God created mankind in His ‘image and likeness’ and this image is distorted by sin entering our lives. Lord Jesus became Man to restore us back in that same image by His sacrifice, resurrection and ascension back into heaven. In this manner the veil of evil has been removed from our hearts and souls. When we want to move forward in life it is essential that we first know Him whose image we are. Then we can understand ourselves and use our God-given [potential to achieve the desired results.
How d o we get to know God, who is in heaven? After creating everything, God decided to create man in His image and likeness with the sole purpose of exercising dominion over other created beings as a representative of God (Genesis 1:26-28). Everything created has a purpose in the plan of God for all of creation. Since Adam was to exercise God-given authority over other created beings, God brought ‘every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them (Genesis 2:19). Since he carried God’s image, he could perceive the God given role of each creature and give each one a name matching the task given by God. When Adam had to understand his own role, he had to necessarily know the Creator first and then understand his own assigned role.
After sin of disobedience, Cain killed his younger brother Abel and Adam had another son named Seth. Seth was born to Adam ‘in his own likeness, after his image’ while he was aware of who he was before (Genesis 5:3). To understand the proper relationship between them, Adam had to know God. He had to remember the conversations he had with God ‘during the cool of the day’ in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). God visited them daily to help them know Him so that they could know themselves. In that knowledge only could they be true representatives of God before all of creation.
Man got so engrossed in himself, in his own distorted image, imagined and formed with the knowledge of good and evil, that he forgot all about God. As a result sin and evil became so common that God had to destroy it all with a flood and only eight persons of Noah’s family were saved to continue the human race without blemish (Genesis 7:21). God would still reveal Himself to those who sought Him, like Abraham and His descendants (Genesis 12:2). All the natural elements were created to perform at optimal level, but the sin of man affected nature also adversely. Earth started producing ‘thorns and thistles’ with the good grain (Genesis 3:18).
Moses, though raised up in Pharaoh’s palace by his daughter, felt the pain of the suffering of his people and killed an Egyptian (Exodus 2:12). Seeing his heart, God shaped him in the wilderness for forty years while grazing Jethro’s sheep (Exodus 2:21). God revealed Himself to Moses from the Burning Bush as ‘EHYEH Asher EHYEH’ meaning ‘I AM who I AM’ (Exodus 3:14). The message to Moses was that God is and will be, to be who He needs to be to help people in any situation. God does not change in any way, for He is perfect, but that particular trait of God is revealed as fits a particular circumstance. We can seek God’s help only if we know He can and will help. Abraham could see Him as “Yehovah Yireh’ ‘The God who Provides’ (Genesis 22:8). David could see God as ‘Yehowah Magen’, a Shield to protect him from his enemies (Psalm 28:7).
God appeared to the Israelites on Mount Sinai and Torah; the first five books of the Scripture were given (Exodus 19:18-19). Man can only adapt himself with the changing nature of things by knowing God, who is in total control. Even in the remotest parts of the earth, away from all civilization, man still could see God in some form or the other. This is necessary for him to know himself and know others and live the way he is supposed to live.
To know God of heaven, never seen by man – A man and a woman meet with an interest to get married and during this courting period, both present their best side to the other. After marriage, once the two live together, the real person starts getting revealed day by day. Even then certain aspects of one’s real character are seen only in difficult times or through a deliberate effort on the part of one to reveal himself to the other. The Church has been termed as the ‘Bride of Christ’ and the ‘Body of Christ’ (Ephesians 5:31-32). After Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, ‘she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate’ (Genesis 3:6). Suppose Adam was not with her at that particular time and later when offered the fruit by Eve, refused to eat that. God would have found another alternative. But after they ate, in heaven, God the Father would have told His Son, the bride that I chose for You is going to die. What would have been His reply, He would have simply said, ‘Father, I will die for her so that she can live’. He became Man, for God cannot die, bore the sins 0f His bride on Himself on the cross, cleansed us with His blood, and died in our stead so that we could live. With this He blessed us with His presence in each and every believer in the Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things and reminds us of His Words (John 14:26).
Despite their disobedience, God still visited His people, the Israelites, to lead them out from slavery to freedom into a land of abundance. He revealed Himself to all of mankind through His Word, while giving the condensed form of His law in the Ten Commandments. To further help them to connect to Him, He instituted the way of forgiveness through the sacrifice of an animal in His Temple in their midst. And then the LORD spoke to Moses, ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons; saying, This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel, say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace’ (Numbers 6:23-27). The first part is His touch of blessing and being sustained in that blessed state, which is like a mother always keeping her attention towards her child, though busy in all other works. The second is about His look of love and mercy in blessing us like the joy of a mother feeding her child and being content in that. The third is active personal care and protection that ensure peace with total welfare, health, safety and prosperity. The blessing pronouncement over the people was to ‘put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them’. With this blessing the High priest would bring all the listeners into the family of the LORD God, bearing His name. With that the LORD binds Himself to His children as a loving Father to care for them.
In a marriage, both husband and wife share their thoughts, desires and future plans with each other and thus get to know each other. Apostle Paul has stated, ‘since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse’ (Romans 1:20). We are blessed, for God became Man in the form of Lord Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to us. We learn that, ‘the Word became flesh (Man) and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14). First, the glory of God is revealed in His creation; then in His Word and finally, in the form and works of His Son, our Saviour. God’s persona is revealed in all this but only those get to really know Him, whom He decides to reveal Himself. We want to know God closely, to follow Him, to praise and please Him through our lives lived in obedience, following His ways. The commandments of God provide a way of life and a blueprint to live in His ways.
The LORD who made everything has said, ’Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know’ (Jeremiah 33:2-3). The three stages of getting close to God means, first we turn to Him to try and know Him. In this the Holy Spirit leads us to His house where we learn about His Word and hear others’ testimonies. Once we receive adequate understanding, at baptism, the Holy Spirit who was external to us comes to dwell in us. The third stage is growing in that personal knowledge and relationship. Throughout life, one keeps on learning more and more aspects of God with better understanding.
The Jewish people follow an annual plan of reading the Torah, the first five books of the Holy Bible. For thousands of years this reading and writing of personal revelations are handed down to future generations. Yet every year new interpretations emerge to show some aspect of God. The original language of the Scriptures is Hebrew, which does not have vowels. Jewish sages believe that this was done by God to allow the reader to inset the vowels to interpret the Word as per personal revelation from God, in accordance with the life experiences of the individual. God does not hide Himself from His created beings, but our sinful nature has put a veil over our spiritual and even physical eyes to prevent us from clearly seeing Him. Like Adam and Eve, filled with our shame and guilt, we hide from Him, fearing retribution. The one who turns to Him starts receiving revelation about God and draws close to Him, for it is His grace to reveal Himself to us.
Visible changes in those who get to know God – The Saviour Lord first promised not to leave us as orphans; then He offered prayers to the Father in heaven to bless us with His presence in us in His Spirit (John 14:18-26). Every believer is blessed and ‘the Helper, the Holy Spirit’ comes to dwell in each one. The blessing of His presence is that ‘He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you’ . We have a Treacher in us who actually is the Author of all Scripture, while using different writers over a long span of time, and most of them never met each other.
The Risen Lord appeared in the midst of the disciples, though the report of Mary Magdalene about having met the Resurrected Lord was not believed by them (John 20:19-22). The disciples were hiding behind closed doors, ‘for fear of the Jews’. To help them emerge from their deadness of fear, Lord Jesus gave them new life, for ‘He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. They could sustain themselves up to the ‘Day of Pentecost’ when the Holy Spirit was to come to dwell in them (Acts 2:2-4). The result was visible in the disciples’ speaking languages that they knew nothing about and people of more than fifteen countries heard them speaking in their own language.
The disciples were so filled with power of the Holy Spirit, that even when threatened by the Jewish leaders to stop preaching the Gospel Message, refused. They could boldly say, ‘whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard’ (Acts 4:19-20). Like the disciples, right through the history of the Church innumerable believers have been martyred. Stephen was stoned to death but he did not stop proclaiming the message of salvation in Lord Jesus.
Many people turn to the Lord with this misconception that with this all their problems will be solved, their debts cleared and abundance will flow. God has a plan of goodness and peace for everyone in His creation (Jeremiah 29:11). But some are chosen to face sufferings and go through the fire to be purified like gold. God strengthens all believers to face adversity and come out stronger in faith. Apostle Peter after having experienced everything, could say, ‘may the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you’ (1 Peter 5:10).
Suffering in this fallen world is as much a part of life as is the joy. Apostle Paul was taken by God to the third heaven and heard things that are beyond imagination and cannot be revealed (2 Corinthians 12:1-9). Yet God refused to remove the ‘thorn in the flesh’ which was a messenger of Satan to afflict him. Instead, he was given an abundance of God’s grace to face this. A believer starts receiving understanding of the Word as he draws closer to God through study and meditation of the Scriptures. He starts reaching out to others with the Gospel message to turn them to the Lord. His life is governed by the grace of God and in His might he walks the path of righteousness. Like David, who sinned with Bathsheba, even though he may sin, in repentance, he seeks the Lord. Then he can cry, ‘purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow’ (Psalm 51:7). We all falter but, in His power, we get up and start again.
David was in the cave at Adullam and a group of men in debt, suffering and discontent joined him (1 Samuel 22:2). He praised God in such adversity and taught them to be strong in faith through Psalm 34. He could say, ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all’ (Psalm 34:19). We suffer but prayerfully bring it all before the Lord to help and free us . Through the way to pray as taught by the Saviour, the prayer is addressed to ‘Our Father in heaven’ (Matthew 6:9). God is not only mine but all others’ Father also and we as God’s family pray for and with each other seek relief. In His love we can then love others and be a blessing to others.
God desires to be known by all and everyone gets to know more of Him as much is his desire. It is about having a personal relationship with Him and not about some abstract knowledge of a distant God. With this we become partners with Him to live in His ways and be his instrument of bringing correction in a fallen world order. We can either know God or know the devil and be opposed to God for there is no middle path!
