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Interpreting God - Part I
There is no doubt in my heart that it is
impossible to understand and know God apart from God himself. What I
mean by this is that separated from God no one has ever been able to
come up with an explanation of the true nature of God and the
expression of that nature. When man approaches God in a quest to
decipher the mystery of his existence or not, man ends up concocting
some kind of religion: whether it be the religion of self, where man is
his own god, or the religion of other gods in which man chooses the
object of his worship apart from himself, perverting even the knowledge
of the only true and living God. When man creates his own concept of
God, man works his own way to his presence. Man's fallen nature lacks
the ability to know God. It is only when God reveals himself to man
that man can get a true picture of who he is and what he is all about.
When God approaches man, invariably, man ends up with family.
Apart from God man interprets God through
different sources such as the witness of man, or
how others perceive God, financial circumstances, natural
disasterscalamities, tradition or inherited beliefs,
supernatural events, spiritual
gifts, etc. I will explore some of these points and others
with the assurance that those that read these articles will be
abundantly blessed by coming to a better understanding of the true
nature of God.
In the midst of what appears to
be a spiritual vacuum
When God deliver his people out the bondage of
Egypt, he did it with "an outstretch arm and with a mighty hand." God's
display of his glory and power left no doubt that he was the only
almighty God and that he was not to be mistaken by one of the false
gods of Egypt. The people saw literally the display of God's power in
his determination to set them free and give them for an inheritance a
land that flowed with milk and honey. They walked through dry land when
the Lord parted the Red Sea and saw pharaoh's army drowned when it
tried to pursue them. Israel saw nature's laws manipulated by God to
deliver them, but when Moses spent too much time visiting with God the
closest thing that they could come up to represent God with was a cow.
1And when the people saw that Moses
delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves
together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall
go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of
the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2And Aaron said
unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your
wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their
ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4And he received them at their hand,
and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten
calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up
out of the land of Egypt. 5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar
before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast
to the LORD. 6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt
offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat
and to drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:1-6
In the midst of tragedy
Some people view other people's calamities or
tragedies as God being the one bringing judgment over their lives.
There is the tendency to read around their lives the reasons why they
suffer such misfortunes. An example of this kind of attitude is found
in the following scriptures.
1 There were present at that season some that
told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their
sacrifices. 2And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose
ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because
they suffered such things? 3I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish. 4Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in
Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all
men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise perish. Luke 13: 1-5
It is interesting to notice how some have
concluded that the reason why the Galileans and those upon which the
tower in Siloam fell killing them was because of their sins. This kind
of judgment is still in practice today. In some circles if a believer
suffers some kind of disaster the first thing that they can come up is
the question, "I wonder what kind of sin they have committed to bring
this upon themselves?" We saw the same lack of understanding when we
witnessed in the news the effects of the tsunami that brought so much
pain to the people of Indonesia, Ceylon and other countries bathed by
the Indian Ocean. To think that God would bring such a thing to judge
the idolatry that is practice in the majority of those countries is a
blatant misrepresentation of God's true nature. The Lord firmly
expressed to his audience that if they did not repent they would
perished or die in the same manner. The Lord was not saying that they
were going to die exactly as they did, but that they would suffer the
same consequences of their spiritual blindness. First, he calls them to
repentance or to reconsider or to think differently to avoid such a
disastrous end. It's easy to think that sin could bring someone even to
the point of physical death. And this can happen, but not because God
is to blame. Secondly, the Lord points to something deeper that what
meets the eye or natural comprehension. If a man abandons the leading
of the spirit and the communion or fellowship with the Holy Spirit, he
runs the risk of being led by the wrong nature and the adversary
himself to his own demise. Being on the wrong place at the wrong time
is not what God has prepare for us or the rest of the world for that
matter .In the book of John and verse 17 the scripture reads, "For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
This is not the statement of a God that has changed his nature in the
New Testament. Who he is, is what he was and forever will be: Love.
In Ezekiel chapter eighteen and verse
twenty-three God declares, "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked
should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his
ways and live? In the same chapter, verses 30-32, the Lord says:
30Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to
his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your
transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31Cast away from
you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you
a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord
GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. God is not amuse when his
children or the unbeliever suffer calamities or die in the process
before their time. It is not in his nature.
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