Jubilee Church
Glorious Intimacy with God - Pt 1 FINAL
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  • I Am Free
  • Trust In God
  • Glory Come Down
  • How Great is Our God
  • Closer/Holy and Annointed One

  • Beholding of the Lord

    Often, I believe we in the church believe that intimacy with God is summed up in an anointed service. But glorious intimacy with God is much more than a culturally defined love affair of occassional moments of passion outside the bonds of covenant then we return to our normal lives. It is more than a season of desperation during momentary crisis. In other words, God wants more than intimate moments with you. He wants an intimate life. All good marriages have more than intimate moments, they live in intimacy at every level, from the spiritual to the emotional. They find intimacy in every moment, even in life's challenges.
    What does “Glorious Intimacy” with God actually look like? Most of us think we know a lot about God. This we would call theological understanding. Theology is the study of who God is, His character, nature, His will, His heart. This is different than what most professing Christians have. What most have, in terms of knowing about God, is called religion.
    R.C. Sproul said, “Religion has to do with the worship practices of human beings in particular environments. Theology, by contrast, is the study of God. There is a big difference between studying human apprehensions of religion and studying the nature and character of God Himself. The first is purely natural in its orientation. The second is supernatural, dealing with what lies above and beyond the things of this world” (Sproul, R.C., Everyone’s a Theologian, Reformation Trust, Sanford, FL 2014; P.3).
    As disciples of the Christ, we should all become students of God not religion. According to the Apostle James, religion without true faith is dead. You cannot have true faith by just knowing some things about God, or doing things you think might appease Him. You have to spend time with God and get to know God. It is to pursue Him, to know His character, nature, His will, His heart, His ways. This was David’s desire. This is what occupied most of David’s time and was that which guided him.
    Psalm 63:2 ESV
    So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
    David uses the word chatzah חָזָה. It means to behold. However, it was often used as a idiom to mean to enjoy and live in the favor of the Lord. It is tied to the image of a King who only admits those into His presence who have received His favor. It was particularly related to those things which God revealed to the prophets.
    The “sanctuary” (qodesh קֹ֫דֶשׁ holy, sacred, consecrated place) is considered the place where God chooses to make His presence dwell. In the days of Moses and David it was the Tabernacle. In the Days of Solomon to Christ it was the Temple. But through Christ, God desired to make you the dwelling place of His presence through His Holy Spirit.
    So, David claims that he was in the sanctuary of the Lord as he had received God’s favor and there he encountered the power and weightiness or severity of God’s presence. The closest things I can relate this with is a groom standing at the altar and what he is feeling as his long-awaited bride comes down the aisle. Or, what a father feels in the delivery room when his newborn child is handed to him for the first time. Even these cannot equate to the heart that lives in the favor of the Most High God and encounters His presence in a most intimate way.
    I want to look at two words that speak of intimacy with God. The first is qarov קָרוֹב which refers to having His Word near you and to allow the wonder and deeds of God to make a permanent impression on your soul.
    Psalm 75:1 ESV
    We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.
    And the other word I want to address, that is used to refer to intimacy with God, is one I have used many times and it is halak הָלַךְ which in context refers to the manner in which one lives, a way of life, the path or journey in which their life is being lived, their virtues and values, their morals and monuments, daily choices, their attitudes and overall worldview.
    But both of these words come together to describe for us what intimacy with God looks like in Psalm 15:1-5
    Psalm 15:1–5 ESV
    O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
    Let’s break this down so you can not only understand it but apply it practically to your life and grow to a new level of maturity in the Lord. I want you to have the favor of the Lord on your life, in your marriage, in your finances, in every area of your life. It benefits the whole of your family, the church and brings glory to God.
    So, from the start the Psalmist ask a rhetorical question that goes back to Psalm 63:2, seeing God in His sanctuary, to behold His power and glory. That question is , “Who shall enter into the dwelling place of God’s presence?” In other words, who is it that will live in the favor of the Most High God? Who can live and know the intimacy of the Lord?
    Unfortunately, so many Christians in our culture take for granite the liberty to gather together and corporately seek the presence of the Holy Spirit and engage the Word of God. How much we take a lesser value of importance the moments of our day to spend little or none of it with the Lord. We come to church late. We are preoccupied during the worship and can’t wait for the message to end. We refuse to serve because of some grudge, negative attitude or some other childish reason. And sadly, these same attitudes carry over into our relationships such as our marriages, families and friendships where intimacy, being any deeper level of relationship than superficial, is made merely common or even disposable. But the Psalmist describes the man or woman who has gained the favor of the Lord, lives in it in every moment and area of their lives, and demonstrates it to others through holiness in the power and glory of the Lord. In other words, they live intimate with the Lord. That man or woman is:
    The man or woman who lives a blameless life by doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. The word “blameless” in Hebrew is תָּמִים tamim meaning not just perfect but whole, complete, sound, in the upright of life (in the way) or altogether given to God. In other words, those who keep the commandments of God. Those whose life journey and motives are pleasing to the Lord. The one who has surrendered every fragment of their existence to His ways.
    Those who speak the truth, not just from their lips, but in their hearts. This speaks of your motives, attitudes, offenses, and either willingness to forgive or harbor grudges.
    Those who have command of their words. If your default is profanity, gossip, degrading or derogatory words you do not have command of them and instead are a slave to those dark places of your heart and soul from which they originate according to Christ Jesus who said out of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaks. But he from whose lips come peace, hope, encouragement or self-control, truth and justice, they will have the favor of the Lord. This is one of the biggest signs of one’s level of maturity, the ability to command words in a productive way even when remaining silent. Christ on the cross is a perfect example.
    next he speaks of the man or woman who has no evil, hidden agenda, or malicious intent lurking in their hearts against their neighbor, brother or sister, family, or fellow man. Nor do they take sides against them. Nor do they remain silent against injustice becoming collaborators with those who seek or do evil. Instead, they despise those who do evil and do not esteem them. Instead, they honor those who fear the Lord.
    The Psalmist continues to describe those who have consecrated all of their being to the Lord as holy and not common. If your life is holy you cannot retain ownership or control of it. You do not get to define it according to your terms. But if your life is common, then it is still in your hands. When the Psalmist speaks of “swearing to one’s own hurt and will not change” he speaks of a resolve or absolute commitment to the covenant one has made with God. It is an absolute surrender, not a contingent or partial surrender. Christ is not your life partner. He purchased your carnal life in exchange for you learning to live His.
    Finally, the one who will live in the favor of the Lord and the glorious intimacy of God is the one who does not put his faith and hope in monetary things, in the things and ways of this world. His or her values do not come from schemes and scandals, from bribes and bargains, but their hope is in the Lord. They do not cling to their fears and finances, they cling to their Father. They protect the innocent and esteem the poor. They serve willingly and surrender all.
    These are the attributes of the mature, holy, growing God fearing man or woman. These are those who have truly encountered the Lord and gained His divine favor and can know the glorious intimacy of God. I am done with cultural Christian complacency and common Christian living. I want to take this Kingdom living to the next level. I am done with adolescent attitudes disguised as faith. I want to walk upright not uptight. I want to enter in not look for an exit. I want to seek His face not cheapen His grace. I want to get it righteously right not pick a social fight. I want to cling to God not a religious facade. I want to let go of me and behold all of Him. Are you with me church?
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Jubilee Church
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