 |
||
|
Devotion
1 Kings 8:27 says “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” The greatness of God is incomprehensible. His magnitude is not confined by all that physically exists, even to the farthest heavens. It is the aim of every true Christian to know God. Yet, if we cannot even begin to understand the heaven of heavens, how much more impossible it is to fully understand the God who is not contained by them! Truly the chief end of man is a noble goal: To enjoy God and glorify Him forever. Even to begin the comprehension of God is at the zenith of earthly achievements. There is no better prize, no higher goal, no more prestigious objective than knowing God and having the blessed privilege of actually glorifying Him. This is a remarkably awesome concept: That we, frail, depraved, dust-composed people could be able to glorify the very God who is uncontained by all the heaven of heavens. Consider with me for a moment what we know about outer space (the second heavens). One of our nearest stars, Sirius, a very bright star in the southern winter sky, belonging to the constellation Canis Major, is approximately 54 trillion miles from the earth. This is one of our closest stars, and it is 54 trillion miles away! The galaxy that we live in is about 587 quadrillion miles (5.9 x 10 17) in diameter. And the known universe consists of about 200 to 300 billion galaxies! In other words, the heavens that God has created are BIG! And with all these figures about the second heavens, we still haven’t even begun to tread on the sacred understanding of the third heavens – that glorious dwelling place of God that Paul saw in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. Describing his experience in the third person, Paul leaves out the details. But what he does reveal is still jaw dropping: “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.” I have often prayed for this experience, but as yet I have not had it. Often course I could imagine what I think it may have been like, but even the vilest of sinners could vividly imagine what they think heaven would be like. The true experience of heaven, like Paul and John, can only be comprehended by revelation of the Spirit of God. Since God has given all men the gift of an imagination, it cannot be trusted to accurately reveal spiritual things. We understand spiritual things only by the Spirit of God, not human imagination. This is elucidated in 1 Corinthians 2:9,10, which says, “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” The heart of man is not able to imagine what can only be revealed to us by God’s spirit. So it is with knowing God. We can achieve that blessed and lofty place of knowing God in intimacy by the Holy Spirit. What is beyond our understanding is achievable by the Spirit of God. Let us humble ourselves before God, who cannot be contained by the heaven and the heaven of heavens, that He might reveal to us the mysteries of who He is, and that we might learn of Him whose ways are past finding out. Isaiah 57:15 sums this up beautifully, “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Katie Hoffman is the author Clothe Me in Gladness: Obtaining Joy to Glorify God. Her book will be in stores soon.
|
|
|
Behold the Heaven