i am the LORD; that is my name; my glory i give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. [isaiah 42:8]
God, the LORD, YHWH deserves all blessing, honor and glory, and our real sin is when we fail to honor him as glorious. even if we were to spend our entire day in praise and adoration, we would still fail to give him the honor he is due.
one of the most serious offenses we can legally commit against an authority is the act of treason, and to commit treason has–and does often command the penalty of death. rc sproul, a theologian calls any sin against our Holy God, YHWH ‘cosmic treason’–that is, the act of our treason is not against flesh and blood, but against our infinitely holy God, and thus warrants a punishment far beyond the release of death; the only punishment that would suffice would be an eternal death–one that does not end. Jesus describes hell as a place where those who die without repentance receive a death–
where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. [mark 9:48]
and,
in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth [luke 13:28a]
if any sin against God is cosmic treason and can only end in our death and punishment for eternity in hell, what can we place our hope in?
Jesus!
he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high [hebrews 1:3]
when we look to Jesus, we see the glory of God, and recognize that in his glorious incarnate Son, he also cleansed us from the treason we committed–he restores the glory, honor and praise that we have stolen in order to glorify ourselves and our idols.
today, go to the Glorious Father, because the Son has made a way for you to enter his presence: and with a humble heart plead with him like moses:
moses said, “please show me your glory.’ [exodus 33:18]
and if you are in Christ–you will hear the answer:
and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [john 1:14]
if we have seen Jesus, love Jesus and trust in him, we have seen the glory of the Father!
let us give him Glory!
praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear His voice;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice;
oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
and give Him the glory; great things He hath done.
amen!
~ ce