S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

To "find God" can mean different things to different people. For some, the phrase "find God" is synonymous with "getting religion," whatever religion that may be. For others, "find God" means to "c...

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July 01 2013 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

David Robinson Supporter Army 1SG, firefighter, consultant (CFPS) - retired from all!

Though it may seem to us that we initiate the process of our own salvation by choosing to seek and to find God, our perspective is limited by our lack of awareness of what God has done in and for us prior to our making that decision. Forgive the cliché, but we cannot "see the big picture" until after we are born from above (John 3:3). God's word then brings awareness and understanding of things of which we were ignorant prior to regeneration (1 Corinthians 2:14). When (from our perspective) we "find God," we are assured that He has, in fact, already found us! After all, Jesus came to actively "seek" and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He did not come to play hide-and-seek with us or to simply to make Himself available to be found if we search diligently. He seeks us and brings us to Himself with rejoicing (Matt. 18:12-13)!

This aspect of our faith is one of the major differences between Christianity and every other religion. In false religion, man is required to reach up to seek and find God. In Christianity, God stoops down to seek and find man. It requires unfathomable condescension on His part for God to seek and find His lowly creatures. That condescension demonstrates the depths of His great love for us and models perfect humility which we should attempt to emulate.

In Acts 17:27 the apostle Paul affirms our natural condition. All people everywhere have an innate desire for God although they may not know what (or who) it is they seek. Augustine referred to a “God-shaped void” in each of us that makes us restless and unfulfilled without Him. Prior to salvation, we grope around in darkness seeking something (or someone) to fill that void. If it were possible for man to find God unaided, we would all find Him because He is not far off, but rather He is all around us. We are literally, spatially, physically, spiritually and existentially “in Him” (Acts 17:28). He is closer to us than the air we breathe, and yet we cannot gain access to Him until He, in His grace, draws us to Himself through faith in His son Jesus Christ (John 6:44, John 14:6, Ephesians 2:8-9).

Therefore, terms such as “finding God” should be used sparingly and only with the understanding that they are merely the expressions of man’s experiential perspective of the process of salvation, not the true biblical perspective. Salvation is of the Lord (Psalm 3:8, Jonah 2:9)!

June 16 2015 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report