Finding God
You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. Isaiah 62:6,7 For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned… Psalm 132:13
Finding God;
I’m no expert at directing people to faith in the God of creation , but have decided to have a go, just in case an unbelieving soul stumbles onto this site by accident or curiosity. My own spiritual experience is of participating in the Christian faith from childhood, my beloved parents being fervent believers. My indoctrination was sufficient to convince me that there must be a God of creation, but I was frustrated at my inability to encounter God. That changed at 23, when I encountered supernatural peace in response to emptiness. The next encounter was at 31, this time supernatural dread in response to un-confessed sin. And that’s it. Not much, but enough to know that God is real and is personally interested in me.
I imagine the prophesy doctrine presented on this site may seem far fetched to someone who hasn’t encountered God. It often seems bizarre to me also, and I’m living daily with my head buried in bible prophesy. However, if we only trust what can be seen in the visible world, we might miss important spiritual truth. Our basic handicap in recognizing God is that we are limited to sensing on a physical level – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. So experientially, the physical realm is the ‘real world’ for us, and the spiritual realm is less real. But logically, the opposite is true.
Our physical universe, including your own body, is actually an illusion, because the substance of all material is the atom. An atom has only a tiny core of protons and neutrons, with even smaller electrons orbiting at high speed, which form a visible ‘shell’. When you look at any ‘solid’ object made of atoms, what you are really seeing is the blur of moving electrons. The object itself is not solid, but made of invisible qualities – empty space and energy. There is only empty space in the path of an electron, or it would collide with something and slow down or fly apart, and the atom would disintegrate.
Atoms = empty space; Protons, neutrons, and electrons account for less than 0.01% of an atoms total volume. [M. V. Orno, ChemSource, 1993] In other words, more than 99.99% of an atoms makeup is empty space. It is now known that protons, neutrons, and electrons are themselves composed of sub atomic particles – quarks and leptons. [D. O'Leary, Hypertext, 2000] So the remaining 0.01% volume is not solid either.
The apostle Paul realized that the visible world lacks any real substance when he wrote; “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that the visible was made from the invisible.” [Hebrews 11:3] Today, we no longer need much faith to understand this.
A man relying on his natural senses alone does not believe in the creator, because he cannot see God and has not experienced God. He prefers to trust what he can see, hear, smell, taste and touch, all of which depend on insubstantial atoms. According to God, he will be proven a fool in the end. He has trusted in an illusion, and ignored the inevitable spiritual realm. A complete functioning universe could not by itself come into being from an empty void. No one knows how to make an atom yet, or we would be making gold bars in our laboratories. Nor do they make themselves, or replicate, otherwise we would be watching our gold bars grow. But God does know how to make atoms – he simply speaks the command, and they come into being. Here is a spooky thought. If electrons could, by themselves, start orbiting, then at any time they could stop orbiting. The universe would simply disappear.
Keep that idea circulating in your mind. Don’t let go of it until you are convinced in your own mind that there must be something else beyond the physical world we live in – something more permanent.
What you are looking for is the eternal God, the creator of heaven and earth. I cannot offer a bullet proof guide to discovering the reality of God, but I can tell you what God has said; “I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, Seek me in vain. I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.” [Isaiah 45:29] This means that the first step is to start looking, and the place to look is God’s own words. I don’t recommend joining a religion, because they will have already decided who God is and what he requires. In my opinion you are better off to get an NIV Bible, and to consider the prophecies and Jesus words, starting with Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Psalms, Matthew and John.
While you are still pondering the insubstantial nature of the physical world, understand how easy it is for a spiritual being to to bend the fabric of the physical world, so that we perceive a miracle. We urgently need to wake up to this, because we are vulnerable to being deceived by the miraculous. If we are in the last days of this age, as I believe we are, then we can expect to see some incredible miraculous events. But we must not go looking for them, [Matthew 24:23-27] and we must not be deceived by them. The following prophecy is about a false prophet. This is what is about to occur;
And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. Revelation 13:13-15
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” [gods you have not known] “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. Deuteronomy 13:1-4
If you can receive that warning, maybe you can receive a less palatable warning also. Understanding how insubstantial the physical world is, avoid running after the trappings of this world that we naturally aspire too; wealth, recognition, security. God is unlikely to be offering these things in the immediate future. More likely is that we will face a severe breakdown in our society. We have been spoiled rotten, and this breakdown will seem like intolerable hardship for us. The danger we face is that we will grab at the obvious solution to our immediate discomfort – the false messiah. He will be a very real man, who consults with spirits, and will prosper in everything he does as a result. But all he will deliver is the destruction of mankind. We must trust God, and wait for his answer.
Now recall the experience of Germany from 1932 to 1945. The nation was in a state of collapse, a proud nation brought low. Decent people like yourself no doubt. Then came Adolf Hitler. I do not know that he consulted with spirits, but it would be a pretty sure bet. Everything he did turned to gold, and he rescued many trusting, decent Germans from their distress, and restored the pride of their nation. All of his opponents were swept aside by his success, or quietly silenced. Decent German citizens were deceived, caught up in a patriotic, nationalistic fervor, and an insidious madness began to occur. Minority groups were targeted for persecution, law and justice was compromised. Good, decent Germans behaved as they would not normally behave. In the end, good decent Germans were smashed into oblivion. Do you really think this could not happen to you? God has said that it will happen.
Evidence of the supernatural; The only inexplicable event my eyes have seen, was what I thought may have been the trace of a cruise missile crossing overhead as I cycled along a country road here in New Zealand, in the semi darkness of nightfall. It was low, not more than 1000ft up, probably half that. It was slow, not more than 400mph, probably half that. It was traveling horizontally, going Northwest, making a wavering rocket noise. I could not see the body of a missile or aircraft in the fading light, yet I could clearly see the road I was traveling without artificial light. What I could see [briefly] was a spherical incandescent ball, possibly a meter in diameter, and leaving a thick trace of black smoke, which dispersed or vanished almost immediately. If not for it’s horizontal trajectory and low speed, I would have believed I had seen a meteorite. I was among dense trees on either side of the road, and it passed out of view within 2 seconds, leaving not a trace. I waited for a distant explosion, which never occurred. I checked the paper and news reports for missile attacks, unexplained explosions, or UFO sightings, but there was nothing. Anyone within a kilometer of the flight path of this thing could hardly fail to see, and probably hear it. I didn’t tell a soul what I had seen.
Years later a friend asked me if I’d ever seen an angel. “Not that I know of, but I once saw Elijah’s flaming chariot cruising overhead.” joked I, [2 Kings 2:11] and told him what I had seen. He responded with a tale of a falling meteorite that could not have done anything but collide with earth just outside town, but there was no discernible impact. He and his family saw this object descend beyond a moderately distant hill, but once again, no one else in the vicinity reported seeing anything. They also kept quiet about it. So how many of us are seeing things that defy explanation, but bury it rather than acknowledge the inexplicable?
Superhuman strength; We hear accounts of people who perform amazing feats of strength in a crisis, such as lifting a heavy object off someone who is trapped. Physiologists explain this phenomenon by saying that in times of stress our muscles have much more strength than normal, by the release of adrenaline during the crisis. This can only be true within limits, but not for a load many times in excess of normal, because the spine, joints, tendons and ligaments would also need to suddenly become much stronger. Even a trained weightlifter risks hernia, torn ligaments and snapped tendons at the extreme limit of their normal strength. So for an untrained person to lift many times their normal capacity can only result in injury. You have to look to the supernatural for a sensible explanation.
Evolution Theory; This is a popular explanation for the origin of life, but not the only explanation that the scientific community supports. “Intelligent design theory” has become a credible scientific doctrine in response to a better understanding of genetic programming. But, before this doctrine can be widely accepted, a social obstacle must first be overcome. The logical source of intelligent design is God, which brings religion into play. Religion is divisive, and will not be finally done away with until God’s kingdom is established. Though this doctrine may never become popular politically, on a personal level you might do well to investigate it, rather than to automatically adhere to evolution theory. Aside from inherently denying the authenticity of God’s word, there are a few holes in evolution theory…..
The reality of “survival of the fittest” does not fit evolution theory. Supposedly, from one species, a random genetic mutation occurs that allows a new species to take advantage of a new opportunity, being more equipped to survive. The original species may, or may not survive, but random genetic mutations continue unabated, till eventually, after millions of years, we arrive at the diverse ecology we know today. But actually, we are losing about 30 major species of animal life to extinction every year, with estimates of up to 30,000 extinctions of all subspecies per year [Niles Eldridge – Princeton University 1998]. What this means is that by a process of “survival of the fittest” we get a reduction of species, not a diversification, or increase of species. In other words, by the process of “survival of the fittest,” eventually there will be no life left on earth.
You might dismiss this evidence because we currently see an abnormally high extinction rate due to loss of habitat. True, but extinction has always been a fact of life. Fossil records indicate a natural attrition, or ‘background rate’ for species extinction, estimated to be 10 species per year. Therefore, according to accepted scientific doctrine we should be finding evidence of 10 new species by genetic mutation every year, just to replenish these naturally occurring losses. In fact, if evolution theory is correct, we should be seeing many new species evolving in response to the current change of habitat. Much more likely though, is that we will see the same old dominant species thriving, as usual.
The genetic programming of living organisms act to prevent genetic mutations from occurring, though mutation does occur. For a simple organism, even a minor mutation causes death. For a complex organism, a minor mutation causes disease, in which case the diseased animal is unlikely to survive long, or find a breeding partner. It is obvious that a species can adapt to changing opportunity, but this has not been conclusively shown to coincide with mutation of the genetic program. Rather, the capacity to adapt already existed in the genetic program. For example, a wolf becomes a dog by a loss of genetic information, but importantly, it still remains “according to it’s kind.” [Genesis 1:24]
Probability; It has been shown to be mathematically impossible for genetic mutation to account for the vast number of species we now observe. Evolution theorists do not deny that the odds are impossible. They simply say that the ‘fact’ that it did happen proves that it could happen. But God was there, and says it didn’t happen, so you are better off to trust the laws of mathematical probability.
Complexity of a living cell; This is argueably the smallest self sustaining unit of life, and could be considered to be a complex machine. Even a basic knowledge of the construction and functions carried out by a living cell should suggest that one could never spontaneously come into being, no matter how many billions of years you gave it.
It has to be born on a planet that can support life. It has to be self reliant, not having the functional support of a parent organism. It has to absorb life supporting nutrients from an environment devoid of organic matter [remember, this is the very first living cell we are talking about]. It has a limited life span in which to construct itself, carry out it’s bodily functions, gain enough nutrients to double it’s mass in order to replicate, and it has to have it’s own intelligence so that it knows what to do. It cannot fail to replicate, otherwise this newborn living cell will go no further.
DNA language; In 2004 the DNA code was unraveled, leading to a better understanding of DNA programming – being akin to a complex computer program and language, miniaturized and optimized. Professor Anthony Flew, a leading atheist at that time, realized DNA structure could not have occurred by accident of nature, but must have been designed and created by God. There are numerous design characteristics in nature that defy “survival of the fittest” as a reason for existing. Why do men grow beards and women not? My beard serves no useful purpose for the survival of my species – except to point to the existence of my designer and creator. My survival does depend on him.
The real cause of our environmental problems; ….the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing of each other, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying. Hosea 4:1-3
Billions of years; My objection to this concept is that it doesn’t agree with the bible, which says that God made heaven and earth in a period of 6 literal days [6 evenings and mornings] and puts the age of this universe at about 6000 years. So, apart from being false, by holding on to this concept we are actually calling the Almighty God a liar, as well as denying evidence of his awesome power. Both of these crimes will have unpleasant consequences for us;
Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me, declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. Jeremiah 2:19
Our recorded history only goes back a few thousand years. If mankind has existed for millions of years, wouldn’t you expect evidence of man’s endeavors to go a bit further back in time? Think about Mount Rushmore. Surely the faces cast in stone will still be evident in 100,000 years time. How long do you expect the Easter Island statues to be evident for? These are lasting monuments to man’s endeavors, and were made and erected entirely by primitive means. So where is the evidence of our ancestors from 100,000 years ago, or even 10,000 years ago? The oldest writing I know about is the Book of Enoch, written less than 5000 years ago. The book of Job and the five books of Moses were written only 4000 and 3500 years ago. All these early writings address the subject of God’s relationship with man. Doesn’t this tell you what the true significance of human history is all about?
All these arguments will soon be irrelevant. You are about to meet the Lord your God in person;
….yet you have not returned to me, declares the LORD. Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel. He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth – the LORD God Almighty is his name. Amos 4:11-13
The LORD will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail. Isaiah 30:30
Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. Isaiah 2:10,11
Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. Isaiah 3:10
The reward for righteousness; Most religions would probably conclude that the reward for righteousness is eternal life, and the reward for faithlessness is eternal destruction. My take on God’s word is a little different. I believe that most of mankind will be saved for eternal life, because God is merciful, and because God’s plan from the start was that man should live forever, and God’s plans always succeed. I have no doubt that by God’s decree mankind is about to be wiped out, by a destruction of our own making, but God is supreme even over death, and this is not the end for us. To receive eternal life requires that at some point we must put our trust in God and abandon our pursuits of disobedience. Even if you can’t receive this now, God says we will all do this eventually;
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations….all who go down to the dust will kneel before him – those who cannot keep themselves alive. Psalm 22:27-29 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All you have made will praise you O LORD…. Psalm 145:8-10
What I have just described, assuming it is even correct, is a long way short of faithfulness, and the reward of the righteous goes far beyond eternal life. I cannot tell you what this reward is, because I don’t exactly know, and because it is beyond your’s and my comprehension anyway. Psalm 18:30-45 may give you a rough idea, but the best indicator I have seen is this scripture from the Apocrypha;
Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labors. When they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation, so far beyond all they had looked for. And they, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves; This was he, whom we had sometimes in derision, and a proverb of reproach. We fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honor. How is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the saints! Wisdom of Solomon 5:1-6
The oppressors depicted here are those in positions of power, fully accustomed to wealth and prestige in this life, but overwhelmed by the glory of the saints in the next life. Here is an incentive to seek God’s ways – the promise of great reward. Or you could forget about all that, and simply give God sovereignty because he is your Creator, and this is the proper response from a created being.
I advocate searching God’s word for yourself to find the reality of God, but at some point this must go beyond mere intellectual reasoning. Here follows my own summary of the righteousness that God requires of us – these attributes signify an inner change, and depend largely on God’s work in us;
Faith; Putting your trust in the Living God. Recognizing that your life and your ways are in his hand. God’s ways are often incomprehensible to us, but will you trust him anyway?
Obedience; All the laws that God gave to Moses are to be obeyed. Some of these make perfect sense, but some of them make no sense at all. Will you obey them anyway, simply because God asks you too? No one has fully obeyed the law, and even if we had we would not be righteous. [see Matthew 5:21-48] God has provided for this. [Isaiah 53] Obedience is an attribute that is in our own hands – a good reason to pay particular attention to it, and a good place to start if we genuinely want to please God.
Justice; God is just, and God’s laws are just. Here’s one I trip over, sometimes thinking that my own sense of justice is a cut above God’s. According to God, this is a measure of my wickedness; To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. Psalm 18:25
Mercy; On one level this is easy for most of us. The wages of sin is death – and we have all sinned. Therefore we have more to gain by judging ourselves for the removal of sin, rather than condemning others for their sin. God requires us to repent from sin, but his inclination is always toward mercy, and ours must be too, if we ourselves are to receive mercy. On another level, it’s harder to forgive when the offense is against us personally, and the hurt of the offense remains.
Humility; The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17 This attribute encompasses all the others, and they are all interrelated.
In searching for God, it’s possible to gain knowledge, but still not know God. Even if a perfect doctrine were possible, it is of little value if not accompanied by faith, obedience, justice, mercy, and humility. Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven…… I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!” [Matthew 7:21] God has said that it is impossible for us to fully know him right now – not until Jesus the messiah returns to rule, and God’s spirit is poured out on mankind;
But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. Deuteronomy 29:4 [also see Isaiah 6:10]
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8
Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. [Jesus the Messiah] John 16:22
For the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14 and Isaiah 11:9
I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Joel 2:28
Wisdom exalts her children, and lays hold of them that seek her…. If a man commit himself to her, he shall inherit her, and his generation shall hold her in possession. For at first she will walk with him by crooked ways, and bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline, until she may trust his soul, and try him by her laws. Then she will return the straight way unto him, and comfort him, and show him her secrets. But if he go wrong, she will forsake him, and give him over to his own ruin. Observe the opportunity, but beware of evil and be not put to shame. Ecclesiasticus 4:11-20
That is one of the writings of the Apocrypha. I’m not sure if it’s the word of God, but it sounds like good advice. In your search for God, only the Law and the prophesies can be fully relied on to be God’s word. [see Isaiah 8:20, Matthew 5:17] The letters of the apostles merely quote God’s word, and then talk about it. These are the interpretations of men, who have no more authority than any other preacher. Sometimes they get it right, and sometimes wrong. Even Jesus recorded sayings have to be checked against the Law and the Prophets, because he himself did not write these words, or the interpretations of his words. Happy hunting.