A GOD THAT HIDES HIMSELF -- Tomorrow:
"Truly, Thou art a God Who hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior" -- Isaiah 45:15
First, "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). This has impacted upon our understanding of the One whose image we bear. As it is written, "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God" (Rom 3:11). When it comes to the realm of nature, this saying is universal. Whether we speak of people before the flood, or those in the twentieth century, it remains true! We cannot rely upon a nature that "comes short of the glory of God," which included those in Christ as well as those out of Him ("comes short," NOT came short).
Secondly, although we bear the Divine image, we do not bear it in all of its fulness. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is "the express image" of God's Person (Heb 1:3). These two conditions directly influence our ability to comprehend the living God. That is simply another way of saying He is transcendent.
The Divine imagery in man is more the means through which God can speak with us than the means through which we can "find out God" (Job 11:7). That imagery is not intended to benefit us independently of Divine involvement. It was never intended to be a capacity by which man functioned on his own. Even in a state of moral purity, or innocence, with a mind and heart unsullied by sin, Adam relied upon the Lord for fellowship and direction (Gen 3:8-9). He did not tend the garden alone, nor was he created to live apart from direct contact with God. Those who posit such a possibility will not be able to support their view, and it is vain to attempt to do so. To possess the Divine image without involvement with the Lord Himself is profitless! It was so before the fall, and even more so since the fall.
During the feast of Pentecost, there were "Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven," in Jerusalem (Acts 2:5). If men of sound and devoted minds are able to take the Bible and comprehend it, surely these men will be able to do so. However, this did not prove to be the case. Some of these men not only failed to recognize the Messiah of whom the Scriptures spoke, but actually participated in putting Him to death (Acts 2:23,36). They were Jews, and they were devout, yet it took Divine intervention for them to see their own Scriptures.
The Ethiopian eunuch, a man of great authority, and of obviously disciplined mind, had been to Jerusalem to worship. He had been among the only spiritually cultured people in the world during one of their high God-ordained feasts. He was reading the word of God, pondering it with his disciplined mind. But until the Lord intervened by sending him an insightful preacher, he did not understand what he read -- even though he wanted to (Acts 8:27-39). The Divine image was in him, but it was not, of itself, enough.
Cornelius was a "devout man" who "feared God" and acted upon it, giving alms to the people and always praying. Yet, when it came to the matter of knowing God, Divine intervention was required. God directed him to call for Peter, who had been enlightened by God, to come and tell him words whereby he could be saved (Acts 10:1-48). The Divine image was in him, but it was not, of itself, enough.
The Jews, who are not yet in Christ, regularly subject themselves to the Scriptures, something many professing to be in Christ do not do. They also have minds that have been cultured in matters pertaining to God, to say nothing of being made in the image of God. Yet, when they read the Scriptures, we are told, they have "the veil upon the heart" (2 Cor 3:15). That veil, regardless of the Divine imagery in them, or their ability to reason, is ONLY taken away when men "turn to the Lord" (verse 16). Academics cannot take the veil away! A knowledge of the Scriptures themselves cannot take it away. Linguistic and hermeneutical expertise cannot take it away! The Divine image is in them, but it is not, of itself, enough.
Even when we turn to the Lord, and the veil is lifted, it is not in order that God may no longer be involved with His people. Who is so ignorant as to assume such folly? Reconciliation to God is in order to Divine involvement, not in order to human independence! We live by faith, not by reason (Heb 10:38)! We understand by faith, not by reason (Heb 11:3). The new creation includes receiving the new man "which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him" (Col 3:10). But that "new man" is not intended to function without God! Instead, we have been called into the fellowship of both the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3; 1 Cor 1:9). You cannot understand God, the things of God, or the Word of God independently of that fellowship!
God remains transcendent to man, and thus is quite capable of so hiding Himself that only He can make things clear. This series will confirm this to be the case. I am well aware that there are some who affirm our good minds, the Bible, some academic helps, and common sense are sufficient to understand God and His Word. They are not only wrong, they are obstacles to understanding. They have forgotten, if ever they knew it, that salvation is in order to qualify us for Divine support and assistance, not exempt us from the need of it.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, ever keep before me the impotence of everything that is natural about me. Show me afresh the need for, and enrichment of, Your presence and influence.