Making Connections Dec 20

Making Connections Dec 20

December 20

Daniel 7:9-14, Matthew 26:62-68, Revelation 1:12-20

 

Making Connections:

 

Have you ever had the experience of being in the presence of someone great? People wait in line for hours for book signing by famous authors or pay great sums of money for a backstage pass at a concert. Whole business in Los Angeles are dedicated to driving tourists by the homes of celebrities. This sense of awe is why it can be so crushing when one of these heroes falls. If we did not hold them in some esteem, we would have no sense of disappointment when they prove that they are like us: human.

 

So often I think that we don't have a full picture of the grandeur & awesomeness of God's power. When John sees the vision of the Son of Man, he fell at His feet as though dead, and I think we would (and will) do the same. Yet Jesus, who deserves every bit of adoration & awe, stoops to touch John & says, "Fear not."

 

We have a king in Jesus who is worthy of all adoration & glory. Powerful, holy, mighty - terms that we cannot fully put weight behind until we do see Him face to face. But Jesus bends down to us as He did with John, as God walked in the garden calling to Adam & Eve. Human figures don't deserve the adoration or importance we sometimes ascribe to them, yet much of the time, human idols welcome & relish this kind of glory, basking in it & believing themselves worthy of it. Jesus, who truly is worthy, stoops to touch the unworthy.

 

God is both holy enough to knock us down as though dead, and personal enough to touch us & give us comfort. Both of these are true of God's character & we need to keep them in balance. If we lose sight of His power & grandeur, we miss out on worship. If we lose sight of Him being personal, we miss out on the relationship. God is both deserving of all honor, & loves us enough that He sent Jesus, worthy of worship, to die in our place on the cross.