This past Wednesday I taught a lesson to our 5th and 6th grade LOGOS boys. We looked together at Isaiah 6. In the passage we were treated to a vision of our great God. He was seated on a throne that was high and lifted up. We talked about our world having thrones for kings and presidents, but this throne was lifted up beyond them all.
We saw that the Lord wore a robe whose train filled the temple. We explained that for kings the longer the train… the greater their supposed glory. This description of our Lord’s train reminded us that His glory is beyond the most glorious of human rulers.
We observed the seraphim that attended the Lord on the throne. They are the “burning ones” who have a glory of their own, but before the Lord whose glory fills the heavens and the earth, these angelic beings had to cover themselves, for their glory does not even compare to the glory of the Lord.
We spoke together about the words of the seraphim. They said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory”. We noted that the angels ascribed three times that the Lord is “holy”. We learned that when someone wants to emphasize something they often say something two times, but when they want to say something is “out of this world – in another league” they might say it three times. So holy, so set apart, so uncommon, so unlike sinful humans is our God! He is indeed “holy”!
We also noted that there was a rumbling, even a trembling of the temple. So awesome, so glorious is our Lord, that His presence causes the most secure things to shake.
Being confronted with such a vision of God Almighty, Isaiah could only declare, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the glory of the Lord.” He was convicted and overwhelmed with his sin and understood that he could do nothing about it.
But the Lord intervened. He had an angel pick up a coal and press it to his lips. He then declared that Isaiah’s guilt was removed; that his sins were covered. Isaiah’s response to this marvelous display of grace was to answer the call of God and say, “Here am I. Send me.” He would be willing to go from that day forward and point others to this majestic, yet gracious God.
At the end of the lesson I reminded the boys that we, too, stand before a holy, majestic God. We, too, stand before him saying, “Woe is me ….for I am a sinner”. But just like with Isaiah, God acted on our behalf, and sent His Son to purge our sins on the cross, and to usher in His glorious forgiveness and newness of life.
As I stood there before the boys calling them to respond to Christ in repentance and faith, I couldn’t help wishing that there were more boys that night. I so wished that more boys could have been under the sound of the gospel and been called to respond. I think that’s the desire of any teacher who has studied the Word, and sees what a glorious message it is. That teacher wants more people to hear this message – not less. That teacher wants to see more people come to know fullness of life in Christ.
Parents, every week the gospel message is proclaimed at all levels of our children’s and youth ministry. Bless your own children and the children over whom you might have some influence by being faithful in your attendance and bringing other children with you. Then pray with me that the coming generations will be drawn in great numbers to know Christ and His abundant life.