Christ in all the scriptures The awesome persona of God

 Christ in all the scriptures

The awesome persona of God

"I will be sanctified in them that come nigh unto me, and before all the people I will be glorified"  Leviticus 10v3

This phenomenal assertion of the Divine nature should be emblazoned on every platform and imprinted on every mind.  The reality of it will never be altered and calls for reverential fear of the Lord.  This involves every living human being, describing the only true division of mankind.  There are those who draw nigh to Him, and they are His people.  In them He will be sanctified, that is set apart for sacred service.  There are those who remain aloof from Him,  who ignore Him, or oppose Him, who make gods of lesser things.  In them He will be glorified.  It is necessary therefore to expound the meaning of this remarkable word, which should cause every one of us to sit up and take notice.  

Scriptures are emphatic that there are, in the sight of God, only two classes of people, and we can trace this throughout.  Saints and sinners, godly and ungodly, righteous and lawless, saved and perishing, wise and foolish: this is the terminology of scripture, this is God's view of humanity.  Ultimately, only His estimation will count.  God is God and He will have the last word, there is no middle ground.   Following the punitive removal of the sons of Aaron, the Lord declares through Moses the reality of who He is.  He reminds them of His Holiness in unmistakeable terms.  Note the distinction between God's people and all other people: He says "IN them that draw nigh, He will be sanctified; then He says "BEFORE all the people I will be glorified".  There will be no sanctification for the Godless world, what they will receive is a display of  His compelling Majesty.

"Before all the people I will be glorified"     He is the God "with whom we all have to do"-Hebrews 4v13.  No matter the priesthood and the sacrifices, all of which point to Christ, (God's merciful and gracious provision), yet the ungodly remain aloof from God.  Atheists, Agnostics, False religions, Religious Professors, Foolish, and the like are in abundance in the God-hating world.  They, steadfastly, ignore or reject the Divine approaches in mercy.  There will be a final separation at the last day, but not before every one who ever lived will glorify Him.  God will be glorified in all flesh, no matter their eternal destiny, holy scripture asserts.  God will be vindicated in all things, He will be universally acknowledged to be right: 

"Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father".  Philippians 2v9-11

Note the awesome extent of this: Every knee shall bow...every tongue confess...of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth.  No one omitted from this subservience in whatever sphere they ended, all will accord honour to God through Jesus Christ.  They will bow with their knee and confess with their tongue that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, and this will be to the Glory of God the Father.  Had they done that in life they would be saved and reconciled to God.  Now they must accept their destiny even as they bow before Him.

1st Chronicles 29v11 "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine, thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all".

Psalm 86v9 "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name".

Revelation 5v13 "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying Blessing and honour and glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever".

"In them that come nigh unto me, I will be sanctified...".   This is a call to reverential living on the part of those who are His people.  This means doing things His way, respecting His wisdom and His holiness unlike the actions of the sons of Aaron.  Concerning those who are estranged from God, there is no fear of God before their eyes, but it should be different with us.  His word must become our law and purpose of living.  Pleasing Him to become the prime motivation of all that we are.  Peter records "If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear"-1st Peter 1v17.  This is not a cringing, abject fear of someone greater, this is reverential fear of One who is majestic.  His ways and His wisdom are so magnificent we are compelled to follow Him.   The early church, quickly realised this: Acts 2v43 "Fear came upon every soul...".  This respectful attitude was accentuated in the wake of the sudden, and very public execution of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5.  The result of that reverberated throughout the Acts.

Acts 5v11 "And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things".

Acts 9v31 "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied".

God is holy and those who approach Him in worship must be holy, as it says in Peter "Be ye holy for I am holy".  This is not religious hypocrisy, or sanctimonious jargon but a real sanctity imputed to us leading to progressive sanctification and ultimately practical holiness in His presence.  This demands of us reverential fear of the Lord as we grow in the Christian life.  In personal life and in corporate testimony we must proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us.  

The apostles were in accord with the standards given Moses: Paul's word to the Corinthians was (2nd Cor. 7v1) "Having therefore these promises dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God".  Each of us will be able to assess before the Lord, as to what that means to us.  Peter said "The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?"-1st Peter 4v17-18.