How approachable is God?
Most people, at some point in their lives, ask the question; ‘Can God be known?’
How approachable is God, is He fearsome, or perhaps He has little interest in us?
If we believe that God created this universe and put all the scientific laws into place, then what is God’s desire for us? So we then get back to the ultimate question: ‘Can God be known?’
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In reality, God may be closer than you think, but can God be known? The wonderful truth is yes.
But to show what can be known about God, I have provided some more questions which I will answer directly from the Bible and I hope this will lead you to know God for yourself.
1. How approachable is God?
Jesus came from heaven to live amongst humankind. He was God in a human body and yet without sin.
Everyone crowded around Him, wanting to hear what he said and wanting to see him perform healing miracles.
He turned no one away and spoke to all types of people. He showed that God is open to anyone.
One day he stood and said in a loud voice:
If anyone is thirsty, let them come to Me and drink.
John 7:37 NIV
Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within them.”
Obviously, he was talking about spiritually drinking from him and receiving his Holy Spirit.
The apostle Paul wrote:
Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:13 NIV
If someone just calls out to God then He will respond, provided that person is genuine – that sounds like God is very approachable!
2. But we have a lot of baggage to approach God
If we are putting ourselves first all of the time and chasing after ‘things’ God will need us to turn away from them.
Why? Imagine being in a conversation with someone but they are constantly looking at something else while you are talking – they are obviously not interested in you!
…there is no God apart from Me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none but Me.
Isaiah 45:22 NIV
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”
Jesus wants to lift off the heavy baggage that is weighing us down.
This baggage is all our fear, or worry, or whatever it is.
But that doesn’t mean that he then leaves us on our own – he has a plan for each one of us. That is the meaning of the ‘yoke’ in the following verse:
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28 NIV
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
3. We are not as good as we think we are.
Isn’t it strange that a bank robber may look down on a house burglar because they would never break into someone’s house – that is just wrong in their eyes!
Or a murderer looks down on a paedophile because they see that as being horrible.
And so it can go on and on.
We have all got this inbuilt mechanism to excuse our actions, but we like to criticize others to take the ‘heat’ out of our wrongdoings.
When Jesus walked on the Earth people knew that he did no wrong, he’s perfect and I reckon we would all feel ‘unclean’ in his presence.
The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’
Psalm 14 :1-3 NIV
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no-one who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt;
there is no-one who does good, not even one.”
The worst thing we can do in God’s eyes is to live our lives independently from Him – to live as though there was no God.
4. What does God think when we live without Him?
The bottom line is that if God created this world then He deserves to have recognition for that and to follow what He wants.
To not find out what He wants shows disrespect and ultimately rebellion against their Maker.
In John’s gospel, we see:
Whoever rejects the Son (Jesus) will not see life, for God′s wrath remains on him.”
John 3:36 NIV
Some people reckon that they can do absolutely anything in this life and get away with it because of their belief that ‘death is the end’.
But God says:
Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement.”
Hebrews 9:27 NIV
5. God can be known even when we are weak and helpless.
Jesus said:
For My Father′s will (that is God) is that everyone who looks to the Son (Jesus himself) and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:40 NIV
God is invisible, so what is he like?
Many may loosely call themselves a Christian but what does that actually mean?
What are the characteristics of God which include a modern parable; son of a king.
That verse is just talking about looking to Jesus to be saved and naturally, we think ‘Surely I’ve got to demonstrate my goodness to get into heaven? But it isn’t just up to us.
He doesn’t want us to work at being as good as possible to achieve a high enough score so that God will let us into heaven.
So how can God be known? Well, He actually wants us to receive salvation from God Himself because He supplies ‘grace’ which is a non-judgemental, all-embracing love to draw us to Himself.
We just need to have faith that he does provide this grace for us:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV
6. Can God be known if I just want to turn to God?
Remember, it’s not like we make a move towards him and then Jesus could reject us.
To turn to God simply means to ask for help and admit your errors:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions (my sins and faults).
Psalm 51:1-5,10 NIV
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge.
Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
The verses above have a lot of God doing things and the person simply asking for mercy, asking to be washed and admitting that they were wrong.
Jesus is the key to knowing God because He opened up heaven’s door to us. Jesus said:
I am the way and the truth and the life.
John 14:6 NIV
No-one comes to the Father (God) except through Me.
If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well.”
Can God be known even though He is invisible?
He is Spirit, the Creator of the universe, He is always near and he wants us to respond to him. Jesus said:
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.
Revelation 3:20 NIV
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with Me.”
Please try to find some other Christians to worship with, share with, and listen to good Christian teaching.
If you do not know where to go then type in: ‘find a church near me’ and click Google Maps which will highlight on a map the choice of churches in your area.
Then click on the links to take you through to their individual websites.
From the images and description, you hopefully will see what church might suit you.
Do not be afraid to try out several different churches – they all vary in how friendly they are and their different styles of worship.
Please come back to this site again!
7. ‘A change of heart’, a sermon by Dr Lloyd-Jones.
…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)
Wikipedia says about Martyn:
Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) was a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor…
‘Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ Wikipedia 1
For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London…
Martyn Lloyd-Jones has admirers from many different denominations in the Christian Church today…
(he) was one of the most influential preachers of the twentieth century.”
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Is salvation purely intellectual or does it include the heart?
The preaching from the apostles on their missionary journeys showed what true salvation looked like.
Throughout the New Testament saving faith must include a change of heart.
In the Old Testament, God promises to change the heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
The issue is not whether the mind believes, but if the heart believes that Jesus is Lord.
Nowadays many make a decision in order to be saved, but if this does not stem from a heart burdened by sin and seeking repentance from God, then it is not saving faith.
Truth is received by the mind which convicts the heart and leads to repentance.
8. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can God be known through reason alone?
The Bible tells us:
“For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:10 NIV)
A cold mental decision cannot be made from the heart. It has to come from faith which involves the heart.
“For it is by (God’s) grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)
Does God reveal himself to everyone?
1) At the level of the world around us, God does reveal Himself:
“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19 ESV)
2) Although it may be difficult to prove definitely from Scripture, there is evidence that God does move close to everyone at some point in their lives when they can respond or rebel.
Why we cannot fully understand God?
The Bible tells us that: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:3 ESV)
The difference between God and us is like (but far greater) than a scientist and a child. The child tries to understand how the flu virus invades the cells of a body, but the only way the child understands is if it is reduced right down to very simple terms.
The gap is so huge between God and us is so vast it means that we will not be able to fully comprehend God.
That does not mean we will not be content, look at the child, he or she goes away happy with the simple explanation.
God tells one of his prophets to go and confront Assyria, the world superpower of the time.
God warned Adolf Hitler just before he invaded Poland – yes really, he did!
Explore this subject by looking at: How can I be saved?
What is God’s plan and purpose for us?
Life is a journey, do you know where you are going – is eternity in our thinking?
Why does Noah’s raven not return to him but the dove does – this can show us something.
References – open in new tabs:
If you haven’t got a Bible, see the Bible Hub online.
Kneeling image: thanks to The Pictorial Dictionary published by The Educational Book Company, London.
2 responses to “[2] Can God be known?”
Hi
The date of Jesus’ birth does not relate to his actual date of birth, it replaced a ‘pagan’ festival, (like the official Queen’s birthday not being her true birthday).
I haven’t actually gone into the details of Jesus’ birthday, but here is a website aloha.net/~mikesch/sukkoth [unfortunately no longer online] that calculates it at the end of September, the beginning of October.
Hope that helps
from Peter
i am a Jew and to find Sheep and sheperds out on the hills in Israel in December is impossible we take the sheep and place them in folds by the 15th October the weather then is very wet and cold