Isaiah 6:1-5
¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple.
² Round him flaming creatures were standing, each of which had six wings. Each creature covered its face with two wings, and its body with two, and used the other two for flying.
³ They were calling out to each other: “Holy, holy, holy! The Lord Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world.”
⁴ The sound of their voices made the foundation of the Temple shake, and the Temple itself was filled with smoke.
⁵ I said, “There is no hope for me! I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful. And yet, with my own eyes, I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!”
Today, I want to talk to you about having the true image of God.
Have you ever wondered why some people pray and get answers immediately? Mean while others have been praying and they seem to get more and more frustrated.
You see, in the scripture above, Isaiah described the exact image of God which he saw. It was actually not an image but the real him. That's why he concluded in verse 5 that, "I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty".
Why am I saying he saw the real God, because he also said, I have no hope. The people then knew that if a person sees God, he can not continue living.
So, this is what Isaiah described, the real image of God. And this is the image that I want you to carry in your mind from today.
When you make your prayer, know that there is a God enthroned above the living creatures, who is ready to answer your prayer and you will get answers because the Lord loves those who know him.
This was the very same way God revealed himself to Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1:4-28.
I know someone will say, this was in the old testament, things changed in the new testament but still in the book of revelation, God appeared to John in this same way.
You might as well fail in dealing with God, If you don't have the right image of him in your mind. This is one reason why the Israelites failed.
To them, God was something tangible. What they don't see physically would not make alot of sense to be God as compared to the image they had made with their own hands.
That's why when God brought them out of Egypt with Power they reached a point when Moses had gone to get the ten commandments and then he took long.
They said to Haron, make for us our God that brought us out of Egypt, has for that fellow Moses, we don't know what has happened to him. (Exodus 32:23)
So Haron made for them a golden image of bull and they all fell down and worshipped this Image. Moses came back and found guys were too busy worshing the idol, he got furious and they were all killed.
But I want you to know that, they just didn't have the real picture of who God in their minds. So every time, they would want something tangible, something seen to be their God.
When you don't have the true image of God in your mind, you can easily fail.
God gave a law through Moses that we should not worship the image of anything even if it's the image of Heavenly beings.
Exodus 20:4-6
[4]“Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.
[5]Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.
[6]But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.
This was the law, however, it was too heard for men to obey.
Still When the Israelites where being bitten by snakes, God gave them an image of a snake, that whoever gets bitten by snake and look at it would not die. This was symbolical of Jesus being Crusified that whoever believe in him will not die. (John 3)
But do you know that the scriptures say, the Israelites started treating that iron snake like a God, that they even started offering sacrifices to It.
It was not until King Hezekiah came and destroyed it because people were not doing the right thing. Instead of worshiping God as he really is, they were worship his creations. This was the reason they were never at rest.
This was just an object of worship, not something to be worship. When you look at it, it should remind you of something. But not that you should worship it.
And that's the same way people treat the Cross. They want to worship The cross and the other images of holy people. The cross and the images of saints are just instruments of God, not a God to be worshipped.
When people don't know the true image of God, they start basing on assumptions. That's when you will see people worshiping things that even God doesn't understand, images that can't breath or talk. I wonder how it would answer there prayers.
That's why Paul wrote in Romans 1:21-25
²¹ They know God, but they do not give him the honour that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness.
²² They say they are wise, but they are fools;
²³ instead of worshipping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortal human beings or birds or animals or reptiles.
²⁴ And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other.
²⁵ They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised for ever! Amen.
When you have the true image of God
Do you remember King Hezekiah who destroyed the iron snake. This man had the real image of God in his mind.
One day, the King of Assyria called Sennacherib organised troops to attack Israel. He was too powerful and because he had destroyed many nations, every other nations feared him.
When he arrived near Israel, he realized that the King of Israel only relied on God. So he threatened to destroy the whole of Israel. And he said in his letter to King Hezekiah,
“The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. (Isaiah 37:9-10 )
When King Hezekiah heard that, he carried the letter has Sennacherib has written, with all it's insults and threat. He took it to the temple of the Lord and he prayed saying;
¹⁶ “Almighty Lord, God of Israel, enthroned above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky.
¹⁷ Now, Lord, hear us and look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. Isaiah 37:16-17
When he was done, a message was immediately revealed to Prophet Isaiah to take in answer to King Hezekiah's prayer.
This is what I want you to know, this man had the true picture of God in his mind. Thats why he said, " The God is enthroned above the living creatures" just like the prophets described God. And he received an immediate answer.
Even King David also prayed in the same way;
Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel; hear us, leader of your flock. Seated on your throne above the winged creatures, (Psalms 80:1)
Nowonder, whenever these people prayed to God, they would always get answers.
King Hezekiah's Sickness
One day, when King Hezekiah was sick and at the point of death. God sent Isaiah to tell him that he was not going to recover, instead he would die.
When Hezekiah heard that, he turned towards the wall and cried bitterly and prayed,
“Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to.” And he began to cry bitterly. (Isaiah 38:3)
After his prayer, verse 4 tells us that, Then the Lord commanded Isaiah to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, “I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer.
I have never seen this anywhere in the scriptures. A man praying to God and God commands a prophet, that he has added for him 15years. Even before Isaiah had left his compound, God had already answered King Hezekiah.
I want you to have this same image of God in your mind that Hezekiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and other prophets and apostle John had. If you do this, you will see a great change in your prayer and communication with God.
Admonition
The only problem with most people is this, they don't know where to direct there prayers to. Most people just pray assuming that God is somewhere there around the sky, they are not sure. But Now that you know, start addressing God has he really is and he will honor you by answering your prayers immediately.
I will honour those who honour me, and I will treat with contempt those who despise me. (1 Samuel 2:30)
I therefore beseech you, honour God has he really is and he will honour you. Address Him in the right word and he will answer you with great honour.
Why do you organise words and praises that are not real when you are going to meet your boss but fail to address God with honour, of which he deserve?. Instead, we want to talk to him like he's deaf. These are the small things that are setting us back. Have the right image of God and you will one day send us your testimony. God bless you!
Prayer
Lord, God of heaven and earth. I thank you that I now have the true image of your presence, there for I pray that may you continue teaching me new things about you and help others get to know you as well. In Jesus name. Amen...