He's not a tame lion

CS Lewis wrote that in the "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" concerning Aslan the Lion

If you don't know who CS Lewis is then I'll tell you! lol CS Lewis was not only (and still is) a highly respected theologian but also wrote the books (which are now movies) "The Chronicles of Narnia". He's dead now but his books (nonfiction and fiction alike) are still widely read

CS Lewis based his fiction books on the Bible and Bible characters. For example Aslan the Lion represented Jesus "the Lion from the tribe of Judah" Rev 5:5. But he made no truer statement about Him when he said "He's not a tame lion" but we're not only taught otherwise we conjure up this tame idea about Him ourselves. Part of it is ignorance and part of it is fear

Often times because God doesn't take immediate action on evil or sin we get this idea that He's indifferent to evil. Indifferent to sin especially our sin. We don't equate this with mercy, compassion, understanding and patience because He knows we are just dust (Psalm 103:14) and can be easily consumed (Lamentations 3:22) No we equate it with

1. He doesn't care
2. He's like us
3. God is good so that makes him a giant sappy pushover sitting in the heavens

It's our own sinful nature that settles on this idea about God. When we think of "Holy" we think "Good" and "Loving". We love to think of him with the above characteristics but we don't really think about those characteristics. We throw them around about our own sin. We throw them around about others but the idea of "patient" alone should tell us that at some point patience runs out!

Anyone possessing those qualities will be bulldozed by others. It's in us all to take kindness, compassion, patience, mercy for weakness and we will take advantage of someone like that long before we don't. It's our nature to do that! And we do the same thing to God. The fact that He's merciful doesn't make us stop in our tracks with reverent respect for Him. It makes us take advantage. It doesn't make us question why He's merciful or why we need mercy. It just drives us to presume His mercy, expect it and demand it even

We're know the stories of Jesus being born of a virgin in a lowly stable. We know He was born to die. We're ok with it that He was meek, humble, kind and good. He was indeed loving. But the corrosive idea rampant now is He was some long haired hippy giving everyone the peace sign and chanting "make love not war man!" We're even ok with the idea that He was God in the flesh but we're not ok with justice. O we want justice when we've been wronged! But we don't want justice about our wrongs

We like the idea of Jesus being "the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world." (John 1:29) We like the idea of him walking around saying all these nice things and carrying a helpless, fluffy lamb. Those are so nifty! It also makes God harmless and we like that

The same God that appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, sent the plagues, slaughtered 23,000 Jews in a single swoop is the same God that took on human flesh, willingly was beaten severely and then went to the cross to die for us, to pay our debt to God, to save a people for Himself when He brings destruction and damnation. To satisfy His own laws, Holiness, justice and wrath cause we aren't capable of doing it ourselves. The same God described as the sacrificial Lamb is also called the Lion

There are over 330 prophecies in the OT just about Jesus's first coming and every single one of them were fulfilled down to the smallest detail. There are twice as many prophecies about His second coming...that's right I said TWICE as many. The second coming will be nothing like the first. This docile being will descend as the rightful King over the earth. And as any king must conquer and subdue his kingdom so must this King

This Lamb will return as the Lion. This Lamb is described as coming to conquer and damn. This Lamb is described as slaughtering most of the population of the planet. It will be completely one sided like a 2 year old trying to take on a ferocious, starving lion. His robes are described as dripping with blood (Rev 19:13). The earth will be covered is corpses...the blood so high and so much that it reaches the bridle of a horse (Rev 14:20)

Does this sound like a hippy, lamb carrying push over to you? That's a conquering King, that's an Emperor coming to dominate and to slaughter! He is described as bolting out of Heaven in an affront, ferocious, vengeful, wrathful offensive...He means to ride down and annihilate his enemies being absolutely ruthless in His execution of justice

This is not something that will happen in secret. This conquering King will make Alexander the Great look like a 2 year old playing army! He promises that when He comes back every eye (Rev 1:7)...ya every single person will see Him coming. It won't take place in secret where only a lucky few know. That kind of scene is setting people up for manipulation and brain washing. Especially when Jesus warned specifically that many false Christ's will come and we're not to believe them or follow them (Matthew 24). Then He followed it with the statement everyone will see Him coming. Scholars have even debated whether his descent with an army of angelic hosts following him will in fact be an all day event. As the earth rotates every person will see His awesome, vast, procession out of Heaven

I've heard people say "I believe that on the day of Judgment if I'm truly sorry for my sins He will forgive me and let me into Heaven."

There's no reason to live according to what God demands. They already have it in their heads He's merciful therefore if they cry, beg and are really sorry He'll totally go against everything He's commanded, every part of His Word and let them stroll into Heaven. That's man! That's the sinful nature

I recently told a woman in Romania who said "You know on the day of judgment that is going to be the only time you and everyone whose ever lived will be truly sorry for anything. If you think God will let you in based on that then what's the point of commandments? What's the point of Law? What's the point of sacrifice? What was the point of Jesus?"

Then I pointed out in the book of Ezekiel where God said on the day of His judgment He will have neither mercy or pity. Then I took her through the Bible where that day is described as a day of absolute horror for most people. The way it's described is billions will be wailing, screaming, begging, crying, gnashing their teeth in sheer, unadulterated horror and terror as they're judged before the living God, sentenced then drug off to hell(Matthew 13)

They won't go quietly! They will be fighting, clawing at the floor, screaming, forced into eternal destruction. Does that sound like a scene of calm, peace and mercy to you? It even goes on to describe those who will be entering heaven standing by and watching the madness...crying themselves as they witness their loved ones, friends, family, children, spouses being thrown into hell (Rev 21). Can you imagine how many of those will be wailing themselves and screaming out to them "I told you! I warned you! Why didn't you listen to me?! WHY?!!!"

We often think because we're not hurting anyone else and also because God has taken no action against us that He's OK with what we do. Psalm 50 destroys that concept...

"What right have you to recite My laws
or take my covenant on your lips?

You hate My instruction
and cast My words behind you.

When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.

You use your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit.

You speak continually against your brother
and slander your own mother's son.

These things you have done and I kept silent;
you thought I was altogether like you.
But I will rebuke you
and accuse you to your face.

Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you"

Does that sound like an indifferent, sappy, laid back, uninvolved, just like us, tame God? Does that sound like a God that thinks like us, talks like us, acts like us? Absolutely not. That sounds like a Holy God!

Because He is Holy He must judge sin. Because He is Holy, He must be righteous and punish sin. Because He is Holy He must be wrathful. He wouldn't be Just if He didn't judge and punish. The same God that John said "is Love" in 1 John 4:8 is also the same God that destroyed the earth and most people by flood. The same God is who merciful and compassionate is also the same God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and all it's inhabitants except for Lot and family. The same God that is patient and kind is also the same God who sent the plagues on Egypt. The same God who is understanding and long suffering is also the same God who will pour out His wrath again and destroy the earth by fire and send most people to hell. The same God who is giving, generous and good is also the same God who says He will tear us to pieces. He has to! He must!

Would you love a God who was ok with evil? Would you love a God who didn't hold a rapist, child molester, murderer, abuser accountable? Would you love a God who was indifferent to suffering? I couldn't and you couldn't either

So we search for God all our lives...groping in the dark like blind children whether we claim to be religious or not. Whether we believe in God or not. We're still searching for Him constantly. We know He's there. He's given us the ability to sense Him, to know He's there and no matter how we search and in what ways we're all still just looking for Him but the question is what kind of God are we looking for?

A God of our own making that's really nothing but an idol? Something we've conjured up in our heads or something we've been taught since we were babies. We think He's just like us. We think He thinks just like we do, He acts and talks just like us and if He doesn't He's ok with how we act, think and talk because He's not demanding. He's understanding of our awkwardness, failures and sins and He's happy to sit in the corner we assign Him until we need Him. Then He can pop out like some genie from a lamp and say "your wish is my command". The problem is in all our searching we're looking for the wrong thing. We're chasing and groping for our own small, ignorant, dark, silly, man-like ideas. We want to bring God down to our level and He's no where near our level. We want God to meet our standards when the truth is God refuses to lower Himself to our standards! Instead He demands and commands that we meet HIS standards

I saw a cartoon once of a character chasing a small animal into a dark place. He threw in a rope and it latched on to something. With all his might he pulled and pulled trying to drag the small animal out but instead what came out was a monstrous, huge animal. The character turned white, his eyes popped, his arms fell limp and he ran away in terror. That's not what he was looking for. That's not what he thought he hooked

We throw in our own hooks in our search never really expecting something to pull back. We don't really expect there is a life, a Person, a very much real Being that catches the other end and we freeze like kids sitting around telling ghost stories who suddenly get quiet at the noise in the hall. Is it real? Is something really out there? Then we get scared and throw down the cord. We really don't want to find out because for a brief moment we suddenly realize what's at the other end may not be what we want or expect. We didn't really want it to come to that did we? To come to a moment that we suddenly face what we were searching for. A sense of dread comes and we remember the old saying "be careful what you wish for. You may get it"

We want God but we become petrified at the thought of the real God at the other end and instead of pulling back He suddenly approaches at the speed of light like a thundering bolt. As we drop the cord we realize it's too late...He's suddenly found us

An encounter with the real living God is life changing. It changes your entire perspective and rocks your very existence to the core. You are suddenly forced against your own will to face reality and not something we've created limited to our own view of the world from our corner of the planet. Instead something infinitely greater than we could have ever imagined. Something so powerful, majestic, awesome, terrifying and alien to us that our minds would sooner melt than reach any tiny drops of understanding about the Being at the other end

There is no possible way the creature can stay the same after having come in contact with its Creator. Life changes. The mind suddenly goes through a complete twisting and overhaul without your consent! The world you once knew so well and trusted has suddenly become so tiny, dark, insignificant and seems to vanish before such a Being. This is not what you expected! But this King of Kings is infinitely superior to anything you could have ever created in your own mind. And you suddenly must face the fact that this Being doesn't live, breathe and exist at your whim, at your idea, at your command, at your little spot in the universe. You exist only for Him! As your mind bends and you fight to wrap your brain around what you're facing and the truth. As you struggle to come to some kind of grips with what every fiber of your being always believed to be true you instantly must face the shocking reality...that you lived an entire lie. You believed an complete lie. Your entire life was built around a lie

This is what keeps us from searching too deeply. We look long enough then come up with an idea about God we can handle...we can deal with...one that is to our liking and we settle with that because we know deep inside that if we look to hard we may have to face something we really don't want to face. Ignorance truly is bliss and we prefer ignorance to truth even if that willful ignorance destroys us later

He is no tame lion and all of our ideas about God are warped because we are warped creatures. How can you ask a blind man who has been blind since birth to understand the color blue as you do? But we must be willing to be taught. We must be willing to face truth. We must be willing to know that what's at the other end won't be what we wanted, expected and believed. We must not expect a fuzzy harmless bunny to come crawling out of its hole. The search for God is really about God searching for you. You've entered the territory of the Lion. He can smell you, He can hear you and when you throw our your rope don't let go