God Up Close and Personal

Impressions last. But the problem with impressions is not only that they last but also that we are not sure that they are true. Usually, it is based on opinion instead of fact. (And even if we think we are good at “reading” people, we are not really that good simply because people are not books.) To paraphrase a saying, “We can only be impressive from afar. But we can only be intimate up close and personal.”

It is the same with God. We tend to be impressed with God. But, much more than that, He wants us to be intimate with Him. In his classic “Knowledge of the Holy” work, A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us… no religion has ever been greater that its idea of God.” Our Lord Jesus told us, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24, ESV) Our idea of God must be based on who He really is, that is, on what He revealed about Himself in His Word and not on what we imagine Him to be. Dr. Charles Ryrie warns us not to make God in our own image: “Beware of creating a god! …Gods of our making, whether radically different from the God of the Bible or akin to Him, are false. Even good Christians can fall into the trap of trying to mold God according to their own thinking or wishes or pleasure. The result may be a god not dissimilar to the God of the Bible, but it will not be the true God.” (A Survey of Bible Doctrine)

What we know about God will impact how we will commune with Him. If we think of Him as an ogre in the sky, waiting with His big club just to pound us on the head whenever we would sin, we would not want anything to do with Him. But if we believe what He declared about Himself (such as, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty”. Exodus 34:6-7a), then we would love Him with our entire being just as we are commanded in Mathew 22:37, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The more we know the Lord, the more we will be passionate for Him.

That’s why Makati Gospel Church will start with the “God As He Longs For You To See Him” video series today in our Sunday Adult Bible Study, 10AM, Room 207, Annex Building. Together let us know God.

Brethren, be intimate with God, don’t just be impressed with Him.

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