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You Can Experience the

Manifested Glory of God,

His Presence is Tangible

and Touchable

Much of the language used to describe the throne room and the radiance of God is metaphorical. However, just because the language is "figurative," we should not conclude that the radiance around God is not something that is real. The Old Testament tabernacle was a "copy" of the heavenly (Heb. 8:4,5, 9:24). Therefore, the heavenly temple exists as does the radiance around our Lord. 

Hanging on the wall in our home, we have a beautiful picture of a mountain that my mother-in-law painted. Even though it is a painting, I know that the mountain she tried to represent accurately is something that is real. We should not conclude that the prophets in the Bible did anything less. A style of language that is figurative does not decrease the validity of the pictures we have of the throne room.

After the prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of the radiance around God he wrote, "As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face" (Ezek. 1:28a). Even though it was only a vision of heaven Ezekiel tried to describing what he saw as accurately as possible.

Almost six hundred years later the apostle John also had a vision of heaven. He too saw a rainbow around the throne (Rev. 4:3). While records in scripture were visions of heaven, we need to view them as "pictures" of something that is real, tangible and touchable—in spiritual realms. The scriptures are too consistent for us to consider heaven as any other way.

Why did both Ezekiel and John see a rainbow around the throne? In our world, rainbows happen when sunlight shines through rain. Heaven is the same. A rainbow is over the throne because the glory that Jesus radiates is similar in some ways to both light and water (Ezek. 1:28, Rev. 4:3). Regarding light, John said that God is light (1 John 1:5). Other passages show that Jesus is a fountain of light. The prophet Habakkuk said, "His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand" (Hab. 3:4a). King David wrote, "For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light" (Psalm 36:9).

Consider also the record we have of Steven when, "being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God" (Acts 7:55a). What would you and I have done if we were there with Steven? We might have asked him to describe what he was seeing. It is likely He would have responded by saying something similar to the prophet Ezekiel’s description above. If so he might have said, "The glory around God looks like rain going out from Him, but it is bright and with all the colors of the rainbow." Even though the style of his language would have changed to figurative, he too would have been doing his best to accurately describe what he saw. The descriptions we have in the Bible about the radiance of God are accurate. You should be confident that the radiance around God is real.

The prophet Jeremiah called Him, "The fountain of living waters" (Jer. 2:13). Yet this is no ordinary water. While God is spirit and He is light, He is also very much alive. It is difficult to think of something that is both light and water as being "alive." The light and water in our physical world are not alive. Even so, we need to learn to think about God in spiritual ways.

God uses the scriptures to teach us about what He is like. It is an accurate application of scripture, to think about the Holy Spirit as being both light and water at the same time. Still however, we must be careful that we do not think of the Spirit as an impersonal force like rivers or the sun in our physical world. Instead, we need to think of the radiance around God as a liquid-light with the personality of God Himself. The Bible says of Jesus, "Now the Lord is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17).

What is the principle here? Even though the Bible uses figurative language, the descriptions of the throne room often need to be interpreted literally. I am not saying we should interpret all figurative scripture as reality. Deciding which scriptures to consider as real requires two things: We need to let the scriptures interpret the scripture. We also need to think as spiritual people (1 Cor. 2:14).

Let your heart believe the extent to which the Father has exalted our Lord Jesus. It is proper application of scripture for you think of Jesus—in heaven right now—as a great and wonderful fountain who powerfully radiates the glory of the Father: "The fountain of living water, even the Lord" (Jer. 17:13). It is right to think of Him as radiating the Holy Spirit in a way that is similar to how the sun radiates light and fountains radiate water in city parks—but much more so. Why do we have to think about God in these ways? We have to let our heart believe the radiance of God or we won’t be able to receive the Spirit by faith when we draw near (Gal. 3:14). Your access into the throne room is real, so is the radiance around God. 

Comparing the throne room of God to the mountain where Moses received the ten commandments, the Bible says of us, "For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind" (Heb. 12:18). We don’t have to be afraid to draw near because just a few verses later, speaking of those who have entered the throne room of God it says, "you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect" (Heb. 12:22,23). So in one sense we can’t touch the mountain of God—at least in exactly the same way as in Old Testament times. But, in another sense when we "come" we are actually there—right along with the angels and the "general assembly." Therefore, since we are actually there, we can touch the mountain of God—only now we have to do so in spiritual realms.

We can’t think of the spiritual as being totally different from what is physical. Let me remind you again that after the resurrection, Jesus’ physical body was both spiritual and material. When He ascended into heaven, the disciples saw Him rise in bodily form (Acts 1:9-11). Because Jesus has a body in heaven right now—a tangible body—it is unreasonable to conclude that the throne room or the radiance is anything less material than the physical-spiritual body of our Lord. The radiance around God is not just a metaphor. Since the body of our Lord is both material and spiritual so is the radiance and the throne room itself—tangible and touchable in spiritual realms.

Remember again Jesus promise that a "river" of the Holy Spirit could flow from our innermost being (John 7:37-39). Should we take it literally that the Spirit of God is like water in some way? We should. While the Holy Spirit is not water as we know it, the Bible often describes the Holy Spirit as being like water. The scriptures are consistent. Jesus also spoke of the Holy Spirit as being like water that "springs up" (John 4:14). In giving a promise directly from God, the prophet Isaiah said that God would pour out His Spirit like water onto thirsty people (Isaiah 44:3). The prophet Hosea was referring to the Holy Spirit when he said, "it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you" (Hosea 10:12). This is not simply figurative language. Don’t dismiss it as such.

We have to think as those who are spiritual. You can experience the presence of God in a way that He literally rains His presence down upon you. Let the scriptures drive what you believe about God. Adjust your theology accordingly. Our God is a fountain who never stops radiating what He wants you to have. 

Grace is an attribute that describes God. Even so, we need to think of grace as much more than just an adjective. The grace of God is also a noun—a tangible and touchable substance in spiritual realms. The Bible talks about, "And Stephen, full of grace and power" (Acts 6:8a). That Stephen was full of grace and power means he was full of the substance that is the Holy Spirit.

The Bible tells us that God won’t give the glory of praise that He deserves (Psa. 42:8). But, the Bible also tells us, "The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." (Psa. 84:11b). The grace and glory that God gives freely is His presence. Concerning God giving us the Holy Spirit it says, "If you...know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Luke 11:13).

I am sure this sounds strange at first, but let me say it anyway. God shines the substance of His grace at us by the radiance of the Holy Spirit shining from His face. Consider this Old Testament passage:

Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’ So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them (Num. 6:23-27).

God blesses us by the grace that shines onto us from His face. That is how it works in spiritual realms. When you learn to enter the throne room and stand before God, His face shines on you and He blesses you. By your drawing near He is able to bless you more intensely than is otherwise possible. You should "seek His face" because, according to the verses above, by your seeking Him in this way, He is also able to bless others around you also. Other scriptures tell us something similar, "let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16b). That God’s throne is a throne of grace means that when we come before His throne, we can be confident that He will give us the "Spirit of grace" (Zech. 12:10).

If you want to experience more of the grace of God, you only have to seek the Holy Spirit that shines from His face. Thrill your heart with what you believe about the radiant glory of your God. Take time to quietly nurture believing that the eyes of your very soul are looking at the Lord. Look at all of His attributes as He shines Himself upon you! That way you can be assured you will receive grace to help in time of need. The psalmist said, "Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God, Until He is gracious to us" (Ps. 123:2). This principle becomes especially powerful when you draw near to the throne of grace and look at the Lord during times of prayer (Heb. 4:6). 

Beyond just being similar to light, water, and fire as we know it, the Bible describes the Holy Spirit in other ways also. Have you ever been in an ocean fog that was so thick you could feel it? I believe Moses experienced God that way: "The Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud’" (Exod. 19:9). When God came to Him that way it was the Holy Spirit who came (John 4:24). Something similar happened to the disciples:

"[Jesus] took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming...a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they [the disciples] were afraid as they entered the cloud" (Luke 9:28,29 and 34).

While the Holy Spirit does not have a body like Jesus, His form is also both spiritual and material at the same time. In a similar way to being able to touch a cloud, we can touch the Holy Spirit. We can also experience the Holy Spirit touching us. Have you ever gotten close to a water fall? If so, you felt wind, then spray, then you got very wet. God is like that. Isaiah wrote, "For thus the Lord has told me, ‘I will look from My dwelling place quietly Like dazzling heat in the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest’" (Isaiah 18:4). When your trust in God grows to allow you to stand before Him He will look at you. At times, it may feel like "dazzling heat in the sunshine" or even like you are in a "cloud of dew." You don’t need to be afraid when you experience the presence of God in this way.

It is not uncommon for Christians to be able to feel the presence of God. I believe it is the anointing of God that the Bible is describing when it talks about, "precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron's beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes." (Psa. 133:2). At times the Holy Spirit can even feel like oil dripping off your face. In that highly respected Christian classic by Brother Lawrence it says, "The soul—accustomed by this exercise to the practice of faith—can actually see and feel God by simply entering His presence. It evokes Him easily and obtains what it needs. In so doing, the soul could be said to approach the Blessed, in that it can almost say, "I no longer believe, but I see and experience." Its faith becomes more and more penetrating as it advances through practice."

Isn’t it wonderful that we don’t have to keep our experience as a Christian on a purely theological level? The Bible says that when the woman was healed because of touching Jesus’ garment He was aware that power had gone out of Him (Luke 8:46). I think He was "aware" because He actually felt the Holy Spirit’s power flowing through Him. When people around me seem to want to keep things on a heady-theological level, I am often encouraged by reminding myself that Jesus lived a truly spiritual life. It is right that we should follow His example.

But, once you do begin to feel the presence of God the tendency is to turn toward what you feel for reassurance, courage, strength, and a sense of being righteous. This is wrong. Depending on what you feel results in feelings that you are better than other Christians around you. Inevitably, it also decreases your pursuit toward God. Thank the Lord often that it is His radiance upon you that is your reassurance and strength—not what you feel. But don’t turn the shine of God into reason for spiritual pride. Rather than simply looking at the shine, look at each one of the attributes of God as He shines all of who He is upon you.

A Word of Caution

Let me caution you to keep in mind that feeling the presence of God is not the goal of spiritual growth. Trying to feel the presence of God will put you in a self-effort mode and increase your fears that you might not be able to "achieve." The resulting fears will shut you down inside so that it will become even more difficult for you to be open to God so you can receive His presence by faith in His grace. If you don’t feel God’s presence you can’t let yourself worry about it. Get your heart to believe that by reassuring yourself that feeling His presence isn’t the goal. The goal is to stay close to the Lord, enjoy times of refreshing from His presence—by faith. Thrill your heart with the radiance you believe God is showering upon you. Lovingly worship Him.

Part of the difficulty here is that so many Christians are in bondage to self-effort and don’t even realize it. In order to keep other "Christians" from pushing you into a "works" mentality it is likely you will have to keep on reassuring your heart with the truth about God’s grace—continually. Thank God often that you don’t have to agree with the spiritual pride of those who feed themselves with their being a spiritual standard for others to achieve. Thank the Lord that you don’t have to measure up to their standard—they are not God.

Thank Him too that you are not less of a Christian if you have not felt His presence yet. You just have to keep removing the obstacles that keep you away from God. Listen to your thanks and praise for the truth so that you nurture freedom to draw near and enjoy God. After that, when you do begin to feel God’s presence thank God often that you don’t have to worship yourself because of His presence with you. If you make that mistake you will find you are falling in love with yourself and that your pursuit toward God is decreasing. If you do find you are making these kinds of mistakes don’t waste any time redirecting your heart toward God by thanks and praise for the truth. 

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I am praying for the Lord's abundant blessing on your efforts to direct your heart toward Him.

Barry.

     Come and Drink — Continued...

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(C) Barry Hall 1999

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