Children's questions are wonderfully candid. They make you wonder if they just sit around all day thinking about questions to ask grownups. Often their questions are an attempt to get images to fit their understanding. Questions like, how can Jesus live inside their heart, or about what the throne of God looks like. Have you ever wondered what the throne of God looks like? Chances are you not since you were a child. We know that it is not the piece of furniture that the Scripture is concerned about. God doesn't need a throne. Rather, the descriptions of God's Throne in Scripture reveal something about God Himself.

When Isaiah saw God in a vision he saw God seated upon "a throne." The message Isaiah needed was revealed in this vision - God is on the Throne! Isaiah shuddered before God, seeing his wretchedness before the Holy God. Other names for God's Throne in Scripture require the same type reaction. It is called the Everlasting Throne, the Heavenly Throne, the Holy Throne, the Glorious Throne, The Great White Throne, The Throne of Justice, and the Throne of Judgment (or Judgment Seat), to name a few (see below for some references). These names bring us face to face with the very character and nature of the one seated upon throne. Who could ever approach this Throne and the one who is seated upon it? We like Isaiah fall to the ground crying out in our sin...

Wait! Look! Listen! The writer in our verse for today calls us to approach the Throne of God. We recoil from such a bidding, and so we should. As the Psalmist ask, "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord; Who may stand in His Holy place?" Yet, listen carefully to the name given to God's Throne here - "the Throne of Grace." It is not a different throne. It is still God's Throne. But, it is approachable! It is approachable because in Christ Jesus, our High Priest, we can have "clean hands and a pure heart" and such a people may ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His Holy Place. It is approachable because it is the place to receive mercy and find grace in our time of need (which is always, every moment).

One day each of us will stand before the Throne of God, and it will be the Throne of Judgment and Justice. We would do well to remember this image as well as the others, for then the injunction today's verse gives prompts us to quickly, consistently, and humbly to approach God's Throne today, while it remains the Throne a Grace.

So therefore, "let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need!"

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry