Seeing God

How you see God will greatly affect how you live. Some see God as a Santa Clause that just gives us whatever we want. Others see God as patsy that they can use for their purposes and not have any loyalty or love towards. Others may see God as the great manipulator forcing us to receive him or spend eternity in hell. Others may see God as a person with an enormous ego just wanting people to bow down to him. How do you see God?

When Satan came to Adam and Eve his goal was to distort our ability to correctly see God. Satan has sought to distort correct views of God ever since and falsely attacks God’s character and wants others to join him in setting themselves up as their own God, similar to Satan. This actual event with Adam and Eve is recorded in Genesis 3: 1-7;

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”

First of all, Satan lied and said that they would not die as God had said if that ate of the tree of good and evil. Satan is always a liar, which include distortions of the truth and half truths. Adam and Eve died a spiritual death which separated them from God and in eternity will separate them completely from God and all his goodness. The corruption is now inherited by everyone born and who commits sin. Do you think you would do better than Adam and Eve?

Satan wanted Adam and Eve to doubt God’s word and suspect that God had ulterior motives in giving this command. Reading between the lines Satan was suggesting that God was just a killjoy and didn’t want us to have any fun, although he was like a Father or Mother with a child saying don’t go near the cliff lest you fall to your death. Also reading between the lines Satan is suggesting that God has a major ego and just wants people to bow down to him. Satan wants to distort our view of God and his character and to follow his deception and distortion.

We can see God correctly in his Word the Bible and most vividly with Jesus on the Cross. Would someone who has a big ego and a manipulator come as God in the flesh, (John 1:1,14) and let his own creation nail him to a cross so that God himself would redeem man from a certain hell? Would you do this if you were God? On the cross he exchanged his life for our spiritual death to satisfy divine justice. It is his own divine justice because that is God’s character for, he is the essence of goodness, justice and love. There is no one like God and Satan envied God, which was also aided by his pride.

To be raised from the dead you must repent of your sin which has its roots, like in Satan in wanting to be your own God and place your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, recognizing and appreciating his love authority in your life and the universe. He will redeem you from your sins and from your foolishness toward him.

The Bible also say that no one can see God and live. In Exodus 33 Moses asked to see God’s glory. God said to Moses in verse 20, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” God hid Moses in a cleft of the rock and in sense showed him his back. Afterwards Moses face literally brightly shown for days.

No one in this life can fully see the face of God because if there is any sin in their life, God will consume them. However, in heaven we will fully see the glorious and holy face of God in fullness. Yet there are many other places in scripture were God shields his face so that men and women may see, know and experience him in greater fullness. (Genesis 16:13; Exodus 24:10-11; Deuteronomy 5:24; Judges 6:22; 13:22; Exodus 33:20; Isaiah 6:5)

Have you and I progressed in our sanctification that God will entrust us to seeing God in this way? Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8) To see or know God you must first enter the kingdom of God by being born again by God (John 3:3), then you must progress in your progressive sanctification in becoming Christ like and following his lead in God’s word and as the Holy Spirt guides.

Satan wants to distort our view of God. Are you on his team? There is a much better team and it is called team Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life” (John 14:6) He will set you free from the power and enslavement of Satan and place you in the goodness of God in Jesus Christ the Lord the only Savior. You can be raised from spiritual death to spiritual life by receiving the exchange provided in Christ’s death that you might have life.

Set aside your corrupted view inspired by Satan of God and his character and see God correctly for he loves you. Jesus loves me this I know, because the cross and the Bible tells me so and he loves us immensely and extravagantly. Live the Jesus way as guided by his wisdom and love. Live in the fulness that God makes available to you in Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:19) Discipline your life with a view towards God that God might find you and bless you exceedingly.