The Otherness of God

"When you face up to God's glory, you find yourself facedown in worship."

 This is the challenge Matt Redman presents in his book, Facedown.

I'm in the second chapter and I've already been challenged, stunned, and inspired. Chapter 2 drives home the truth of what 1 Timothy 1:17 means - "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." Redman talks about how God is so Pure, so Matchless, and so Unique that nothing even comes close to him. He quotes A.W. Tozer, who said, "Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms." I'm so guilty of this! I want God to make sense, to fit into my box.

But the Bible portrays Him differently. Look at Psalm 50:
 "You thought I was altogether like you" (v. 21). 

How often do we function in a way that demonstrates our weak understanding of God? He is not like us. The beginning of this Psalm says, "The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth." As Chris Tomlin sings, "Our God is Greater, our God is Stronger; God you are Higher than any other! Our God is Healer, Awesome in power...our God!" And our God deserves our worship. And our worship must be appropriate to Who He is. Our highest praise belongs to our Highest God!

Redman suggests that "one beautiful way of conveying [the otherness of God] is to offer to God that which we do not spend on any other." In the Old Testament, for instance, God gave the Israelites instructions for making a special anointing oil to be used only in the Tabernacle, the place of worship. It was not to be used in cooking or put on anyone's body; it was sacred, and to be considered sacred (Exodus 30:32). In the same way, it is right for us to have forms of worship that are used for God alone. For instance, bowing facedown. The language we use can also be an indicator of God's Otherness. Have you noticed that our culture doesn't exactly use the word "holy" in everyday language? It is right for this word, which means set-apart-ness, to be used in the worship of God, who is set apart and distinct from us.

One beautiful aspect of God's Otherness is that He accepts our acts of worship, though they may appear as feeble offerings. In Psalm 50:8 God says, "I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me."

But God also goes on to say,

^"9 I have no need of a bull from your stall

   or of goats from your pens,

¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine,

   and the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains,

   and the insects in the fields are mine.

¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,

   for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls

   or drink the blood of goats?"

WOW! The God of the Universe receives the offerings we give to him, but he has no need of them! In fact, anything we give to God came from Him in the first place. He first loved us, He first served us, He demonstrated obedience, selflessness, sacrifice, good deeds. Redman wrote a song, the chorus of which is,

"Lord, we're breathing the breath
That You gave us to breathe
To worship You, to worship You
And we're singing these songs
With the very same breath
To worship You, to worship You."

God doesn't need our worship, but in his "outrageous grace," he loves it. Verse 23 says, "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God." Our worship prepares the way for God to move in our lives!
In honoring God in thankful worship, we are positioning ourselves to see the Greatness, the Otherness of God demonstrated. Oh, for our minds and spirits to be renewed so that we may see God in his greatness and face up to his glory!

Learning what it means to worship facedown,
Kristyn & Mogi