How Does God View A Man?

Winston Churchill
once said, “We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow-worm.”¹
Many times, man seems to be little more than a worm. He is low, small, and a creature of the dirt. Churchill certainly saw mankind and regarded him as low,
though himself a little higher. How does God view man? Does he see
us as worms, glow-worms, sheep, or something else? It is rather
important to have an accurate knowledge of how God views us, but how
could we discover this perspective? Luckily, a Bible hero has
already been there and was kind enough to enlighten us. Turn with me
to Isaiah chapter six. Isaiah chapter six is one of the few places
in the Bible that we get a front row visit to the throne room of God.

Isaiah six,
starting verse one, reads: “In
the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted,
seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
” Have you ever been to a wedding where the bridal gown
train is half the length of the sanctuary? Imagine a train so long
it fills the whole room. The wording seems to suggest it filled the
whole room, and this was not likely a small room. So here stands
Isaiah in the presence of the Almighty, His very robe filling the
room. What else does Isaiah see?

Picking up in verse two, it reads, “Above
him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered
their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were
flying.
And
they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’
At
the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the
temple was filled with smoke.”
Wow. Here Isaiah stands in the throne room of God, and these
seraphim are singing the praises of the Lord Almighty. What is
curious is that when they sing His name, the doorposts and thresholds
shake and the room is filled with smoke. All this happens just at
the mention of His name. God has not even spoken yet, just these
lowly seriphim who have to cover their face and feet in the presence
of God.

What would this
have been like for Isaiah? What would be going through his mind?
Imagine him standing there looking at the glorious robe, hearing the
thundering voices of the seraphim, smelling the sharp smoke fill the
room, feeling the shaking of the ground beneath his feet, and seeing
the Lord high and lifted up on the throne of glory. He must have
been saying something like, “Oh my. Oh wow. Oh my. Oh crap.”
Isaiah sees himself. He is experiencing first hand what no other man
in history has been privileged to witness, and he is interrupted by
remembering that he is standing in the middle of this glory. Have
you ever had that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when
those lights flash in the rear-view mirror? I am pretty sure
Isaiah’s stomach is hanging like a chandelier in hell right now.

Isaiah now realizes
he is a worm. Verse five reads, “‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am
ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of
unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.'”
Here he says to himself that there is no way out of this. He is a
man of unclean lips and he even comes from a people of unclean lips.

In 2010, I was in
Nairobi, Kenya, leading a mission trip of college students. One day,
the other leader, Tracey, and I were taking a matatu into downtown
Nairobi to draw out money. A matatu is an old, eighties minivan
which was turned into public transportation vehicle. Many of these
matatus were owned by young men who loved to show off while working
their job. Many of them did this by installing the most ridiculously
expensive sound systems in these matatus. The one we were on had
three massive sub-woofers at the front of the passenger area-right
where Tracey and I were sitting.

As the driver took
off, he began blasting the most vile, explicit song I have ever
conceived. I have not always followed the paths of righteousness and
in my rebellious days I listened to some pretty vile music, but this
was a whole other level. This song would make a sailor blush with
shame. What made it worse was it was of course sexual in nature, so
Tracey and I could not even make eye contact. This song went on for
six minutes! About halfway through, the rapper cited an especially
profane line, and the song began repeating it over and over. This
one line repeated for what seemed like an eternity, blasting 18
inches from our faces.

We finally get to
where we are going and get out of the van of transgression. Tracey
looks at me and says, “Man, we need to find a baptistry asap! I
feel dirty just by being in there.” I replied that I would settle
for a priest at that point. We had not spoken one bad word, but just
being in the presence of such filth seemed to rub off on us.

“Woe to me… I
am a man of unclean lips, and I am from a people of unclean lips….”
Isaiah was done. There was no escape. He stood in the presence of
a perfect, holy God, whom he had offended deeply with unclean words.
How sad and ironic. He was witnessing the most glorious of splendors
and could not enjoy it, for it would be his undoing. Like watching
the beauty of the atom bomb explosion from only a mile away. There
is no duck and cover. There is no escape. There is no defense. It
is merely a matter of time before he would be wiped from existence.
Hebrews 10:31 says “it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.” “Woe to me. I am ruined.” We are worms
indeed. When a man stands before God, He sees a man of unclean lips.
It will be our end, or will it?

Verse six
continues: “Then on of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in
his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.” Isaiah is
now thinking, “Great. Here he comes to char me now.” Verse
seven: “With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has
touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned
for.'” Wow. In a moment, Isaiah passes from death to life. The
feelings of aw and relief must have been two of the dozens of
feelings going through him at that moment.

When Jesus Christ
touches our lives, he cleanses us; He makes us clean. When we accept
His perfect atoning gift, He no longer sees us as a worm, he sees us
as a man. When a man covered by the blood of Jesus stands before
God, He sees a man of clean lips. Oh, what amazing grace to cleanse
us of that which would bring our doom.

There is more.
Verse eight: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom
shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I.
Send me!’ He said, ‘Go and tell this people:…” God no longer
sees Isaiah as a man of unclean lips, but beyond being clean, he is
now worthy. How amazing it is that the very lips that were to be the
harbinger of his doom would be the very lips that would be the
harbinger of God’s glory! How amazing it is that the very life that
would be the harbinger of your doom can become the very life that
would be the harbinger of God’s glory! Your past, your skills, your
passions, your struggles-all of it can become the very tools by which God will spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through you! When a man
covered by the blood of Jesus stands before God, He sees a man of
worthy lips.

So how does God see
man? Well I guess that depends on you.