Christ Supreme in the Problem of Knowing God

At least 3 barriers exist to knowing God:

1. The Problem of Essence - Who God Is
2. The Problem of Ethic - What God is Like
3. The Problem of Eternity - Where God is

These 3 problems leave man out in the cold as far as knowing God is concerned:

1. The Problem of Essence - Man is Unable to See God as Invisible
   
2. The Problem of Ethic - Man is Unsuitable to See God as Holy
   
3. The Problem of Eternity - Man is in the wrong environment to see God

Can man ever know his Creator?
God has revealed Himself in 4 ways:

1. Product of His Hands - Creation
2. Proof of His ethic - Conscience
3. Power of His Word - the scriptures / Covenant
4. Person of His Son - Christ
   

These 4 means by which God has mad Himself known correspond to the opening 3 chapters of the book of Romans:

1. God perceptible in Creation (Romans chp 1)
2. God perceptible in Conscience (Romans chp 2)
3. God perceptible in Covenant / Scripture (Romans chp 2)
4. God perceptible in Christ (Romans chp 3)

1. Creation is the product of Divine intelligence and power (Rom1:20; Gen 1; Psalm 19) and God expects us to perceive the Divine Power, order and intelligence behind it.
2. Conscience, pointing us to an absolute right and wrong points us to a moral order in the universe and to the moral character of our Creator.
3. Covenant / scripture with over 100 fulfilled prophecies in the life of Jesus Christ alone, plus multiple other fulfilled prophecies regarding Israel and her neighbours points us to the power and authority of God who alone is able to tell the end form the beginning: "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: "(Isa 46:9-10)
4. Christ : God has appointed "one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus"
   
   

The God who could not be perceived by man, has made Himself known by becoming man.

"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. " (Joh 1:18)

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isa 7:14)

"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Php 2:6-11)

God is now knowable in the person of Jesus Christ:

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. " (2Co 4:6)

Gods Word leaves me with a presentation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth not as a philosopher, moralist or great religious leader but as God incarnate:

"O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!"
(Isa 40:9)

"And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God." (Joh 20:28)

"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Mat 16:16)

God became man that He might not only reveal the invisible to those unable to see God but that He might redeem those who are unsuitable to see God, separated from Him by sin:

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Rom 3:23)

As such Christ is the only way of salvation, having offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of His creatures:

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: " (1Pe 3:18)

God now "commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel" :

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (Joh 3:16-18)

Herein lies the revelation of God to man and the responsibility of man to His creator.



Yours in Christ
Stewart

MP3 downloads of messages preached on many Bible subjects are freely available at:

www.newcumnock.org

If God is Real Why Can't we See Him?

A commonly asked question: if God is real then why does He not make Himself more obvious?
Why can we not see Him?
The Bible gives us at least 3 good reasons:

1. The Problem of Essence - Who He is
2. The Problem of Ethic - What He is
3. The Problem of Eternity - Where He is

The Problem of Essence - Who He is
Man is Unable to See God


God is in Essence, in Himself invisible :

"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:" (Col 1:15)

"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. " (1Ti 1:17)

That is, He is not in Himself perceptible by the natural senses.
This ought not to greatly surprise us that the God who created the Universe and gave us senses to perceive the creation Himself lies out with the range of those senses designed for perception of the created universe. This is really simply another way of say that the Creator is greater than the creation.
Human sense regularly reaches edge of its perceptive capacity within creation itself. The eye is unable to perceive ultraviolet light and infrared light and the ear is unable to detect ultrasound.


The Problem of Ethic - What He is :
Man is Unsuitable to See God


Not only do we lack the natural capacity to perceive God but we also lack the personal suitability for the perception of God. It is said that over the years that some over enthusiastic astronomers have blinded themselves by gazing with their telescopes, unshaded, at the sun. The brightness of the sun burns out their retina blinding them, at times permanently. Man is not only unable to see God but man is unsuitable to see God:

"But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." (Isa 59:2)

"And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God." (Jdg 13:22)



The Problem of Eternity - Where He is
Man is in the wrong environment to see God

As human beings in a finite universe we are familiar with seeing, touching, tasting, hearing and smelling objects within that Universe. These objects and phenomena are products of that universe in which we ourselves exist. The computer screen on which you read this blog is constructed of material elements such as metal and plastics and is driven by physical processes giving off signals perceptible to the human eye. God however is not a product of the universe He is the producer of the universe. The universe itself is not sufficient to contain Him for the purposes of perception:

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?" (1Ki 8:27)

The space time relationship between God and the Universe is different from that of material objects which are the product of that universe. God is not so much contained within the universe but rather the universe is contained within God:

"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." (Act 17:28)

The universe was created into an omnipresent Christ:

"For in him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"
(Col 1:16)

Putting it simply; where would we put God to see Him?

Is it possible then for man to know His creator?

The subject of the next blog:

"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (Joh 1:18)

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."(2Co 4:6)


Yours in Christ
Stewart

MP3 downloads of messages preached on many Bible subjects are freely available at:

www.newcumnock.org

Christ Supreme Over the Problem of Evil

The Bibles greatest problem is surely that of the problem of evil. As one of my boys asked me recently:

"Dad did God know what was going to happen when He made the garden of Eden and made the tree of knowledge of good and evil and allowed the serpent into the garden?"

"Dad why did God allow the serpent into the garden?"

"Dad why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil into the garden?"

There was no good pacifying the boy with the assurance that whilst sin may have entered by Eden God had a solution for sin at Calvary, for that simply begged the question:

"Why did God allow all that sin and suffering and death just to get us back to where we started?"

The scripture is clear:

God is in control - He is Sovereign (Is46:10; Eph1:11)
God is the Creator of you and I and of Eden (Gen 1 to 3)
God is omnipotent (Matt 19:26; 28:18)
God is Omniscient and did know what was going to happen (John 21:17)

The scripture is also clear that God does not simply react or respond as a reflex to the problem of sin or the fall but rather the reason for all that has been permitted from Gen 1 to Rev 22 lies in the Counsel of God itself. Gods purpose of Glorifying His Son (Eph1:10; 1:12) is supreme over sin and suffering and the fall in Eden. The solution to mans problem preceded the problem itself:


"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." (Rom5:6)

"while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom5:8)

"when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son," (Rom 5:10)

The Son who is Saviour preceded Adam who was the Sinner:

" Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come" (Rom 5:14)

Adam may be the shadow but Christ is the substance!
Adam is the lesser but Christ the greater!
Gods solution preceded mans problem!


Gods work in Christ was not simply a reaction to Adams failure!
Adams sin set the scene for Gods salvation in Christ! For the entrance into time of one far greater and infinitely more glorious than Adam, with a salvation that preceded the foundation of the world itself! (1 Peter 1:20)

This is a different way of looking at man's problems than the reasoning that might be applied by the natural mind. In every day life the problem precedes the solution and the solution is merely a reaction to the problem. For example: the other week the car hand brake broke, so I took it to the garage to get it fixed. Human logic and the order of events would suggest that I fixed the car because it was broken. The order and logic of Romans 5 goes somewhat differently, the hand brake was broken that it might be fixed and so that I might be drawn to and discover the character of the mechanic as the one who fixes hand brakes!
The other day I spent some time tidying up the loft which had become cluttered with all the things that you dare not through out, just in case they become useful! It was a mess so I tidied it. Human logic explains the events in a cause and effect relationship such that I tidied the loft because it was a mess, Romans 5 explains the situation in reverse: the loft was a mess so that I might tidy it!
The purpose lies not in the problem but in the process of solving the problem!
The solution precedes the problem!
The Glory of Christ was the reason for Adams failure!
The Glory of Christ and His work were not simply a reaction to Adams failure! But rather Adams failure and mans problems were permitted and the solution purposed that in all things Christ might be glorified (Col1:18; Eph 1:12, 14) and I might know God in a way that Adam never knew Him!

What about Sam's objection:

"What is the point of all that sin and suffering and death if God just brings us back to where we were in Eden?"

What indeed is the point of breaking the car simply to fix it again?
The answer lies in this, that God does not take me back to where we started, the story of redemption is not circular it is linear. As Gods purposes in redemption close in Revelation chp 21 and 22 we have a scene like Eden but distinct form Eden:

There is no tree of knowledge of good and evil
There is no serpent
There is "nought that defileth that shall enter therein"
We have moved on from a garden with 4 branches of a river running through it (Gen 2:10), to the very source of the river itself (Rev22:1).

We have in all that God has done in redemption from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, yielded up to Him eternally the desire for and relinquished the potential for evil and we in its place have chosen Him for our portion eternally. 'I am His and He is mine forever.'

Listen to: 'The Bibles Biggest Problem'



Yours in Christ
Stewart

MP3 downloads of messages preached on many Bible subjects are freely available at:

www.newcumnock.org