Close The Gap Between You And God By Pete BriscoeSample

Do You See the Crisis?

I tell you, brethren, if mercies and if judgments do not convert you, God has no other arrows in His quiver. — Robert Murray M'Cheyne

God has put us in the middle of an amazing story—the Great Story of His mercy and wrath unfolding in history. But do we “get it?” I mean, do we really see the intensity of the drama and the true implications of the crisis between our sin and His holiness? The more clearly we see the crisis, the more accurately we will see ourselves without Christ and in Christ. 

The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel was given a glimpse of his sin in the light of God… and it blew him away. God gave him a vision full of windstorms and lightning and even a fire that looked like it was full of glowing metal. He did not even see the Lord. He did not even see the glory of the Lord. He did not even see the likeness of the glory of the Lord. He just saw “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:28). How did he respond? Bam! He fell flat on his face.

The same thing happened to Daniel. God gave him a vision and…

I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless… my face to the ground. A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.” (Daniel 10:8-10)

I think this part of the story gets left out way too much. And that’s tragic. You will never run to mercy until you really come to grips with the wrath of God and His fierce opposition to sin.  

Wrathful and Gracious, Just and Forgiving God, thank You for Your perfect justice. In a world devoid of it, it is so comforting to know You have Your eye on the cruelty and injustice in our world. Thank You also for Your mercy, granted freely to us in Christ, so we might escape the ultimate consequence of our sin and rest in You! Amen!