Week 5—Monday Hebrews 12:1-2
Hebrews 12:1-2
“NOTHING ELSE MATTERED”
We are still considering, “no one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” Men of old felt that no one could see God face to face and live. But Jesus is the Divine Transformer who takes the high voltage of the Divine and transforms it into usable form. In Jesus we do see God face to face and do not die, but live. We live by seeing God face to face—in Jesus. For, as we have said, Jesus puts a face on God. He humanizes God, makes God approachable.
Idols are an attempt to bring God near. Jesus takes the place of idols, fulfills the need which idols try to meet and, of course, never do. For idols do not represent God; they misrepresent God. Jesus really represents God. “He is the express image” of God. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.
In the final chapter of the book of Revelation it says: “They shall see him face to face” (NEB). That was the final reward—to see God “face to face.” The whole verse reads this way: “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see him face to face.” The reason they could see God face to face was “the Lamb was there”—Jesus lets us see a lovable, approachable God.
There is a picture of a face of Jesus surrounded by dark clouds. Apart from Jesus there are dark clouds of mystery surrounding God. But in the midst of these clouds I see that one dear Face. We smile at the boy who, when asked by his mother what he was doing, replied: “I’m drawing a picture of God.” “But no one knows what God is like,” said the mother. “They will know when I get finished,” said the boy with finality. All attempts to tell or draw what God is like are childish. Except one—Jesus! No wonder a young woman in Uruguay who had turned round and round on herself in twenty-one years of futility and mental and emotional agony said with joy: “I looked into the face of Jesus and nothing else mattered.” She had looked at herself and her failures for twenty-one years and grew worse; she looked into the face of Jesus and was well.
O Lord and Master, I look at myself and others and everything goes wrong; I look at you and everything goes right. I look at you and suddenly I know I am not alone and not unloved. I know I can never be alone and can never be unloved. My gratitude is eternal. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I see him face to face, and I do not die but live—and how! Till then I’d never lived.