Wouldn't it be nice if God spoke to every one of us face-to-face? Wouldn't it be great if we could hear His voice echoing through the sky in a way that was unmistakeable and undeniable? Wouldn't it be amazing to know for certain that the God of the whole universe, who cannot be denied or mistrusted, was speaking to you? What would that be like?
Well, that's the way it was in the beginning. If you read Genesis chapter two, you will find that God did speak with His creatures in a direct way in the very beginning. And even though His presence was unmistakeable and undeniable, humans still sinned and chose to walk away from Him. (You can read that story in Genesis chapter three.)
So from that moment on, God only comes to us in a way that calls forth and exercises our faith. In other words, He comes to us in a way that causes us to give up our own demands and to approach Him on His terms and not ours. We may want Him to appear as the mighty God who cannot be denied, but He knows that humans will still deny Him all the same. Just because we see Him face-to-face doesn't mean that we will trust and obey Him as our Lord and God. And that is what He wants: He wants us to trust Him! So He talks to us in a way that requires and exercises our faith.
Well, that's the way it was in the beginning. If you read Genesis chapter two, you will find that God did speak with His creatures in a direct way in the very beginning. And even though His presence was unmistakeable and undeniable, humans still sinned and chose to walk away from Him. (You can read that story in Genesis chapter three.)
So from that moment on, God only comes to us in a way that calls forth and exercises our faith. In other words, He comes to us in a way that causes us to give up our own demands and to approach Him on His terms and not ours. We may want Him to appear as the mighty God who cannot be denied, but He knows that humans will still deny Him all the same. Just because we see Him face-to-face doesn't mean that we will trust and obey Him as our Lord and God. And that is what He wants: He wants us to trust Him! So He talks to us in a way that requires and exercises our faith.
"Isn't this circular reasoning? Aren't we arguing that the Bible is God's Word by citing a story from the Bible?"
ReplyDeleteYes, I am. And I have to, because there is no "material chain of evidence" that can prove the existence of God beyond our ability to dream up a denial. So the Christian faith rests on two things: 1) what God does to reveal Himself (in the past and still today); and 2) what witnesses have said about Him and have been saying about Him from the beginning of time.
Delete"What's a 'material chain of evidence'?"
ReplyDeleteIt's a set of facts, figures, and things you can see and touch. For example: A smoking gun lying on the floor of the room where a man was murdered. An analysis of the bullet that killed the man shows it was fired from the smoking gun. The gun is owned by the man accused of the murder and the fingerprints on the gun belong to the same man. There are no other fingerprints on the gun. That is a material chain of evidence. Although there are other possible explanations for what might have happened, it sure looks like the owner of the gun murdered the man who had been shot, right?
DeleteBen: How would God answer a question that is not in the Bible since He doesn't speak out loud any more? For instance, if i'm trying to make a decision.
ReplyDeleteBen, Good question! And here are a few different responses: First: Let's start by remembering that God can still speak directly and out loud when and where He wishes. However, He doesn't let us treat Him like a dog on a leash. (That wouldn't be a relationship of trust, would it?) Second: God has given us created limits that He Himself is not bound by. So He "tells" us about some of our limits in those ways. (For example: If you wonder whether humans can fly... God's creation of gravity is going to answer your question pretty quickly when you jump off the roof of your two-story house!) Third: Not every answer the Bible provides is written as a direct answer to our questions. Oftentimes, we read something that is there and realize that it answers some question we have. (Consider the way John the Baptist leaps in the womb in Luke 1:39-45 and realize that this answers the question of whether infants are alive in the womb even though the Bible never talks about that directly!) Lastly: If God doesn't provide us an answer in the Bible, do we really NEED the answer? He does speak to us by other means, such as through our pastors, parents and Christian friends, but all of these are potentially flawed by their own sin... so we always check them against the Spirit-inspired scriptures. But if we cannot find an answer by the Bible, how necessary is the answer?
ReplyDelete