THINGS OF HEAVEN (Where We Come From) with Red Rocks WorshipSample

Day 3 – The Person and the Presence

One may argue that it's impossible to walk in our purpose when we are ignorant of our design. Why are we here? What plants our feet to the earth, filling us with reason and meaning? The beginning of the biblical narrative tells us that we are rooted in the person and presence of God. We embody the image of God, which draws us back to our innate belovedness and likeness to our Creator. The world may be broken, but all is not lost. God is a good Creator, and he declared that he made a good creation.

Our God exists in a perfect triune relationship. Father, Son, and Spirit dwell together in seamless unity. They express belonging within their connection, and it is from this belonging that we stem. Just as it is impossible for God to divide his nature and abandon himself, it is impossible for us to be separated from the love of God. This reality has been apparent to humanity for millennia, as the psalmist so poetically expressed, "Where could I go to get away from your spirit? If I went up to heaven, you would be there. If I went down to the grave, you would be there too!" (Ps. 139:7-8).

God gifted us his manifestation of the Holy Spirit when Jesus ascended into heaven. This pervasive Spirit is a continual reminder of our belonging with the Triune God, a promise of companionship, an abiding nearness, a permeating presence. God's presence is a promise of power and authority; since we carry the same Spirit which raised Christ from the dead, we have been permanently adopted into God's family and can exercise our rights as heirs with dignity. We can acknowledge and recognize when the Spirit of God is moving because it is the same Spirit that moves and enlivens us. 

The presence of God continually draws us back to the Person of God; God's nature, God's holiness, and God's kingdom mission. It is a reminder that we participate in the Triune relationship and are meant to be examples of holy relationships before the world. The presence of God is always transformational—taking us from glory to glory, reminding us of our kinship with Christ, and breaking the strongholds of sin.

Reflections:

o  Listen to the song "Echo Holy" and place yourself within the setting it describes. As you listen and sing, consider that the God we serve is three-in-one, radiating relationship from his very being. How does this add a further dimension to the song?

o  Listen to the songs "Never Leave" and "Something Has to Break." What does the presence of God evoke in each of these contexts? How is the person of God embodied in each of these songs?