I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:5-6)
You know, there is a gulf as wide as the stars in the heaven between those who have heard about God and those whose spiritual eyes have seen Jesus. At the same time, the gulf is no wider than the distance between our heads and our hearts. One ultimately leads to life, the other leads to death. Have you encountered God in a supernatural fashion or is Christianity merely a philosophy to you? Many men in this world are sold out to religion or philosophy and even have a zealousness in their pursuit of it. Paul says in Romans 10:2 that I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. They did not know God, they had only heard about Him from others or through learning. They had second-hand information, they were not eye-witnesses of His glory. Jesus came to share His glory with us that He had been given by the Father. The children of God are touched by the glory of God.
When we truly stand in the light of Christ’s glory, when our eyes behold His glory then we surely know who He is and who we are in comparison. It leads to life because at the same time the glory of God is the grace of God. Therefore to encounter God is to be transparent and fully understand our state. Yet in that moment, at the apex of understanding that we deserve no mercy, we find mercy by encountering Gods grace which eclipses our view of ourselves and fixes our eyes upon Jesus. Out from that encounter flows the greatest of joy because we have just been touched by unconditional love and it burns into every part of who we are. Our love for Jesus is taken from beyond the realms of the head and explodes in the heart, changing everything. Everything changes. To know Jesus, to see Jesus high and lifted up, to experience His love and His mercy and His grace is the cauldron of creation. It is in this knowing that sanctification takes place. Self effort is the road of the religionists. Yielding is the road of the saint.
A Call To The Remnant 