by Pastor Patrick Cho
We were so excited this past weekend to enjoy our annual Christmas Concert! This has been one of our favorite traditions at LBC, especially because we get to see our members showcase all their various talents for the glory of God. It also affords us an opportunity to invite our friends and family to come and hear God-glorifying music and the gospel message. This year’s Christmas Concert certainly wasn’t a disappointment. Every year, I think, “That might have been the best one yet!”
The thought that I wanted to focus on from the Bible for this year’s Christmas Concert is the remarkable privilege we have as Christians to know the God of the universe. Every once in a while we might experience the excitement of meeting a celebrity. Whether it’s a movie star or professional athlete, it is interesting to find out what they are like. It is (even if in the slightest bit) just cool to be in the presence of such a well-known figure. With this in mind, as believers, we have the greatest reason to boast because we have intimate knowledge of the Creator of all that is. The God who spoke everything into being knows us and we can know Him!
Back in the Old Testament, God’s people understood how terrifying a thought it was to see the glory of God. In Exodus 20, after God communicates the Ten Commandments, the people are deathly frightened. They see the smoke and lightning and they hear the rumbling and trumpets, so they ask Moses to speak on God’s behalf. They said, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die” (v. 19). The people were terrified at the thought of encountering the holiness and glory of God.
Later in Exodus 33, it is revealed that Moses had a uniquely personal relationship with God. The account states that “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (v. 11). It was clear that Moses’ interactions with God were particularly special. Even still, it was limited. In v. 18, Moses asks God to show him His glory, but God has to refuse. His reasoning? No man can see His face and live (v. 19-20). Moses had to settle for a compromise as God hid him in the cleft of a rock and passed by him allowing him to see His back.
It is important to have this context from the Old Testament to better appreciate the words of John 1:18. No one has seen God at any time, but in Christ we have the ability to see the face of God. This is why the Apostle John writes in v. 14 that in Christ we behold the glory of God. In Jesus, we can see the fullness of God in the way that only the Son could represent the Father.
It is only through Christ that we can know the Father and see exactly what He is like. If you want to know what God would do, you should study what Jesus does. If you want to know what God would say, you should know what Jesus says. But more than this, because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can be reconciled to the Father and come into right relationship with Him. Even though we are sinners and He is the righteous and holy God, we can be forgiven of our sins because the penalty for our guilt was paid for on the cross.
It is truly grace that we could be saved from the wrath of God. It is grace that we could be forgiven of our sins. It is grace that God would send a Savior to pay our debt in full on the cross. But this Christmas season, it is also worth meditating on and appreciating the truth that because of what Jesus did on the cross, we have access to the Father. Because of His grace, we look forward to one day seeing Him as He is (1 John 3:2). I’m sure it will still be terrifying (He is God after all!), but not to our despair. It will be our greatest joy to bask in His greatness and stand in awe of who He is for all eternity.