He made us; He HOLDS US IN BEING by the Word of His power; He know the atom and all of its pieces; He has named every one of the billions of galaxies and calls them by name. He knows our words, our thoughts, our plans; He knows the moment of our death; He know our destiny - heaven or hell.

He is GOD - infinite in glory...infinite in worth...infinite in majesty and purity and holiness...and WE are no bigger than little, tiny, minuscule ants on this earth which are among all the billions of the galaxies.

"Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth...whom I created for my glory." (Is 43:6-7)

God made us to magnify His greatness - the way telescopes magnify stars. He created us to put His goodness, truth, beauty, wisdom , and justice on display. The greatest display of God's glory comes from deep delight in all that He is. This means that GOD gets the praise, and WE get the pleasure and joy.

God created us so that He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him!

What does it mean to "fall short of the glory of God?" It means that none of us has trusted and treasured God the way we should. We have not been satisfied with his greatness and walked in His way. We have sought our SATISFACTION IN OTHER THINGS and treated them as more valuable than God, which is the essence of idolatry. Since sin came into the world we have all been deeply resistant to having God as our ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE. This is an appalling offense to the greatness of God.

We have SCORNED Him with our disbelief; we have scorned Him with our lack of faith; we have scorned Him with our two second thoughts of Him...We have scorned Him every day by our attitudes of irritablility, unkindness, and lack of love. We have broken His commandments.

1. Thou shalt have NO OTHER GODS before me. (money, sex, sports, music, etc.)

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any GRAVEN IMAGE. (statues of Mary and saints, pictures of Jesus, etc.)

3. Thou shalt not take the NAME of the Lord thy God IN VAIN. (taking the title of Christian, but not living like Christ; cursing, etc.)

4. Remember the SABBATH day, to keep it HOLY. (delighting and resting in God, too, etc.)

5. HONOR thy father and thy mother. (inward submission, not just outward)

6. Thou shalt NOT KILL.(satisfying your selfish desires to the physical or emotional injury of others; hating others; abortion)

7. Thou shalt not commit ADULTERY (adultery in the heart and mind also)

8. Thou shalt not STEAL. (misusing God's gifts, including time and money; plagiarism, etc.)

9. Thou shalt not bear FALSE WITNESS against thy neighbor. (lying)

10. Thou shalt not COVET. (not being content with what God has given you; desiring what others have)

1. Instead of glorifying God by loving Him, we have neglected and disdained Him, loved other THINGS more than Him, and gotten a lot more "KICKS" out of the world than out of Christ.

2. Instead of glorifying God by trusting Him and finding our security, hope, and welfare in Him, we have sought security and hope with MONEY, TECHNOLOGY,our own INITIATIVES, and WEAPONS.

3. Instead of glorifying God with gratitude for life and breath and everything, we have treated life as a "right". We have TREATED HAPPINESS AS SOMETHING WE DESERVE instead of an absolutely free and gracious gift of God which He did not have to give us and for which we ought to thank Him every moment of our lives.

4. Instead of glorifying Him by obeying Him and seeking His counsel on our SEX LIVES, our POLITICS, our FINANCES, our RELATIONSHIPS, and our ATTITUDES, we haven't consulted Him 90% of the time in the choices we've made. We have written him off, black-balled Him, ignored Him, and we have brought contempt upon Him through our indifference!

We have looked Him over, sniffed at Him a little bit, and turned to:

He simply doesn't get 1/2% of most people's attention and affection! That's a "SLAP" - that's a "SPIT" - in the face of God!

The great danger that the human race faces today is

The greatest danger that we are exposed to is the

Everything else pales in comparison to an omnipotent God oppposing us with His wrath. That's the GREATEST DANGER that humans face!

A just condemnation and HELL hangs over the head of every human being who has desecrated the glory of God and who has not found the way to appease God's wrath!

But Praise God! There IS HOPE! There IS an ANSWER for those who DESIRE SATISFACTION in God.

Enter into the ROCK, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD,and for the glory of his majesty."

What does this mean?

The LORD, maker of heaven and earth is to be FEARED, as we have seen. And someday, and maybe SOON, this will take place:

"And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, (WILL HIDE) THEMSELVES in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;and (say) to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the faceof him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the WRATH of the LAMB: For the great DAY of HIS WRATH IS COME: and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev.6:15-7)

"The sinners in Zion are AFRAID; FEARFULNESS hath SURPRISED the HYPOCRITES. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? "(Is. 33:14)
Hiding in the rocks in not a safe place to hide from the wrath of the Almighty God. Hiding in the ROCK is the only safe place to hide! We will explain what the ROCK is in a moment, but...
What does it mean to HIDE in the DUST?

The next verse speaks of PRIDE, and "PRIDE" and "SIN" are easily defined by their middle letters.

But here is the GOOD NEWS that you have been waiting for!!!!

True Humility and HIDING IN THE DUST will, by God's grace, enable us to ENTER into the ROCK and there find SAFETY!

What does this mean?

Yes, the SAFE place to hide from the wrath of the Almighty is in the ROCK, and the ROCK is CHRIST. (See I Corinthians 10:4 in the Bible.)

Who is Christ? He is "...God...manifest in the flesh..."(I Tim.3:16) "...Emmanuel, which being innterpreted is, GOD WITH US." (Mt. 1:23) He is the God/Man who in His perfect holiness took the "GREAT SPANKING" and the "HELL" for sinners who will "ENTER into the ROCK, and HIDE thee in the DUST..." He did this by dying a cruel death on the cross to appease God's wrath against sin...so that poor sinners can have FELLOWSHIP with the Father.

This hymn says it so well:

Hiding in the ROCK is a wonderful safe place... a place of peace....a place of LOVE...a place of sweet communion!

Although the place is a place of suffering with Christ, everyone who has truly hidden here can say with the Apostle Paul, "As unknown, yet WELL KNOWN (by the Lord), as dying, and, behold, we LIVE;(eternal life), as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful yet ALWAY REJOICING; as poor, yet making many RICH; as having nothing, and yet possessing ALL THINGS (eternal riches).(II Cor 6: 9-10)
Have YOU ENTERED into the ROCK? Can you say, "I am 'found IN HIM, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is THROUGH the FAITH of Christ, the RIGHTEOUSNESS which is of God BY FAITH?"(Phil.3:9) Do you have Christ's righteousness? When a holy God looks down, does He see a SINFUL YOU or does He see a SINLESS CHRIST COVERING you and your sin because you are HIDING in the ROCK (in Christ)?
Have you experienced the "GREAT EXCHANGE" - My sin on Christ - His righteousness on me?
(Term coined by Piper)

If you have read this far, maybe God is speaking to your heart. If you are not in the ROCK already, we'd love for you to come hide here in the ROCK with us!

Our prayer for you today is that you will understand that "hiding in the dust" involves HUMILITY, the acknowledging of sin and selfishness in your life and the hating and turning away from it and turning to Christ who can wonderfully forgive even the most horrible sins in the world. We hope that you will be able to say, "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus! I DO want to HIDE in the ROCK!"

HIDING in the ROCK happens by FAITH! "For by grace are ye saved through faith,;and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."(Eph. 2:8-9)

Here is an illustration of FAITH: Let's say there is a tight rope walker who walks a rope over a great, deep canyon 2 or 3 times. The crowd cheers,and the man says, "Now who will get on my shoulders and let me carry you across?" There are no "takers" except one little girl. She is the man's daughter, and she has perfect FAITH that her daddy will carry her across safely.

Are you "hopping on Jesus' shoulders" every day and trusting Him to carry you through LIFE, through DEATH, and on to ETERNAL LIFE with Him? Are you with HIM in the ROCK? Do you KNOW that your sins are forgiven? Is HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS COVERING YOU and shielding you from the Almighty wrath of God? Is He slowly helping you to overcome sin?

Someday God's wrath against sin will fall, and those who are HIDING in the ROCK will be spared! I hope and pray that you will be one of them and that you can say with us, "Jesus is my peartl of great price, my all-satisfying TREASURE - my TREASURE CHEST OF HOLY JOY! (As Piper says)

"We'd like to help you make God your TREASURE...because GOD is most glorified in us, when we are most SATISFIED in HIM!"(Quote by Piper)