Forevermore

It was not my usual church.
It was the church I attended this past Sunday.
A different group of brothers and sisters in the Lord.
A different church family but family all the same.

As I sat there, I thought other churches.
I thought of the countless number of churches who were worshiping just as I was.
Worshiping in a different town, a different state, or a different country.
One Body in Christ.

The focus of the worship centered on the majesty of God.
The worship leaders read the Creation account from the book of Genesis.
Tears came to my eyes.
One stubborn tear would not stay put; it insisted on falling down my cheek.

I remember something Michael Card, a Christian songwriter and Bible teacher said.
He discussed the struggles he had with worship each Sunday.
He admitted that it was an odd thing to say from a person who writes songs on Scripture.
He struggled with the speed at which a person was expected to come to the Throne.

We all come into church each week carrying baggage.
Baggage from our relationships, our work, and our inner struggles.
Baggage that gets in the way of coming fully to the Lord in worship.
Just read the Bible to me, Card said.

Today, I understood that statement.
I came to this church with my thoughts and my emotions scattered.
Two of my children were traveling and I was in prayer for them.
My shoulders felt heavy from the things I kept piling on them.

As the Creation account from Genesis was read, the tears came.
The words were alive.
The words were life to my spirit.
The words were a reminder of the omnipotent One, the omniscient One, the Holy One.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)

The tears came as I heard the account that told of the divine activity of God.
God the Father created, God the Spirit hovered, and God the Son spoke.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1,2)

That same God there in the beginning.
That same God yesterday, today, and forever.
That same God who saw that it was good.
That Majestic, Holy God.

The screen came down and the words to a song were projected.
I saw the title of the song: There is a Higher Throne.
I thought of all the thrones of the world that are occupied by mortal men.
I thought of God’s Throne and the way Isaiah described it when he saw it in a vision.

I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth us full of His glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:1-5)

Isaiah was undone.
He realized how utterly sinful he was as he stood in the presence of such glory.
He understood his own smallness as he measured himself against the greatness of God.
Isaiah thought he was ruined.

I was undone.
I am a woman who is unclean.
I am ruined.
But that same God redeemed.

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:6,7)

We began to sing the song that was up on the screen.
There is a Higher Throne, by Keith and Kristyn Getty.

There is a higher throne
Than all this world has known,
Where faithful ones from ev’ry tongue
Will one day come.
Before the Son we’ll stand,
Made faultless through the Lamb;
Believing hearts find promised grace-
Salvation comes.

Hear heaven’s voices sing;
Their thund’rous anthem rings
Through em’rald courts and sapphire skies.
Their praises rise.
All glory, wisdom, pow’are,
Strength, thanks, and honor are
To God our King, who reigns on high
Forevermore.

And there we’ll find our home,
Our life before the throne;
We’ll honor Him in perfect song
Where we belong.
He’ll wipe each tear-stained eye
As thirst and hunger die.
The Lamb becomes our Shepherd King;
We’ll reign with Him.

The words of the Creation account came alive.
Just read the Bible to me, as the tears fell.
We repeated the second stanza of the song.
The words scrolled up and disappeared toward the ceiling.

The words scrolled up off the screen.
All but one.
One word was left because it could not completely scroll away.
Forevermore was written across the wooden cross that was hanging on the wall.

Forevermore.

Jesus, the One who is the same yesterday, today and forevermore.
The unchanging One.
The One who died on the cross so I could live.
Forevermore.

And the tears fell.
Just read the Bible to me.
Let the Word wash over me and cleanse me from within.
Let the Word penetrate my soul so that I can approach the Higher Throne in worship.

There is a Higher Throne.
And the tears fell.