Our God is an Awesome God.....

A couple of weeks ago, while studying the Book of Revelation, my youth class and I came to a description of 'One like the Son of Man' (Rev 1:12-16) who was 'dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.'

I encouraged the class to visualise this figure and all was still as each one struggled to fit this image into his/her own imaginative capabilities. Then the silence was broken when one young man shuddered and exclaimed, "It's scary!". I smiled at this outburst and hastened to assure him that God wasn't scary and that the correct word he was looking for was 'awesome' , when I checked myself.

This reminded me of the song, 'Our God is an Awesome God'. How many times have I sung it, how many times absentmindedly hummed it, taught it, sung it in parts, combined it with another song and explored every musical variation possible......I wonder though, how many times I really realised what I was singing about.'Awesome!' is now an essential part of teen jargon and can mean anything from 'cool' to 'great' to 'wonderful', simply implying that the object being described is impressive. But used in the traditional sense, the word takes on an entirely different meaning. 'Awe' then becomes, 'an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like'.....and this is the meaning I ought to be implying everytime I use it to refer to my God. Why?

Because.....this is the God that created order out of chaos and everything out of nothing. This is He who made the atom and the universe, holding each in the palm of His hand. This is the God that set the earth on its delicate balance, breathing life into all that lives today. This is He that was the Desert God Yaweh, Israels' lover Jehovah and the great I AM who lives yesterday, today and forever. This is He who manifested Himself as fire by night and cloud by day, He who drowned the creators of man's mightiest effort, the pyramids, in the Red Sea. This is He who led Israel against mighty nations and bade the sun stand still. This is He who lifted David to slay a giant with a slingshot and Samson, 10,000 with an ass's jawbone. This is He who came as a humble carpenter's baby, bringing healing into the lives of multitudes. This is He who touched lives with miracles and beat Satan forever on the cross. This is He who raised Peter from fisherman to Rock and Paul from murderer to Chief Apostle. This is He for whom many laid down their lives joyfully and without question. This is He whose Holy Spirit is with us today, comforting, counselling, strengthening us to stand again every time we fall. Because...THIS is the God we're talking about!

How can He not be reverenced? How can we not fear His holy name? How can we reduce Him to a mushy bearded man seated amongst sheep, children and daffodils, who will forever extend mercy and grace and never just penalty? More crudely, how can we take God for an indulgent old forgiving fool?

Without beating around bushes, the terrible truth is this: He who is Love, is also Justice. To not express the Holiness my Lord commands in my life today, especially when I know whom it is that I worship, is to willingly call down divine wrath on my head and life. For when Jesus comes again, it will not be as Pascal Lamb, but as Righteous Judge. Fear the Lord then O ye nations, bend down before Him in holy reverence. Wrap yourself daily with the armour of God and bind His commandments around your heart. Worship Him in spirit and truth and be not contemptuous of His holy Word.

Remember Hebrews 12:28-29: 'Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire'.

Amen.