Day 24 Do Not Fear

Day 24 Do Not Fear

…but do not let God speak to us, lest we die. Exodus 20:19 English Standard Version

I remember the first time I briefed a General Officer. I was still a Second Lieutenant and mortally afraid. General Officers enjoy great power in the Army. A casual word from their lips can make a career or end it before it even starts; consequently, I was rather nervous when the moment arrived. Fortunately for me, my NCOs had well prepared me, and the briefing went off without any problems. The Israelites felt an even greater, more realistic, fear. They had seen the power and might of the Lord, plagues, parted seas, a pillar of fire by night, water from a rock, and other demonstrations of His dominance. They knew they served a holy God and that they were manifestly unholy, unworthy. Yet God wanted to be close to them. Enter the incarnation.

Since the fall, God has worked diligently to draw close to His children and renew the relationship we ruptured. His burning holiness presented a great obstacle. So, He decided to become one of us. Somehow, He packaged His innate nature in human form so that we might draw close without fear. Late in his life, John would look back on this marvel and say, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—,” I John 1:1.

Emanuel, God with us. God made the journey we could not so we might approach that which we could not. Undergoing the incarnation enabled God to renew relationship with His children. By becoming an infant, dependent upon a mother and father for everything, God came near. Suddenly the voice which thundered on Sinai, cried out plaintively for comfort in the night. The hand that parted the waters fumbled uselessly in the dark, groping for His mother. The feet that had stepped out into space, hovering over the formless void, could not support his own body. The almighty became powerless so that we might draw near without fear. He loved that much.