God's Glory Church

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20)

These words are written in the last book of the Bible. They reveal one of the basic and very important truths of Holy Scripture: God wants a person, having heard His voice, to open the door of his heart and let Him in. What is striking in these words is that the almighty God, to whom everything is subject, appears before us not as a ruler, but as a stranger knocking on the door of the heart. Can’t He Himself open the door and enter? Can’t He, the Creator of heaven and earth, force people to accept Him?

Surely God can do this. But He does not want to take possession of us by force. He is waiting for us to voluntarily accept Him into our hearts and respond to His love with love.

God created people free. But we all abused our free will, fell into the sin of disobedience to the commandments of God and, becoming embittered, said to the Lord of life: “We do not want You to reign over us!” As a result of this, the Lord found himself outside the human heart. We ourselves have put God out the door.

However, He has not gone far from us, He stands behind the doors of our hearts and knocks, waiting for us to let Him in.

How can a great and holy God dwell in our hearts? We can find an explanation for this only in His love. God loves His creation and longs to be in communion with it. He wants to give peace and rest to our souls. He knows that without Him we are unhappy, pitiful, poor and blind, but with Him we possess the countless riches of heaven. How does the Lord knock on us?

God appeals to our minds through His Word – the Holy Scriptures.Jesus Christ says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”(Matthew 11:28). The Lord testifies of His love:“…I have loved you with everlasting love, and therefore have shown favor to you”(Jer. 31:3), and at the same time He warns:“You will die in your sins unless you believe.” To those who respond to His call of love, He promises: “Whoever believes in Me has eternal life”(John 6:47).

God also speaks to us through an inner voice. Left alone with himself, a person often experiences inexplicable melancholy. He feels that his life should be different, that his soul is missing something important, valuable, basic. At this moment, the merciful Savior approaches the person and says: “Let Me in, I will calm your restless soul and fill it with lasting joy and peace.”

The Lord knocks on us through illness and failure. When illness confines us to bed, God gives us the opportunity to think about the frailty of life. He breaks the idols that control our hearts without any right, and reveals the true meaning of life.

God speaks through world events, disasters, wars and changes in society. All this indicates that humanity is approaching its end and the day is near when everyone will stand before the judgment of God if they do not repent of their sins. This is exactly how God speaks to our people today.

Why do people for the most part remain deaf to God’s call? What prevents them from letting in such a great Guest? Why is it that even in the lives of believers, God is behind the doors of their hearts?

Some are hindered by pride, others by everyday worries, and others by favorite sins. People realize that before they can accept Christ, they must forsake all sin. However, sinful deeds seem to them to be the only pleasure in this world, so they say: “Not now, later.”

Others are hampered by a sense of worthlessness and languish needlessly away from Christ. But God does not disdain us as we are. He wants to make us all new people, because He “came to seek and save what was lost.” According to Him, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (Matt. 9:12).

The Savior knows well what exactly prevents us from accepting Him, therefore He says in His Word“Let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let all flesh see the salvation of God”(Isa. 40:4-5). In other words, let the humble not be embarrassed and let the high not be proud of his position – Christ is equally ready to save both.

One of the biggest obstacles to accepting Christ is doubt and unbelief. Many are simply ashamed to believe in God. We are accustomed to accepting only what fits within the framework of established concepts. For too long we have gone against our true original purpose – to glorify God and serve Him – and therefore the abnormal began to be considered normal, and a holy life began to seem impossible to us. This is why we run from Christ, fearing His convicting truth. And if you look carefully, many do not believe in Christ only because deep down in their souls they want Him not to exist. So, whoever of us is proud, let us humble ourselves before Him, because recognizing His dominance over us is not shameful; on the contrary, this is fully consistent with true human dignity.

When we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts, He transforms our entire life, He forgives all our iniquities, frees us from sinful oppression and the torment of a guilty conscience, streamlines our thinking, He instills in us pure desires and illuminates our hearts with an unearthly light. He gives an endless holiday to our soul, personally settling in us.

The Lord will not always appear to us in the form of an inconspicuous wanderer. The time will come when He will come “with power and great glory,” and those who rejected Him will hear the final verdict: “I don’t know you, where you are from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27). To those who have accepted Christ into their hearts, He will say:“Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”(Matthew 25:34).