginable power, even though I am profane to my very core
nature, still desired that “light” He imparted to every human. He still wanted communion with those He made
but who rebelled against Him; and continue in their rebellion. He wants me as I am a member of this vast
rabble of shameful rebels. And His desire
cannot be denied, even by Himself. He
moved to make it possible for the requirements of His holiness to be met on my
behalf. The wrath is now located in the
context of the holiness of my Master. It
is a characteristic of such glorious otherness.
And it is pacified only in the
work of Jesus.
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