Thrice Holy

This Christmas time I have been burdened about a way to communicate the majesty of the incarnation. I want to do this not only for the benefit of others, but also because I am so susceptible to just saying, "Yea, I get it. Can we talk about something new?" I was convicted of this as I was reading the four sections in my daily reading. I got through the last passage and thought to myself, "Well, that was nice, but there really isn't anything much to write about today." At that point, I knew my heart was wrong. I'm reading my own personal copy of the Word of God to mankind! I had lost sight of the significance of this daily routine that I've gotten myself into. The exact same thing happens at Christmas every year. So I got thinking, based on the fourth chapter of Revelation, which was the last portion of the reading. Here's what I decided: I think that in order to understand how truly amazing the incarnation is, we must understand how glorious and holy God is. That is where this text from Revelation comes in. I'll just post verse 8, but it would certainly behoove you to read the whole chapter:

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!"

Did you catch that? I'll point you to what caught my attention: "Day and night they never cease." These amazing creatures never tire of proclaiming God's holiness. And that to the choir of all choirs! These creatures are in awe of God and they never tire of declaring his praise. Surely the only reason we ever would tire is because God has been removed from the center of our focus.

So what's the difference between us and them? Why do we tire of hearing of the glory of the incarnation, or praising the Lord for His holiness, or standing in wonder at His majesty? The simple answer is that we do not understand it. No one on earth does. Not me; not you; not the newly repentant sinner; not the aged and experienced veteran of the faith. There isn't a soul on earth who grasps the majesty of God. Realizing this is part of what will magnify His glory in your eyes. If you, as an insignificant speck, grasped the majesty of God, I would have to submit that He would not be all that majestic. Can your mind contain the glory of God; or your heart, the fullness of praise He deserves? You cannot do it.

The word awesome is far overused now, which is why I have tended toward words like majestic and glorious; nevertheless, if you can set aside all the puny subjects - like TV shows, good food, and people - that have somehow taken hold of this adjective, then I will say to you: God is awesome. He alone deserves our awe. Stand in wonder at the sight of God's work in the world and in your life. Fear him for the sacrifice He made in becoming man!

The awe of the incarnation comes in realizing that God - Whose glory we cannot grasp, Who overwhelms to the point death all who would look on His true form, the God Who is thrice holy - that this God steps down from His throne and takes on the human flesh that He created, subjects Himself to disobedient ingrates, and suffers under the wrath of the Father. That is truly awesome.

Isaiah: True Witness of True God

I've been continuing to engage in regular dialogue with a Jehovah's Witness, and now more recently his wife as well. They come visit my house at 10am on various Saturdays, sometimes by appointment, other times just to see if I'm home. The focus of our conversation is generally focused on the Trinity, as I am more concerned about their view of Christ than of anything else. The gospel, after all, centers around Him, and without the true Christ, there is no true God, true salvation, or true life. I find it interesting that even my pagan professor of last year realized John intention in collecting all the "I am" statements of Christ and compiling them, while skirting most parables, etc. This is a reference to the I AM self-identification of God in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, the New World Translation (JW version of the Bible) has so mangled the translation of the tense that no Jehovah's Witness can see the obvious connection.

I just thought I'd share a few verses that glorify our Lord Jesus Christ as Yahweh incarnate. The incarnation is quite probably the most glorious miracle ever performed by God, greater even than converting sinners (which, if you know anything about your own sinfulness, is saying something).

I was reading through the daily reading bookmarks that we just handed out in High Point, and came across this verse in John 12: "Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him" (v. 41). The context makes it clear that the pronoun "him" is referring to Jesus Christ. "These things" refers to two quotations from the book of Isaiah that John quotes in the verses immediately preceding verse 41. The first quotation is from Isaiah 53:1. We know that Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, but it is the second quotation that I really want to focus on. The verse in John 12 tells us that Isaiah speaks Isaiah 6:10 because he "saw [Jesus'] glory." If we go to the context of Isaiah 6, the vision Isaiah has just seen is a vision of "the King, the LORD of hosts" (v. 5):

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!"

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

Do we realize what's going on here? Jesus the Christ does indeed make appearances in the Old Testament, and this is one right here! This is the glory of Jesus, not of an angel, but of Yahweh! How much more glorious does this make the incarnation, not to mention sacrifice, of Christ? He had been on His throne in His temple, and stepped down, becoming a... pooping baby?! Stand in awe of your God this Christmas (and always!); He loves you with a love we will never grasp.