Pastors Bible Class Thomas Road Baptist Church
Series: When God Is Silent
Lesson 2: Why Can’t I See God?
A. WHY PEOPLE WANT TO SEE GOD
People can’t see God because they are not looking for Him. The same reason why a crook doesn’t look for a policeman.
1. Information, they would not recognize God if they saw Him.
2. Curiosity, desire for knowledge they don’t have.
3. Personal fulfillment, knowledge is beyond them.
4. They want to measure their works or perceived goodness.
5. They want to worship it (Ex. 32:10).
6. There’s an inner desire to know God.
7. Intuitive knowledge, God has put eternity in their hearts (Eccl. 3:11, ELT)
B. WHY KNOWING GOD IS IMPERATIVE
1. Wrong for centuries, people make idols that represent their lower nature.
2. To undertand any culture, look at their gods.
3. What you think about God is the most important thing about you.
4. So Paul, stood before the city council to address them: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious . . . I saw your many shrines . . . one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ You worship without knowing (The Lord is near to all) . . . He is the God who made the world and everything in it (The Lord is the Creator) . . . He doesn’t live in man-made temples (The Lord is omnipresent and invisible) . . . He himself gives life and breath to everything (The Lord is life) . . . His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us (The Lord is findable). For in him we live and move and exist (the Lord is near) . . . Since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen . . . God overlooked people’s ignorance . . . He now commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him (Repentance) (Acts 17:22-30, NLT).
C. FROM WHOM DID GOD HIDE HIMSELF?
1. Job in suffering. “When He hides His face, who then can find Him?” (Job 34:29).
2. Abraham in intimacy. “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” (Gen. 18:17, NKJV).
3. Eli was passed by. “Please do not hide it from me” (1 Sam. 3:17).
4. David in trouble. “Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Ps. 10:1, ELT).
5. Thomas in doubt. “Except I shall see . . . I will not believe” (John 20:25, KJV).
D. WHY CAN’T I SEE GOD PHYSICALLY?
1. Because there’s nothing to see. “God is Spirit” (John 4:24, NKJV).
2. Because God is invisible. “The King eternal, immortal, invisible” (1 Tim. 1:17, NKJV).
3. Because we would die. “There shall no man see me and live” (Ex. 33:20, KJV).
4. Because not seeing God prevents us from being distracted from faith.
5. Because we can learn greater lessons by faith than by sight. Moses was described as “seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27, NKJV).
6. Because God is so big, He’s beyond our ability to see.
7. Because God lives above time and space.
• God is infinite, without limits.
• Time is the sequence of events.
• Space is the distance between objects.
8. Because
• God is omnipresent, everywhere present—equally—at the same time.
• God is omniscience, knows all things actual and possible.
• God is omnipotent, can do all things that are doable.
9. Because God is described by anthromorphisms; we use human abilities and characteristics to describe what God does, but He does these actions without physical members. God has ears (Isa. 59:1, 2), a face (Gen. 32:30), mouth (Num. 12:8), breath (Isa. 30:28), hands and arms (Ex. 33:22-23), feet (Ps. 18:9).
10. Because we are spiritually blind and wouldn’t understand what we saw. “The gospel is veiled to the unsaved because Satan—the God of this world—has blinded their minds so they will not understand and believe the good news” (2 Cor. 4:3, 4, ELT).
E. HOW CAN I KNOW GOD?
1. Is issue in your heart, not your eyes? “You will seek Me, and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13, NKJV).
2. It is not necessary to see someone physically to get to know them.
3. To see God, look at Jesus. A disciple asked, “Show us the Father.” Jesus answered, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9, KJV).
• We know Jesus from scriptures
• We talk to Jesus in prayer
• We enjoy fellowship with Jesus
4. The inner nature of Jesus reveals the person and attributes of God. “No man has seen God at any time, the only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father; Jesus has demonstrated to us what the Father is like” (John 1:18, “ELT).
5. When Moses saw God, His face was transformed. “The children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin . . . shone: and Moses put a vail upon his face” (Ex. 34:35, KJV).
6. When we meet with God, we will be transformed. “We are not like Moses who put a veil over our face . . . but today, people’s minds are hardened . . . This veil is removed only by believing in Christ . . . When anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away . . . Then all believers have the veil taken away, so we then brightly reflect the glory of Jesus Christ and as we allow the Spirit of the Lord to work in us, we become more like Jesus and reflect His glory even more” (2 Cor. 3:13-18, ELT).
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord,
I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
For more information on the TRBC Pastor’s Bible Class, log on to the Internet www.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-elmer-towns.
Dr. Towns’ email: eltowns@liberty.edu
Dr. Towns’ web address: www.elmertowns.com
