*Revised and reposted.
Every relationship we have in the visible landscape is with people who have flesh and bones. We can see their gestures with our physical eyes and hear their words with our physical ears. How do believers see and hear the living God?
God, the Creator of the universe, is invisible to our physical eyes.
God is a spirit. In most circumstances we cannot see him with our physical eyes.
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Timothy 1:17 (ESV).
Even though we are spiritual beings, we reside, at present, in physical bodies, which in their fallen state cannot easily perceive spiritual things.
The fact of the existence of God is evident to those who are willing to see it.
Even though we cannot see God with our physical eyes, he gives us enough evidence of his existence for us to know He is real.
They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:19–20 (NLT).
In this passage, Paul is explaining that even though God doesn’t force us to acknowledge him, he gives us enough evidence of his existence that we really do know deep down that he is real. And so we will not have an excuse when we are called to account for refusing to acknowledge him. It is very interesting that the words in our translation: “they can clearly see his invisible qualities”, in the Greek literally say “the unseeable things are clearly seen.” We perceive his divine existence, yet instead of being in awe of him and seeking to know him, we suppress the truth that we have seen and convince ourselves that we are the supreme ruler of our own life. (Romans 1:18-25)
However, he has planted eternity in our hearts so that we know that this short life is not all there is.
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT).
People have a tendency to create gods in their image
The Bible says that God created humans in his image:
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (ESV).
Since the beginning of time, however, instead of seeking out the God who created us, humans have set about creating gods in our image! Deep down we know there is a God, but we want him to be like us! Many people imagine God as being just like us, but just bigger or more powerful. However, God is way, way different from us. When we think like this we really make the god in our mind a small god. That is what I would call under-imagining God.
God knows our tendency to have a small idea of who he is. After God led his people out of slavery in Egypt, he gave them a set of instructions we know as the Ten Commandments. The second commandment is instruction to his people not to make an image of what they thought God was like because the reality of the infinite God could not be contained in any image that we could ever make no matter how big or majestic!
How do we know what God is like?
There are three basic ways that we can begin to get an idea of who God is and what he is like. I use the word “begin” because our minds are too small to comprehend all there is about an infinite, eternal God! Even though we can never fully comprehend him, God does want us to know and love him, so he has shown us who he is in three ways.
1. God reveals who he is in nature.
As we have already seen, God reveals himself in Creation.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. Psalm 19:1–4 (NLT).
2.God reveals what he is like in his Word.
All through the Scriptures we hear God’s voice. From Genesis to Revelation God is revealing himself to us, describing his character in his moral instructions which give us a picture of God’s heart:
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 (ESV).
As we search the Scriptures we realize that God is very different from us. Not only is he infinite and eternal, but also he is good in everything he does. Yes, he requires Justice, but even his Justice is a manifestation of his love for the people he created.
3. God reveals what he is like in Jesus.
Here is the best place to see the image of God:
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. Colossians 1:15–22 (NLT).
Wow! God wanted us to see what he was like so he came to us as a man and taught us what he was like and he invites us to join him in his kingdom.
Jesus said if we have seen him we have seen the father:
“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9 (ESV).
So the question we should ask ourselves is, “Have I seen God?” Not with my physical eyes, but have I seen God in the invisible landscape with spiritual discernment that comes from being made spirituality alive.
Having spiritual eyes
In a previous post we saw that before we can perceive the Kingdom of God, we must be born from above so we can perceive the invisible landscape:
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3
___________
A prayer.
God, give us eyes to see you in nature, in your communications to us through your word in Scripture, and most of all, in your Son, the Savior of all who trust in him. Amen
__________