Title: Faith to Meet God (Exodus...
content n style=line-height:160%>
Faith to meet God (Exodus 33:17-23) 2001.02.04.
The history of man is the history of seeking God.
Among the lyrics of a certain song, there is a saying, "Why do I get small when I stand in front of you?" There is a wonderful message in that phrase. If you can confess that no matter who you meet, that person looks big and I look small, you will be a professing person.
Especially when the object is God, why do I become small when I stand before God? Why do I feel so guilty and ashamed? You should be able to confess.
Have you ever felt ashamed of yourself? We humans have the desire to look beautiful to ourselves and others. So, they work diligently to make their inside and outside beautiful. However, how many people can confidently say, "I have always lived my life upright and proudly" and "I have never done anything shameful"?
Have you ever felt ashamed of being caught by others for doing something wrong, whether intentionally or by mistake? Have you ever felt ashamed of thinking about yourself that other people do not know at all, but that you are not right? Even though others praise and respect you, have you ever felt heartbroken when you saw a false image of yourself?
What do you think when you see the shameful appearance of me that others know, the shameful appearance of myself that only I know, and such a form of me? Even if it's already revealed shame, are you willing to make excuses, rationalize, and hide it anyway? Or, do you think that what is worse than what is revealed is the real me? Do you take this shame as a lesson and promise not to do it again in the future?
Man's zeal and passion to meet God can be thought of in many ways, but it can be an opportunity to know exactly who we are rather than boasting.
In today's Old Testament verse, we see a scene where Moses and God are having a conversation. Moses, as human representative, makes this request to God. “God, show me Your glory. Then I will see the glory and believe.” God answers. “Because I know you well, I will grant you a favor and grant you your request. But you asked me to show you my glory and my face, but I will make all my glory pass before you, and I will proclaim your holy name. I will be gracious to those whom I wish to have mercy on, and I will have pity on those whom I wish to have pity on. But I won't show you my face. For no one who has seen my face can live. Don't ask me to show you my face."
As a leader and leader of the people of Israel, Moses wanted to see the sure face of God. God who is gracious, merciful, and merciful, I need to see His face so that I can lead this people with confidence and proclaim the word of the Lord to this people. But God's unanimous answer is that you cannot show your face. “I will make my glory pass before you, but I will not show you my face.”
It is no exaggeration to say that human history is the history of seeking God. The God we believe in, everyone wants to see His face. After all, people of faith will in all likelihood want to see him. But God says no. “I can never show my face. For whoever sees my face will die.”
The face of God is glory, and the appearance of God is holiness.
This is the meaning of God's word. “Don’t imagine my face with a man-made frame, an image that a human can draw. Don't think that a person has drawn the most rational figure through reason, as if it were my face. Don't ask me to fit into that frame of reason. Those who want to see me, when they see the grace I give and experience it, think that they saw my face at that very moment. When you see me having pity on poor people, if that pity moves you, think of it as seeing my face. When you see an event of my grace, look at my face in it. Why and how do you try to see my face like a person's face in a mirror? My glory is to experience it in existence, in historical events. The profound truth is experienced in the heart. You just have to experience and accept Me. Don't even think about seeing it with your own eyes. Therefore my face is called glory, and my appearance is called holiness.” This is the word of God.
Faith is a world of depth
Religion or belief is not a world of breadth in a way, but rather a world of depth. Just because you read the Bible a lot, or know a lot of Christian doctrine and theology, doesn't mean your faith deepens that much. Sometimes knowing too much can be a stumbling block. In the realm of faith, I think it is more important to believe deeply than to know a lot. Because I can meet God at the depths of my life, the depths of my life, and the bottom of history. Therefore, the depth is the depth that touches the height. The glory of God is shining from that height. God's grace fills the depths.
Even if it is limited to human affairs, wandering around in various places does not mean seeing the whole. Rather, you can see more by climbing to the top of a high mountain. Seeing the glory of God is even more so. Because faith is not a world of breadth, but a world of depth, and it is a high world, not a low world.
When you climb a mountain, the closer you get to the top, the wider your field of view. If you want to find really broad knowledge, dig a well and go all the way down. Its end touches the top. If you want to seek God with a sincere heart, please sink into the depths of your existence and into the depths of this history. Please experience the depth of the world. Christ dwells in the depths. In the heights, Christ is present in a transcendent form.
Seek deep with sincerity
Again Moses pleads. “But show me your face.” God is calling again. “Don’t try to see your face, go into the depths. Go up high on Mount Horeb. Experience me there.”
Today, we need to think about whether our faith is a deep faith or a thin and broad faith. If you seek God with this kind of heart, God will speak to you again. Do not seek me in broadness and abundance, but in truth seek me in the depths. Have we not been in the bubble of faith even though we say we believe in Jesus Christ? You cannot see the glory of God in those bubbles. God wants to see the truth, and He is present in the truth.
As Jesus and his disciples are preparing to be crucified, people ask, “John's disciples and the Pharisees all fast to meet God, so why don't your disciples fast? “Jesus answered, “How can you fast if you have a bridegroom?” Jehovah God is coming among us through Jesus, and we are living with Him, so why should we fast now? Those of you who fast to meet God or to see His glory are fasting because they cannot meet God, but we are already with God, so why do we fast? Jesus goes on to say: “New wine must be put in new wineskins.”
The truth of God is not in many, but in the depth and height.
The truth of God is not in quantity or in numbers. The truth of God is not in many, but in the depth and height.
Jehovah God did not want to appear directly in the Old Testament days. However, the human desire wanted God to come down. It means that God must keep coming. It means that we must even see the face of God. So God has provided a way. It is God's decision. “I myself will become a human being and go into the world through Jesus Christ. Whoever wants to see my face, see Jesus Christ.”
Where is God born? You are born in a manger. Where does God provide salvation? He is torn on the cross and offers salvation. Where does God give man hope? The glory of God is revealed in the resurrection of the dead from the crucifixion, which is man's hope. In this historical event of God, we must be able to see the face of God.
God was exalted in the Old Testament times, but in the New Testament times, God was present in the form of being struck in Jesus Christ. But Romans says: “All of you who have met Jesus Christ, now rejoice in hope to meet God. Be patient with Jesus in tribulation. Pray constantly. Feed the saints. Try to treat guests as well. Through these things, we can see the face of God. Jesus Christ did this first. With Christ, you experience God. In fact, seeing the face of God that Moses longed for has been made available to us through Jesus Christ.
God is the God of transcendence and the God of immanence.
However, there is one word of truth that is given to us through the Bible. That's it. God does not dwell in lies. God exists only in the truth. God is not in despair. God is in hope. God is not in greed. God is in a devoted heart. God does not exist in a society that distrusts each other. You are in a place you trust. God is not in hate. God is only in love.
There is no God in lies, despair, greed, unbelief, and hatred. But in fact, God is there too. God is both at night and during the day. There is no place you are not all over. God is not only omnipotent, but also omnipresent. But why do you say you're not there? To say that God does not exist means that there is a difference in the way God is. Although God exists in a false society, He is there in the form of transcendence. You are in the form of a judge. God is in the truth, but there He is in His immanence. You are with us in the form of love.
God is the God of transcendence and the God of immanence. God is transcendent when your creation order is distorted. He is not among them, but above them. He is completely different from the evil world, as an absolute Other, and thus as a judge. However, while religious scholars were discussing whether God exists or not, they did not see the God who is not in the midst of injustice, who is above and beyond it, and thought that the transcendence was non-existence, and said that there is no God. Atheism. However, scholars who have experienced the indwelling God in a place of righteousness and trust are shouting that there is a God. This is the so-called theism.