I was informed earlier today that I am long overdue writing something eremitical. After some pondering (read: looking through my ‘To Blog Thoughts’ sidenote), I decided to explore a quote from Calvin I had Cmd+P’d a while back.
So here’s the quote:
“Because we are not yet participants in the glory of God, thus we cannot approach him; rather, it is necessary for him to reveal himself to us according to our rudeness and infirmity. The fact remains that since the beginning of the world when God appeared to mortal men, it was not in order to reveal himself as he was, but according to men’s ability to support him. We must always keep this in mind: that God was not known by the fathers. And today he does not appear to us in his essence. Rather he accommodates himself to us. That being the case, it is necessary for him to descend according to our capacity in order to make us sense his presence with us.” (Calvin, [ca. 1555] 1980:52-53)
John Calvin at his best – human depravity/inability contrasted with the ineffable overwhelming reality of God. Obviously a little out of context, but a big enough block of text that I can run with it and make a post.
I disagree with the overarching statement Calvin is making here, primarily because of his overemphasis of the future promise of participatory glory as opposed to the present reality of our justified/sanctified oneness with God in Christ.
‘We are not yet participants in the glory of God, thus we cannot approach him;’ – are we truly not participants in this glory? Are we not instructed to now boldly approach the throne, because we have been made holy through Jesus’ sacrifice?
If we truly believe the Kingdom of God is a present reality, it should change the way we live, think, and experience God and his attributes. He has chosen to make Himself known in a plethora of ways: his creation, the Bible, Jesus, through humanity, etc. Of course, by virtue of his identity of God he will always retain mystery - but isn’t who He has revealed Himself to be just that?
The more the Lord reveals aspects of Himself to me, the more I am convinced that He is in, through, and without everything – a Singular Dharma, if you will permit mingling of terms. Because of this reality, I am finding God can be known and experienced through everyday life – including our failures.
A while back, I wrote about experiencing God through sin (can’t find the link since I migrated to this theme).. Why can’t our lives be holistic expressions of our relationship with God – from His blessings, to His forgiveness, His judgment, and His mercy? We say that we believe ‘God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose’, right?
Personally, I’d rather be guilty of looking for God in too many places than not recognizing His work enough. I digress some from my original point, but it’s my blog so I can write what I want.
On the other hand, I appreciate (how poorly words express emotions!) the ethereal and awe-inspiring majesty and terribleness of God. The fear of the all-powerful Creator adds a significant dimension to the Divine relationship with creation.
I’ve been taking David Crowder intravenously for the past couple months – one of the songs I’ve especially enjoyed is ‘Here Is Our King’. The chorus goes like this:
“Here is our King
Here is our Love
Here is our God who’s come to bring us back to Him
He is the One
He is Jesus”
What an blessed realization – God is everything we need at once:
Here is our King – just, sovereign, powerful and mighty.
Here is our Love – passionate, tender, faithful and intimate
Here is our God – holy, mysterious, terrible and gentle.
We sense His presence through His interaction with us because we were created to be in relationship with Him. We love Him because He first loved us. He makes Himself known because He wants to be known – and we delight in the knowledge of Him. ‘Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life.’ (via the BG)