How Do We Approach a Holy God
Two Mountains: How Do We Approach God Today?
In the book of Hebrews, we encounter a powerful contrast between two mountains that represent two completely different ways of approaching God. These mountains - Sinai and Zion - show us the difference between approaching God through fear and condemnation versus approaching Him through Christ and grace.
What Does Mount Sinai Represent?
Mount Sinai represents the mountain of fear, distance, and condemnation. When we read about Sinai in Hebrews 12:18-21, we see a terrifying scene. The mountain burned with fire, was wrapped in blackness and darkness, and thundered with God's voice. It was so frightening that the people begged God to stop speaking to them.
Why Was Sinai So Terrifying?
Sinai revealed a fundamental truth: God is holy, and we are not. The mountain could be touched, but touching it meant certain death. Even animals that wandered too close would be killed. Moses had to put up a fence around the mountain to protect the people from getting too close.
This wasn't cruelty - it was holiness. God's holiness is difficult to define because it goes beyond just being pure. Holiness is the complete absence of any impurity, and it's who God is at His very core.
What Does Approaching God Through Sinai Look Like?
When we approach God based on our own performance, we're essentially approaching Sinai. Coming to God through fear, guilt, shame, and condemnation is living at Sinai. At Sinai, we meet God through the law, and all the law can say about us is "guilty."
The problem with this approach is that it keeps us at a distance from God. We become afraid to approach Him because we know we don't measure up to His holiness.
What Does Mount Zion Represent?
Mount Zion represents grace, invitation, and relationship. According to Hebrews 12:22-24, when we come to Zion, we come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, surrounded by countless angels and the church of the firstborn.
How Is Zion Different From Sinai?
At Zion, we don't approach God alone - we approach Him through Jesus Christ, the mediator of a new covenant. Jesus' blood speaks better things than Abel's blood. While Abel's blood cried out for revenge, Jesus' blood cries out for mercy.
Zion is a place of belonging where our names are written in heaven. It's where God the judge says "justified" instead of "guilty" because of what Christ has done for us.
What Does It Mean to Approach God Through Zion?
Through Zion, we can approach God with confidence, not fear. This doesn't mean we approach Him without humility - we should still come honestly, humbly, and broken, understanding that we have no right to be there except through Jesus Christ.
But we can respond in worship rather than trembling. We can make everything we do about God, which is what true worship really is.
Why Does God Allow Our World to Shake?
God promises to shake both heaven and earth to remove what can be shaken and reveal what cannot be shaken. Sometimes God allows things in our lives to shake - our jobs, health, emotions, and plans - to reveal what is real and lasting.
What Remains When Everything Shakes?
When everything around us is shaking, we have something unshakable to hold onto: God's kingdom and His promises. The world's kingdoms will crumble, but God's kingdom is forever.
If our faith is truly in Christ, it cannot be shaken. This doesn't mean we won't have doubts or difficult times, but it means that what God has said will stand regardless of how we feel.
How Should We Serve God?
Grace empowers us to serve God - not out of fear, guilt, or worry about what happens if we don't, but out of gratitude for what He has done for us. We should serve Him with reverence and godly fear, remembering that our God is still a consuming fire.
What Does It Mean That God Is a Consuming Fire?
God's holiness means that everything we do will be tested. Our works will be revealed as either gold, silver, and precious stones (things that become more beautiful when tested by fire) or wood, hay, and stubble (things that burn up).
This isn't about condemnation - if we're building our lives on Christ, we have a secure foundation. But it reminds us to be mindful of our motives and to do everything for God's glory.
Life Application
This week, examine how you approach God. Are you coming to Him through Sinai - with fear, guilt, and shame about your performance? Or are you approaching Him through Zion - with confidence in what Christ has done for you?
Challenge yourself to serve God out of gratitude rather than obligation. Look for ways to turn ordinary activities into worship by doing them with the right motives - for God's glory rather than just going through the motions.
Ask yourself these questions:
Remember, you don't have to earn God's love or acceptance. Through Christ, you can come boldly before the throne of grace, knowing that His blood speaks mercy over your life.
In the book of Hebrews, we encounter a powerful contrast between two mountains that represent two completely different ways of approaching God. These mountains - Sinai and Zion - show us the difference between approaching God through fear and condemnation versus approaching Him through Christ and grace.
What Does Mount Sinai Represent?
Mount Sinai represents the mountain of fear, distance, and condemnation. When we read about Sinai in Hebrews 12:18-21, we see a terrifying scene. The mountain burned with fire, was wrapped in blackness and darkness, and thundered with God's voice. It was so frightening that the people begged God to stop speaking to them.
Why Was Sinai So Terrifying?
Sinai revealed a fundamental truth: God is holy, and we are not. The mountain could be touched, but touching it meant certain death. Even animals that wandered too close would be killed. Moses had to put up a fence around the mountain to protect the people from getting too close.
This wasn't cruelty - it was holiness. God's holiness is difficult to define because it goes beyond just being pure. Holiness is the complete absence of any impurity, and it's who God is at His very core.
What Does Approaching God Through Sinai Look Like?
When we approach God based on our own performance, we're essentially approaching Sinai. Coming to God through fear, guilt, shame, and condemnation is living at Sinai. At Sinai, we meet God through the law, and all the law can say about us is "guilty."
The problem with this approach is that it keeps us at a distance from God. We become afraid to approach Him because we know we don't measure up to His holiness.
What Does Mount Zion Represent?
Mount Zion represents grace, invitation, and relationship. According to Hebrews 12:22-24, when we come to Zion, we come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, surrounded by countless angels and the church of the firstborn.
How Is Zion Different From Sinai?
At Zion, we don't approach God alone - we approach Him through Jesus Christ, the mediator of a new covenant. Jesus' blood speaks better things than Abel's blood. While Abel's blood cried out for revenge, Jesus' blood cries out for mercy.
Zion is a place of belonging where our names are written in heaven. It's where God the judge says "justified" instead of "guilty" because of what Christ has done for us.
What Does It Mean to Approach God Through Zion?
Through Zion, we can approach God with confidence, not fear. This doesn't mean we approach Him without humility - we should still come honestly, humbly, and broken, understanding that we have no right to be there except through Jesus Christ.
But we can respond in worship rather than trembling. We can make everything we do about God, which is what true worship really is.
Why Does God Allow Our World to Shake?
God promises to shake both heaven and earth to remove what can be shaken and reveal what cannot be shaken. Sometimes God allows things in our lives to shake - our jobs, health, emotions, and plans - to reveal what is real and lasting.
What Remains When Everything Shakes?
When everything around us is shaking, we have something unshakable to hold onto: God's kingdom and His promises. The world's kingdoms will crumble, but God's kingdom is forever.
If our faith is truly in Christ, it cannot be shaken. This doesn't mean we won't have doubts or difficult times, but it means that what God has said will stand regardless of how we feel.
How Should We Serve God?
Grace empowers us to serve God - not out of fear, guilt, or worry about what happens if we don't, but out of gratitude for what He has done for us. We should serve Him with reverence and godly fear, remembering that our God is still a consuming fire.
What Does It Mean That God Is a Consuming Fire?
God's holiness means that everything we do will be tested. Our works will be revealed as either gold, silver, and precious stones (things that become more beautiful when tested by fire) or wood, hay, and stubble (things that burn up).
This isn't about condemnation - if we're building our lives on Christ, we have a secure foundation. But it reminds us to be mindful of our motives and to do everything for God's glory.
Life Application
This week, examine how you approach God. Are you coming to Him through Sinai - with fear, guilt, and shame about your performance? Or are you approaching Him through Zion - with confidence in what Christ has done for you?
Challenge yourself to serve God out of gratitude rather than obligation. Look for ways to turn ordinary activities into worship by doing them with the right motives - for God's glory rather than just going through the motions.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Am I approaching God with confidence in Christ or fear about my performance?
- What in my life am I building with gold, silver, and precious stones versus wood, hay, and stubble?
- How can I cultivate a heart of gratitude that motivates me to serve God joyfully?
- What areas of my life need to shift from Sinai thinking to Zion thinking?
Remember, you don't have to earn God's love or acceptance. Through Christ, you can come boldly before the throne of grace, knowing that His blood speaks mercy over your life.
Posted in Sunday Sermons
Recent
Archive
2025
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
2024
No Comments