Yearning to See God

“In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1). That statement says volumes. Before time began only God existed. There was no universe. There were no atoms. Only God. He then created everything, including a man and a woman in His image. They lived in a beautiful garden called Eden. God personally walked with them as He “moved about in the orchard“ (Genesis 3:8) daily. He was visible. They could see and talk with Him one on one. It was paradise.

Atheists don’t agree with anything in that paragraph. They insist everything arose out of nothing, a scientific impossibility. Christians know better. R.C. Sproul wrote, “The God we worship is the God who’s always been. He alone can create beings, because He alone has the power of being. He isn’t nothing. He isn’t chance. He is pure Being, the One who has the power to be all by Himself. He alone is eternal. He alone has power over death. He alone can call worlds into being by fiat, by the power of His command. Such power is staggering, awesome. It’s deserving of respect, of humble adoration.”

But I digress. Getting back to the initial story line, humanity had it made. Then came the tragic fall that brought sin and God’s curse into our world. The devil (in the form of a snake) lied to the first couple about the forbidden tree standing in the middle of the garden, saying to them, “God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you’ll be like divine beings who know good and evil“ (Genesis 3:5). They ate. What their eyes “saw” next was that they were naked “so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves“ (Genesis 3:7). We’ve been wearing “fig leaves” ever since.

It’s not that our bodies are necessarily ugly or shameful. The nakedness they noticed is symbolic of the sad condition we’ve all inherited.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones explained: “They were conscious at once that they were deprived of something they’d had before. Man, let us remember, was made in the image of God in every respect. He was not only upright with a righteousness that was spiritual, but there was a glory pertaining to the body. When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost that glory and were left with bodies as we now know them, and they were aware that they’d been deprived of something. There was immediately a consciousness of a nakedness, a loss, an incompleteness. Something had gone. A glory had departed.”

It occurs to me that humanity lost a blessing even more advantageous – the ability to see God. After the fall God expelled Adam and Eve from Eden and posted “angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life“ (Genesis 3:24). Included in God’s curse was that He figuratively “left the building.” Noah, Abraham, Issac and Jacob heard His voice and several of them were visited by one of His representatives, but they never saw God in His glory.

Moses once asked God, “Show me your glory.” God answered, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live“ (Exodus 33:18,20). As a favor, God allowed Moses to view His backside after He passed by. But that was it. Significant, no? My point is, being so dependent upon sight, ever since Eden human beings of every color, race and ethnicity across the globe have yearned to see God.

God didn’t reveal His face to anyone until Jesus was born as a flesh-and-blood man and lived among us. Of course, Isaiah correctly prophesized that Christ would present “no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow Him.“ Thus, because His visage was average, many hated Him for claiming to be God incarnate. “He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from Him; He was despised, and we considered Him insignificant“ (Isaiah 52:2-3).

Due to God’s invisibility, pagans worshiped objects/entities more intimidating and/or impressive than themselves. They dutifully worshiped the sun, moon, oceans, stars, mountains, rivers, animals, etc. They yearned to see the Creator God who’d hidden Himself from mankind. But our holy God refused to look upon our vile sinfulness. Therefore, folks worshiped visible things in God’s creation instead of God Himself. Billions still do.

Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “‘You people worship what you do not know. …But a time is coming – and now is here – when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers.’ The woman said to Him, ‘I know Messiah is coming (the one called Christ); whenever He comes, He will tell us everything.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I, the one speaking to you, am He‘” (John 4:29).

Later on, our Savior openly announced: “The Father and I are one“ (John 10:30). God’s face was hidden no longer. The Creator came here in person to redeem us, to free us from the curse caused by Adam & Eve’s disobedience, to teach us how to establish and maintain a close relationship with God, and to know Him once again. Everything changed when Jesus came.

Sproul wrote, “How we understand the person and character of God the Father affects every aspect of our lives. It affects far more than what we normally call the ‘religious’ aspects of our lives. If God’s the Creator of the universe, then it must follow that He’s the Lord of the whole universe. No part of the world is outside of His lordship. That means no part of my life is outside of His lordship. His holy character has something to say about economics, politics, athletics, romance – everything with which we are involved.”

How do we go about seeing, knowing and better understanding God Almighty? The Bible tells us how: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up“ (James 4:10).