Will the Real God Please Stand Up?
This is an excerpt from my teaching and eventual book As He Is: God's True Nature. I'll continue to post articles as I get them written. These are great truths...
God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. [Hebrews 1:1-3]
When the Bible says that God had revealed himself in sundry times and in diverse manners, it is reiterating a truth I began this teaching with, that the Old Testament revelation of God was incomplete, or in other words, in part. But the true and complete revelation of God has been accomplished in Jesus Christ, not only in identity, but also in word and in deed. It is clear that Jesus said and did things that were in direct opposition to what God often said and did in the Old Testament, which was one of the reasons the religious Jews did not recognize Him.
However, when one presents this truth, it is often met with this question: So who was the God of the Old Testament? Did Jesus overthrow the angry and wrathful God who turned Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and commanded a man to be executed because he broke the Sabbath? Or did the God of the old get "born again" and become Jesus? It's almost as if God is on the old television show "What's My Line?" and the host is asking, "Will the real God please stand up?"
I Will Have Mercy and Not Sacrifice
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. [Hosea 6:6]
While God revealed Himself in part in the Old Testament, we can see a perfect representation of God's heart toward man by returning to Genesis to see how God initially related to Adam and Eve both before and after they fell. It is here where God expresses His mercy and grace in light of man's tragic downfall. So much has been written and speculated concerning God's initial reaction to Adam and Eve after they sinned, and unfortunately, the majority of it presents God as angry, after having witnessed the release of death and the curse in the world.
God's character has been maligned to such a degree that many people have been prejudiced to see God's reaction as one of wrath instead of in truth—of love and mercy. For this reason, let us go back to the moments immediately after Adam and Eve disobeyed God's instructions and ate of the forbidden fruit.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are you? And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat? [Genesis 3:6-11]
Sadly, most Christians have been taught that God was angry with Adam and Eve after they sinned, that His actions and words toward them were of wrath and punishment. However, when we examine what the Scripture teaches, we see that God's behavior was not of anger, but of grief. In God's initial exchange with them, we see that God was more concerned with relationship than what they had done.
Have you considered God's first words to Adam after they sinned, "Where are you?" Most people have the perception that God's first response was "What have you done?" placing a greater emphasis on their actions instead of their relationship. Imagine yourself as a parent and you were on the way to meet your small children, but the very moment they heard you coming, they ran in fear. What would be your first response? Even though you may not consider this, but I believe as a parent, I would be hurt by this. Why would a child run from his parent in fear? Why would they be afraid of the person or people who love them the most?
I remember years ago when my daughter was about ten years old. She had a friend visiting and they had gone over to a neighbor's house to play with some other children. When I gave them permission to go, I also gave them specific instructions to be back at the house at a certain time. However, when that time came, they had not returned and after ten minutes of waiting, I went to the neighbor's house to look for them. To my dismay, once my daughter saw me, she and her friend took off running toward my house. Needless to say, my dismay turned to anger because I knew why they were running—because they knew they had disobeyed my instructions and were afraid.
Although I never thought about this until years later (when the Lord was teaching me this truth) but the reason I became angry was because this behavior hurt me deeply, and as many of you know, emotional hurt often manifests itself as anger. What reason in the world would she have to actually fear me, her dad? What did she think I was going to do to her that would cause her to run in fear?
I have to think that this same question must have gone through God's mind, even though He knew what they had done. What had caused God's only two children, who moments before had been in perfect fellowship with their Father, to suddenly fear Him? He had to have thought in His mind, "Why are they running from me? I love them. I'm not going to hurt them. Why would they think I would hurt them?"
It's terrible what sin has done to our perception of God. Let us remember that the initial byproduct of sin caused their eyes to be opened, and they realized they were naked, when before, the Bible says, And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. [Genesis 2:25] While sin had caused them to be self-conscious and ashamed by their nakedness, at the same time, it caused them to incorrectly judge God. That's right—they judged God.
Sin had caused them to fear the person who loved them the most, which produced what mankind has done ever since—they run from God. Again, I have to ask this question: What were they afraid of? I believe the answer is clear—they feared God was going to kill them. After all, God told them that if they ate of the tree, they would surely die (Genesis 2:17).
But was their fear justified? Did God kill them? We know from the Scripture that He didn't, but still, the damage was done. They now feared the only One who would ever truly and completely love them. The death they experienced then was being separated from God.
God's reaction to Adam's words is more than remarkable and should speak volumes to us today. And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat? This is one of the most significant truths God has ever revealed to me and if you get nothing else from this book, I beg you to allow this to be buried deep within your heart so you never forget it.
God said, Who told you that you were naked?
No person told them they were naked. Rather, the knowledge of good and evil "told" Adam and Eve they were naked, but the words God uses must be considered for our benefit. While sin had opened their eyes to their nakedness, it is more important to stress the fact that they had incorrectly judged God's reaction to their nakedness. God had not told them they were naked, but yet they feared God's reaction to them being naked, which caused them to flee and hide.
Who told you that you were naked?
I want you to think about God's question for a moment… Why is it that we seem to continually relate to God as if something is always wrong with us? Why do we always confess our sins and sinfulness before talking to God? Why do we seem to base our relationship to God relative to our personal brokenness? Does your prayer life consist of tears of sorrow over your behavior? Is the word "unworthy" frequently used to describe yourself?
This is what the Lord is trying to tell us… Who told you that you were naked? Who keeps telling you that you're naked? Who keeps saying these condemning words, "You're not worthy! You should be ashamed!"
Let me ask this again… Did God tell Adam and Eve they were naked? If God didn't tell them, then why were they so fearful about it? Do you see what sin has done to us? We have been told to believe that God sees us by our nakedness instead of how He really sees us, which, for the Christian, is in Christ. This has been one of our greatest downfalls—and truth be known, it's self-righteousness. Many Christians would disagree with that statement, but we must understand that self-righteousness is basing your relationship with God upon your own works—good or bad. Believing that God would withhold His promises from you because of your poor performance is just as offensive to God as believing that they are given because of your good works. Either way, it's self-righteousness.
Adam and Eve trusted more in a talking snake than they did God, but we are no better today. We have listened to others instead of God. Our nakedness has been crammed down our throats from the pulpit and through religious teaching so much that we no longer choke on it. This poison goes down easily now because we're used to it.
Remember what I said about having Montezuma's revenge concerning incorrect teaching? This way of thinking is just as poisonous as the contaminated water in Mexico, but like the residents of the country, we have gotten so used to it that it has no effect on us. What's even more tragic is that if a Mexican person were to drink "healthy" water, they would get as sick as we do with their water. This is what often happens to many Christians when they are exposed to the truth—they are so accustomed to hearing a perverted gospel, once they get a taste of the truth, they often regurgitate it like it was poison.
How often have we been told how rotten we are—even as Christians! We've been told that we're sinners and our righteousness is as filthy rags! The words "defiled" and "unworthy" are significant terms in the Christian's vocabulary, and many Christians shudder and shake at even the notion of us being righteous in God's eyes.
God said, Who told you that you were naked? In other words, He was saying, "I didn't say you were naked. Why are you running from Me? I love you—don't fear Me. I won't harm you." Let me remind you of a phrase frequently spoken by Jesus, Fear not… But yet we more often hear the words, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. [Psalm 111:10] We have exalted fear over love when the revelation of the New Testament explicitly leads us from fear to love (1 John 4:18).
Can you see the heart of God through His words… "Where are you? What happened to you that you're running from me? What happened?" I can just sense God's heart breaking to witness His beloved creation acting completely opposite to how they were formed. Instead of being in relationship, they hid themselves. Imagine a parent who's just lost his child and in his search he calls out, "Where are you?" This was God's heart when He realized we were lost, "Where are you?"
I want to park here for a moment to let that sink into your heart. The longing question, "Where are you?" doesn't speak to behavior. Rather, it speaks to location or condition. God said, "Where are you, Adam? Where are you? You're lost and I need to find you." God was searching for them. I can sense that God anticipated each time they met. It's like when you were in school and you got an "A" on a test and you were so excited to bring it home to show your parents. I can see that God was perhaps excited to show them another awesome thing from creation—a breathtaking sunset perhaps—only to see them run from Him.
Again, let me stress this… God's words had absolutely nothing to do with behavior, and everything to do with relationship! Yes, He mentioned their actions, but His FIRST response emphasized relationship. We have been fed the lie for so long that God hates sin more than He loves us—that we disgust Him to no end because of what we've done. "Where are you?" doesn't relate this to me and I hope it doesn't to you. "Where are you? Where are you?"
Sad to say, but the doctrine of sin consciousness is a prevalent teaching within the body of Christ. I mentioned this earlier when I asked, "Do your prayers begin with a confession of sins?" It is commonly taught that in order to fellowship with God, you cannot have any unconfessed sin in your life, that your prayers better begin with declaring how sinful and unworthy you are; and if not, God will certainly mention all your sins. The passage from 1 John 1:9 has been crammed down our throats—that we must confess our sins daily in order to be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.
Let me ask you this question: How many times did Jesus die for sins? The answer is once. Therefore, if we are cleansed by His shed blood, which He did only once, we can be cleansed only once. There was only one sacrifice for sins, and the Bible says, Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. [Hebrews 10:18] Do you see the hypocrisy here? Do you see how incorrect teaching has caused us to place our focus upon sin rather than the atonement for sins, which is what the Scripture commands.
Sin consciousness appears to be a humble position, but what it accomplishes is to place your focus upon you and your sinfulness rather than Jesus and His righteousness, of which you possess through the new birth (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This is why the Bible urges us to lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith… [Hebrews 12:1-2] and also to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and out bodies washed with pure water. [Hebrews 10:22]
Many Christians behave like a dog that has been abused by its previous owners. When you come home the dog approaches happily, but once it gets to your feet, it cowers and rolls over whimpering in fear. This kind of behavior suggests to an outsider that you are the abuser. The same goes with God when we come to Him groveling and moaning about how sinful we are instead of how great and loving He is.
From the pulpit we are hearing prayers like the one Daniel made where he confessed his sins and the sins of Israel (Daniel 9). In fact, a few years ago on the National Day of Prayer the foundational verse of Scripture was from 2 Chronicles 7:14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
It seems that to them, God has done nothing regarding sin—that Jesus accomplished nothing—in spite of what the Bible teaches. I make this challenge often—to let the Bible dictate what you believe, instead of allowing your belief to govern what the Bible teaches. Because of a failure to correctly comprehend what Jesus has done for us, the majority of Christianity has its focus upon sin and the Old Testament law instead of the unconditional love and grace of the New Testament.
And again, we wonder why so many Christians struggle with prayer and spending time with God. It's because they have been taught that they are not worthy for such fellowship because of their sins. What part of Therefore there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [Romans 8:1] do they not understand? When God says, "No," He means no, none, nada.
The perception of God they have been given is not one that is conducive to healthy relationship. No person desires to be reminded of all their mistakes, failures, and weaknesses, but yet this is how our God has been presented. If you had a "friend" who was constantly critical and condemning, always reminding you of your past mistakes and your poor performance, would you want to be around this "friend"?
But yet, we paint the same picture of God and then beat people over the head about this "great relationship" they can have with God, with all the "great plans" He has for our lives. And still, we wonder why the world isn't tearing holes in the roofs of our churches just to get in to see Jesus.
It has also often been taught that the reason God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden was out of anger and punishment, and that because of what they did, their fellowship with God was lost forever. Let me remind you what the word of God teaches, it was Adam and Eve who originally hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. It was sin that caused Adam and Eve to become fearful of God, and because of this fear, man has put his focus upon sin while God's focus continues to be about relationship in spite of sin.
Furthermore, God did not separate himself from man. It was only out of mercy did God seclude Himself from man, because the inherent reaction of man to the holiness of God brings a great sense of condemnation and usnworthines. Amen.
Next article in this series: Will the Real God Please Stand Up? Part 2
Will the Real God Please Stand Up?-- Part 1
Will the Real God Please Stand Up? Part 2
The Purpose of the Law Part 1
The Purpose of the Law Part 2
Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life Part 1
Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life Part 2
Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life Part 3
The Comforter Part 1
The Comforter Part 2
God is Love Part 1
God is Love Part 2
God is Love Part 3
