Finding Out God

Scripture Reading | Romans 1:19; Job 11:7-9

Series Introduction

We live in the world created by God, but that rejects God as its’ God, as its’ Creator.

Even those that believe in God, that He is, don’t know God.

Many surveys find that Christian’s increasingly don’t know God.

In fact, many ascribed to Christianity, but don’t believe in the God of the Bible. When asked questions about God they either don’t know or articulate something they think or would like in the God - as if God was made up in their imagination.

Many Christians may know some things of God, they may know about Him, but don’t know Him deeply, nor what He has been doing before the world began and once it did begin, what He was doing, is doing, and will do.

So why this series?

1. For those that don’t believe in God that they would - may sound like a silly reason for people that go to church; however, as I stated us church folk are knowing less and less of God per generation.

2. The sheer privilege to know God - seeing God has revealed Himself ought to enthrall our hearts that we could know the one who made us, His Son that died for us, and the One who we will spend all eternity with.

3. For those new to church, new to the faith to cover the basics - the existence of God, the revelation of God, the purpose of God, the work of God, the redemption of God, the will of God...etc.

For each of us, to revisit and refresh ourselves in these fundamentals. We haven’t discussed them in some time although address them when a book of the Bible honed in on an issue.

This series is a focused examination on these basics of the faith.

4. Enlighten the scriptures to and for you that you may increase in knowing God through reading God’s Word.

Series Breakdown

3 Part Series - each part containing 4-5 sermons (tentatively)

1. Finding Out God

Learn about the revelation of God and human enlightenment or illumination, its’ necessity, general and special revelation, progressive revelation, the existence of God, the attributes of God.

2. The Determinate Counsel of God

Learn the plan, will, and purpose of God with and for all things in Christ, God’s redemption of man in Christ, with an introduction to the progressive revelation of it all.

3. God Hath Revealed

Learn of God who worketh all things after the counsel of His will, the progressive revelation of His work in time past, to now - from that which He made known to that which He hid but now has revealed, as well as, God’s redemptive revelation.

Sermon Introduction

In this first section we will learn about the revelation of God (necessity, purpose, manner & mediums), the reception and effect of revelation (illumination), & the existence and attributes of God.

The Necessity of the Revelation of God

The Truth of the Revelation of God

Sermon

The Necessity of the Revelation of God

Defining “revelation”

The act of revealing or making known.

In “theology” - the study of God - God’s own self-disclosure or manifesting of Himself, or His works, or of us, or of the world - all things.

NT - apokalupsis (apocalypse), apokalypto (hath revealed) - which means unveiling, uncovering, or making someone or something known.

We often discuss “the mysteries of God”; however, without God’s revealing we would not know what God is doing, but we would not know God Himself.

God is so magnanimous that which He does is evidence of self.

Without God exposing Himself we would never know God - nor could that which is dependent upon Him be able find Him.

This teaches us of the graciousness and kindness of God - if He has revealed Himself.

This teaches us of the privilege to know God - if He has revealed Himself.

Job 11:7–9 “Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, And broader than the sea.”

1. Can you, by searching, find out God?

You cannot plunge the depths and find God.

You cannot traverse the terrain of the earth and find God - north, south, east, and west.

You cannot make a rocket ship and break through the firmament to get to God.

Job 28:12–28 “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth saith, It is not in me: And the sea saith, It is not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: For the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. God understandeth the way thereof, And he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, And seeth under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; And he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder: Then did he see it, and declare it; He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.”

2. Can you find out the Almighty unto perfection?

Almost stating, if even you could find God, this doesn’t mean you could find God unto perfection.

In other words, just because you are in someone’s presence doesn’t mean you know that person, or what He has done, or is doing, or will do.

1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

1 Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Quote from Isaiah 64:4 “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, Neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, What he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.”

1 Timothy 6:20 “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:”

1. “eye hath not seen” - this is your science - empirical evidence that which is derived from relying on that from observation or experiment.

In part you can do this - but it isn’t unto perfection - it is limited

All that God is, purposed, and prepared is unavailable by empirical research.

Form of learning - hands on learning, learning from creation - although learning to be had - it is just that childish, infant, reserved for a time in the beginning of the world (then was insufficient), and for children

Knowledge through sensory experience.

Scientific method - can deduce much, but not the Almighty unto perfection

2. “nor ear heard”

tradition, testimony, received wisdom

Knowledge passed down through language, story, and authority

Oral tradition, cultural wisdom, historical testimony - even rationalism

Rationalism - the acquiring of knowledge from “reason” - superior to faith, science, and tradition

Intellectualism

Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

3. “neither have entered into the heart of man”

Reason, intuition, imagination

Reason - not that we don’t reason, but limited when reason is limited to self-knowledge, or worldly knowledge, or even the knowledge of science

Reasoning ends up becoming the end in itself - never landing on any concrete - constantly reasoning - no definitive, no conclusions

Intuition - the faculty of knowing or understanding without reasoning or proof

An impression

Instinct

Emotion

Matter of the heart

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Mark 7:21–23 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

Genesis 6:5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Proverbs 28:26 “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: But whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.”

Ecclesiastes 9:3 “This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

Romans 1:21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.”

Proverbs 21:2 “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: But the Lord pondereth the hearts.”

Proverbs 18:2 “A fool hath no delight in understanding, But that his heart may discover itself.”

Therefore, without God disclosing Himself one would never see Him, nor know Him.

Side note - God has chosen to disclose His heart and mind first, then His appearance.

3. Reasons for the Necessity of the Revelation of God

If God wasn’t gracious, if He were an evil God then He wouldn’t reveal Himself

He would keep us in the dark, yet hold us accountable to His standards

We wouldn’t know Him, thus we wouldn’t know sin, wouldn’t know we would need to give an account, nor what His judgment is

Thus we wouldn’t be able to respond, not because we willfully refused to respond, but because we wouldn’t know.

Our lives, once plunged in sin by Adam, would be filled with darkness. Without “light from God” we would live in the abyss.

Like we do by nature because of sin, the flesh, this world, and Satan; however, without any light

Romans 1:21-32 - without any light to change

Ephesians 4:17-19

2. The Truth of the Revelation of God

Not within the world

Not by man

Not from within

From without, from God

James 3:13–18 “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”

1 Corinthians 2:10 “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”

Read verses off sheet

Conclusion

In light of what we have seen, the question before us is the same one raised in Book of Job 11:7–9: can a man, by searching, find out God? Scripture has shown us that the answer is no. Man cannot climb high enough, search far enough, reason deeply enough, or observe carefully enough to discover the Almighty unto perfection. The eye cannot reach Him through science and observation, the ear cannot arrive at Him through tradition or philosophy, and the heart cannot uncover Him through intuition or imagination. Left to ourselves, we would remain in darkness.

Yet this isn’t about what man cannot do—it is what God has done. God has revealed Himself. The very fact that we know anything about Him at all is because He has chosen to make Himself known. That means the revelation of God is not only necessary; it is an expression of His grace. He did not leave the world without light. He spoke. He made Himself known through what He has revealed.

So the application is straightforward and weighty. If God has revealed Himself, then the right response is to listen. We should approach the Word of God with humility, recognizing that we are not discovering God by our wisdom but receiving what He has already made known. Our task is not to invent ideas about God, but to believe, learn, and submit to the revelation He has given.

This should also stir a deeper desire in us to truly know Him. Many people may believe that God exists, and many may know certain things about Him, but knowing God as He has revealed Himself requires attention to His Word and a willingness to let it shape our thinking. As we move forward in this series, the goal is not simply to gather information. The goal is that we would grow in understanding who God is, what He has purposed, and what He is doing.

And that is a privilege. The One who created all things, the One who rules over all things, has made Himself known. Therefore, let us approach what God has revealed with reverence, gratitude, and expectation, ready to receive what He has chosen to make known about Himself.

When you consider the question asked in Book of Job 11:7–9, do you tend to approach knowing God through your own reasoning and assumptions, or through what God has revealed in His Word?

Have you been satisfied with simply knowing about God, or are you pursuing a deeper understanding of who He is and what He has made known?

If God has graciously revealed Himself, what place does His revelation—the Scriptures—actually hold in your daily life and thinking?

Are there ways you may be relying more on culture, philosophy, or personal intuition than on what God has clearly revealed?

How should the privilege of God making Himself known change the way you listen to, study, and respond to His Word moving forward?