Coming Into God's Presence...

We throw that phrase around a lot, but what does it really mean? Can it mean more than one thing?

We sang a song called "Facedown" by Matt Redman at Foundation on Tuesday night, and it talks about entering reverently into the courts of the King, and being ushered into His presence. The chorus is the appropriate response we have when we come before the throne of God:

And I fall facedown, as Your glory shines around.
Yes I'll fall Facedown, as Your glory shines around.

The Scriptures give us different degrees of being in God's presence, starting with the fact that he is omnipresent (present everywhere, all the time). As David says in the Psalms:

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:7-10)

When God delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, he manifested his presence with them through a pillar of cloud during the day, and a pillar of fire at night, so that while he retained his omnipresence, he was specifically with the Israelites in this unique way.

When God gave instructions for building his temple among the Israelites, there was to be an innermost chamber where the ark of the covenant was placed, and where the presence of God himself would reside. and this place was called the Most Holy Place, and only the high priest was allowed to enter that place, and only once a year!

Hebrews 9 gives us an amazing account of how that Most Holy Place operated, and then goes on to describe how Jesus came as the Great High Priest, and made the once-and-for-all sacrifice that made it possible for us to enter directly into God's presence because of his death on the cross!

So in a general way, we are all in the presence of God simply because God is everywhere all the time. In a more unique way, we as believers have been invited into God's special presence through the sacrifice of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

It is in this unique presence of God that we enter into as a congregation each Sunday! We draw together as brothers and sisters in Christ to offer God worship through singing, prayer, exhortation from his Word, giving back to his church, and edifying one another!

What we are doing is coming together to celebrate the work of Christ on the cross that has given us access to God in an eternal sense! God's presence is ours to savor, and enjoy, and know that at the end of our lives, and at the end of history, we will dwell in the physical presence of God forever!

This also means that we can enter into God's presence when we are alone as well! The most taken-out-of-context verse in the Bible is Matthew 18:20, which says

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

This passage is talking about the process of church discipline, and that when confronting a brother or sister who is in sin, that one is to confront them one-on-one, and if they are unrepentant, to take one or two witnesses and confront them together. If they are still unrepentant, it is to be taken to the church, who then confronts them as the whole body of Christ, who then, if they still refuse to repent, is to regard them as "Gentiles and tax collectors." (basically they are to be treated as non-believers)

So the Matthew 18 verse is saying that when two or three believers are confronting sin together, that their counsel is "endorsed," if you will, by God.

When we are alone, we have the same ability to be in God's presence as we do when we are with the church body! It only means claiming the righteousness of Jesus Christ, through his death on the cross, and coming before God through prayer, reading God's Word, silent meditation ("be still, and know that I am God")or singing worship songs to him(what, sing by ourselves? Yes!! See Psalm 96!).

Basically, coming into God's presence is about our heart, and our attitude. When we are together as a church body, or are alone in our homes/cars/offices/etc., when we acknowledge Christ's work on the cross, and come directly to God to savor all that he is, we can be confident that we are coming into his very presence!