Astonished, bewildered, and overpowered!
(Octavius Winslow, "From Grace to Glory" 1864)
The unregenerate man does not worship the God of the Bible. Worshiping a god of his own imagination, he rears his altar to "THE UNKNOWN GOD." Divesting the God of Scripture of His divine perfections . . .
His holiness,
His justice,
His truth,
His power
His wrath —
he completely undeifies Him, robbing Him of His glory.
But when he is born again, lo! the God of the Bible bursts upon his new-found vision and his wondering gaze, as a 'newly revealed God'.
Clothed with new attributes,
arrayed with new perfections,
bathed with new glory,
standing in a new relation —
the new creature falls down at His feet in adoring admiration and love, exclaiming, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You! Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes!" Never did . . .
the being of God, appear so true,
the perfections of God, appear so glorious,
the character of God, appear so great,
the government of God, appear so holy,
the relation of God, appear so endearing — as now!
Born into a new world, the GOD of the new creation unveils to the eye as infinitely, ineffably lovely!
Like a being born and grown up in a dark mine, and brought to the earth's surface to gaze upon the sun in its noontide effulgence — the new created soul is astonished, bewildered, and overpowered by the splendor, glory, and greatness of the being, character, and perfections of Jehovah!