Glorious Creator Of The Universe
And Righteous Judge Of Us All
The more clearly we see God, the more clearly we see ourselves.
The closer we walk to God, the more clearly we see our sins.
The more we think of Him, the less we think of ourselves.
The more purely holy we see Him, the more unholy we see ourselves.
It is the contrast which awakens our guilt and leads to repentance.
"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:3
Take the case of Job. Here was a comparatively great and good man. His reputation was sterling, his character unblemished. He was spiritually mature and upright, feared God and hated evil. Nobody could see any fault in him. Evidently he couldn't see much himself ... until the Lord allowed him to be put through the furnace of suffering and loss. Then he saw God's glory clearly and then he saw himself.
"There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." Job 1:1.
Even God saw Job as His special servant and said there was not another person like him in the entire earth, a perfect and upright man who feared God and hated evil. There is not another such commendation, from the lips of our Holy God, about any other ordinary human, in the bible. "And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" Job.1:8.
Job's self-righteous friends, who concluded he was guilty of some grievous sin, because of the sufferings and loss God allowed to happen to him, were rebuked by God, after Job was healed and restored, and they were forced to repent and go to Job for prayer for themselves.
So, after Job had been thoroughly tested and proven to be the best man on earth, at that time, and maybe all of time, except Jesus of course, God appeared unto him. Only then, when Job saw the glory of God's great majesty and power, and purity of righteousness and holiness did Job, for the first time see the truth about himself. The immense contrast between himself and God awakened a holy realization within his soul of his own miserable deficiency, imperfection and guilt of sin and struck him like a bolt of lightening. Sin which seems minor to a worldly man will seem a serious and intolerable violation to a Job who sees God's glorious deity and holy purity more clearly than the other.
When Job saw who God truly was, for the first time, he then saw his true self for the first time and cried out to God ..."I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:5-6
And remember, this was the best man on earth, the BEST man.
It was only then, when Job repented to his Holy God in v.6, that God, in v.7 -8 turned to Job's self-righteous friends and commanded them .... "My wrath is kindled against thee .... for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has .... Therefore .... go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job." Job. 42:8
"And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before." Job 42:10.
Jesus, our Redeemer, is the door through which the faith of repentance must pass if we are to find the holy presence of God and His forgiveness, that we might walk with Him. In the depth of his suffering, Job looked for His God and declared in faith "...I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." Job.19:25.
