Aproaching God on His Terms
Approaching God on His Terms
Numbers 1-5
“But they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”
From the beginning of creation and the placement of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, humanity has sought to define our relationship with God. There is deep within us a desire and need to have a relationship with God, but we want to determine the relationship and want it to be on our terms. The sin of Adam and Eve was not just a simple mistake or a simple act of disobedience. It was an insidious attempt to overthrow God’s authority so that we could control Him. In his classic work, The Existence and Attributes of God, Stephen Charnock points out, “This self-love and desire of independence of God has been the root of all sin in the world. The great controversy between God and man has been whether he or they shall be God: whether his reason or theirs, his will or theirs, shall be the guiding principle.” He further states, “When we consult not with him but trust more to our own will and counsel, we make ourselves our governors and lords, independent of him.”
When God instructed Moses to number the men of each tribe and assign them their specific place in the encampment, he was doing more than just organizing the tribes. He provided an object lesson for the people to illustrate that God dictates and orders our lives and that we are to follow Him based on His will, not ours. To further provide a visual object lesson, the Levites were the ones who were to camp around the Tabernacle, thus providing a buffer between the people and the presence of God. If someone who was not from the tribe of Levite approached the temple, they were to be put to death. However, even as the priests were assigned various responsibilities, God also made it clear that only a select number of them could touch the temple's furnishings. If someone apart from the tribe of Kohath carried the temple's furnishings, they also would be put to death (4:15-20). In these specific details, God demonstrated to the Jews and all humanity that He was holy, righteous, and sovereign and that if anyone desired to approach Him, they must do so based on the terms God dictates. Furthermore, because of the people's sinfulness, they could only approach God, who is perfect in His holiness, through a mediator. God does not tolerate sin, and the priests could only approach God on behalf of the people.
In setting up the rules and regulations, God provided the basis for our understanding of the reason for Christ’s ministry. He came to restore our relationship with God by removing the guilt of our sins, so now we all are priests. In other words, through Christ, we have access to God and now have the privilege of serving Him. The tragedy is that instead of accepting His offer of salvation, we continue to try and control the narrative. We still want to dictate the terms of the relationship. Instead of accepting the salvation He offers, we continue to try and usurp His authority. Consequently, we still face the same judgment as the Jews.
We must recognize that we cannot approach God on our terms. We can only approach a holy God by surrendering to him and seeking His forgiveness through Christ. Then, we have free access to God. Faith is not only accepting the salvation God offers but living in obedience to His commands. Are you still striving to approach God on your terms? Are you surrendering to God and submitting to Him? This is the question that God confronted the people with and is the same question he asks of us.
Numbers 1-5
“But they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”
From the beginning of creation and the placement of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, humanity has sought to define our relationship with God. There is deep within us a desire and need to have a relationship with God, but we want to determine the relationship and want it to be on our terms. The sin of Adam and Eve was not just a simple mistake or a simple act of disobedience. It was an insidious attempt to overthrow God’s authority so that we could control Him. In his classic work, The Existence and Attributes of God, Stephen Charnock points out, “This self-love and desire of independence of God has been the root of all sin in the world. The great controversy between God and man has been whether he or they shall be God: whether his reason or theirs, his will or theirs, shall be the guiding principle.” He further states, “When we consult not with him but trust more to our own will and counsel, we make ourselves our governors and lords, independent of him.”
When God instructed Moses to number the men of each tribe and assign them their specific place in the encampment, he was doing more than just organizing the tribes. He provided an object lesson for the people to illustrate that God dictates and orders our lives and that we are to follow Him based on His will, not ours. To further provide a visual object lesson, the Levites were the ones who were to camp around the Tabernacle, thus providing a buffer between the people and the presence of God. If someone who was not from the tribe of Levite approached the temple, they were to be put to death. However, even as the priests were assigned various responsibilities, God also made it clear that only a select number of them could touch the temple's furnishings. If someone apart from the tribe of Kohath carried the temple's furnishings, they also would be put to death (4:15-20). In these specific details, God demonstrated to the Jews and all humanity that He was holy, righteous, and sovereign and that if anyone desired to approach Him, they must do so based on the terms God dictates. Furthermore, because of the people's sinfulness, they could only approach God, who is perfect in His holiness, through a mediator. God does not tolerate sin, and the priests could only approach God on behalf of the people.
In setting up the rules and regulations, God provided the basis for our understanding of the reason for Christ’s ministry. He came to restore our relationship with God by removing the guilt of our sins, so now we all are priests. In other words, through Christ, we have access to God and now have the privilege of serving Him. The tragedy is that instead of accepting His offer of salvation, we continue to try and control the narrative. We still want to dictate the terms of the relationship. Instead of accepting the salvation He offers, we continue to try and usurp His authority. Consequently, we still face the same judgment as the Jews.
We must recognize that we cannot approach God on our terms. We can only approach a holy God by surrendering to him and seeking His forgiveness through Christ. Then, we have free access to God. Faith is not only accepting the salvation God offers but living in obedience to His commands. Are you still striving to approach God on your terms? Are you surrendering to God and submitting to Him? This is the question that God confronted the people with and is the same question he asks of us.
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