Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16)
Where else could we go in time of need? His Throne is the only place we can receive mercy because He is the only One who can extend it to us. With open, empty hands we approach Him and He fills them to overflowing with His mercy and His grace.
Mercy is when we don't get what we deserve. We deserve judgment, but we get mercy. It's a full pardon for all we have done that shows our disobedience and rejection of God.
Grace is when we get even more than mercy -- we get the added bonus of Christ's righteousness being credited to us.
So mercy is when we don't get what we deserve. And grace is when we do get what we don't deserve.
It's the ultimate exchange. We get rid of our dirty, sinful clothing and replace it with the perfect spotless new garments of Christ's righteousness.
There is no better deal in the universe. It's the most drastic, and certainly most important, makeover ever!
Everything in our life is reversed. Everything is turned upside down.
We approach the Throne, which should be the Throne of Judgment for us, where we should receive His just punishment for our sins and failures. But because we come dressed in the righteousness of His Son, our Redeemer, God is able to be kind and gracious to us, without in any way trivializing His requirement for perfect holiness.
He welcomes us as we approach Him.
The Cross took care of all of it!
So this is the picture we have as we approach the Throne. He is there waiting for us -- eagerly desiring to bless us. A throne is the symbol of authority. And God's Throne is where He commands His goodness to fall upon us.
We so approach with grateful hearts, in confidence, knowing He has already extended the scepter -- not like an early king's scepter -- His scepter is shaped like a cross -- and we approach as children to their loving Father.
Remember what it was like to fun full speed, laughing joyfully, into your father's arms?
Is there a more joyous place in the universe? I don't know of one.
Neither did the Psalmist.
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
(Psalm 16:11)
There's a sign over the gate to Disneyland reminding us that we are entering "The Happiest Place on Earth." And it is a very happy place!
But that happiness pales when compared to the joy we find at the eternal Throne of God.
Sometimes we get carried away with comparing the various words associated with joy.
We define "happiness" one way, and "joy" another way.
The Psalmist approached it differently:
But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.(Psalm 68:3)
Look at those words: be glad, rejoice, be happy, joyful -- four different words, and they all result from being in God's presence.
The Psalmist who write those words was King David, the one who sang and danced in the procession that brought the Ark of God's Presence into Jerusalem.
He was joyfully celebrating and dancing before God. It wasn't planned. It was a spontaneous reaction to just being close to God. And that's the kind of joy available to us! Today! Right now! At this precise moment! Just grab it!
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