Posts Tagged ‘Seeing God’

SEE our unique God!

Posted: March 25, 2013 by Pam Larson in Deuteronomy, Devotionals/Commentaries, March
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In Deuteronomy 32:39, in our read-through-the-Bible plan for March 24 (sorry I’m posting a day late),  God declares, “See now that I myself am he; there is no God besides me.” One goal in reading the Bible should be to see and know God in all His awesome uniqueness.

P.G. Matthew of Grace Valley Christian Center, in a sermon, “The Lord Saves the Weak,”-

The word “See” commands us to apply our minds to reading, studying, and understanding God’s revelation so that we can grasp who God truly is. When we do this, we will realize that all idolatry is a lie and a waste. The Lord himself declares there is no God besides him. The true and living God is unique.

Our God is not just one in a pantheon of gods; he is the only sovereign  God and Savior and the God with whom we must all deal.  God himself speaks of his uniqueness in Isaiah 43:10-13:  

“’You are my witness,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.  Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.  I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.  I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you.  You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand.  When I act, who can reverse it?’”

There is no other God than the self-existing, self-sufficient One who revealed himself to Moses, saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” In Deuteronomy 32:39 he says, “I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal.” Here we see the sovereignty of our unique God. In justice he kills and in mercy he makes alive; in justice he wounds and in mercy he heals; in justice he metes out vengeance on his foes, and in mercy he vindicates his elect people, the remnant.

Look at verse 39 again:  “See now that I myself am he!” God is saying, “Open your mind! Expand your rational capabilities! Exercise your reasoning powers!  Read my revelation so you can understand who I am!”  We find this idea also in 1 Samuel 24:10-11, where David told Saul,

“This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave.  Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the Lord’s anointed.  See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand!  I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion.”

So I challenge you:  See! God in his great mercy has given us a Book wherein we see him as the unique, holy, mighty, compassionate One.  People are free to worship as many gods as they desire, but we must realize that such gods are lies, mere products of human imagination. Dumb, mute, and deaf, they can only be carried about by men. They are impotent to save anyone from his troubles. And because these gods are worthless, those who worship them become worthless.

The God of Israel is the only true God. He alone is the Judge who vindicates and shows compassion to his people (v. 36).   As we read in Isaiah 40:1, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” Only the true and living God can comfort us and save us from our sins. Verse 39 says that he alone is the Savior who makes us alive, and he alone is our healer. Verse 40 tells us that he alone makes and keeps his promises, and in verses 41-42 we read that he alone is the victorious warrior whose flashing sword kills and whose arrows are drunk with blood.   This is our unique God.

Ryle: We shall behold Him face to face

Posted: December 12, 2012 by Pam Larson in December, Devotionals/Commentaries, John
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Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. —John 17:24-26 ESV

J.C.Ryle with these encouraging words about John 17:20-26

We do not see Christ now. We read of Him, hear of Him, believe in Him, and rest our souls in His finished work. But even the best of us, at our best, walk by faith and not by sight, and our poor halting faith often makes us walk very feebly in the way to heaven. There shall be an end of all this state of things one day. We shall at length see Christ as He is, and know as we have been known. We shall behold Him face to face, and not through a glass darkly. We shall actually be in His presence and company, and go out no more. If faith has been pleasant, much more will sight be; and if hope has been sweet, much more will certainty be. No wonder that when Paul has written, “We shall ever be with the Lord,” he adds, “Comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:17, 18.)

A portrait of God in Amos’ prophecy

Posted: December 11, 2012 by Pam Larson in Amos, December, Devotionals/Commentaries
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Sometimes we get glimpses of God in unexpected places in the Bible. Today, we finish our reading in the last few chapters of Amos, heavy with warnings of coming judgment and wrath, we are given a portrait of God.

Just WHO is this God?

For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
        and declares to man what is his thought,
    who makes the morning darkness,
        and treads on the heights of the earth—
        the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name! —Amos 4:13 ESV

John Piper:

He makes mountains like Play-Dough, and mighty wind with a whisper. He knows every thought of your mind before you speak it. He governs all the workings of the solar system, and steps from the Appalachians to the Rockies in one stride. Do you want to meet him roaring from Zion, or rejoicing over us with gladness?

Amos pauses again in 5:8 just to ponder who God is: “He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth, the Lord is his name.” In other words, prepare to meet the God who builds constellations in space like tinker toys, and spins the earth like a top in his hand, and beckons for a tidal wave like a man whistles for a dog.

And finally, in 9:5, 6, Amos pauses again before this God: “The Lord, God of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile, and sinks again like the Nile of Egypt; who builds his upper chamber in the heavens, and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—the Lord is his name.” As if to say in each of these portraits: Remember, Israel, when I say the day of the Lord is coming, I mean the CREATOR! What will it mean when the creator says, “I will set my eyes upon them for evil and not for good” (9:4)?

So the large, strong, unavoidable trunk of this prophecy is the fierce judgment of God coming upon the northern kingdom of Israel. The day of the Lord is darkness and not light for those who have loved darkness. The Creator and Ruler of all things will roar out of Zion against all his enemies. So prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

from The Poor of the Land and the Pride of Jacob, a sermon from John Piper’s series on the Minor Prophets

Seeing Without a Veil

Posted: May 4, 2012 by Pam Larson in 2 Corinthians, Devotionals/Commentaries, May
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    Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. —2 Corinthians 3:12-18 ESV

From Barnes’ Notes on the New Testaments:

In the manifestation, or appearance of Jesus the Messiah, the veil is removed. The obscurity which rested on the prophecies and types of the former dispensation is withdrawn; and as the face of Moses could have been distinctly seen if the veil on his face had been removed, so it is in regard to the true meaning of the Old Testament by the coming of the Messiah. What was obscure is now made clear; and the prophecies are so completely fulfilled in him, that his coming has removed the covering, and shed a clear light over them all. Many of the prophecies, for example, until the Messiah actually appeared, appeared obscure, and almost contradictory. Those which spoke of him, for illustration, as man and as God; as suffering, and yet reigning; as dying, and yet as ever-living; as a mighty Prince, a Conqueror, and a King, and yet as a man of sorrows; as humble, and yet glorious: all seemed difficult to be reconciled until they were seen to harmonize in Jesus of Nazareth. Then they were plain, and the veil was taken away. Christ is seen to answer all the previous descriptions of him in the Old Testament; and his coming casts a clear light on all which was before obscure.

Henry Law: A Rich Display of Grace

Posted: January 14, 2012 by Pam Larson in Genesis, January Bible Readings
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Henry Law comments on Genesis 32 at Grace Gems:

But is the lonely Jacob long alone? Oh no. A stranger suddenly draws near, and grapples with him, and strives with mighty energy to stop his progress, and to lay him in the dust. But who thus wrestles in the solemn stillness of this solemn night? The form is human, but the person is Divine. We read, “As a prince you have power with God;” therefore the wrestler is God. Jacob confirms the fact: “I have seen God face to face.” Thus, through the veil of apparent mortality, we trace the angel of the everlasting covenant, our great Emmanuel, God manifest in the flesh.

As man, He spoke with Adam in the garden; as man, He walked by Abraham’s side; as man, He here struggles with the wandering patriarch. It is indeed a rich display of grace, that Jesus thus should stand in sinners’ likeness on this sin-rank soil. But it is grace above grace, that, in the fullness of time, He should take our manhood into God, and wear it on the cross, and in the grave! and then bear it to heaven, as His triumphal robe forever!

 

See our incomprehensibly great God!

Posted: December 17, 2011 by Pam Larson in December, Devotionals/Commentaries, Job
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In Job 36:26, Elihu says of God-

Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
the number of his years is unsearchable.

I have 3 comments-

  1. Behold!  We need to look, to SEE God, as He is revealed in His Word, the Bible, and through Jesus, God Incarnate, Emmanuel, God With Us! Lord, give us eyes to see and a heart that comprehends. John Piper tweeted December 15, 2012: “The words of Jesus are the window through which we see the Light of Jesus. And through which we climb by faith.”
  2. God is indeed great!  In our search to KNOW God, it is good to remember that we will never fully know and understand Him.  That doesn’t mean that we give up and don’t try to know Him, but our finite minds will never have the capacity to completely know our infinite God.
  3. God is eternal! We don’t box God into time.

“Let us weary heaven with cries for enlightening grace.”

Posted: September 23, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Luke, September
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And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.  They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” —Luke 24:31-32 

Just two simple observations:

1. Jesus affects our spiritual sight- He opens our eyes to see Him for Who He really is!  2 Corinthians 4:4-6 states it this way:

“In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2.  Jesus affects our spiritual passions-  He opens the Scriptures, the Word of God, the Bible to us, and we see the truth and it burns within our hearts.  He ignites a passion for God! Pray as you read the Bible.  Pray for God to open your eyes to see Him and His eternal truth.

Here’s the way Henry Law puts it:

Lovely light may beam upon us, and wondrous scenes surround; but the gain is none if sightless eyes survey. By nature we are thus blind; unless God grants sight, we cannot behold the wonders which His law contains. Let us weary heaven with cries for enlightening grace. When the command goes forth, Let there be light, there will be light. — as quoted at Grace Gems!

Faith is a spiritual act that sees the fingerprints of God.

Posted: September 20, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Hebrews, September
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Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. —Hebrews 11:1-3

John Piper, in a sermon “What Faith Knows and Hopes For”

3D hidden imageHere is an analogy at the physical level. A few years ago one of the rages was hidden 3-D images. These are pieces of art that, on one level, are one thing, but at another level are something quite different. At first glance all you see is the surface presentation. But if you let your eyes focus more deeply, or more distantly, you may see a train or a boxing kangaroo or a globe not only appearing, but actually standing up off the page. Now some people stare at these pages for several minutes and see nothing but color and chaos. But others almost immediately see the head of Beethoven or a lamb. If someone says, “How do you know a lamb is there?” the answer is, “I see it.” Your seeing is the evidence. They may not see it, but that won’t change your mind.

Now this is what it is like for some to look at God’s creation. Some see color and chaos. Others have a deeper view and suddenly God’s fingerprints come into focus. What evidence can they offer? They see it. It is as undoubted as a lamb in a 3-D image. No one can talk you out of it.

You may ask, “Should that be called faith?” Didn’t Paul say (in 2 Corinthians 5:7), “We walk by faith and not by sight”? How can faith be “sight”? Paul meant that Christ is not present physically on earth to see with physical eyes, but is in heaven. He did not mean that there is no spiritual perception of God’s reality. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the conviction – or better, the evidence – of things not seen.” And then the writer illustrates this in verse 3 when he says that “we understand by faith” that God created the world. In other words, faith is not just a responding act of the soul; it is also a grasping or perceiving or understanding act. It is a spiritual act that sees the fingerprints of God. This does not mean that you believe them into being. That would be wishful thinking – the power of positive thinking. That is not authentic faith. Real faith is based on real Truth. It looks deeply at the world God has made – looks through it, so to speak – and by the grace of God, it sees the glory of God (as Psalm 19:1 says) standing forth off the creation like a 3-D image.

To read or listen to the rest of this sermon, click here:

Jesus Christ is the Healer

Posted: September 13, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Isaiah, September
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Isaiah 35: 5-6  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;  then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

blindWe are blind and deaf; our powers of perception are destroyed by sin. What a picture! All the great spiritual realities are unseen.  We are blind to the truths that shine like stars in the night sky. We are deaf to God’s voice.  Yet we do have eyes and ears, conscience, intuitions. We possess the organs of sight and hearing, but they are powerless in discerning spiritual reality.

Jesus Christ is the Healer- the giver of spiritual sight. He restores sight by taking away the hindrance to seeing.  He gives sight because He gives light.

Christ is the true light; in Him, we see.  Psalm 119:130 states, “The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.”

The Apostle Paul puts it this way [2Corinthians 4:4-6]:

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

If to die is but to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed gain

Posted: July 16, 2011 by Pam Larson in 1 Thessalonians, Devotionals/Commentaries, July
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Charles H. Spurgeon on 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are—and how transitory! One moment our eyes see him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but again a little time and we do not see him, for our beloved withdraws himself from us; like a roe or a young hart he leaps over the mountains of division; he is gone to the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies.

“If today he deigns to bless us

With a sense of pardoned sin,

He to-morrow may distress us,

Make us feel the plague within.”

Oh, how sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not behold him at a distance, but see him face to face: when he shall not be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night, but shall eternally enfold us in the bosom of his glory. We shall not see him for a little season, but

“Millions of years our wondering eyes,

Shall o’er our Saviour’s beauties rove;

And myriad ages we’ll adore,

The wonders of his love.”

In heaven there shall be no interruptions from care or sin; no weeping shall dim our eyes; no earthly business shall distract our happy thoughts; we shall have nothing to hinder us from gazing forever on the Sun of Righteousness with unwearied eyes. Oh, if it be so sweet to see him now and then, how sweet to gaze on that blessed face for aye, and never have a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one’s eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe! Blest day, when wilt thou dawn? Rise, O unsetting sun! The joys of sense may leave us as soon as they will, for this shall make glorious amends. If to die is but to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea of victory.

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