An "Aha!" Moment: God

Setting: Seventh grade math class...back when I was a school teacher...
   Matt did not understand; I explained again.
   Matt still did not understand; I explained again.
   Matt STILL did not understand; I explained YET AGAIN!

   "Aha!"

It was an exciting moment for Matt, and a gratifying moment for me as his teacher: an "Aha!" moment. Clarity. Insight. Knowledge realized.

Have you ever had an "Aha!" moment when you came to a sudden new realization of something you already knew, or perhaps something you had been told but did not understand? It was not new knowledge, but previous knowledge that had a new, strong and sudden impact.

Young parents are often struck with surprise as they realize with new insight the love their parents had for them. They knew it all along, but as they experience the deep love for their child, they realize that their parents must have had a similar experience with them. "Aha!"

Can you imagine the "Aha!" moment for the Apostles when they realized that the Messiah was not setting up an earthly kingdom? Jesus had tried to tell them; no, he had told them, but they had not understood.

Jewish Pentecost: Fifty days after the Passover and the crucifixion of Jesus. The Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Apostles and they preached the gospel for the first time to a large Jewish crowd. What was it like when the Jews suddenly realized that Jesus of Nazareth WAS the prophesied Messiah? That they had crucified the Son of God!?

• Is your knowledge of God made up of teachings that have merely been handed down and accepted?
• Is the identity of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and Son of God simply a dry biblical fact?
• Is your salvation merely an exercise in holding to correct biblical doctrine?
• Is your religion comfortable, but lacking AWE? 
• Have you chosen an easy path just to get along with others?

Pause. Reflect.

• Are you a Christian who has never had an "Aha!" moment?
• Does the magnificence of God impress your mind?
• Does His creation bring about a sense of awe in your heart?
• Does the reality of his wrath, but also his forgiveness, affect your soul?

Is 'God' a comfortable belief or an awe-inspiring being that overwhelms you?

Will you appear before God standing upright or will you tremble to the ground on your knees...on your face?

How great and wonderful is your God?

Oh that we might lift our eyes to see His magnificence.

The LORD passed in front of him [Moses] and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."

And Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. 

--Exodus 34:6-8