I
love thunderstorms. I always have and I
always will. Even as a child I was completely energized by them. We spent the better part of my childhood in
the Rocky Mountains and my mother can testify that I almost always ran to the
biggest window when the thunder and lightning started. She would caution me and tell me to move away
in case the lightning came too close.
But I just couldn’t help myself.
Even when I lived in San Diego (I was privileged to live near the beach)
when big storms were forecast you could find me standing on the edge of Sunset
Cliffs awaiting the coming storms. There
is nothing quite like getting a full blast of ocean wind pushing against you as
the clouds roll into the coastline. You
can see the storm coming for miles. At
first you can see a fist-sized cloud in the distance and then it begins to
dominate the landscape. And then, just
as in the wonderful Rocky Mountains, you run back inside like crazy to avoid
the lightning and getting thoroughly soaked.
As
a child I don’t think I quite understood why I loved these storms so much. But as I grew older and my theology of God
became more deeply rooted, I saw the demonstration of God’s divine power in
these storms. Maybe that’s why I run
head-long into them, stand and stare out the window with a huge smile on my
face. When the thunder shakes the walls
the only thing I can think is, “God’s in charge! God is
in charge! God is in charge!”
I
love the Scriptures that reflect this absolute power and glory of God. Just listen to some of these.
Psalm
19:1-6
The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night
after night they display knowledge. There
is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes
out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he
has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from
his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one
end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from
its heat.
Psalm 68:4 (This is one of
my favorite images of God in his glory)
Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds—
his name is the LORD— and rejoice before him.
Job
37:2-7
Listen! Listen
to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He
unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of
the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his
majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back.
God's voice
thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He
says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty
downpour.' So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man
from his labor.
Romans
1:20
For since the
creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine
nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so
that men are without excuse.
Sometimes
in this so-called scientific age I think we miss the wonder and the glory of
God. His power is evident
everywhere. And yet, a simple scientific
explanation seems to seize hold of these ideas and shake the life out of them. Or maybe our pedantic life washes out the
wonder of a God so huge, so triumphant and full of glory.
I
wonder what it was like to stand at the base of Mount Hermon and feel the
mountain shake while Moses ascended to speak with the Lord. Or what it might have been like to stand next
to Elijah as the flames consumed the pitiful sacrifices of all the priests of
Baal? I can only imagine the incredible demonstration of God’s power and glory
as the walls of water stood at attention by his
command giving passage to weary and frightened former slaves leaving
Egypt.
Do
we have a sense of wonder and reverence for God in his glory? Do we recognize the unlimited breadth of his
authority as Creator? Perhaps if we did
we would follow the admonition of the Psalmist when he wrote this.
Psalm
29
Ascribe to the
LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe
to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his
holiness.
The
voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD
thunders over the mighty waters.
The
voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
The
voice of the LORD breaks the cedars the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of
Lebanon.
He
makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
The
voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.
The
voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The
voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
The
LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
The
LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
This Psalm also reminds us of
God’s power when floods rage over the canvas of the earth. Flood victims are very aware of the awesome
power of God when they see all the man-made things that are so quickly washed
away by the power of the creation. This kind of power, a tiny reflection of the
power of God in his glory, should never be forgotten. It is said that “imitation is the highest
form of a compliment.” Well, no matter how many dams we build, or how high our
structures rise, or how much mud and concrete we pump into a tiny hole in the
ocean floor we cannot come near the power and glory of God on high.
The remembrance and recognition
of this kind of power and glory provides us with the perfect compliment and contrast
to our key passage of Scripture. It is
an ancient hymn found in Philippians 2:6-11.
It is a theologically profound and beautiful song about Jesus.
Who,
being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being
made in human likeness.
And
being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and
became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
The phrase “being in the very nature God” has also been rendered other ways. “For the divine nature was his from the first.”
(New English Bible) “Although he existed
in the form of God” (New American Standard & KJV) or “He had equal status with God” (The
Message) or “Though he was God” (New
Living Translation). All of these
phrases render one reality—Jesus Christ is God.
It was his voice that thundered on Mount Hermon. It was his voice that
commanded the waters to rise into walls at the Red Sea. It is he who rides on the clouds. As Christians this is one our essential doctrines
of faith—Jesus Christ is one with the Father and the Spirit—One God in three
persons.
This is why the Apostle Paul was
so ardent about reminding the Philippian church why they really gathered
together. This wonderful, small letter
which Paul wrote late in his life from prison, urges a group of beloved
believers to live into the power and glory of Christ. But not just based on the typical kinds of
power of which we have read. There is another power that is equally strong and
another kind of glory, equally great, that must always be kept in mind. This is the power of Christ’s humility.
As we review this splendid
passage from Philippians, take note of particular phrases: made
himself nothing, nature of a servant, human likeness, humbled himself, obedient
to death! The purpose of the incarnation—the
fancy theological word for Jesus Christ coming to earth in the flesh—is made
profoundly clear here. It was the intent
and purpose and work of Jesus Christ to take all that power, all that glory,
all that authority and funnel it down into a bag of skin and bones. It was the intent and purpose and work of
Jesus Christ to take all that thunder, all that lightening and willingly
relinquish it to be a servant to the entire human race. It was the intent and purpose of Jesus Christ
to absolutely humble himself—truly, deeply and honestly—even to the point of a
cruel death on the cross.
Let’s review the demonstration of
Christ’s humility: 1) born of a virgin
in a barn among cattle, 2) lived as a hard-working, blue-collar carpenter for
most of his earthly life, 3) lived out true servanthood by healing, preaching,
feeding, restoring and giving life back, 4) he took common people for
disciples, 5) never owned a home, 6) submitted himself to earthly
authority—even when they were wrong, and 7) died for all, not just for some.
And in that dying—oh, that
dying!—he demonstrated ultimate humility.
At no point in the crucifixion process did Jesus Christ shake his finger
in the face of the authorities and say, “You should know who I am. And if you did you would never talk with me
this way. If you knew who I was you
wouldn’t dare to speak to me like you do.
If you had an inkling of what I was capable of you would tremble at the
thought of putting nails into these hands and these feet.” Ladies and gentlemen, never once did Jesus
Christ say these things. Never once did he open his mouth and wipe them all out
as he could have. Sure he rebuked the religious leaders and he put them into
their place with the very Scriptures they already knew. Sure he slipped through the crowds of lame,
blind and hungry to fellowship with the Father.
But never once did he act like a capricious pagan god calling down fire,
thunder and rain just to make people afraid of him.
No, quite on the contrary all
that power and glory were funneled into a death—a death that would pay the
price for all human sin. Oh, the
absolute glory of the humility of Jesus Christ! Now that’s some kind of
backwards glory! This wasn’t
thunder. This was devastating
silence. When all around the demons and
enemies of God were celebrating in an uproar, his quiet, humble sacrifice undid
them all! Is this not a true demonstration
of his glory?!
Read the rest of this great hymn
now, because that’s not where the story ends—Praise God!
Therefore
God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in
heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to
the glory of God the Father.
His act of absolute, redemptive humility
led to his complete return to glory—the exaltation by the Father—for the work
he had done to redeem his very own creation. This final portion of the great,
ancient hymn reminds us of our position with Christ. We will never attain unto his status as
exalted of the Father. No, there is only
One. Our ultimate position is one of
humility—bowing at his feet. It is clear from this final part of the hymn that
whether we choose to acknowledge Jesus as Lord or not we will be kneeling before him. We all have a choice—kneel as worshipers
or kneel as conquered sinners.
There is sometimes a subtle
temptation in the Christian walk. We can
claim the glory of God and use it as a weapon to beat people into
submission. We can walk about with a
haughty attitude believing that we are better than everyone else because we
have accepted Christ as our Savior. We
can use the Scriptures—designed to lead the way to Christ—as a machine gun to
show how knowledgeable we are. May the
God of all glory help us! Who are we to take
such an attitude as that?!
Oh, that we would be like Jesus! By re-visiting this great and ancient hymn
the Apostle Paul was reminding believers that there is no place for
self-aggrandizement and pride. In fact, the very direct and loving Apostle Paul
housed this great ancient hymn in some very practical holiness. He was intent upon teaching and reminding
these believers that the example of Jesus Christ can never be subverted or
superseded. His was the ultimate
humility—one which we are to practice toward and one from which we can learn
all of our lives.
Scroll back with me to Philippians
2:1-5 to begin to understand why Paul was so intent on shaping the Christian
community by quoting this great hymn.
If
you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from
his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then
make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in
spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in
humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not
only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your
attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus . . .
Our your attitude should be the
same of the humble and glorified Christ.
There is another great song in
Scripture. We could call it a hymn
because it is an absolute joyful celebration of Jesus Christ—the truly
glorified and humble Savior of our souls.
As you read this contemplate your attitude of humility. Do you have one? Do you need one? Do you need to return to one so the you can
kneel—truly kneel—and worship the God of glory?
John 1:1-5, 10-14
In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In
him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the
darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
He
was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. He came to that which was
his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those
who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children
born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but
born of God.
The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the
glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Maybe you have just heard the
voice of God thundering through the Scriptures.
Maybe you have been hit by the lightning bolt of the conviction as we
looked upon the example of Jesus Christ. Maybe the sweet, sweet rain of the
Holy Spirit has been coursing down over your hardened heart. Whatever God has been doing, be sure that it
is for your salvation.
May we never forget the absolute
humility of Jesus Christ and how he purchased our redemption. May we fall heavily onto our knees looking
for the day when we can gather with all the redeemed and cry “Glory! Glory!
Glory!”
Amen
Copyright M.R. Hyde 2013
Greetings, dear reader. Last week we came to the conclusion of our good, hard work of asking who God is by reading and meditating on Genesis and Exodus. I will now begin the good, hard work of revising those devotionals to be put in to book form. I will let you know when that is available.
In the next few weeks we will enjoy some jaunts into different passages of Scripture. But, as you can tell, I am prone to series. So, pray that the Lord would lead us to the next best series.
I'm glad you are with me on this journey! Recommend it to your friends and we'll all walk with The Word.
