Living with the End in Sight – Part 2
Knowing God
As we are preparing to meet the Lord coming in the clouds with thousands of His angels, and before that to face persecution, we must know God, and have a relationship with Him that can withstand the greatest attacks the enemy can throw our direction. One of the best weapons Satan uses is to confuse our understanding of Gods character.
Oh! That should be no problem for us, we know Him well enough that Satan would have no success with that deception. But how well do we know Him? Satan has been telling lies about God’s character since before the creation of this world. He was so successful that he deceived a third of the angels living in Gods very presence. If a third of the angels in Heaven could be deceived, with their undiminished intelligences, we should not be so bold as to think it could not happen to us.
It has been Satan’s object since the creation of man to confuse his understanding of the Creator. He leads his followers to do evil to innocent and helpless people thus causing people to doubt God’s character, raising the question: “Why would God allow bad things to happen to good people”? And because we cannot understand God’s workings, we are led to misunderstand and even hate Him.
Why would God allow bad things to happen to good people?
Every horrible event in history he has attributed to God. Natural disasters, accidents, and any destructive events are called “an act of God”. When in reality it is Satan who is responsible. God is portrayed as a tyrant waiting to instantly strike out and punish any wrongdoing of sinful man. He is characterized as uncaring, ignoring the needs and requests of prayerful petitioners. To simplify the lies, He is represented as having no more compassion than mortal man. As often as he can Satan attempts to bring God down to the level of humanity.
If these lies have found their way into our mental picture of the loving, caring, compassionate, sacrificing God who created us, sustains, and protects us, then we have fallen victim to Satan’s plan. If so, how can we whole heartedly trust, follow, and obey Him? How can we believe His promises?
Satan would have us view the One who created us as no more than one like us. He diminishes God by having us disrespect Him, using His name casually or taking it in vain, putting other things before Him, treating things of the church -His house- without due respect. If we saw God for who and what He is, we would not do these things.
If this is the case, we are in danger of being fooled by spirits of devils with messages supposedly sent from God. If we do not truly know Him, how willing would we be to suffer persecution because we strictly obey His commandments?
We know the Father by knowing the Son, and by understanding what a sacrifice it was for the Father when His son died on the cross in the place of sinful man. The scriptures tell us that “God is love,” John 4:8. If we had a true understanding of what love is, we would have a better picture of God’s character. The most kind and loving behavior of humans is but a faint reflection of the love of God.
We have a paradox. We need to know God, and at the same time we cannot know Him completely, but we can know enough to love and trust Him. God, in His word had this to say:
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”.
Isaiah 55:9
Also, Jesus said this:
“If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him.”
John 14:7
When the disciple asked Jesus to show them the Father, this was His answer:
““Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
John 14:9
The life of Christ uniquely reveals the character of God the Father. As Jesus went about healing and comforting the people, sharing their pain and sorrows, finally suffering the horror that was the death on the cross for lost sinners, He made known to us the character of His Father and our Heavenly Father.
“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.”
John 3:16
“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
Luke 12:6,7
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?”
Romans 11:33,34
God knows each of us intimately, and like an earthly parent of toddlers, He knows what is best for us. Jesus calls His followers “children” for a reason. Some are even called “babes”. Therefore, fellow children of God, let us trust our loving Father in Heaven. Like the child in the story, standing at an open door to the cellar. She calls to her father, who is in the darkness below, to let her come down with him. He tells her to just jump, and he will catch her. Because she trusts her father, though she cannot see him, she jumps into the void below, and he catches her, and all is well.
There are a few facts that can, if understood, give us a knowledge of God that will affect our view of who He is.
One is the fact that God is the Creator of everything. He created all that we can see as well as the unseen. Does it not make sense that anyone who can create the complexity of the universe, and sustain it as well, is so far superior to us that He cannot be fully comprehended? Yet there are some who think they can ascribe limitations to what God can or cannot do. Others want to assign human prejudice and frail human characteristics to their Creator. This is a dangerous course to take.
In a world that is rapidly accepting an atheistic point of view and those who believe that theory are trying to force it on the rest of the people, with surprising success. It is extremely important for us to have a solid foundation to stand on when it pertains to the God we worship and obey. The largest “christian” religion in the world, accepts and teaches the theory of evolution. They teach that God created the world but did it through evolution over millions of years. What does that say about His character? They teach that the world and humanity evolved by a process of violence and death. In other words, survival of the fittest. What kind of God would have created the world in that manner?
Another is the loving nature of God, the Scriptures say:
“He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.”
John 4:8
Our understanding of God’s character—as well as scripture permits—will influence our decisions and actions. It will determine how we view the events surrounding the second coming of Jesus. In addition, it will affect our preparation as will.
As we see signs unfolding that tell us time is running out and it will not be long before Jesus will return. How does that make us feel? Does that prospect make us happy, or does it prompt fear? If we truly know the One that is coming, and we are doing all we can to be ready, that should bring joy to our hearts.
If the prospect causes fear, we need to do all we can to find out why. If it is not because we are disobeying Him, have unforgiven sins, then the cause may be that we do not know Him. It is as much God coming as it would be if God the Father were to get up from His throne in heaven and came in person. Jesus is God. If we obey Him, we have nothing to fear. With the aid of the Holy Spirit and a willing heart, we can and should be ready and happy to welcome Jesus when He comes.
He is coming soon, let’s not delay in getting ready.
Read More:
- Living with the End in Sight – Part 2
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