Nearness of God

Acts 17:27–28 NASB95

27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

Introduction

When man died spiritually, man began to think that God was far away.

It was never God who took steps to be away from man, but it was the soul of man who stepped away from God.

Man has grown to say either “there is no God” or began worshipping the visible creation which is equal to having no God.

Or man thinks of God as some far-away, mysterious Being who does not care or takes no note of man.

Even when a man comes to understand God little better, he believes God is hard to find.

But reality is that our own heart is far from God. We imagine God to be far from us, but the truth is “in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”

God is not far from any of us.

Garden of Eden

We start from the beginning.

God creates man in His own image, in His own likeness.

God and Adam walk together in the garden of Eden, in the coolness of day.

Man sins and HIDES HIMSELF from God.

God calls out to Adam, “Adam, where are you?” and Adam hides.

Adam hid and covered himself from God.

Due to the nature of sin, man naturally does not seek God, but God seeks man.

He spoke through the prophets

As time went on, God continued to speak to man in diverse ways, but mostly through chosen men called prophets.

When God spoke directly to the Israelites from Mt. Sinai, men were terrified and scared.

Deuteronomy 5:25–27 NASB95

25 ‘Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. 26 ‘For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 ‘Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’

Men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, Hosea, Ezekiel, Elisha, Joel, and so many more God spoke through these men to us.

Beckoning us to seek Him

To turn towards Him.

He came even nearer through Christ

God drew even nearer by coming as a friend of sinners.

Could He come any nearer than this?

Jesus, the Son of God, the second Godhead of the Trinity, the very God of very God, came to us as a man.

Bond of our bone

Flesh of our flesh

He lived amongst us.

He drank, ate, slept, was tired, was tempted, He bled, and died. Then rose again on the third day.

When we thought He couldn’t

When we thought He couldn’t be nearer to us than He was through Christ...

He placed His very Spirit inside of us.

The third Godhead of the Trinity

The very God who walked in the Garden of Eden.

The very God who descended on Mt. Sinai

The very God who spoke through the prophets

That very God not only lived amongst us as a man, but now lives inside of us.

He drew so ever close than anything we could possibly think of.

And even now, He is beckoning us to draw near.

He is calling us to come closer.