Years ago, one of the young women in the church that I was pastoring was given the opportunity to meet Queen Elizabeth II when she came to our city on a Commonwealth tour.
This young sister soon learned that this was a great privilege about which she could not be careless. There is a highly developed protocol involved in meeting a sovereign like King Charles III: you must first make a bow or a curtsy, you must always refer to him as “Your Majesty,” and you must not talk to him unless he first addresses you. And whatever you do, don’t touch him!
We might judge these royal protocols to be overdone, yet they highlight his venerable position. It is impossible to be in his presence and to forget that this senior citizen in a suit is the king of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms.
This tradition of reverence offers a good lesson about approaching God in prayer. Now, it’s true that we no longer need to be preoccupied with outward ceremony and protocol when drawing near to the Lord.
Since the one sacrifice of Jesus, we can come to God freely, “with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:22).
Yet associated with that precious gift of freedom is the serious danger of lowering the Lord to our level, making him a little more like a human and a little less like God.
Whenever we approach him, we must beware of forgetting that he is the king. Each time we pray, do we stand in wonder at who God is as the Creator of heaven and earth, as triune God, our Savior and Lord?
Or do we like to think of God in our own terms, perhaps conceiving of him as little more than a super-powered friend, or someone like an all-knowing therapist or a good-natured grandparent? Such an attitude dishonors him, and if we lower him at all, we profane his holy name.
It is therefore with good reason that Christ teaches us to address God—as our Father, yes—but as our Father who is in heaven. This is a powerful pointer to the sovereign majesty that God possesses. It is a profound revelation that the God to whom we are praying is enthroned in glory and wants to be approached with reverent awe.
For those who have been brought up learning about the Bible, this is probably nothing new. If you ask a child in your church about heaven, she’ll likely point up to the clouds: “Sure, that’s where God lives!” We smile at the simplicity of children, yet struggle to understand what it means.
Part of the problem is defining what or where this “heaven” is. It is not the same as you can say for King Charles II: “His home is at Buckingham Palace, London, England.” When it comes to God and his throne, there is no such geographic precision.
And the location of heaven is something that has often been misunderstood.
It is reported that the first man in space, a Russian cosmonaut back in the 1960s, radioed back to earth once he was up in the earth’s orbit, “I don’t see any God up here.” He was in “heaven,” but there was no God to be found!
Scripture teaches that although God makes his dwelling “in heaven,” he is not limited to that particular locale. God is spirit, so it’s not as if he can only be in heaven and not be present anywhere else. Think of how King Solomon was humbled by this truth when he prayed at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kgs 8:27).
God in his glory is exalted above the highest heights of creation, beyond even the farthest reaches of the universe. From his heavenly throne the Lord rules all things according to his wise purpose.
From God’s high and lofty throne, he rules all creation. He speaks and the sky pours down rain; he gives the order and the tectonic plates begin to shift; he issues commands and his angels fulfill them on earth without delay.
God in heaven has limitless resources and supreme power, together with the willingness to use them for our good.
God enthroned above really can do all things. This childlike simplicity is good, for children happily accept that God is in heaven; though they have not seen him, they believe in him. They know what their Father can do, and they don’t doubt it for a second.
Scripture teaches that our prayers can be offered in the same trusting manner, certain that God can manage and direct every circumstance of our life—even if we have no idea how or when or for what purpose.
We can pray with a confidence that the unseen, unsearchable, and unshakable God in heaven truly is our Father, for the sake of Christ his Son.
Kommentare