Drawing Closer to God: Why We See Our Need for Him More Clearly

Drawing Closer to God Reveals His Holiness

What does it really mean to draw closer to God? And why does it feel so often as if, when we do get closer, we can see how much closer we need to be? The closer we become to God the more clearly we can see His great holiness and our lack of holiness. When we look at Old Testament saints we see clear examples of this.

Humility Grows as We See God More Clearly

Abraham saw himself in relation to God's holiness as one who was unworthy of God's blessings. He viewed himself as "dust and ashes" before the holiness of God (Genesis 18:27), yet God called Abraham His "friend" (Isaiah 41:8). Later David would call himself a "worm" in Psalm 22:6, while God said David was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). God loved them.

These weren't mere words spoken in false humility, this was their genuine understanding of themselves before God and His greatness. They saw themselves accurately in comparison with God, yet God honored a humility that the world might overlook. Perhaps there is a connection: those who recognize how little they are before God are often the very people God can use greatly.

Paul’s Growing Awareness of His Unworthiness

In the New Testament, we see this lowliness most easily in the life of Paul. If we look at his letters to the churches in roughly chronological order, instead of the order they are placed in the Bible, we see him becoming progressively more vocal about his unworthiness before God.

The reason is not that Paul was becoming a greater sinner or thinking he was less of a person. But it was because he grew in the knowledge of God's holiness and so, saw himself as increasingly unworthy of the gift of grace that had been given to him.

In Galatians 1:1 Paul gives himself the title of "an apostle...sent by Jesus Christ." Paul then refers to himself in 1 Corinthians 15:9 as "the least of the apostles." Later in Ephesians 3:8 he calls himself, "the least of all the Lord's people." And even later in 1 Timothy 1:15 he says that he is "the worst of sinners." In several letters he calls himself a prisoner and a slave or bondservant.

To other believers, these men may appear exceptionally righteous, but it is because of their closeness to God that they can see their smallness and insignificance before God's perfection. They are not demeaning their own worth in a self-hating sort of way. These saints realized their complete dependence on the mercy of God.

They realized they had nothing to give God, because He has no needs, but God has everything to give them. This was not because they had worth in themselves, but because it was only God who could save and justify them. And this total realization of their inability to ever be good enough to save themselves, led them to complete submission to God's power and love.

The famous preacher Charles Spurgeon in the 19th century captured this tension when he said,

"Satan tells me I am unworthy; but I always

was unworthy, and yet God has long loved me."

When we feel that we are unworthy before God, that may be the point that we are the closest to Him. No matter what we do, our goal of righteousness may seem further away.

We struggle to become more like Christ, only to realize how far we still have to go. Yet that struggle can draw us into a deeper dependence on Him. It can lead us to come to know Christ in a fuller and more authentic way.

Like Paul, when we compare ourselves to the Creator of the Universe, we understand there is no comparison. It is God Himself who has offered us the gift of holiness through the sacrifice of His Son and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Seeing Our Sin Does Not Mean God Condemns Us

Seeing our sin and unworthiness more clearly is not the same thing as being condemned by God. The Holy Spirit may convict us of sin, but conviction is meant to turn us toward God, not drive us away from Him. Condemnation tells us to hide from God; conviction calls us to repent and receive His mercy.

When God forgives, our past sins no longer stand between us and Him as condemnation. If we have sought true forgiveness in faith, He sees the blood of His Son's sacrifice covering our lives as truly as it flowed from Him on the cross. This allows us, not just to feel like a "worm," but to feel like a child of God. A child who is loved and cared for by our Father.

We should recognize that our inability to save ourselves does not mean we are worthless to God. His love for us was proven at the cross. We don't live a life burdened by unforgiven sin anymore. We don't live a life without hope.

Our Weakness Should Draw Us Toward God

Our weakness and need should not make us afraid to seek God; they should draw us to Him for care and protection. How often do we hear people say they can't become a Christian because they aren't living a good life? How often does sin in our own lives cause us to stay away from God and His church because we think we aren't holy enough? Remember, no one in the church is holy enough in themselves. Don't let embarrassment keep you from God's grace. Let that embarrassment turn you towards repentance.

A friend of mine grew up in church and never stopped believing in God, but he became entangled in sin and was too ashamed to go back. He assumed he needed to clean up his life first. When he finally understood that God's love for him had been proven at the cross, not earned by his behavior, he repented and walked through the church doors again. He told me later that he had spent years believing he wasn't welcome, when the door had been open all along.

Humility Leads Us Toward Holiness

Recognizing our unworthiness before God should lead us to submit to Him. We serve the Lord with humility. This is how we destroy pride. Pride, that great sin that caused Satan to fall and Adam and Eve to sin. Pride, the belief that my way is better than God's way. Pride, the destroyer of lives and the opposite of the humility God seeks us to have. Humility doesn't mean thinking less of the value God has given us; it means recognizing that everything good in us ultimately depends on Him.

In humility before God, we are called to grow in holiness because He is holy. As we submit to Him, His Holy Spirit can then work in us and through us to do the good we are called to do in this world. We can rejoice that God has offered us a way to Him where there was no way. God has changed us, given us a new heart and promised us eternal joy with Him.

For us, as for Isaiah, the closer we come to God's holiness, the more aware we become of our own uncleanness, yet God's cleansing doesn't leave us hiding in shame. It sends us into obedient service (Isaiah 6).

At the Cross, Our Burden Is Rolled Away

Many years ago a hymn was written by Russell Carter called "At the Cross." This is a small portion of that hymn.

O Jesus, Lord, thy dying love

Hath pierced my contrite heart;

Now take my life, and let me prove

How dear to me thou art.

At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart roll’d away,

It was there by faith I receiv’d my sight,

And now I am happy night and day.

The more clearly we see our need, the more precious the Cross becomes. Christ has already done what we could never do for ourselves.