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Why do people have so much trouble finding God? Why is there so much debate on whether or not there is a God? Why are there so many questions concerning God? Because God is so hidden. We cannot see Him, we cannot hear Him, we cannot touch Him. If He were to appear to us, stand in front of us, and talk to us, then we would say, "O God, now I know that You are real." Since He has not appeared that way, we are all left wondering. God Is Spirit--Invisible to Human Eyes
The Bible tells us that God is Spirit. Spirit is intangible and invisible
to the physical senses. God is in a different realm than we are in. It is
impossible for us to see radio waves. We need a proper device, such as a
radio, to sense radio waves. It is the same in contacting God. We need the
proper organ--the human spirit--to contact God.
Man Has a Spirit--an Organ to Contact God
God made man with three parts--the spirit, the soul, and the body. The
body is for contacting physical things, such as food, water, tables,
chairs, etc. The soul is for contacting psychological things, such as
thoughts, love, hatred, etc. The spirit is for contacting God, who is
Spirit. We were raised on physical and psychological things. We are used
to using our body and our soul. But we were never taught to use our spirit
to contact God--we do not know how. God is hidden only to our body and our
soul, but God is not hidden to our spirit. We can learn to contact God
with our spirit. Then we will say that God is not hidden, but rather, is
as available in our spirit as air, water, or food. We cannot see sound
with our eyes, but we can hear it with our ears. We cannot receive radio
waves with our ears, but we can use a radio to receive them. We cannot
touch the fragrance of a flower, but we can smell it with our nose.
Similarly, we cannot see God with our eyes, hear God with our ears, or
touch God with our hands, but we can contact God with our spirit.
God Reveals Himself in Four Ways
Although God Himself has not appeared before our eyes, we need to consider
if God has used other ways to manifest Himself. Perhaps God is poetic and
does not reveal Himself so plainly, but chooses other means to hint at His
existence. Maybe God tries to hide Himself so that only His true seekers
will find Him. We have found that God uses four ways to show Himself to
man. The universe displays to us the handiwork of God, the Bible reveals
to us God and His purpose, Jesus Christ manifested to us the person of
God, and the true believers express God.
The Universe Displays God's Characteristics and Power
The universe is God's handiwork displaying His power, His glory, and His
characteristics. Nobody really knows the size of the universe. The
immeas-urable size of the universe tells us that the power of the Creator
is even greater. The shining of all the stars is merely a shadow of all
the glory of God. What brightness and shining we would see if all the
stars of the universe were put together! Yet God's glory is even greater
than that. According to the Bible, all the creatures on the earth,
including man, express God's characteristics. Vegetable life shows the
beauty of God. Animal life shows the liveliness of God. Human life,
created in the image of God, shows the divine attributes of God, such as
love and righteousness. Air points to God as the atmosphere in which man
can live continually. Water points to God as living water to quench and
satisfy the thirst of man. Food points to God as nourishment and strength
to man. The universe displays not only the existence of God but also His
power, glory, and characteristics. This universe is full of the
fingerprint of God.
The Bible Reveals God and His Purpose
The Bible, the Word of God, tells us about God, His eternal purpose, His
heart's desire, His creation, His relationship with man, and His
salvation. Whatever we need to know about God is recorded in the Bible.
The Bible is thick and hard to understand, but anybody with a seeking
heart spending time to study the Bible will find out everything he needs
to know about God because He is fully revealed in it.
Jesus Christ Manifested God
Jesus Christ was God become man who lived on the earth 2,000 years ago. He
was God expressed, God manifested, God in the flesh. He expressed God's
love and God's righteousness. He was tender and kind to the people around
Him. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and delivered the oppressed. He
was the fullness of God in a human body.
It is true that He was still somewhat hidden. He was born in a manger,
raised in lowly Nazareth, apprenticed as a carpenter, and endowed with an
unpleasant physical appearance. According to our natural expectation, God
should have come in glory and full of power, with thousands of angels
flanking Him on both sides. His voice should have been like thunder. His
face should have been shining like the sun. This is why it was hard for
the people of those days to recognize Him as God. They did not realize
that God had to come in a lowly way to be our friend and to save us.
Later, He will come the second time in full glory as the King of kings,
but by then it will be too late. Today we have to see Him with our spirit
as the glorious One.
True Believers Express God
When people believe into Christ, they receive God's life into them. They
can be like Christ, expressing God. It has been a problem that most
believers have not expressed God by living in the life of God. They still
live in themselves by their natural fallen sinful life. There is jealousy,
strife, envying, division, and even greed among them, and God remains
hidden to the world. There are some, not many, believers expressing God on
earth today. By contacting and living by God in your spirit, you can
become one of them expressing God.
You Can See God
Some say, "If you can show God to me, then I will believe in Him."
However, God is not going to show Himself to physical eyes in this age. He
is revealing Himself to the spirit of the people seeking Him. You cannot
see God with your eyes, but you can see God with your spirit. To believe
without seeing Him with physical eyes is more blessed. God's desire is not
only to reveal Himself to your spirit, but to come into your spirit and
live in-side of you. This is why He created man with a spirit; He wants to
come into your spirit to be your life.
The way to use your spirit to see God is to talk to Him. Say, "Lord Jesus,
I want to see You in my spirit. I want to contact You. I want You to
reveal Yourself to me. I want You to come into me and live in me. Thank
You, Lord." If you speak to Him in this way, He will be hidden from you no
longer.
Bible Verses for Your Reading:
Isaiah 45:15 You (are) a God who hides yourself, O God of Israel, the
Savior.
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
spirit
and truthfulness.
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of Him, both His eternal power and
divine characteristics, have been clearly seen since the creation of the
world.
Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament
shows his handiwork.
Genesis 1:26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have do-minion over... all the earth.
John 4:14 But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by
no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in
him a spring of water gushing up into eternal life.
John 6:57 He who eats Me, he also shall live be-cause of Me.
Luke 24:27 And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, He
explained to them clearly in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself.
Ephesians 3:9-11 And to enlighten all that they may see what the
economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in
God, who created all things, In order that now to the rulers and the
authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made
known through the church, According to the eternal purpose which He made
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Timothy 3:16 Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested
in the flesh.
Matthew 14:14 He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick.
Mark 8:2-3 I am moved with compassion for the crowd, because for three
days now they have re-mained with Me and they do not have anything to eat.
And if I send them away to their home hungry, they will faint on the way.
John 8:11 Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.
Colossians 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily.
Isaiah 53:2 He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him,
[there is] no beauty that we should desire him.
Matthew 11:19 The Son of Man..., a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which
is lost.
Luke 9:26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words, of this one
will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of
the Father and of the holy angels.
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Galatians 2:20 It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives
in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
1 Corinthians 3:3 For if there is jealousy and strife among you, are
you not fleshly?
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you..., that there be no divisions
among you.
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all evils, because of
which some, aspiring after money, have been led away from the faith and
pierced them-selves through with many pains.
Ephesians 3:5 Which in other generations was not made known to the sons
of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in
spirit.
John 20:29 Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, you have
believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.
Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you.
Students for the Truth 510-845-3716 thetruth@ocf.berkeley.edu |
