When we think of God we think of a being of infinitely superior intelligence, ability, eternal continuance, Creator, infinite, all powerful and unseen. All of those are true, but being unseen to the human eye doesn't mean God hides from people. People assume God sits afar off and hides Himself from man like we're on an eternal hide and seek game with God. The truth is people don't even have the desire or ability to seek God as we like to think we do. Not the real God anyway. Instead it's always been God reaching out to and seeking man.
"there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." Romans 3:11
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10
In Genesis 3 we get the story of the fall of man. The first thing Adam and Eve did when they sinned was hide. First they tried to cover themselves with flimsy leaves then they hid themselves among the trees of Eden. It doesn't appear that even they were confident in the covering they tried to fashion from those leaves. But as man has always done, they try to make their own coverings for their guilt through their own works and it's never adequate. Then to further conceal their guilt they hid among the trees when they heard God coming.
Adam and Eve are not the only ones who have tried to hide from God out of fear of punishment. I can look at myself and see the many times I've done this. I've blown it, but instead of running to God to confess it, because He already knows anyway, I've tried to avoid it and hid myself out of fear, shame and guilt as if God couldn't see me. It never lasted long before I was also hearing (in a sense) God say "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9)
God has made Himself known clearly through His creation. Everything our finite minds need to know about God is all around us.
"since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:19-20
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1
"And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah." Psalm 50:6
God purposely made all of His invisible qualities and attributes known to man. We can look at the night sky and learn a great deal about God from the moon and stars alone. In just a glance they plainly tell us how great He is and how powerful, majestic, precise, wise, intricate and holy He is. We can look at a field of wildflowers and know He is meticulous, loves color and how much He pays attention to the tiniest details. Ever examine a snow flake? Not a single snowflake is ever alike. That's attention to detail. Our own bodies are made up of billions of cells and no two people are exactly alike.
From the sun, oceans, the infinite expanse of the universe, history, Scripture and Christ, we clearly can see that God is infinite, sovereign, righteous, just, patient, merciful, compassionate, loving and is close by. A God who micro manages His creation down to the tiniest detail is not a God who is hidden behind some cloak of darkness. All of His creation is screaming at us about God. It's continuously pointing Him out to us and telling us everything we need to know about Him. God is not hidden from man. Instead, it's man who hides from God...
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness," Romans 1:18
Man loves his sin. It's in our nature. Man loves his evil and man will fight savagely to cling to it and suppress the truth that would expose it for what it is. We all know or have known people who live in a perpetual state of denial. No matter how much evidence you show them they will deny it and turn on you to shut you up by any means necessary thereby suppressing the truth. They love their own ideas about God. They have built entire lives around a fabrication of God that they can reconcile with their own sin. Point it out and you put yourself at serious risk. This is why the Prophets were killed, the Apostles were killed and what drove the seething hatred for Christ ultimately leading to His crucifixion.
"The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil." John 7:7
The truth is a powerful thing. The truth will destroy worlds and people when it's spotlight it shone on something. Truth exposes everything and leaves no dark corner to hide in. So man suppresses the truth with his own lie. To allow truth to take hold means man must give up his sin that he loves more than anything. Nothing turns people into rabid beasts faster than being faced with the truth. As Paul Washer said "No one can bare the preaching of the Gospel. They will either turn against it with the fierceness of an animal or they will be converted." The Gospel reveals what man really is. It turns a blinding spotlight on the very core of all people.
All other religions share one central theme among them...they all claim man can improve, people are essentially good and they all believe they can earn God's favor through their own works. Christianity is the only one that stands apart in that people cannot improve, but in fact become more depraved and darkened, people are essentially evil and people cannot earn God's favor with works or merit. All the others make God indebted to man. The Gospel makes man indebted to God. At the core of false religions is a self idolatrous pride. Man by nature hates the light and loves the darkness. Man refuses and resists submitting their hearts, minds and lives to God which goes against everything in his nature. Man resists the idea that they must ask for mercy. Afterall, man loves to boast in himself and accomplishments, yet Christianity teaches man can do absolutely nothing without Christ and unless man renounces sin and bows down in submission to Christ he is damned. There is nothing to boast about in himself except what is evil.
People have always been and continue to be in a constant state of trying to cover up and hide from lying to outright destruction of anything that exposes his sin.
"Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." John 3:19
Darkness shields from light that exposes and the Bible clearly teaches men instinctively love darkness because it hides them and their deeds from God. We are all in a constant state of denial, suppression of the truth and hiding. When we claim God is hidden from us, though all of creation declares otherwise, the truth is we're hiding from Him.
"'Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?' declares the LORD.'Do not I fill heaven and earth?' declares the LORD." Jeremiah 23:24
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