A Beautiful Terror
Last night, as I was lying in bed, I read through Isaiah chapter 2. Anyone who has ever read through this chapter in true meditation, would know that this is not exactly the type of text to read before you fall asleep. By the grace of God, I caught a very very small glimpse of the glory of God in meditating on this text; it was literally an AWEsome experience. I was filled with such a sense of awe and fear that I could hardly fall asleep. It was like I wanted to run away and yet never leave all in simultation. Can anyone relate? I would love to hear your experiences.
The terror of the Lord is not preached enough. The eternal weight of the Christ should not, and CANNOT be placed in any man-made box. According to this text, all of our "boxes", indeed ALL THINGS, will be blown away by the coming of the King. Oh the WEIGHT of the glory of Jesus Christ!
Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the LORD,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
--Isaiah 2:10
My pastor preached on the 2nd Coming a short time ago. In reading Isaiah, Mark 13:24-27 sprang to mind. I'll go ahead and paste it in here as well so that you all might be able to get a greater view of Jesus, the lamb-like Lion. Imagine the impact the preaching of the Lion would have on our churches today. The Lamb cannot be preached enough; nothing wrong with preaching on the glory of the sacrifice of Christ. However, the LION is often watered down. The wonder and appreciation are lost in the mix.
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth dto the ends of heaven."
The stars will FALL. The powers in the heavens WILL BE SHAKEN. What a BEAUTIFUL TERROR that we must preach! One last image and a challenge to leave you with:
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
This is no kitten that we are called to exalt and uphold in our preaching...
Check out the trailor to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . It comes out December 9. You will see me there on opening night.
(The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 . Standard Bible Society: Wheaton)
posted by Russ at 8/19/2005 03:42:00 PM
3 Comments:
Yeah! Preach on, brother! Your enthusiasm for the Gospel and for God's glory are such a delight and encouragement to me! Thanks!
I had a similar experience in my class on Genesis to Joshua. I had an amazing professor who continually focused us on the attributes of God as we went through each book. It was probably the first time that I felt an extremely reverent fear of the Lord - but also understood the weight of the meaning, "Perfect love casts out fear."
As my favorite preacher says, "Jesus Christ is on His victory march to all the nations"..which then reminds me of those who will experience defeat as a matter of course of a victory march..and it continually refocuses me on the whole of God - all His attributes. Although, I could never truly know or experience God fully with this 8 pound brain.....but oh do I look forward to that day when my faith will be sight!
HI!! well, always to be a delight and a pleasure to listen to your words and your reflections. And I know that I am never going to have sufficient words to thank you for the encouragement and your influence in my life. KEEP IN GOD'S PLANS!! AND SEE YOU UP THERE!!
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