By Chalcedony Williams
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 ESV
In Exodus 19, God appears to meet with the nation of Israel. We read that God told Moses He was going to descend on Mount Sinai and enter a covenant with His people by giving them the Law. But before He appeared, God warned the people saying, “whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.” I can imagine it is with those ominous words in the forefront of their minds that the people experienced the thunder and flashes of lightning and saw the thick cloud and heard the loud trumpet blast, heralding God’s arrival. The people trembled and were so afraid, they did not want God to speak to them directly. So, the Law was delivered through Moses. Israel witnessed God’s glory and it was a terrifying experience that came with clear instructions, “do not touch”. When Isaiah saw God in all His glory, he cried out, “woe is me! … for I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5) A perfect, holy, not-like-us God cannot be touched by fallible and sinful human hands. To see God in this state would be our ruin, let alone to touch Him.
The amazing thing is that God’s desire to establish a covenant with His people revealed something else about Him: He intends for us to have a close, personal relationship with Him. The first words of the Law He gave through Moses are, “I am the Lord your God” – God associates Himself with His people. He wants to relate to us, and He wants us to know and love Him. But, in our sinful state, we are prevented from being anywhere near Him! So how does a terrifying, holy God solve the problem of our inability to come close to Him? He comes close to us.
John 1:14 says, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory… full of grace and truth.” When Moses came down from speaking with God on the mountain, his face shone with the radiant reflection of God’s glory. The people were so afraid to look at Him, that He had to cover His face. But in John’s gospel, we do not see another reflection or fading residue of God’s glory, we see the Word of God in human flesh – Jesus Christ the Son of God, the full radiance of glory. But He was veiled in human flesh and came in humility to rescue the most sin-sick and spiritually unclean members of society. In Christ’s appearance, the instruction is no longer “do not touch”, but “come to me,” “draw near,” and the consequence is no longer death, but abundant and everlasting life.
Jesus came to fulfil the Law and establish a new covenant by proclaiming the truth that convicts, points out the sinful condition of our hearts and leads us to repentance. He brings grace to the truly repentant by dying in our place on the cross, covering our sin. He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father’s right hand. He will return in glory and raise us up from the dead to receive glorified, immortal bodies. He will come on the clouds, with thunder and lightning, the trumpet shall sound, and He will descend, shining like the sun. But those who receive Him as Saviour and Lord need not fear, for we shall welcome Him with open arms and joy-filled hearts.
Ask: Why could Israel not touch the mountain and what was the consequence?
Seek: Does the future arrival of Christ fill me with fear or with joy? Why?
Knock: Heavenly Father, thank You that I need not be afraid to approach because I can come boldly before You through Your Son. Thank You that I can know You through the truth of Christ’s word and love You through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Please help me to thirst for righteousness, to be holy as Christ is holy and to await His glorious return with joy and the assurance of Your grace.
(Upper Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash)
(Inner Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash)
