Do you ever wish you could see God? From Earth, our view is “opaque” instead of “clear,” like looking at a wall instead of through a window. As physical human beings living in a physical world, we think “I have to see it to believe it!” But the senses we’ve been given don’t permit us to observe the spiritual world, or see that Jesus is alive, or that angels really exist as the Bible tells us. Our mind puts up a barrier, wanting to dismiss the whole subject because there’s a disconnect. It tells us anything that isn’t physically observable is “impossible.” However, we’re surrounded by real evidence that contradicts this conclusion every day.
Can you see electricity? Gravity? Radiation or x-rays or ultraviolet light? The air you breathe? How about love?
What we can perceive is the effect of each of these, but can only acknowledge the force behind them exists – by faith. If we didn’t, no one would ever fly in an airplane again! There’s much more to the story.
The Author and Creator of life is the Living God – and God is an invisible spirit.
Belief in this reality is also by faith – which overcomes the barrier. In God’s Word, the Holy Bible, we get a small glimpse of His glory in 1 Timothy 6:16 (NLT):
“He alone can never die, and He lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach Him. No human has ever seen Him, nor ever will… “
God has designed a reminder of this for us to see every day. As humans, we can’t look at the sun – or physically see God.
In Exodus 33:17-23 (NIV) Moses wanted to see God with his own eyes like we do. You may be surprised to know God did make a historical physical appearance to this important leader of the Israelites. It was for a purpose however, not a “show” or to prove Himself. It was out of support for Moses whose motive was pure – to have assurance God was with him and to know Him more fully as he led His people through the desert to the Promised Land.
“And the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you, and I know you by name.’ Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’ And the LORD said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,’ He said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’ Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.’”
God is holy, above, unique, and beyond what we can imagine, yet He loves each one of us and wants us to know Him! He hasn’t left us on our own to blindly guess about His existence and who He is. His evidence can be seen everywhere when we open our eyes of faith.
First, He created a soul within each of us and within that, a place that instinctively “knows” He is real and there’s more to life beyond our time on Earth. Even agnostics and atheists have this place inside or they would have nothing to rebel against, run from, or hide from. Listen to this verse in the Old Testament, written in Ecclesiastes 3:11b (NLT):
“He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
In reality, this is just the first leg of our journey, possibly lasting around 80 or 90 years, within eternity.
Second, God has filled our earth and sky with inescapable evidence that He’s real. It’s microscopic, telescopic, in our environment, and within our own body! Man’s attempt to scientifically understand and measure what He’s created has an endpoint God set in place for a reason – to find Him. All of the sciences run out of explanations at the edge of human understanding and again the choice comes down to faith. Some will say God is the true Master Designer and Divine Author of life …and others choose not to.
In addition, the Holy Bible is God’s Word from cover to cover. It contains even more proof that’s reliable and true. Fulfilled prophecies defy the odds. Ongoing archaeological discoveries still uncover tangible evidence buried for centuries that anchor events in Scripture as accurate and historical. God is still providing fresh support for our faith today!
Third, the most powerful outreach to us by God is that He came to earth Himself, as God the Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We read in John 1:18 (NLT):
“No one has ever seen God, but the only and unique Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side – He has made Him known.”
This is a true mind-bender, isn’t it? We can’t see or approach God because He’s holy and we’re sinful, going all the way back to our ancestors Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. So He did for us what we could never do ourselves. He sent His Son – who was fully man, while fully God – to be the bridge between us. That’s how the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood and His death on the cross make sense. It’s the only way our debt of sin could be paid: His life for our life. Then, because He rose from the dead, we who believe in Him and accept His free gift of forgiveness of our sins will be raised again like Him to eternal life – in Heaven!
Let’s take that thought back to our theme.
Jesus, who was God the Son, went from spirit (clear) to “opaque” when He voluntarily became a human like us with flesh and blood. He saw and lived life as His own creation, on earth, with human eyes like ours. When He returned to Heaven again (read Acts 1:9-11 and Luke 24:51), He had truly experienced what it’s like to live with our limitations. When we pray to Him, He understands we aren’t able to open a curtain and see the spiritual world and settle our doubts. Instead, faith is the evidence that God looks for to show our belief in Him is true and sincere – even though in human terms it “doesn’t make sense.” As it says in Hebrews 11:6 (NLT):
“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists, and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.”
When Jesus was on earth for 33 years, many people were able to see Him, but what about us? Jesus Himself promises us this when talking to doubting Thomas in John 2:29 (NIV):
“Then Jesus told him, ‘because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”
Drumroll please! One day we WILL see God with our spiritual eyes wide open! Either after we take our last breath or when Jesus returns. Hell is real too. Don’t miss Heaven. Put your faith in Jesus as your Savior.
RESET HIGHER: Do you have eyes of faith? What is God making more clear to you right now?
