“But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
Exodus 33:20

It has been one hot summer, and personally, I blame it on the sun!

Why doesn’t it let up? All I am asking for is a couple of weeks of cooler temps? But no, that darn sun is relentless. John Denver was wrong, sunshine on my shoulder does not make me happy – – especially when it burns.

Did you know the sun can’t help its heat? The sun is the sun and it is only doing what it is being. Scientists say that at its core the sun roasts at a cool 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. That is pretty hot. The sun’s radiated heat takes 8 minutes to reach earth. So no matter how you feel about the sun’s heat, it doesn’t care because it is just being itself.

So, if you get a sunburn at the beach, don’t blame the sun, it is your fault. The sun is being the sun. Pretty obvious, isn’t it? But people don’t use the same logic when they consider the character and person of God.

He dwells in spotless purity because he is Holy. Habakkuk 1:13 says his eyes are too pure to look upon evil. Psalm 50 says fire devours before him. Holiness, by its nature, must burn out iniquity like the sun burns uncovered skin. Holiness, Purity, and Untainted Perfection is who God is. Approaching him being morally stained and carrying tainted flesh is an eternal death sentence. That is why God warns, “Man cannot see my face and live.” This is not a statement of meanness or callousness toward us, it is just a statement of reality as it is. He is being who he is.

People these days don’t like God being God.

So many fight against the truth of his wrath as if God had a choice in the matter. They rage against his position as judge, and the possibility of future judgment. In cynical arrogance, the unbeliever and liberal Christian mocks the notion of eternal damnation: “Unless you do not respond the right way to God, then he will torture you forever. In Hell. Huh? Sounds like a terrible story to me? How could this be good news?”

Hell is real because God really is Holy. It isn’t a made up story; it is a statement of being. This is the way things are.

And, God isn’t being mean; he is just being himself. In the same way, the sun doesn’t burn because it doesn’t like you, it burns because it is 27 million degrees at its core. God is hot in his Holy being.

I think this is where most people misunderstand Christianity. They seem to see his character of Holiness as his personal choice, a slight against mankind, rather than a condition of his being. He is Holy, not because he chooses to be Holy. He judges because he must, not because he likes to be mean.

In your being, you cannot do certain things simply because you are human. You cannot live off of poison. You cannot drink ocean water for a long period of time and live. You cannot stare at the sun without losing your sight. This is a condition of your being, not a choice you have.

God is Holy. Period.

Go ahead and get mad, but it won’t do you any good. It would be like waving a fist at the sun and demanding it to stop shining. To avoid the heat you can go inside, wear sunblock, hope for a cloudy day. But you can’t stop it from shining simply because you think you are cool, smart, and an unbeliever in solar radiation.

In the same way, getting mad at God is a waste of time. Psalm 2 says the nations rage against him and his Son and he laughs. It is useless to fight him. But there is a way to hide from his wrath, and be protected from his hot gaze: 

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (Romans 5:8-9)

In Christ, I am protected from the scorching heat of God’s holiness. 

But not only that, his heat starts to work for me. It starts to change me, shines on me, and gives me life. In the same way, instead of seeing the sun only as the source of sunburn, I see the sun in a new light. It is what makes plants grow, turns beaches into playgrounds, melts the winter snow. 

I love the sun. John Denver was right, when relating to it correctly, it does make me happy.

When I have a correct relationship with God, he makes me full of joy. In Christ, I am not burned but brought into new light and life. Holiness no longer burns, but begets. In Christ, I am fully me, fully alive. His heat warms me.