Creator's Commentary
Standing in HIS Presence
I had the idea of putting Ariel and Nikki into a Job-like moment. A moment when the angels were called into the royal throne room, the Most Holy Place, to give an account.
To give an account. I wonder what this semi-millennial performance review would look like.
What would it feel like to Stand In His Presence?
I mean, really stand before Him.
Not in a church. Not in prayer. Not in some quiet moment when you need Him to get you out of a jam.
But actually stand before Him. Standing in his Presence. Standing in his Holiness. In his penetrating, all-seeing, all-knowing light.
Most of us probably imagine something resembling a courtroom. God sitting on His throne, examining the record of our lives. Every mistake. Every failure. Every thought we hoped nobody would ever know about.
And there we stand. Completely exposed. Like Nikki was on the table.
But what if it isn't like that at all?
What if standing before God isn't about Him discovering who we are? After all, He already knows.
Or about handing down our sentence of 40 lashes. Somebody already paid for that.
Or even Him giving us a tongue-lashing, a verbal beatdown. The “How could you? I loved you, but just look at how unclean you are. How many times you strayed? Or, maybe my personal Christian love favorite, “I love you, but I hate the sin in you. You are family, but you're not welcome in my presence." The old Christian shun.
What if standing before God is about finally understanding -I mean actually feeling and knowing - who He is with every fiber of your being. Not the Hell Fire and Brimestone Version. Not the" I Love You, BUT” version, but another version. The Prodigal Father version.
The Prodigal Son. Now there is a parable that breaks my heart and heals my soul every time I read it. What if our face-to-face encounter with God is THAT? He sees us with pig 💩 on our clothes as we approach Him. And He runs and greets us. He throws His arms around us and gives us clean clothes. He gives us a place to call home. And He celebrates the moment.
What if God is good, all the time, and all the time God is good?
Beyond our capacity to believe.
What if THAT is what we will encounter?
What Say You, my Son
Part 4 of The Lion of God - Nikki is maybe the one episode I felt the most unsure about from a storytelling perspective. It has only thirteen words of dialogue.
Uriel saying, “Ariel, Come Forth.”
And the words spoken by God. Repeated twice.
“What say you, MY SON!”, five words, said twice in the entire episode.
What would you say?
He called you Son (or Daughter). What would you say?
Are you going to talk about your works? They were all burnt up at the door.
Are you going to talk about your righteous fervor? "Look at me." Look how good I was, compared to my unclean brother. He would tell you, “Your righteous deeds are like filthy rags."
What are you going to say?
What am I going to l I say?
The Advocate
There's another important detail in this scene.
Two thrones.
One is the great white throne, radiating a light so pure that nothing can remain hidden in its presence.
The other is a throne of gold.
And seated upon that golden throne is Jesus Christ.
Notice what He does.
He listens.
And then He speaks on behalf of the angel standing before the Presence.
He is an advocate.
I wonder, what will he say about Ariel.
There is a difference between being completely known and being condemned.
Imagine standing before someone who knows every single thing about you. Every thought. Every motive. Every secret. Every weakness.
And He loves you. Not still loves you. He LOVES YOU. Period.
Not because He overlooked those things.
But because He understood them all along.
Maybe the question I should be asking is, what would Jesus—the Advocate—say about me?
After I answered God's question, “What say you, My Son?”
What would Jesus say about me?
The Lord Is With You.
In Your Weakness God is Made Strong