Every child growing up comes to a point in life when they realize there must be something more. There is something greater than the problems in life, more significant than our parents, more important than the governments in the world, and working in the background of our lives influencing every human life’s events. Some part of us wants to believe that there is a supreme being out there somewhere looking out for us and guiding us to Him. But the search for this being has brought us some strange ideas about God and who he is. There is an arrogant, prideful testimony today of people who call themselves believers, assuring us they know all about the being and nature and intent of the God of the universe. In humility, I object to this assertion that we can understand the full majesty of God. How can we being finite physical beings, thoroughly understand the infinite God that created the universe and the other planes of existence? The answer is we can’t, not entirely. To discern God without understanding that he is eternal and far above our ways is to create a god in OUR image and only as big as our own experience and comprehension. God is much greater than we can imagine.
We see glimpses of him in the bible as the creator, and in Jesus in His nature and the Holy Spirit in His power. Even with these revelations in scripture, we must understand that God can only be known by the understanding that he gave us, and that is inherent in us. Humanity can only understand confined within the limits of creation. Without the Holy Spirit’s help, we cannot understand the eternal; it is foreign to us. Learning the infinite is not easy for the finite. It is a process of learning that will take an eternity. We don’t even know all there is to know about ourselves and who we are in this world. Despite man’s tendencies to bring God to our level, it is crucial to have a biblical understanding of who God is. We should seek God with the respect he deserves as the creator of all things, knowing that we cannot know him without his help because he is God. We must search for truth and knowledge of who we are as man and woman and our place in relationship with God. The Bible teaches if we are faithful in our search and indeed seek him in his word, we can find and know him.
From the time we are born, we realize we are physical creatures. As children, we learn that we must contend with others for our very existence. We quickly know the physical laws of survival of the fittest. So we fight, scratch, and claw to understand what it takes to get along in this world. Our sinful nature would flourish and control every aspect of our lives if the God of the universe did not counteract it. Initially, we are incomplete in life as we search for wholeness, trying to fill the void in our broken nature. Only God has what we need through the gift of His Son sent to earth. He came to show us what God is like and repair our broken relationship with Him and give us the chance to become children of God. It is hard to understand why God would even bother to save us in our state of rebellion against him and even harder to comprehend this same God’s eternal attributes. We are limited because we live and think in a 3D world that is temporary at best, and the bible says it will not last forever. This temporary state of existence is hard to understand because all things seem to stay the same from generation to generation.
The Apostle Peter understood this when he wrote in 2 Peter 3:1-13 (NKJV); “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this, they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
It is a serious thing to know God. A privilege that should not be treated lightly or arrogantly or without reverence as the lesser being in the relationship. Because of God’s love for us, we have been given this great opportunity to know as much of God that we can understand. Limited as our ability is to grasp the eternal God, he has given a mirror of who He is in his word. “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him (God) who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4 (NKJV)
Through the knowledge of Him, and by his power, God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. God wants us to know Him because it is essential in obtaining life eternal and complete us as a child of God. Only by getting to know God and partaking of God’s precious promises can we be made whole and feel the joy of a loving relationship with Father God. We must have a personal living relationship with Him. The gospel is simple enough for a child to understand, but because God is infinite, it will take forever to explore the fullness and glory of God and the gift he gave us when he came to earth as a man in Jesus the Christ. It should be a wonderful journey to seek God in our lives every day. But, the actual effort to have a personal relationship with God and earnestly seeking Him has somehow been overlooked by many in the church today. For whatever reasons in today’s church world, individuals once seeking the face of God have become too busy, or have been distracted, or have other interests in playing church. God has created us for this one thing, TO KNOW AND WALK WITH GOD. It is our greatest need in life. The creator and Father, the obedient Son, and the Holy Spirit, the story never ends of the love he has shown to us.
God is worthy of our worship, the divine creator of all things. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty is the hymn of the angels around God’s throne in heaven. Revelation 4:8. His majesty is beyond words but must be revered, if for no other reason than to bring the AWE of God back in our relationship with him. A God that we think we understand fully is no God at all. The true God is much bigger than we can visualize. God deserves our fearful, reverent respect. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Job 28:28, ” Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” Psalms 33:8. God is AWESOME
In the wilderness, Moses was drawn to the burning bush and began his search to know God. Exodus 3 (NIV), Moses and the Burning Bush: “Now Moses was tending Jethro’s flock, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush does not burn up.” When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM, has sent me to you.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
Moses asked two questions of God in these verses that are meaningful to us today. The first question was, “Who am I, that I should go?” Who am I? Moses asks the question asked by all men and women of God. What can we learn from God’s response to Moses? And God said, “I will be with you.” It is enough that God is with us in life, teaching his ways and walking with us. We can be content in this. We have all the power of the God of creation walking with us. The belief that God walks with us is what gives humanity worth in our relationship with God. His favor in us as creatures of worship and reverence. The grace of God has been shown to all men through the Son.
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Jesus, when he left the earth and went to sit at the right hand of the Father, left these words to comfort us, ” Lo, I am with you always until the end of the world.” Jesus gave us the same promise that God gave Moses, “I will be with you.” God gives us all we need in Him. We are completed in him. Peace, joy, love are gifts of God brought to us through our walk with God. We are worthy because he makes us worthy. This promise is hard to understand but never the less true. It comes from the heart of God. It is the foundation of our relationship with God. Our part is to answer when God calls, like Moses said, “Here I am.” Indeed this should be the song of our hearts.
HERE I AM TO WORSHIP
Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness,
Opened my eyes, let me see,
Beauty that made this heart adore You,
Hope of a life spent with You,
And here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You’re my God,
You’re altogether lovely, Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me,
King of all days, Oh, so highly exalted,
Glorious in heaven above,
Humbly You came, To the earth You created,
All for love’s sake became poor,
And here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You’re my God,
You’re altogether lovely, Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me,
I’ll never know how much it cost,
To see my sin upon that cross,
I’ll never know how much it cost,
To see my sin upon that cross,
Song Lyrics by Tim Hughes.
God has given us all the things we need so that we could spend eternity with Him. As the last lines from the song, “I’ll never know how much it cost, To see my sin upon that cross.” Eternity, I have no idea of what it will be like, but I know it will be with Jesus, and that’s all that matters to see His face that saved me. To be in the presence of the God that made me, no longer to be influenced by sin and death. Who am I? I am a person who draws all that I am that is worthwhile through my relationship with God. God redeems me through the relationship God forged despite my sin and rebellion. Who am I? I am loved by God deeply unto the death of his Son, Jesus. How much more should I shout it from the rooftops or at least share the love given to me with others. The tragedies in life are many, but the worst disaster is a life wasted without God or hope of life everlasting. Moses walked with God. My wish for you is that you know the joy of walking with God and seeking Him.
The second question Moses asked God is, “What is his name?” Names are important. Names given in God’s Word have meaning and reveal the nature and intent of that person’s heart; Abraham means the “father of many nations,” which is what he was because many nations came from his loins. Jacob means “supplanter” or “deceiver” After his life-changing experience with the Angel of God, Jacob’s name was changed from “deceiver” to “Israel,” which means, “God rules; or strives with God; or a prince of God; or overcomes and prevails; or God’s fighter.” Jacob was changed forever by his relationship with God. Revelation 2:17 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him, who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone, a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” In the Bible, names have significant meaning and importance; this is why we should pay close attention to the name God gave himself to Moses’ ears. “I AM THAT; I AM,” EHYEH ASHER EHYEH.
Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh (YHVH), the name of God. God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM, has sent me to you.” There are many other names of God in the Bible, but none get to the core of who God is like this name ”I am who, I am” speaks of a being like no other we know. “…There is none other God but one,” 1 Corinthians 8:4. “Thou shalt have none other gods before me,” Deuteronomy 5:7, “Hear O Israel: The Lord, our God, is one Lord.” We are hearing the name of a unique person—one of a kind of whom there is not equal. “I am who I am” is self-existent. He relies on no one but Himself to exist. There is no one greater than Him. He has no father or mother. He is The Eternal Being from whom all things were created that exist. They exist because He wills that they exist. Why he created all things can only be answered by Him.
There is nothing we can compare to Him. Nothing we have ever seen, heard, perceived in this world is like Him. If all creation was destroyed, he alone would exist. He is the Alpha and Omega: the beginning and the ending. He is Everlasting to Everlasting. He has no beginning or end. He created time itself and is not subject to it but can see all things at once and comprehend it all. His majesty and grandeur are very hard to put in word as the writers of Revelations, Daniel, Isaiah, know. He is hard to explain because we have no plane of reference to refer to except the Bible.
Romans 11:33-36,” Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” God may seem unreachable because the gap between us is too great to breach, but God has provided a way through His Son and his precious promises and the gift of new birth in the spirit if we believe in Him and seek Him and turn from sin. This has been God’s will from the beginning, fellowship with man. 1 Corinthians 2:9-11, But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except for the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” The “spirit of the man which is in him” communicates with the Spirit of God by seeking Him with an honest and humble heart before the Lord.
We are naked before the Lord. He knows us; nothing is hidden from Him. Should we be open with God, who knows the number of the hairs on our head and the appointed time of our death? If we have a relationship based on obedience and love, it is easy to be open to a loving God. “For God so loved that He…”, John 3:16, this says it all. He created free will, knowing that some would reject Him as Lord of their life, but he went through with creation anyway, knowing the evil things Satan and other beings would do with the gift of free will. Evil exists because of opposition to God. God was not and is not ever surprised by anything that happens because he is God and knows the beginning from the ending.
God did not just set things in motion and then watch things happen with no everyday life involvement. He is the good on the earth. The Lord is hope eternal and life everlasting to us if we acknowledge Him and give Him a place in our life. The Book of James says, ” Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” James 1:13-18. God brought us forth to be His “firstfruits.” God is not one side of a two-headed coin, with Satan on one side and God on the other side. Satan is not God’s equal. God has allowed all things to proceed as they have since the beginning of time for his purposes because He is God. We are allowed to be part of God’s plan and partakers of His mercy or entitled to reject Him and all His provision. The truth is that straight forth about God. Truth is God is in control, and He is perfect in all His ways. We have been made to trust Him in all we do.
As James 1:17 said, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” The will of men and angels will not reign in eternity; God will. God is sovereign. We must let God teach us all things pertaining to life and Godliness because he is the only one who can. We do this through an obedient personal relationship with Him and his Word. We can’t understand God with our human ability to grasp the physical. It goes beyond our five senses and resides in the heart. ” But from there, you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. “Deuteronomy 4:29. Jesus said knock, and it will be open to you seek, and you will find. God has an open door that no man can shut. Only a closed heart can choose not to walk through. Don’t close your heart. Be a seeker of truth, God’s truth. God loves you and truly wants the best for you.
“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.” Revelation 4:11