WHAT IF GOD HAD NOT REVEALED HIMSELF TO HUMANS

The Creator, God of this universe, could have simply created everything and then could have stood outside of His creation to watch it evolve from the distance, without ever manifesting Himself to humans. In fact, this is the fundamental view of some intellectuals who hold that God is an impersonal force who chooses not to get involved in human affairs.

What if these intellectuals were right? What if God had chosen to stay outside of His creation and simply watch it evolve from the distance? What if He had never revealed Himself to humans?

If God had not revealed Himself to humans, mankind would have remained slave to primitive forms of idolatry unto today. They would have continued serving horrific gods who would have required appeasement in various strange ways, including human sacrifices. Zeus and the other capricious gods of Greece and the Roman Empire would have continued ruling supreme, as would have other Nordic gods and various gods from the East.

Another result would have been that the two great religions of Judaism and Christianity would have never existed; consequently, there would have been no God-given moral laws to regulate human existence. Furthermore, the civilizing influence of Christianity over many nations would have never occurred; barbarism would have continued in various parts of the world with destructive consequences.

Fortunately for humanity, the Judeo-Christian God chose not to remain outside of his creation but became, instead, a dynamic and manifest part of it. The eternal, spiritual God entered His physical creation and participated in events within it both directly and indirectly.

From the beginning, we are told by the Holy Scriptures, that He personally created Adam and Eve from the dust of the ground. He personally warned them about the consequences of sin. After their great transgression, He walked in the Garden (Genesis 3:8), and personally announced the penalty of death to them and all of humanity, as He had promised (V. 19).

The omnipotent God, centuries later, became personally involved in the lives of righteous individuals such as Enoch, who “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24). God personally gave directions to Noah about the building of the ark, in preparation for the worldwide flood (Genesis 6). The Great God of Heaven assumed human form and came down to earth to visit his faithful servant Abraham (Genesis 18:1). The fact that Abraham recognized Him immediately as “Lord” (V. 3) seems to indicate that he may have had one-on-one encounters with God even before this occasion.

In the Holy Land, God resided among Israel, and ongoing mighty signs testified to His presence. More dramatically, in New Testament times He took the form of a man and lived among humans as Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5). After Christ’s departure, He came to reside within the minds of converted humans so as to transform them into His own spiritual image (Acts 2).

This great, personal God also promises that in the future He will manifest Himself to all of humanity, so that all will know Him and His great power: “…and I will be known in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 38:23). God, through His Son, will rule from Jerusalem from where He will make Himself manifest to all the nations of the earth, and He will teach them personally: “Many people shall come and say, come, and let us go to the mountain of the Lord. To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us of His ways, And we will walk in His paths” (Isaiah 2: 3).

Fortunately for all of us, the God of Jews and Christians chose not only to create but, also, to be actively involved in His creation. Unlike what some intellectuals believe, He has entered this physical existence and has been an active part of it, since its beginning. Most amazingly, He became a part of this creation by becoming a human being, by living and suffering as a human being and by finally dying as a human being. The ultimate, mind-boggling news is that God the Father is planning to go one step further and to ultimately, personally reside among spiritually transformed humans in a new Heaven and a New Earth (Revelation 21).

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