Seeking God
Man has a mistaken notion that he found God. It is God through grace that approached mankind and revealed Himself through the “ foolishness of preaching”1 “the Word” and offered salvation. The truth is God is omnipresent. That means He fills His creation to over flowing; there is not [enough] room in it to contain Him“2 Any where you are, He is there,3 He was there before you arrived even before you were born.
Man attempts to seek God through his intellect;4 he should seek Him with his spirit by exercising his will. Every thought and act of mankind begins in his will. Will is an expression of determination. When a person says “I will” it is an expression that he has set his faculties to proceed in a specified direction.
Moses at the burning bush is a good example. Moses saw a strange phenomenon; it was a bush covered with flames but the bush was not consumed. The flames encompassed the entire bush but the leaves and twigs were not oxidized. Apparently there was no smoke only flames. “He said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt” (Exodus 3:3). As soon as he stopped to examine what he saw there was a voice emanating from the bush:
“God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes5 from off thy feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground.6 Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” (Exodus 3: 5-6).
When one is acted upon by God, the Holy Spirit, that person is in the presence of God. Any where God appears in that manner is holy ground. If only more Christians understood that and then – as Moses – would exercise humility. When the Holy Spirit intervenes in a persons thoughts, as The angel of the Lord did in the burning bush, he must exercise his will in the affirmative immediately to listen. From God’s love comes grace, mercy and forgiveness. Grace flows forth from God’s love and its end is redemption, salvation and sanctification for some one. To a Christian that’s the one most important thing in his immediate purview, it’s the reason he is in the world. How many times has one not acted and lost an opportunity and a blessing?
When the Holy Spirit acts upon the spirit of man He instructs the man in “all things” those things of God that are necessary for their “mission. ” Through the intellect man receives understanding of the “hidden” things of God. Mankind is therefore redeemed, saved because they have been “set aside” for holy things. Mankind, in turn, gives to God his body, his living self, as a living sacrifice to serve God in both the execution of their particular “mission” and the dispensing of the Gospel “to all the world.”
The bible speaks of mysteries7 it is through the revelation of these mysteries that understanding is made known. It is a great mystery why God “spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us…” (sinners). The intellect is exercised in the understanding of God’s will for a person and all mankind. “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay dow his life for his friend.” Jesus Christ laid down his life for the sins of the entire world but that is only effectual for those that believe God, Jesus is His Son and heir.
It is true He says, “those that diligently seek shall find me.8” The scriptures also say, “before we knew Him he loved us.”9
Every word of the scriptures is truth. To those that question the veracity of it if they had the mind of God there would be no question. To their great joy the righteous shall know that when they come face to face with the Savior; at the judgment the unrighteous will know the same truth with great sorrow.
- I Corinthians 1: 18 & 21
- …the heaven and heaven of heavens (the universe) cannot contain thee…” (I Kings 8: 27)
- Psalm 139
- the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, esp. with regard to abstract or academic matters
- See John chapter 13 there is a direct connection to this and the washing of the feet of the Apostles
- The ground was holy; not because it was a special piece of ground but because of the presence of God.
- In the interpretation from the Greek a mystery is a thing revealed not a thing hidden.
- Jeremiah 29: 13
- I John 4: 19
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