And God is pure; there is no sin in Him. He is Holy.
But we humans are full of shameful sinfulness.
When God first made the world, there was no sin. Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, were created pure and clean—sinless. God walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adam could look at God’s face and enjoy being with Him everyday.
But then, Adam and Eve did a terrible thing; they disobeyed God. So did their children when they were born. You and I are Adam and Eve’s great, great, great, great, great, great, great… grandchildren, and we are full of sin too.
Sin is the cause of all the bad troubles and suffering in our world.
Sin is a terrible, terrible thing. Because of our sins, we are separated from God. He is clean and pure and Holy; we are polluted and stained with sin.
The Man who really, Really, REALLY wanted to see God
Would you like to hear an amazing true story about a man who wanted to see God very, very much?
This happened more than three thousand years ago.
The man's name was Moses.
He was a smart and well-educated man who had almost been killed when he was a baby. God had a special plan for his life.
One day Moses was walking with his sheep when he saw fire in a bush.
Quickly he realized that there was something very strange about these flames. The bush was not burning up!
He went to take a closer look…
And that's when it happened!
Moses could hardly believe this was happening!
The most powerful being in the universe was right in front of him, talking to him! What did He want?!?
I am sure Moses was suddenly very aware of his own sinfulness and felt dirty and ashamed of himself in God’s sight. Was God going to kill him for his sinfulness? Was something terrible about to happen?
No, God simply had an important message for Moses.
Moses was afraid to look at God that day.
But in the year's that followed, as he grew to love and understand God more, it seems that Moses wished many times that he had taken just a little peek that day.
God had been right there, in front of him, and he missed the chance of a lifetime!
“Oh, if only I could have a second chance, I would want to see God”, he seems to have thought.
Moses saw many amazing miracles from God in the years that followed. These are some of them.
Manna rained from heaven
All of these only made him want to see God more.
After Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, they began a long journey through a desert wilderness. They entered the Desert of Sinai, and camped there in front of a mountain. At this place an awesome thing happened.
It started with thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud came over the mountain.
Then there was a very loud trumpet blast. (probably blown by an angel) “Everyone in the camp trembled.
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.
Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up.”
In the days that followed, God told Moses many important things. Moses wrote these things down. They are in the Bible.
But during these days on the mountain, Moses still never had a chance to actually see God. He could see where God was, but God was always hidden by clouds or fire. If only I could just get a glimpse of Him, Moses thought.
In the end, Moses finally had the courage to ask. God was pleased with Moses, and so He agreed.
But God warned, “You cannot see my face.” No sinful human may see God’s face and live. But before God let Moses see Him, he did something to protect Moses.
God did not want Moses to accidentally see too much of Him and die.
God said to Moses,
“There is a place near me where you may stand on the big rocks. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a crevice in the rocks and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away and let you see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
And that is exactly what happened.
Moses did not tell us what God’s back looked like. But we do know that an amazing thing happened to Moses after he saw it. Moses’ face began to glow brightly. It was radiant.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, and the people saw that the skin of his face was shining like a bright light, they were afraid to come near him. Moses had to coax them to come hear his message from God.
When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. Then the people were not so afraid to have him walk among them. But whenever God came to speak to him, Moses took off the cloth covering his face. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face.
Moses was a very fortunate man. He got his wish.
He got to do something very, very special; he saw God!
When I get to Heaven and God takes away all the filthiness of my sins, then I hope to see God, too. I look forward to that day. That will be the greatest day of my life. I hope I will get to see his face.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your saviour you will go to Heaven when you die, too. There we will finally learn so much more about how truly powerful and awesome our God really is!
Be sure to be there, and make sure your friends know how to get there, too.
Author: Paul S. Taylor, Christian Answers
Copyright © 2001, Paul S. Taylor. All rights reserved.
URL: www.ChristianAnswers.Net/stry-01a-printable.html
