The Pursuit of God - Week #8

Chapter Eight – Restoring the Creator-creature Relation

“Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.” Psa. 57:5

The subject matter of this chapter is of immense importance to us if we are to move from immaturity to maturity in Christ. This is a reality that the great men and women of God understood clearly.

I think in my personal journey, this truth began to dawn on me when, as a young missionary the Holy Spirit whispered to me one day, “Nita, you are not God.” To the immature ear this appears to be such an obvious truth that it sounds ridiculous that God would say something like that to a sincere and lovesick servant of His (which I was). It was a great revelation to me and set me on the course to the never-ending unfolding of this truth throughout my life. The implications of this simple yet profound reality are impossible to measure, but one thing is for sure, the unfolding of this reality – that there is only One (and it’s not me) – has empowered me to embrace my humanity with joy and to continue learning and growing all my life. In other words, the revelation to my inner heart of this has helped to keep me from stagnating in God; I know I will never “arrive” in terms of learning and growing because I am not omniscient nor omnipotent, etc. I can rest in who I am because I am resting in Who He is! Praise the Lord!

I find that among God’s people (and this is even more pronounced when one is in leadership), there are constant and strong pressures to be God; if a person isn’t secure in his/her humanity and limitations, it’s tempting to yield to those pressures and attempt to be God to people.

In this chapter Tozer speaks of the Transcendent One, the only Creator of all, the I AM. He is the unchanging fixed center against which all else is measured.

“Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and bring Him nearer to our own image. The flesh whimpers against the rigor of God’s inexorable sentence and begs like Agag for a little mercy, a little indulgence of its carnal ways. It is no use. We can get a right start only by accepting God as He is and learning to love Him for what He is. As we go on to know Him better we shall find it a source of unspeakable joy that God is just what He is. Some of the most rapturous moments we know will be those we spend in reverent admiration of the Godhead…So let us begin with God.”

Tozer goes on to say that the pursuit of God embraces the labor that there is in bringing one’s total personality into conformity to His personality. Then he says a wonderful thing that I can testify is true:

“The moment we make up our minds that we are going on with this determination to exalt God over all we step out of the world’s parade. We shall find ourselves out of adjustment to the ways of the world…Our break with the world will be the direct outcome of our changed relation to God…Millions call themselves by His name…but a simple test will show how little He is really honored among them. Let the average man…be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and men, between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love…and God will take second place every time.”

Many years ago I had a dream that was significant and prophetic. I can’t remember all the details but the main story line was that I was with a Christian church congregation; I think I was somehow facilitating a vote that the congregation was going to make and the vote had to do with choosing either the Lord Jesus or some other desirable thing (not something evil in itself). The tragic end of the dream was that the vote was overwhelmingly against Jesus. These were true Christian believers. The dream was a picture of Calvary, and seen in the context of this chapter, it is what we do to Jesus when we refuse to embrace “the labor of bringing our total personality into conformity to His”; when we insist on bringing His personality into conformity to ours; when we want to be God rather than be the creature; when we worship ourselves through introspection rather than looking away from ourselves to worship the One and only Creator.

“Let the seeking man reach a place where life and lips join to say continually, ‘Be thou exalted,’ and a thousand minor problems will be solved at once. His Christian life ceases to be the complicated thing it had been before and becomes the very essence of simplicity. By the exercise of his will he has set his course, and on that course he will stay as if guided by an automatic pilot. If blown off course for a moment by some adverse wind he will surely return again as by a secret bent of the soul. The hidden motions of the Spirit are working in his favor, and ‘the stars in their courses’ fight for him. He has met his life problem at its center, and everything else must follow along…he finds his right place of high honor as one made in the image of his Creator…
Nothing will or can restore order till our hearts make the great decision: God shall be exalted above.”

Tozer contrasts Biblical persons (sons of Eli in contrast to Abraham, David, Jacob, etc), pointing out that what mattered to God was not perfection but “holy intention.” This reality about God and His interaction with humans is absolutely imperative to have revelation on or the believer lives his life cringing before Him and others, seeking after perfectionism (which is of the devil) or giving up entirely:

“See how God winked at weaknesses and overlooked failures as He poured upon His servants grace and blessing untold…The man of God set his heart to exalt God above all; God accepted this intention as fact and acted accordingly.”

Tozer finishes the chapter with a truth that we must grasp internally if we are ever to embrace reminder that we “must always keep in mind that God also hath desire, and His desire is toward the sons of men, and more particularly toward those sons of men who will make the once-for-all decision to exalt Him over all. Such as these are precious to God above all treasures of earth or sea. In them God finds a theater where He can display his exceeding kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. With them God can walk unhindered, toward them he can act like the God He is.”

If you have a moment right now, I would recommend that you pause and reflect on God’s desire toward you personally at this moment and ask the Holy Spirit to help you practice doing this often so that the truth begins to penetrate your deep inner being…)

A final warning is given by Tozer that he fears that he may “convince the mind before God can win the heart. For this God-above-all position is one not easy to take. The mind may approve it while not having the consent of the will to put it into effect…God wants us all, and He will not rest till He gets us all…”

“O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me decrease that Thou mayest increase, let me sink that Thou mayest rise above. Ride forth upon me as Thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass, and let me hear the children cry to Thee, ‘Hosanna in the highest.’”

May the Spirit of grace and peace rest on you this week. Next week we will cover chapter 9: “Meekness and Rest.”

Just a reminder that after this book we will be reading “Seven Longings of the Human Heart” by Mike Bickle, available at amazon.com or the Forerunner Bookstore at ihop.org.