Glimpses: The Revelation of God

"On a hot September day in 1918, some happy Indian children set out to trace their mountain river to its source. After the rains in June and October, the river is a glory of rushing water pouring down 

a deep ravine; but in dry, burnt-up September, it is shallow and, from below, bare boulders as big as cottages looked like the steps of a giant staircase.

It would be easy, we thought, to find the source......

The children found new delights - fairy falls, and pools and caves and dear growing things...

but the source they did not find. 

A tree had crashed through the forest just where the banks were too steep to climb...

The children knew that, far beyond...the real source must lie out under the sky in a lonely loveliness, with only the wind and the whispering rushes and the marsh flowers to tell it of the ways of the world below. 

But they could not go up there."

~ Amy Carmichael, The Gold Cord

The temple was a place of massive importance in the Old Testament. It was the holiest place in all of Israel, and only the chief Levites were allowed to enter on certain days. Common men could not approach God. There was a veil of separation, that they could never break.

How often do we feel that veil in our own lives?  Maybe we can see the place where God is. We can see His hand in our midst. We can see others, who have experienced Him. But we ourselves can never seem to taste His presence. There's something in our way. Maybe we've found beautiful things along our faith journey. We can see the outpouring of His rivers. But we can't find the source, or remove the veil, any more than some tiny children in India could remove a massive fallen tree from their path.

The great men and women of the Old Testament longed to see God. They lived their lives pursuing the source of the river. But they could never remove the veil from their midst.

Only one man saw the source in its glory. Moses pursued the source with such a passion that, one day, He was allowed to rest His eyes on its beauty. But it was so glorious that he could only see its back, and even then, he had to hide in a cave with his face covered, lest the glory he beheld would take his very life.

The river's source is glorious beyond imagination. He is before and beyond all things.... Elohim; God, Judge, Creator. El Elyon; The Most High God. El Shaddai; Lord God Almighty. El Olam; The God of the Universe, and of Ancient Days. Jehovah Rapha; The Lord that Heals. Jehovah Nissi; The Lord my Miracle. Jehovah M'Kaddesh; The Lord who makes Holy.

The New Testament reveals a new name. He is Immanuel; God with us. Jesus Christ, God Himself, came down in the most humble form imaginable..... to tear the veil. To break the separation. To show us the way to the Father, and into righteousness. Imagine the impact His words must have had to those living under the Old Testament covenant... "He who has seen me has seen the Father."  He who has seen me as seen the source that was hidden for ages and generations.

On this side of the cross, we are living in the new covenant. Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 3:

"The Greater Glory of the New Covenant

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!"

Jesus Christ was the revelation of the Father. He came down, to be flesh that would be torn as the veil, that we might behold the glory of the new covenant. He left His place of authority at the right hand of the Father, and became helpless. He associated with humanity, and was called a fraud, a law-breaker, an outcast, a stranger in his own home, one who served the prince of demons, and a blasphemer. He was killed as a common criminal..... that we might see. He removed the fallen tree from the path. He cleared the way to the Father. The path to the river's source is open. A path marked by His own precious blood.

Jesus reveals. God does not try to hide Himself from us. As Jeremiah 29:13 says,

"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

He longs for His children to see Him. He is not removed from us. He died to give us an intimate covenant with Him. To show us the way to His heart.

Are we searching?  Are we like those Indian children, willing to follow the stream to its source and search for it, instead of just wondering where it might be?  Are we ready to trek up the mountain, and follow the path, however difficult it may be, to see Him?  Because He has made the way. It's open, however rocky the path. He spilled His blood to remove the veil. How deeply do we cheapen His sacrifice, when we refuse to even embark on the path to find Him here on earth, and are content to remain comfortably in the village below, just wondering what the source might be like, or worse, ignoring its existence at all?

Does your life trample His sacrifice, or treasure it?  Are you living in the light of His revelation?

Jesus reveals. Is your life ready to see what He longs to show you?