Mensa Otabil - You Are Under a New Covenant
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We’re still talking about our Christian life and what the life it entails and what we have come into. In Hebrews 12:18 — 19, it says, «For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words,» so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. Now, just hearing that verse may not seem to make sense to you, because this passage is alluding to something else in the Scripture, and it’s talking about Mount Sinai. When God took the children of Israel from Egypt, He brought them to the wilderness to a place called Mount Sinai. On Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with Israel, and that is the mountain that this passage is talking about.
On Mount Sinai, on that day when God made a covenant with them, there was so much fear among Israel. And why was there fear? Because the mountain was quaking; there was an earthquake, there was thunder, there was lightning, there was darkness, there was smoke, there was fire, and in the midst of all of that, there was the blowing of a trumpet and warnings to the people not to get too close. It was such a terrifying experience for the children of Israel to be in the presence of God on Mount Sinai. The fear was so strong that Moses himself, who was the leader and who supposedly had a better relationship with God, said that he trembled and feared. Moses was afraid; the children of Israel were afraid; everybody was afraid on Mount Sinai.
So the passage is telling us that when we come into Christ, this is not what we come into. We don’t come to Mount Sinai; we don’t come to a relationship of fear with God; we don’t come to a relationship of terror with God. We don’t approach God’s presence and feel scared to be in the presence of God. The children of Israel were so scared of the presence of God that a passage in Exodus says that they stood afar off. They didn’t want to approach the mountain, and they told Moses, «You just go to the mountain and talk to God; we’re so scared of the presence of God.» Christ does not bring us into such a relationship with God.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about another mountain, but just understand this: that God has not brought us to Mount Sinai. God has not brought us to a fearful relationship with Him; God has not brought us to a terrifying relationship with Him. Sadly, there are Christians who still see God as a very terrifying figure, and sometimes we even hear preachers preach about a very terrifying God, scaring people about the terror of the Lord. Yes, there is the severity of the terror of God that will come at the final judgment, but God is not seeking a terrifying relationship with us. He wants a loving relationship with us. He doesn’t want us to approach Him with fear and trepidation; He wants us to approach Him with confidence and boldness because of who Jesus Christ is. He wants us to have the same relationship with Him as Christ has with Him.
So the Christian life is not a life of the terror of the Lord, or a life of distance from God, or a life where God just scares us. The Christian life is a relationship of intimacy with God. Remember, we have not come into a terrifying relationship with God; we’re not on Mount Sinai; we are on another mountain, which I’ll talk about tomorrow. So understand this: God loves you. God wants you to come to His presence without fear. He doesn’t want to scare you, and He’s not going to hit you over the head with a stick simply because you made one little mistake or did something wrong. He won’t condemn you for turning this way or that and you hear Him say, «Don’t stand,» and then kill you. That’s not the God we worship. He loves you, He cares for you, and He wants to do you good.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I stand before You today in faith. Thank You for reaching out to me in Your love. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»