Have you ever heard the phrase, Coram Deo, before? It is a Latin phrase that means in the presence of or before the face of God. John Calvin, the great Reformer of the 16th century, spoke vividly about the idea of Coram Deo. His view was that every facet of life was to be lived before the face of God.* Such that a man or woman shouldn’t leave a church worship service viewing their home-life, work-life, social-life, civic-life, etc. differently than the previous hour or so spent worshipping God. In other words, life is to be lived with a sense of awe of who God is, a realization that He is present in the everyday mundane, and that He alone is to be (and can be) worshipped in every facet of life.
When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.” -Psalm 27:8
What a call to living–a call to live Coram Deo!
Over the next several posts, I am simply going to write out an attribute of God that speaks to the awesomeness of who He is, for His name’s sake–so that 2106 might begin contemplating the call to living Coram Deo.
God is One. This simply means that (i) there is no other god or being like God and (ii) God is the only real God. Thus, He alone is to be praised, honored, glorified, and worshipped–in every aspect, facet, dimension, sphere, situation, and context of life.
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” – Deuteronomy 6:4
“Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” 1 Corinthians 8:4-6