Theologian R.C. Sproul once wrote: “Recently a friend asked, ‘What’s the big idea of the Christian life?’ He was interested in the overarching … goal of the Christian life. To answer his question, I fell back on the theologian’s prerogative and gave him a Latin term. I said, ‘The big idea of the Christian life is ‘coram Deo.’ Coram Deo captures the essence of the Christian life.’”

Sproul explained, “This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God … whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God.

“God is omnipresent. There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze.”

It’s No Use Running

David, the Psalmist, wrote in Psalm 139:7-10: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, And your right hand will take hold of me.”

I used to think I could cheat on God and He wouldn’t notice. I suppose I was thinking God was busy on bigger things than me, like the Middle East, global wars, poverty, etc.

But the Psalm above, and the behavior of Jesus while on Earth, suggest that we humble individuals matter to Him big time.

And what gets the “angels singing” is when we stop running and hiding and surrender to His benevolent care and start living “coram Deo.”

In Luke 15:10, Jesus said, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Christian, This World Is Not Your Home

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:6-10:

“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord — for we walk by faith, not by sight — but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.”

So, in view of the fact that we are destined to spend eternity in the physical presence of God in Heaven, why not start practicing living “before the face of God” right now, right here on Earth?

The Judgment Seat of Christ

So what, you might ask? Who cares if I just go about my own personal business as a Christian?

Well, apart from missing out on the countless blessings of living before the Lord in conscious fellowship with God, another future prospect looms — “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”

We know that this is not a judgment for our sins — that judgment occurred 2,000 years ago when Jesus bore our sins away once for all.

But for believers, there is a future reckoning related to rewards given for faithful service for deeds done since our conversion.

The oft-quoted passage from Ephesians 2:8-9 states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith …” and goes on, in verse 10 to remind us that, “… we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works …”

While our “works” contribute nothing to our salvation, our works done after conversion, empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, DO count toward our subsequent rewards in Heaven at Christ’s judgment seat.

Paul wrote in the verse above, “… we also have as our ambition, whether at home (in the body) or absent (with Christ in Heaven), to be pleasing to Him.”

God is preparing us for big things in the hereafter, and He wants us to start now, where we are.

How About You?

You matter to God. Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon tenderly reminds us: “Your sigh is able to move the heart of God. Your whisper can incline His ear to you. Your prayer can stay His hand, and your faith can move His arm. Do not think that God sits on high taking no account of you.” 

Do you believe this? So why not join up as co-laborers with the One Being in all the universe who will “Never leave you, never forsake you?”

Heavenly Homesickness

Why this deep unsatisfied longing?
That no worldly pleasures can satisfy.
Why this sense of not belonging?
Like an earthbound butterfly.

Could I be rooted in a faraway land?
Which I only see through a glass darkly.
Why am I drawn to a kingdom so grand?
To a dream that appears so starkly.

Why should I fear crossing that river so dark?
He has already promised to be my Guide.
Why shouldn’t I trust His sturdy great ark?
Like Noah I’ll sail on top of the tide.

Age brings the dimming of this world and its cares,
Time slipped by so fast, it caught me unawares.

— D.C. Collier