29th December 2024

What is the ultimate goal of the Christian life? Let me suggest that the essence of Christianity can be summed up in a Latin term: Coram Deo.¹ This phrase 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, and to the glory of God. 

To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. God is omnipresent, and there is no place so remote that we can escape him. As the psalmist says: ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.’ (Psalm 139:7-10). 

Being aware of the inescapable presence of God helps our appreciation of his sovereignty. This doesn’t mean we live in reluctant submission motivated by fear of what God will do if we are not obedient. Rather, it is the recognition that there is nothing greater than God and our highest goal is to give honour to him (Matthew 22:37). Our lives are to be living sacrifices, offered in a spirit of adoration and gratitude (Romans 12:1). 

To live all of life Coram Deo means we can’t compartmentalise our lives into the religious and the non-religious, as if God is only present or interested in certain aspects of what we do.

We are fulfilling our Christian calling being a housewife, mother, schoolteacher, or car mechanic just as much as a pastor or a missionary fulfills their calling. 

Everything we do is before the face of God and is to be offered in service to him. Outside of church, this includes our careers and also the more routine and mundane activities of life such as washing up, mowing the lawn, ironing and shopping. While in church our activities should reflect that we are in God’s presence: our prayers acknowledge our need for, and gratitude to, God; the reading of scripture professes that God is speaking to us; offerings are given to God and not just to the church fund; hymns are sung to God, not just to each other, and even our silences are experienced as being in the presence of God. Coram Deo is not to be just a cerebral acknowledgement. It is to be an experienced reality that surrounds, envelopes and blesses us day by day. 

 ¹ Coram Deo meaning – Google Search

Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead 
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA

Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm

Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:  
wordoflife@gracecom.church