15… He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
Words exhaust the majestic “otherness” of God. Our passage carries on the tradition of the OT in extolling the Lord in lofty imagery.
“O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!” (Ps. 8:1)
. . . I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple . . . and one [seraphim] called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Is. 6:1, 3)
If the whole earth is full of His glory, then we begin to understand why the first day of the creation story speaks of God creating light in its entire spectrum (Gen. 1:3). God dwells in “unapproachable light,” like the brilliance of the sun remains unapproachable and damages the eye when looked into. Even more so, we cannot look at God without being blown away:
But [Lord] said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Ex. 33:20)
No one can connect with Him unless He makes Himself known and available. And that He did in the incarnation when He entered His creation:
No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:18)
The Greek word translated “explained” is where we derive our English word “exegete,” that is, to fully explain or make known.
He [Jesus] is the radiance of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power . . . (Heb. 1:3)
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men . . . the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. (John 1:4, 9)
Indeed, by His very nature and revelation to us, our most appropriate response is to desire for Him “honor and eternal dominion.”
Lord, “Thine is the kingdom and power and glory, forever and ever, Amen.”
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