The Longing for Fascination

tures, the seraphim (which literally means “burning ones”), gaze upon God’s throne night and day with adoration and fascination (Revelation 4:8; Isaiah 6:2-3). They peer into the mysteries of God and are overwhelmed and awestruck. When the prophet Isaiah witnessed these burning ones before God’s throne, the experience left him speechless. When finally able to describe this encounter, he gave us insight into what it is like to view the beauty of God up close.

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lift- ed up…above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:1-3)

The seraphim, the beings nearest the throne, continually bow and cover their eyes in response to the awesomeness of God’s beauty. As the powerful impact of the revelation of God races through them, they bow and rise up again. They cry, “Holy,

holy, holy,” which means, “Transcendent beauty, transcendent beauty, transcendent beauty!” They are undone with the inces- sant fascination and exhilarating worship; they never exhaust the endless ocean of God’s beauty, never reach the limit of this eternal expanse. This undeviating fascination is what human- ity was made for. We, the redeemed, can experience it in great measure in this life and in its fullest measure for all eternity.

The fascinating God created us with a need to be fascinated. In every human spirit there is a craving to marvel. We long to be filled with endless wonder. God placed a sense of wondering in the core of our design. The secular entertainment industry has identified this longing and targeted it commercially. Even at its best, however, secular entertainment is no match for the fascinating God of the Universe. No eye has seen, no mind has conceived what He has in store for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9). Our highest imagination cannot perceive the fullness of that which will leave us awestruck throughout the eternal ages—the beauty of God Himself. When we are not fascinated with Him we become bored, spiritually dull and spiri- tually passive. To a heart not living in fascination with God, the substitutes of money, drugs, alcohol and immorality are far more tempting, though ultimately they are completely unsatisfying.

It is the nature of mankind to wonder and to explore, to un- cover what is hidden, all in hopes of a new discovery. One thing all scientists and inventors have in common is their insatiable curiosity. The great scientific breakthroughs of history were the fruit of such curiosity. As children, men like Albert Einstein and the Wright brothers were constantly interested in how things worked. Einstein saw his first compass at age five. As the needle swung to the north no matter which direction it was pointed, the boy who would one day pen the theory of relativity stood amazed. Later he said this experience led him to believe there was “something behind things, something deeply hidden.” 1

1 American Institute of Physic’s historical exhibit on Albert Einstein: The Formative Years. More information at http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/early1.htm.

Mankind has always searched for that “something behind things, something deeply hidden.” It drives us to explore, it drives us to wonder, and it is intended to drive us to God be- cause it is a longing He put in us. As with the other cravings He places in our heart, He always provides the ultimate and eternal fulfillment. He designed us with a desire for fascination and of- fers Himself as the satisfaction of our desire.

King David had the same sort of curiosity as the great minds of our day. He received a glimpse of God’s beauty and charted the course for his life using that as his guide. We don’t know ex- actly when or how it happened, but he later wrote that seeking God’s beauty became a life-long fascination for him: “One thing I desire…all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4). For a man with the whole kingdom of Israel under his leadership, these are strong words. David was one of the most powerful men on the planet at the height of his reign, yet encountering God was the great focus of his life. The pal- aces, the wives, the horses and the armies paled in comparison to that one thing, and he made it his life’s ambition to get one more look…and one more…and one more.

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