June 5, 2020 -- John 1:27 -- Who do I compare myself to?
/…he who comes after me,
the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to unite.
John 1:27 English Standard Version
This is John the Baptist’s statement when he was asked if he was the Christ, the promised Messiah. Though John was preparing the way for Jesus’ ministry and calling people to repentance, he had a deep awareness of his own place. Gifted as he was by the Spirit, popular with the people of Jerusalem, still John the Baptist was very humble.
One challenge for us all, as Christians, is this: do we understand the high holiness of God and our place before Him? Karl Graustein quotes Christian author Randy Alcorn and uses his illustration, startling illustration actually, to underline the glorious holiness of God and His infinite kindness.
I’d imagined the distance between Dodd (a child molester and murderer) and me as the
difference between the South and North Poles. But when you consider God’s viewpoint
from light-years away, that distance is negligible. In my standing before a holy God apart
from Christ…I am Dodd…Unless we come to grips with the fact that we’re of precisely the
same stock—fallen humanity—as Dodd and Hitler and Stalin, we’ll never appreciate God’s
grace.
Karl Graustein Growing Up Christian Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing 2005 page 55
When we are aware of our need for a Savior, aware of how drenched in sin and guilt we were, we begin to grasp the depths of the mercy, love and kindness of God. When we can say with John, I’m not even worthy to take off His shoes, yet He knows me, gave Himself up for me, then our souls begin to soar and sing in praise of the glorious Name of Jesus. When we realize our standing before God, we treat others with greater kindness and patience. When we realize how utterly patient God our Father is with us, then we have an expanded capacity to call others to His banqueting table, longing that they should know the tremendous joy of the LORD.
O LORD, our Lord how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!
How wide Your love, great Your mercy, and magnificent Your Fatherly compassions.
What are we? We’re puny creatures of the earth, clinging to the dust,
yet You care for us; You have crowned us with the glory of Jesus Christ!
You have given us the capacity to know You and by Your Spirit respond to You!
Assist us, Spirit of God, to give full expression to the praises of our heart.
Assist us, Spirit of God, to tell others of all the wonderful deeds of God’s salvation!
Amen.
