I spent about three straight years "in church" after I got miraculously saved by God in 1984. I went from writing, in my journals, "praise God, I love you so much Jesus" in 1985, to "I abhor everything that is called religion" in 1987.

So what happened?

Light happened. Truth happened. The wonderous, glorious, completely selfish, self-centered glory of God happened. And I would not change a thing; not for all the money in the world.

My desire, always, is to show the glory of God. How wonderous; how great; how HUGE; how POWERFUL, how pure, how righteous he is. How HOLY He is.

And the very best example I can give you of that is ME.

ME MYSELF.

If you look at me, and examine my life, and explore my heart, watch me live my life with my wife, my friends, and people that I meet. If you study me closely, as under a microscope, scrutinize my every thought; Study my every move, and every motive, and every deed.... from that you can get an image of God.

How?

By taking everything that you can find about me and then trying to imagining someone who is the complete, polar opposite.

God is everything that I am not, and more. And I love him so much because of that. I am SO unbelievably happy that God is not like me.

The only hope I have for salvation rests in the fact that God; that His Son Jesus Christ, is NOTHING LIKE ME AT ALL. And that is the very root of the reason why He is able to save me, because He is not like me. And I praise Him for that. Thank God in heaven that he is uniquely different from me in every way imaginable. Because everything about me is awash in sin, perversion, destitution, rebellion, hatred and a bazillion other evil things.

As I've said, many times in other places, if you could open my heart and look in there, you whould be aghast at what you would find. I know I was; and still am. If you haven't read it yet, go to my "They Said" section (a collection of mostly Puritan writings), and read the article by Thomas Boston, The Ant's Nest.

To Quote:

Never did any sin appear in the life of the vilest wretch who ever lived; but look into your own corrupt nature, and there you may see the seed and root of that sin—and every other sin. There is atheism, idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, and whatever is vile—in your heart! Possibly none of these are apparent to you; but there is more in that unfathomable depth of wickedness than you know.

Your corrupt heart is like an ant's nest, which, while the stone lies on it, none of them appear. But take off the stone, and stir them up with a stick, and you will see what a swarm is there, and how lively they are! Just such a sight would your heart afford you—did the Lord but withdraw the restraint He has upon it, and allow Satan to stir it up by temptation!

Christian! the remembrance of what you are by nature, should keep you humble.

Let me ask you a few questions, and please be honest for a moment. Honest with yourself.


What is God's glory?

Isaiah said that God's glory filled all the temple of heaven. His glory fills ALL of heaven, and earth. The Psalmist said that the whole earth is filled with his glory. The book of Romans say that all of creation, earth, and all the terrbile vastness of the heavens exhibit His Glory.

Does anything about you fill all of heaven? And all of earth? Can it even? Can anything but man's sin said to fill all the earth? What "glory" of yours compares to God's glory?

God's "glory" is in his perfect wisdom. His perfect righteousness. His perfect judgment. His perfect knowledge. His perfect vision. His perfect, absolutely perfect holiness.

GOD IS NOT LIKE US! Not at all. Not in any way. We may have once been created in his image, but that image is long lost in the perversion of sin. Like all sinners, we have exchanged the image of God for the corruptible image of man and beast and idol and SELF. Dear friends; I plead with you to hear me on this: WE ARE NOT LIKE GOD - not at all. None of us. Not even one of us. The Bible's central, and only message is just that and nothing more: you are not like OGd, and God is not like you.

Like Jesus said, "There is NONE Good but God." Did you really think he didn't mean it? You thought he was just mking small talk with a bunch of Pharisees? He meant exactly what he said, and what he said is absolutely true: THERE IS NONE LIKE GOD.


God is uniquely, and essentially, and indescribably DIFFERENT FROM US.

He is so far above us, and the earth, that it's not a matter of a difference in degree. It's a difference in KIND. A difference in SORT. A difference is pure, inner, essence.

We are not like God, and God is not like us.

There was only, EVER, one man who was, and that was Jesus Christ.


Now then... I wish I had a thousand years, and a billion words to go on, and on, and on, and on describing this difference. But I don't. So lets turn the page, now.


Ask most Christians "What does Roman's 3:23 say?" Those who recognize the verse will usually say, simply, "For all have sinned."

And, yes, it does begin that way. That's one way to be a sinner. "All have sinned." Most people - even most open minded non-Christians will readily admit that. Hardly anyone puts up any fight there. The world is abundantly full of examples of "all have sinned".

But that's not all it says.

It goes on to say "... and fall short of the Glory of God."

That part ought to leave you trembling.

We have it in mind that we sin; and we ackowledge it. And as Christians, we are keen to point out "but if any man sin, we have an advocate... for Jesus died to save sinners..."

But what about that second side of this two-edged sword? We can hold to Jesus to block that sting of the sword. But what about the backhand stroke? "...and fall short of the glory of God?

Here's the summary:

You think you have the "sin angle" covered? WHat about the "falling short of the Glory of God" angle?

Until you ae ready to stand before the entire world, and Coram Deo (before the face of God), and say:

I am the perfect, mirror image of the Glory of God, in every way, in every detail, in essence of my innermost being, and at all times...

... until then, Romans 3:23 has something to say to you... Something not very pleasant.


Only Jesus could say that. Here's where He DID say it:

He that has seen me has seen the father.

Can YOU say that?

Because if you cannot, the only option left for you is that you are a sinner. Not a "former sinner". A sinner RIGHT NOW.

I know I am. I'm possibly one of the worst sinners imaginable. Not just then, but now. I'm not the mirror image of God's glory.

How about you?

Read Romans 3:23 again. In fact, read all of Romans again.



I have been gloriously saved by the grace of God since 1984.

I am called a Saint of God. I stand to inherit all things with Jesus Christ. I am called a son of God. God is pleased with me at all times, even when I don't believe it myself.

And I am a vile, evil, rebellious, wretch of a man who deserves none of it. And yet I posses it all.

How?

Because I know my redeemer lives. And my hope is in the Lord. And I know that He has said, "he who comes to me I will in no wise cast out..." And I know that he is "able to save to the uttermost, them that come to Him by Jesus Christ." And I know that that's exactly what it will require in my case. And I know that "He is faithful even when we are faithless.

Oh, I could cry, and do. How great is THAT God? How great is THAT saviour, who seeing the vile, evil, rebellious, and helpless creature that I am, he is still willing to call me His own, and send His own, perfect, Son to die for me that I might be saved?

I'm left speechless on those precious occasions when he brings me close to this horrible truth and reveals it to me more closely. The more I see of my self, the more holy I see God is. And the more of God's holiness that I see, the more I abhor myself, and would hide myself in the earth, "in sackcloth and ashes".

The more that God reveals His Glory to me, the more I would simply try to be hidden from it in the grave. God's glory is wonderful; but it is also terrifying to me in my present condition.

But there is a future redemption, when the mortal, sinful flesh and blood body that I now inhabit, and in which the lusts and sins of the flesh war against the spirit of God - this will one day be stripped away, and my spirit, free of the bonds of the flesh will be able to fly to God with confidence.

Until then.... as the great song by Steve Camp, which I have cried so many times over says, "But for now, he covers me."


All this happens because, people simply do not realize the depths of depravity to which we have fallen. We compare ourselves amongst ourselves and by that come to think, Well, I'm not so bad. But compare yourself with God and you will come to a horribly, terrifyingly different conclusion.

Sin is so intertwined with your very essence, your very innermost being, that you almost cannot comprehend it. Sin is not "robbing banks, and kicking old ladies in the shin..." Sin is much more subtle than that. It's one of the first things we learned about sin: "The serpent was more subtle than any other beast..."

Subtle.

Learn that word. Learn what it means.