The Awesome God
Introduction
The God that made Sinai smoke and tremble is still around.
The picture yielded by the text is of a God so powerful that the mountain on which He descends is filled with fatal attraction; like moths to a flame, we want to draw near despite the danger. God is an awesome God, eliciting both dread and love. Can we approach some idea of His power without dying?
The Awesomeness of God
A. The Awe of the Creator of Creation
B. The Awe of those created in the “image of God”
C. The Awe of God’s Holiness
The Awfulness of Sin
A. Fearful Attraction, like moths attracted to the Flame of God
- Moses and the burning bush, Exodus 3
- Martin Luther’s holy fear: “Who am I that I should lift my eyes or raise my hands to the divine Majesty? The angels surround Him. At His nod, the earth trembles. And shall I, a miserable little pygmy, say ‘I want this, I ask for that’? For I am dust and ashes and full of sin, and I am speaking to the living, eternal, and true God.”
B. Fatal Attraction
- Sin is pleasurable for “a season,” Hebrews 11:25. Moses chose to be mistreated with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
- Sin is prolific.
- Sin is contagious.
- Sin is indecent, causing us to cover up our “mess.” Numbers 32:23 says, “you may be sure your sin will find you out.”
- Sin is disobedient and deadly, Numbers 21:5-9.
The Awesome Cross, John 3:14-16
A. The Appointed One for our Atonement, 1 John 4:10.
B. The Advocate Who Provides Us Access to God, John 14:6, 1 John 2:1-2.
C. The Authority and Promise of the Cross, Matthew 28:18-20.
The story of the downfall of communism began in the town of Nowa Huta, Poland after World War II.
Planned and constructed as a living monument to Communist utopianism, Nowa Huta was designed as a center for the workers who would make up the backbone of the new Poland. Adjacent to the medieval city of Krakow, Nowa Huta was an industrial center; its only artifacts were mammoth steel works and ugly chimneys spewing smoke and sulfuric fumes into the skies of Poland.
The workers saw something missing in this new city. The communists did not build a church in this new town. The workers asked for a church.
The communists ignored the people’s request.
So several young Christians and a Polish priest nailed together two rugged beams and pounded a rough timber cross in the middle of the town square.
The authorities told the people: “You cannot build a church here.”
But the people wanted their church. Night after night they gathered around the cross. Priests offered mass, and the people sang and celebrated communion with one another and their Lord.
The authorities retaliated with water cannons, but this forceful baptism didn’t faze the faithful. Then the Communists tore down the cross, as if sundering its heavy beams would somehow discourage the people. But the citizens of Nowa Huta were determined, and in the morning the cross was once again stretching toward heaven for all to see.
This went on for years–the authorities tearing down the cross and the people restoring it. And in the midst of the struggle, the people cam to a realization that would solidify their faith in a way that Communism never could.
“The church is not a building,” they said to one another. “The church is us, celebrating the presence of our Lord among us! Praise be to God!”
Finally the Communists gave up and gave the people permission to build their church. Fifty thousand people packed the square on the day that their priest, Karol Woytyla, Bishop of Krakow, set the cornerstone. He said: “This city of Nowa Huta was built as a city without God. The lesson I learned from the Nazis is true of the Communists. I was forced by the Nazis to break up rocks in the quarries. I have seen the toughest stones broken by sustained pressure and precise blows. But I have also seen stones, built together in a wall, resist even the mightiest of opposing forces. The Apostle Peter wrote this about the Church: “You are living stones, being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ!” This is not just a building. These are living stones!
One year later in October, an election took place that would profoundly affect the battle between the Cross and Communism. At the Vatican, the College of Cardinals announced the name of the 262nd successor to the throne of St. Peter.
Karol Woytyla, archbishop of Krakow, planter of crosses, was now Pope John Paul II–the youngest pope in 132 years, the first non-Italian in 456 years, the first pope from Poland, and the first pope with direct experience of life under totalitarian atheism.
Conclusion
What makes the Cross awesome?
- The Cross confronts us with our awful sins.
- The Cross demonstrates God’s God.
- The Cross triumphs.