As you look at this picture from the Hubble Telescope, consider our belief that God is the Creator of worlds and galaxies.
When Isaiah declares that God is high and lofty, inhabiting eternity, he is describing a God who is far beyond human comprehension.
For thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place
and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble
and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15)
God’s holiness is more than just moral superiority over human behavior—though He is that as well. His holiness fundamentally means that He exists outside of and beyond all of creation. As the Creator, He both brought the universe into being and sustains it. God is the only Being who is not part of creation; He stands apart from it entirely.
The next astounding truth of this verse is that God is willing to dwell with broken and humble people.
A few years ago, I discovered the meaning of “contrite,” because I planned to preach on this verse. To be contrite is to be crushed.
On my way into church to preach on this passage, I picked up a five-pound rock from the parking lot. On the church’s communion table, there was a vase filled with flowers. It was impossible for the rock to fit through the narrow opening in the vase.
I held up the rock and asked the audience if they thought I could fit the rock into the vase. The answer was a resounding, “no.” Then, I asked if someone crushed the rock, would it fit? This time, the answer was, “yes.”
According to the Bible, God’s goal is to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family (Romans 8:29).
Please don’t get hung up on words like “foreknew” and “predestined.” Instead, look at this verse and realize that the destiny God has for you is to be conformed to the likeness of the Greatest Being to walk the earth.
Just as a five-pound rock is not able to fit in a beautiful vase, so my hard heart and arrogant willfulness will not fit into God’s plan for my life.
In the same way that a crushed rock will take on the shape of a vase, when our willfulness and hard hearts are crushed, they will more easily conform to the image of Jesus.
Pray To Be Broken
A very kind and spiritual lady gave me a box filled with cassette tapes from a preacher she admired. I don’t remember the preacher’s name or anything he said, except for one insightful statement.
He seemed to have one message: “Pray to be broken.”
Why in the world would anyone pray to be broken? Isaiah has the answer.
With whom does the high and holy God dwell? He makes His home with the humble and crushed people on earth.
Few people will pray to be broken, even if it is a very good choice. However, many of us know people whose lives turned around once they were broken.
I have many friends who are members of Alcoholics Anonymous. They all entered AA through the first step: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Their brokenness led them to AA and, in many cases, to Jesus. Three key words stand out in the first step statement: admitted, powerless, unmanageable.
Recently, I was with a number of my AA friends at a funeral. I can tell you that there was not a single perfect person in attendance. However, many of them are fantastic pictures of what Jesus in a person’s life looks like.
They are on the path to being conformed to the image of Jesus. How did this happen?
They were contrite, crushed, powerless, and not able to control their lives. In humility, they reached out to God, who is willing to dwell with the humble and contrite. The presence of God in their lives is daily making the difference between their old way of life and what is new.
I have never had a drink or a drug, but I must admit that I am powerless over my self-will and arrogant self-assertion. My self-centered life is unmanageable without the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Since life has not crushed me, I need to take the advice of the preacher I listened to years ago. I need to pray to be broken. What about you?
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 