Wherefore Art Thou, My God?

"There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God" (Romans 3:11, HCSB).
"'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it'" (Gen. 28:16, HCSB).
"... [W]hile my enemies continually taunt me, saying, 'Where is this God of yours?'" (Psalm 42:3, NIV).  
"Why let the nations say, 'Where is their God?'" (Psalm 115:2, NIV).  

NB:  WHEN ASKED, "WHERE IS GOD?"  WE OUGHT TO REPLY, "WHERE ISN'T HE?"  

Job wondered of the whereabouts of God and sought Him wholeheartedly, only to be finally rewarded by His visitation.  Remember: God didn't move, we did!   "If only I knew how to find Him so that I could go to His throne" (Job 23:3, HCSB).  If Job can wonder, so can we; not that He's deserted or left us alone, but that we sense His presence and feel in His will and at peace with Him. The Lord promises to be found by all sincere searchers, but His pet peeve or main complaint against man is that he doesn't seek God (cf. Rom. 3:11).

"... But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul."  (Deut. 4:29, HCSB).  Jesus reiterated that if we seek, we shall find; God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself.  But Isaiah even recognized that God is is making Himself known to triflers and the merely curious or disobedient, in that he said, "Yes, You are a God who hides Himself..." (Isa. 45:15, HCSB).  Jeremiah also noticed that if we seek we will surely find God, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you..." (Jer. 29:13-14, HCSB).

Our God is the God who is there (Jehovah Shammah) and He is here even when we don't know it, for He's always as close as the mention of His name.  Some people think they have found God, but He found them first: Pascal said, "I wouldn't have found God, had He not first found me."  Jesus is the great Hound of Heaven in search of lost sheep and He will find them.  This is verified in Scripture, Isaiah 65:1, HCSB, as follows:  "'I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek Me...."  There used to be a bumper sticker that proclaimed, "I found it!" but they obviously didn't realize what Amazing Grace says, "I was lost, but now am found."  (Then they changed their rallying cry to "He found me!"  He found them!  God wasn't lost!  And God is not called it!

Francis Schaeffer wrote a book about God's presence saying "He is there, and He is not silent."  He said that Christianity is about the God who is there! Many who search for Jesus have just missed the boat on fellowship and have unconfessed sin or spiritual skeletons in their closets, and forget that He's as close as confessing all known sin, (call it as it is without cover up) for God indwells each believer and sometimes we quench the Spirit's fire and even insult the Spirit of grace, which grieves Him.   Let us always live up to the calling we have received in a worthy manner (cf. Eph. 4:1).

Now God has no galactic address or physical place of residence, for His everywhere-ness is apparent in His Providence and dealings with man.  For God is spirit!  If we approach Him in prayer and get entree to the throne room of grace and mercy, it's like entering another dimension and the presence of God.  For it has been postulated that God is invisible because He's in another dimension!  But we are not capable of seeing the invisible and the spirit world.

So where is God?  "'Am I a God who is only near'--this is the LORD's declaration--'and not a God who is far away?  Can a man hide himself in secret places and where I cannot see him?'--the LORD's declaration..  'Do I not fill the heavens and all the earth?' --the LORD's declaration"  (Jer. 23:23-24, HCSB).  Thus we are not capable of comprehending His presence:  "The finite cannot penetrate (grasp, or contain) the infinite" (old axiom).

In sum, after Adam had rebelled and fell in the Garden he hid out of shame and guilt and possibly wondered where God was or even wasn't, only to find out that God didn't hide, he did--and to discover you cannot hide from God!     Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Mystery Of The Proverbial Apple

What actually happened in the Garden of Eden?  There is a pseudepigraphical book, The Life of Adam and Eve, but I am not referencing that.  The first temptation of mankind in the perfect environment shows that we cannot blame our surroundings or call ourselves victims of circumstance.  Even if everything was perfect, we aren't and are vulnerable to sin; we would do the same as Adam and Eve and therefore confirm ourselves in sin to stand in solidarity with Adam, the head of the human race.

God had placed two special trees in the Garden of Eden:  the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam knew not their purposes.  God put one off-limits because Adam may not have been mature enough for it yet and He intended him to learn these things at a specified time or in the fullness of time, or whenever!  But this is merely speculation and we shouldn't second-guess God.

Eve wasn't looking for trouble, she was just curious, probably that a serpent could talk, or maybe she was too naive to think anything unusual. I wonder how much Adam had told her since she added to God's Word says, "And don't touch it."  It was referring to the forbidden fruit, whatever it was, we don't know for sure.  NB:  Temptation is not sinning (Jesus was tempted of the devil too), but when we yield it brings forth the fruit of sin.  Doubt often extends with augmentation or exaggeration and this leads to lies and distortions of truth.  Satan saw her coming and said, "Hath God said?" immediately calling God's Word into question and planting the seeds of doubt in her vulnerable mind (for the devil seeks whom he may devour).

The temptation went like this:  Eve was confused about the Word of God, then doubted it, then believed Satan, then she finally disobeyed God took of the fruit and gave some to her husband who then joined her willingly, for he was with her.

The question is not so much the act itself as the motive: why do it?  God looks on the heart (cf. Prov. 21:2).   Satan gave her incentive in promising,  "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."  This sounds awfully tempting and alluring to anyone to be a god and today people seek to be gods rather than godly.  But it's the big lie of Satan.  The insinuation was that God was holding out on her!  Was she missing out on something that she deserves to have? Remember, Adam was nearby and failed to inform her and interfere, for he didn't dare cross her and chose to be on her side through thick and thin, even death.

God said that Adam was guilty of "listening to [Eve]."   They weren't choosing good vs. evil, for they were innocent, they were choosing to disobey God and actually, their own wisdom, delights, wills, enjoyment, fulfillment, and purpose apart from God's. They rejected God's plan!  People still do things their own way:  "We all like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned each to our own way" (Isa. 53:6).  We are like the Israelites in Judges who had no king and each did what was right in his own eyes.

This prototype sin that we all have confirmed ourselves in went as follows according to scholars:
Adam rejected God's authority, doubted His goodness, disputed His wisdom, repudiated His justice, contradicted His faithfulness, and spurned His grace. But haven't we all done that too? The point of Adam's sin was that he only had one simple rule to obey to keep in good standing with God and enjoy a life of paradise on earth,  and he couldn't keep that; what does that tell you about man-made rules, religion and our nature?  If he couldn't keep one simple rule, what makes him think he can keep any?

This worldly scandal had eternal implications--it changed the course of human history! They were expelled from paradise--the Garden of Eden for their own good (lest they eat of the tree of life and live forever in sin).  This was mercy.  God is also a God of judgment and must do something about the sin committed as promised ("the day you eat it, you shall die").  There would be no second chance or redo!  But God again in mercy delayed the culmination of death some 930 years, but the process of death began while they commenced to aging and growing old.

All in all, this episode wasn't just a phase they went through, but the suffering had just begun and the earth was now cursed for Adam's sake and Eve's pain in childbearing would begin.  They finally learned the great lesson of life of cause and effect and even though they tried to blame others, they had to admit that it was their own fault and they had failed God. God has been against the blame game ever since (cf, Isa 58:9).   Finally, the whole failure of freedom should be called "Edengate," or perhaps more appropriately:  "Applegate."   Soli Deo Gloria!  

Good Preacher/Bad Preacher

"So they said to each other, 'Weren't our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?'"  (Luke 24:32, HCSB).


You've heard of good cop/bad cop stories, but this applies to all professions.  Jesus was a preacher par excellence and had no peers.  "When Jesus had finished this sermon, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes" (Matt. 7:29, HCSB).  There was something different about the way he taught that even the common man heard Him gladly. Jesus knew how to make that "connection" (to be on the same page) as if He were one of them--the Jews.  And He identified with the issues of the day, the problems and burdens of the Jews, and the message of grace itself--the good news.

But Jesus didn't just tell them what was on His mind, for telling isn't teaching any more than hearing is listening.  Good teachers illustrate and make their point clear, often repeating it for emphasis.  A good teacher must do certain basics to drive home that point he wants to make without losing focus:  introduction and attention-getting method, points he wants to make, illustrations of those points, and repetition or summary of what was said.  You tell them what you will say, say it, and tell them what you said.

Jesus had a revolutionary style!  He used figures of speech in His teaching and more specifically told stories, especially parables about familiar events or circumstances that drove home the point.  Jesus also used epigrams, or short, wise statements seeming like a paradox, and He also used object lessons from some accessible item or circumstance.  He also was known for how He framed questions in a Socratic manner that elicited a desired or obvious response. He would readily turn a question into another question.   He skillfully made use of metaphors people could relate to and likened Himself to familiar things in order to make the point clear.  The good preacher doesn't lose his listeners due to boredom or belaboring a point either.  He must be aware of where the flock is and sensitive to their attention span and how well he's keeping it, not getting lost or off on some tangent--stay on subject.

A sermon isn't a lecture or Bible study, it's an outreach to all the members of the body and even attendees and visitors.  A good pastor knows the difference between teacher mode and preacher mode!  There is a place for teaching in a sermon, but it's primarily preaching just like there's a place for preaching in a Bible study or teaching session.  But good preaching speaks to the heart, not just the mind; it doesn't just inform but enlightens and illuminates Scripture.  Going forward one should feel inspired, convicted, motivated, and above all, especially edified.  There is a difference between being informed and being educated.

A good sermon isn't just "interesting" but it should be "challenging." We seek to be enlightened in the Word and see Jesus come alive in it.  Just presenting facts will inform, but showing how to apply them will enlighten and illumine us.  We must not see the Word as merely something to be well-informed about; we can know the Bible and a lot about it, without knowing the Author.  The preacher can lecture on the nature of Christ quite eloquently and not even be aware of His presence and maybe not even know the Lord much personally.

We need our eyes opened to wonderful things in the Word, and all Scripture surely is profitable for doctrine, but also for instruction in righteousness (application).  If we don't go away with any application the preacher really hasn't done a complete work.  Yes, we must all preach sound doctrine, but sound preaching is more than just preaching doctrine.  Jonathan Edwards said that his doctrine was all application and his application was all doctrine.  His sermons were meant to start revivals not lecture in theology (everyone knows him for "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God").   One's passion must be in the preaching to show that it affects you before it can affect others, especially the lost.   Good preachers preach the Word, in season and out, and comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable!   

When the preacher actually makes contact with the flock, they feel he's one of them and can put himself in their shoes.  They identify with the preacher and know where he's coming from.  That's why Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me."  "... The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.  They will never follow a stranger, instead, they will run away from him, because they don't recognize the voice of strangers" (cf. John 10:4-5, HCSB).  Sheep know their shepherd!    Soli Deo Gloria!