"I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face
Is before me
I can only imagine.
"Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus, or in honor of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine.
"I can only imagine
When that day comes
When I find myself
Standing in the Son.
"I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship you
I can only imagine."
Lyrics from "I Can Only Imagine," by Mercy Me.
When John saw Jesus, he "fell at his feet as though dead" Revelation 1:17, but the verse continues: "Then (Jesus) placed his right hand on me and said, 'Do not be afraid.'" Oswald described this touch as "the right hand not of restraint nor of correction nor of chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever his hand is laid upon you, it is ineffable peace and comfort, the sense that 'underneath are the everlasting arms,' full of sustaining comfort and strength."
Does your heart long for that touch as much as mine? Webster defines ineffable as "incapable of being expressed in words; indescribable." Oswald mentions comfort twice, along with peace and strength -- the indescribably beautiful attributes for which my heart cries out nearly every moment of every day.
Oswald writes that all of this results from a certain kind of despair -- not the despair of surveying my life and circumstances but the despair of looking into the face of Jesus and knowing that I am unworthy to stand or dance or sing hallelujah.
I have a hard time with this idea of unworthiness. If I am so unworthy then why did God invest the life of his son into me and all of humankind? I know that I am a sinner, but does that mean I should know I am unworthy! I don't believe anyone is unworthy. If I believe this, then I believe that God has wasted his time in creating us. Why would God create something so unworthy? If I come face to face with Christ I think I will fall down to his feet because of his glory not my shame.
ReplyDeleteDawn, you raise a good point, one I have struggled with for most of my Christian life -- created in the image of God vs. "the wretch like me" of Amazing Grace. Perhaps at least one question worth asking is "unworthy of what?"
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