January 22nd, 2025
(This was published on January 19th, 2025, in the 2024 Annual Report Booklet).
For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Isaiah 57:15, NKJV
God wants to dwell with us. Yes, He desires to dwell with you individually, but also with us, His people. He has made a way by sending His very own Son, Jesus Christ, to give His life for sinners, so that we might become holy and acceptable to God. Through the work of Christ, we can have fellowship with the Triune God.
Now, Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, “[in Christ] the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22).
Is it not compelling that the transcendent God of the universe, the Creator of all things, the “High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity” takes up residence in a group of people who are frail, sinful, and broken? Is it not a bewildering thought to consider Emmanuel Church – that small imperfect group of believers that meets weekly in Egg Harbor City – a place where the thrice holy God of glory dwells?
These New Testament truths do not abrogate Old Testament principles. The Isaiah passage above was a reminder that God’s people must prepare themselves for the arrival of His presence. Isaiah 57:14b reads, “Prepare the way, take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.” What needs to be cleared out of the way? Sin, and to be more specific, pride.
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Though holy, righteous, and perfect Himself, God seeks those who understand their shortcomings, those who are exasperated with their failures, those who are crushed by their sin, those who have been truly humbled, those who have experienced genuine contrition. Psalm 34:18 agrees, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Bernard of Clairvaux’s beautiful hymn gives praise to our Jesus for this:
O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek,
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!
As we begin a new year, I am reminded that we will enjoy fellowship with the Lord and harmony with other believers if we do one simple thing: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (I Peter 5:5b). Let’s make 2025 a year characterized by humility, and enjoy the results: sweet fellowship with God and one another.
For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Isaiah 57:15, NKJV
God wants to dwell with us. Yes, He desires to dwell with you individually, but also with us, His people. He has made a way by sending His very own Son, Jesus Christ, to give His life for sinners, so that we might become holy and acceptable to God. Through the work of Christ, we can have fellowship with the Triune God.
Now, Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, “[in Christ] the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22).
Is it not compelling that the transcendent God of the universe, the Creator of all things, the “High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity” takes up residence in a group of people who are frail, sinful, and broken? Is it not a bewildering thought to consider Emmanuel Church – that small imperfect group of believers that meets weekly in Egg Harbor City – a place where the thrice holy God of glory dwells?
These New Testament truths do not abrogate Old Testament principles. The Isaiah passage above was a reminder that God’s people must prepare themselves for the arrival of His presence. Isaiah 57:14b reads, “Prepare the way, take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.” What needs to be cleared out of the way? Sin, and to be more specific, pride.
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Though holy, righteous, and perfect Himself, God seeks those who understand their shortcomings, those who are exasperated with their failures, those who are crushed by their sin, those who have been truly humbled, those who have experienced genuine contrition. Psalm 34:18 agrees, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Bernard of Clairvaux’s beautiful hymn gives praise to our Jesus for this:
O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek,
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!
As we begin a new year, I am reminded that we will enjoy fellowship with the Lord and harmony with other believers if we do one simple thing: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (I Peter 5:5b). Let’s make 2025 a year characterized by humility, and enjoy the results: sweet fellowship with God and one another.
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