Mensa Otabil - A New Relationship
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Hebrews 12:18 and 19 states, "For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched, and that burned with fire, and 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 alludes to something else in Scripture. It refers to Mount Sinai, when God took the children of Israel from Egypt and 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 this passage is talking about.
On that day when God made a covenant with them, there was so much fear among the Israelites. 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. In the midst of all of that, there was the blowing of a trumpet and warnings for 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 their leader and who supposedly had a better relationship with God, said, " I trembled and feared." Moses was afraid, the children of Israel were afraid; everybody was afraid at Mount Sinai.
So the passage tells 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 approach God's presence and feel scared to be there. The children of Israel were so scared of the presence of God that the passage in Exodus says they stood afar off. They didn't want to approach the mountain, and they told Moses, "You go to the mountain and talk to God. We're too scared of His presence."
Christ does not bring us into such a relationship with God. Tomorrow, we'll talk about another mountain, but just get this: God has not brought us to Mount Sinai. God has not brought us to a fearful relationship with Him; He 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 desires that we have the same relationship with Him as Christ has with Him. The Christian life is not a life of the terror of the Lord, nor is it a life of distance from God, or a life where God just scares us. The Christian life is a relationship of intimacy with God.
So remember, we have not come into a terrifying relationship with God. We are not on Mount Sinai; we are on another mountain that I will talk about tomorrow. Get this: God loves you. God wants you to come into His presence without fear. He doesn't want to scare you, and He's not going to hit you with a stick simply because you made one little mistake or you did something wrong. He won't harm you just because you misstep. That is 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.