Total proof

I have to say that experiencing the birth of a child has to go down as total proof that God exists. At the beginning of this year Beth, my daughter, didn't exist in anyway. She had no soul, she had no body, no mind, no personality, no character. But one little act of love and BOOM!... she starts growing, rapidly, with unbelievable design and complexity. Nothing that man has ever created could be as awesome and as intricate as a baby. She's alive. Living, breathing, fully conscious and self-aware. She's beautiful.

If ever there needed to be total proof that this universe was created by a Great Designer, this is it. Billions of years and random chance could never create a baby. Especially not Beth.

The Hiddenness of God (Part 6)

"Without holiness no one will see the Lord"
Hebrews 12:14

A pretty substantial reason why we will can't physically see God in this life, in our present, fallen state.

The Hiddenness of God (Part 5)

"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.""
Exodus 20:18-19

People sometimes flippantly remark that if God was real, he should just show himself. Truth is, most of us get nervous just with human authority. Like the police stopping your car, your headmaster rebuking you as a child, or an assessment with your employer. What if God did just appear... the Commander-In-Chief of the Universe. What if his appearing was immediately followed by a confrontation?...

"Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?""
Revelation 6:15-17

Perhaps his apparent hiddenness is, for the time being, a form of his grace.

Only One Question

There's so many questions surrounding Christianity like pain and suffering, the Big Bang, evolution and the hiddenness of God. There's so many things that clutter your mind. But what you realise after a while is that everything stacks behind this one big question.

Was Jesus Christ the Son of God?

If he was, and is, nothing is impossible.

The belief that a man can be subject to the most brutal and complete death, entombed, and then raised back to life three days later is one that is totally miraculous. That sort of thing just doesn't happen. But it did. According to Josh McDowell it is the most well documented fact in history. (See his book, The Resurrection Factor).

If Jesus Christ was God himself, all these other questions become secondary.

Does God exist? Absolutely.
Is the universe six thousand or thirteen billion years old? Either. He could create it in an instant.
Is the Bible the perfect word of God? Jesus seems to think so.
Is there a reason and an answer for every question you could possibly think of? There absolutely must be.

So all in all, Jesus really is the cornerstone. Every line of thought, every reason, every question and answer stems from him. When it comes to his divinity, we have an inexplicable sum of evidence, and no explanation to the contrary.

Fear

Last thursday at Life Group we watched the Francis Chan 'Basic Series' on the fear of the Lord. The week leading up to it I was chewing it all over, and it's been really good. I've done a few talks on the fear of the Lord before but this DVD has thrown some extra verses into the mix and shed further light. As it happens, the fear of God plays out in some quite unexpected ways.

One of the things that really strikes you from the DVD is how fearful of God we should really be. My gut reaction is this: I have a certain level of fear, but nowhere near enough.

"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead"
Revelation 1:17a

Francis Chan relates to all these biblical characters that had an encounter with God and were absolutely terrified. Even when people see Angels in the bible they're nearly scared to death. All of this leaves certain questions spinning round your mind:

Should I have that terrifying level of fear?
Is it even possible?
Is it even appropriate for daily life?
Does it not conflict with all the hope and promise we have in Jesus Christ, that we are in fact reconciled to God, and can boldly approach his throne? (Hebrews 4:16)

On the one hand you would have to conclude that the appropriate level of fear would probably kill you. Like in Exodus 33:18-23, Moses isn't allowed to see God's face, only his back, because no one could survive that. Part of my speculation on the hiddenness of God is that it's not his plan to terrify us on a daily basis.

But on the other hand a certain level of fear is prescribed. Without it, you wouldn't even be a Christian.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."
Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise."
Psalm 111:10

Some musings

These two verses highlight some really interesting points. Firstly, why is the fear of God the beginning of knowledge and wisdom? It must lay the foundation for everything else. If we don't understand that the universe and humanity was designed and created by an awesome God, all of our knowledge runs astray.

You can be really, really intelligent in the same way that you can run really fast in completely the wrong direction. All these scientific, social, biological, philosophical theories are constructed, but they miss vital ingredients and it changes everything.

Secondly, in the first verse, why does it say 'fools despise wisdom and discipline'? Surely it should say 'fools despise the LORD'. I would guess that wisdom and discipline both imply a change of lifestyle. It feels restrictive. Fools hate the idea.

But this has some personal implications. To what degrees, as Christians, are we fools? What areas do we despise wisdom and hate discipline? We've all got areas where we accommodate all sorts of sin and disobedience, lack of discipline, lack of fear. It's so easy to read about 'fools' in the bible and not think you're one of them.

Fear of God equals faith

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
Matthew 10:28-31

This concept of fear is not just an Old Testament, Old Covenant thing. Here Jesus himself, in the New Testament, tells us to fear. But the theme develops.

He says “be afraid” and then “don’t be afraid”.

We have one type of fear that conquers all others.

And this seems to rather aptly answer the question 'what level of fear is appropriate?'. Our fear of God should quench all others. When we're on the same team as God, when eternity is secured, even death is now an upgrade. In the verse above, the threat of murder is completely annulled. Fear of God equals faith in God.

The fear of the LORD is the weight behind us

"What, then, shall we say in response to this?
If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31

It’s not just Christians who should fear God. It’s everyone. If we could really grasp how terrifyingly awesome our God is, we might understand the depth of our confidence in Him.

And finally...

The fear of the LORD equals life

"The fear of the LORD leads to life: then one rests content, untouched by trouble."
Proverbs 19:23

That sounds unbelievably good. Life, rest, contentment, peace – untouched by trouble even if surrounded by it.

The Hiddenness of God (Part 4)

In some ways when we struggle with the hiddenness of God we are, at those moments, questioning whether Creation, Jesus and the Bible is enough. If we conclude that they aren't enough proof, they're not enough to cement our belief, that's a very big statement. We're passing judgment not only over God's work in history, but Jesus Christ himself. It's personal.

The Hiddenness of God (Part 3)

I watched 'The Finger of God' DVD by Darren Wilson yesterday and showed it at Life Group. Absolutely amazing. It's a film documenting the physical works of God around the world. From people mysteriously receiving gold teeth in church services, to street evangelism and healings, to the dead being raised (some dead as long as four days).

It seems God is prepared to revealed himself in quite remarkable ways. In many of these places – Mozambique, California, China – healing miracles are performed to show people God is real, and then the gospel is preached. Often it seems the whole purpose of the healings is to open people up to the gospel message and pave the way for salvation.

What really strikes you when you watch this is that God doesn't seem hidden at all. He provides real, tangible proof of his existence when asked, and is more than happy to demonstrate his power to a people that have no knowledge of him.

It makes you think – perhaps healings and miracles are inextricably linked to evangelism and the gospel message. Maybe they're not just meant for church on a Sunday, but out on the streets, in everyday life.

Another interesting point was that these healings, miracles, signs and wonders seem just as available to the church in the West as to the poorer, persecuted Christians around the world.

As an old 'No Fear' poster once read, "You miss 100% of the shots you never take". Maybe we just need to actually pray for some people.

The Hiddenness of God (Part 2)

It seems many Christians struggle with doubts, even doubting God's existence at times. Many will confess to thoughts such as "Am I making this up? Am I crazy?". We all want God to be really visibly obvious so that there's no room for doubt whatsoever.

It occurred to me today that, even when you can't see someone, if you can hear their voice you would never doubt their existence. A voice on the phone – you know there's a real person on the other end.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."
John 10:27

Surely the same is true with God. When you regularly hear His voice you don't find yourself doubting His existence. When we apply ourselves to reading His Word, it speaks to us. It penetrates our soul and spirit the way no human words can.

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."
James 4:8

There doesn't need to be a haze, a fog, or a great distance between us and God. You simply are as close to God as you want to be.

The Hiddenness of God

"Moses said, "Please show me your glory." ... "But," he said [the LORD], "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live¹."
Exodus 33:18-20

"Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him², because we shall see him as he is."
1 John 3:2

¹ There seems to be a real need for God to speak to us indirectly. Occasionally people hear the audible voice of God, yet it's very rare. But no-one's ever seen God the Father and lived to tell the tale. If he was to just turn up and show himself, like many people wish he would do, we would all die instantly.

² We would also be transformed into perfection with utter purity and holiness, just as Jesus Christ. So in short, we would cease to be of any earthly use.

It seems that God filters down His voice to a level that we can cope with. We have the Bible, and the whisper of the Holy Spirit to our soul. We are ministered to by angles, often without realising it. All very quiet, subtle ways. Some had even entertained angels and had no clue (Hebrews 13:2). But when people do see angels in the bible, they are usually terrified. And these are just created beings like us.

I would guess it's not God's plan to terrify us to on a daily basis.

But if we accept that we can't see God, we might at least question why He doesn't provide undeniable proof of His existence? Apparently, He already has...

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
Romans 1:20

"He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"
Luke 16:31

If we can't see Him from creation, if we don't believe the very words of God, written, in the bible, we will never believe no matter what.