Show Me God

Thesis: God sis seen by the words that we do

Anti-Thesis: We often seek a sign that meets human standards to prove that God is real.

Resolution: God demonstrates his realness by his activity in the world.

The other day Micah had an assignement in school where they had to identify which story was real and which was fake.

We live in a time when we can see a viral news story on social media only to find out that it was fake.

Many of us have been conditioned to doubt what we hear until we can see it with our own eyes.

For many of us lift has taught us that some people will lie to you.

Life has taught us to doubt until we can prove and and even with proof hold on to some doubt.

Part of the human condition has taught us to seek variable proof that something is real.

We have the scientific method that helps us prove the reality of something.

We use our senses to validate that something is real.

See

Hear

Taste

Touch

Smell

And that generally works but there are somethings that do not fit our sense test. We can’t really see, taste, touch, smell, hear air.

But we know it’s there by cause and effect. Air causes things to move.

Gravity we can’t see, taste, touch, hear, smell it but we know it’s there because things still fall to the ground.

We don’t doubt that air nor gravity is real because we can see it working.

The human desire for proof also shows up when it comes to our understanding of God. We try to find him, can I see, touch or hear God. God show me who you are.

And that’s really what happens here in the text. Philip what’s to see God and Jesus shows God to Philip and to us.

Here we are in the Gospel of John

Background

John’s Gospel is special because unlike the other Gospels John doesn’t start with the birth story of Jesus no John says… In the Begining was the word and the word became flesh and it showed up on Earth and we saw his Glory.

In accordance with this purpose statement it becomes immediately clear that the Gospel is not intended as a mere academic exercise but that the reader is expected to provide an appropriate response. That response is pointedly spelled out in 20:31 “That you might believe”. The theme of John’s Gospel is that God had taken human form in the person of Jesus Christ. For this reason John’s Gospel is often seen as the most evangelistic of the four Gospels.

I. Seeking

II. Showing