The Story Of SADHU SUNDAR SINGH Part - 2
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Sadhu Sundar Singh-Indian Christian missionary
Summary http://www.ccel.org/ccel/singh
Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhu_Sundar_Singh
Singh was raised a member of the Sikh religion. Prior to his conversion, Sundar attended a primary school run by the American Presbyterian Mission where the New Testament was read daily as a "textbook." Sundar "refused to read the Bible at the daily lessons...To some extent the teaching of the Gospel on the love of God attracted me, but I still thought it was false."
In the midst of such confusion and while only fourteen years old, his mother died, and Sundar underwent a crisis of faith. His mother was a loving saintly woman and they were very close. In his anger, Sundar burned a copy of one of the Gospels in public. Within three days Sundar Singh could bear his misery no longer. Late one night in December 1903, he rose from bed and prayed that God reveal himself to him if he really existed. Otherwise -- "I planned to throw myself in front of the train which passed by our house." For seven hours Sundar Singh prayed. "O God, if there is a God, reveal thyself to me tonight." The next train was due at five o'clock in the morning. The hours passed. Suddenly the room filled with a glow. A man appeared before him. Sundar Singh heard a voice say, "How long will you deny me? I died for you; I have given my life for you." He saw the man's hands, pierced by nails.
Amazed that his vision had taken the unexpected form of Jesus, Sundar was convinced in his heart that Jesus was the true Savior, and that He was alive. Sundar fell on his knees before Him and experienced an astonishing peacefulness which he had never felt before. The vision disappeared, but peace and joy lingered within him.
Despite his family's pleas, bribes, and threats, Sundar wanted to be baptized in the Christian faith. After his father spoke words of official rejection over him, Sundar became an outcast from his people. He cut off the hair he had worn long like every Sikh man. Against great opposition, he was baptized on his birthday in 1905, in an English church in Simla.
Conventional Indian churches were willing to grant him a pulpit, but their rules were foreign to his spirit. Indeed, he felt that a key reason the gospel was not accepted in India was because it came in a garb foreign to Indians. He decided to become a sadhu, so that he could dedicate himself to the Lord Jesus. He was convinced that this was the best way to introduce the Gospel to his people since it was the only way which his people were accustomed to. As a sadhu, he wore a yellow robe, lived on the charity of others, abandoned all possession and maintained celibacy. In this lifestyle, he was free to devote himself to the Lord. Dressed in his thin yellow robe, Sundar Singh took to the road and began a life of spreading the simple message of love and peace and rebirth through Jesus. He carried no money or other possessions, only a New Testament.
Sundar journeyed much. He traveled all over India and Ceylon. Between 1918-1919, he visited Malaysia, Japan and China. Between 1920-1922 he went to Western Europe, Australia and Israel. He preached in many cities; Jerusalem, Lima, Berlin and Amsterdam among others. Despite his growing fame, Sundar retained a modest nature, desiring only to follow Jesus' example: to repay evil with kindness and to win over his enemies by love.
He was quite independent of outward Church authority in all his religious life, thought, and work. He dropped out of a Christian seminary that he briefly attended. Neither did he attach much importance to public worship because in his experience the heart prays better in solitude than in a congregation.
He traveled in India and Tibet, as well as the rest of the world, with the message that the modern interpretation of Jesus was sadly watered down. Sundar visited Tibet every summer and in 1929, he visited there and was never seen again.
Works by Sadhu Sundar Singh
At The Master's Feet
At the young age of fifteen, Sundar Singh received a vision of Christ and converted from his native Hinduism to Christianity. After his conversion, he became a sadhu--an ascetic or holy man--and for the next twenty-five years, until his death, he preached the gospel. At the Master's Feet is a remarkable collection of Sundar Singh's visions from God, organized in a dialogue between the "Disciple" (Sundar Singh) and the "Master" (God). He includes in this uncomplicated dialogue profound teachings revealed to him from God. These teachings focus on the important practical aspects of Christianity--sin, salvation, prayer, service, etc.--rather than obscure or arcane theological discussions. Truly inspirational, At the Master's Feet reflects the depth of Sadhu Sundar Singh's dedication, and can encourage such dedication in all of its readers.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/singh
Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhu_Sundar_SinghSingh was raised a member of the Sikh religion. Prior to his conversion, Sundar attended a primary school run by the American Presbyterian Mission where the New Testament was read daily as a "textbook." Sundar "refused to read the Bible at the daily lessons...To some extent the teaching of the Gospel on the love of God attracted me, but I still thought it was false."
In the midst of such confusion and while only fourteen years old, his mother died, and Sundar underwent a crisis of faith. His mother was a loving saintly woman and they were very close. In his anger, Sundar burned a copy of one of the Gospels in public. Within three days Sundar Singh could bear his misery no longer. Late one night in December 1903, he rose from bed and prayed that God reveal himself to him if he really existed. Otherwise -- "I planned to throw myself in front of the train which passed by our house." For seven hours Sundar Singh prayed. "O God, if there is a God, reveal thyself to me tonight." The next train was due at five o'clock in the morning. The hours passed. Suddenly the room filled with a glow. A man appeared before him. Sundar Singh heard a voice say, "How long will you deny me? I died for you; I have given my life for you." He saw the man's hands, pierced by nails.
Amazed that his vision had taken the unexpected form of Jesus, Sundar was convinced in his heart that Jesus was the true Savior, and that He was alive. Sundar fell on his knees before Him and experienced an astonishing peacefulness which he had never felt before. The vision disappeared, but peace and joy lingered within him.
Despite his family's pleas, bribes, and threats, Sundar wanted to be baptized in the Christian faith. After his father spoke words of official rejection over him, Sundar became an outcast from his people. He cut off the hair he had worn long like every Sikh man. Against great opposition, he was baptized on his birthday in 1905, in an English church in Simla.
Conventional Indian churches were willing to grant him a pulpit, but their rules were foreign to his spirit. Indeed, he felt that a key reason the gospel was not accepted in India was because it came in a garb foreign to Indians. He decided to become a sadhu, so that he could dedicate himself to the Lord Jesus. He was convinced that this was the best way to introduce the Gospel to his people since it was the only way which his people were accustomed to. As a sadhu, he wore a yellow robe, lived on the charity of others, abandoned all possession and maintained celibacy. In this lifestyle, he was free to devote himself to the Lord. Dressed in his thin yellow robe, Sundar Singh took to the road and began a life of spreading the simple message of love and peace and rebirth through Jesus. He carried no money or other possessions, only a New Testament.
Sundar journeyed much. He traveled all over India and Ceylon. Between 1918-1919, he visited Malaysia, Japan and China. Between 1920-1922 he went to Western Europe, Australia and Israel. He preached in many cities; Jerusalem, Lima, Berlin and Amsterdam among others. Despite his growing fame, Sundar retained a modest nature, desiring only to follow Jesus' example: to repay evil with kindness and to win over his enemies by love.
He was quite independent of outward Church authority in all his religious life, thought, and work. He dropped out of a Christian seminary that he briefly attended. Neither did he attach much importance to public worship because in his experience the heart prays better in solitude than in a congregation.
He traveled in India and Tibet, as well as the rest of the world, with the message that the modern interpretation of Jesus was sadly watered down. Sundar visited Tibet every summer and in 1929, he visited there and was never seen again.
Works by Sadhu Sundar Singh
At The Master's Feet
At the young age of fifteen, Sundar Singh received a vision of Christ and converted from his native Hinduism to Christianity. After his conversion, he became a sadhu--an ascetic or holy man--and for the next twenty-five years, until his death, he preached the gospel. At the Master's Feet is a remarkable collection of Sundar Singh's visions from God, organized in a dialogue between the "Disciple" (Sundar Singh) and the "Master" (God). He includes in this uncomplicated dialogue profound teachings revealed to him from God. These teachings focus on the important practical aspects of Christianity--sin, salvation, prayer, service, etc.--rather than obscure or arcane theological discussions. Truly inspirational, At the Master's Feet reflects the depth of Sadhu Sundar Singh's dedication, and can encourage such dedication in all of its readers.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/singh
The God of Daniel - Revealer of Secrets
By Dennis Edwards --
In the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament we find Daniel and his friends living in Babylonian captivity during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Since they were sons of noblemen they had been chosen to be trained in the sciences of the Babylonians. However, when they go to the Babylonian school for training they are presented with foods which they are not used to eating, foods that were forbidden in the laws of Moses. They decide to keep to their convictions and refuse to eat the Babylonian foods preferring the basically vegetarian diet of their culture. As a result, God blesses them. In the end, they pass their exams in the Babylonian sciences so well that the Bible says,
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.[1]
In the Psalms we read these promises:
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.[2]
Those that meditate on God’s word and follow His precepts are accorded wisdom from on high.
In the process of time, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, has a troublesome dream which he cannot remember. He calls for all the wise men in Babylon to divine the dream for him and its interpretation. The wise men protest saying the king could not ask such a thing as it was impossible for them to know the king’s dream, if he himself could not remember it. But the king insists and says, “Tell me the dream and the interpretation of it or you will all be slain.”
It is at this point that Daniel tells the captain of the guard to give him time and he will find out the dream and its meaning. Daniel and his friends get down in desperate prayer and pray that God in his mercies will reveal the dream unto them. Daniel in a vision in the night sees the King’s dream and learns the interpretation of it. And Daniel thanks God:
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.[3]
Afterwards when Daniel is before the King, the King asks him if he is able to make known to him his dream and the interpretation thereof. Daniel responds:
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;[4] But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.[5]
Daniel goes on to explain the dream and its interpretation. The king bows down before him and worships him and says,
The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.[6]
Daniel is made ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. His friends are also given positions of authority in the province of Babylon, but Daniel served as the king’s counselor. It was Daniel relationship with God; it was his desperation and ability to hear from God, which enabled him to be able to interpret the king’s dream, a prophecy about the future of the world.
I put this section about Daniel in to reiterate the point that God is a revealer of the future. In fact, the Book of Daniel is one of the most important prophecy books in the Bible. A little book with only twelve chapters, it has nearly eight whole chapters given to prophecy and two other chapters given to prayer. One prophecy that Daniel received predicted the year of the Messiah’s death.
Footnotes:
[1] Daniel 1:20
[2] Psalm 119:98-100
[3] Daniel 2:20-23
[4] Daniel 2:27-28
[5] Daniel 2:30
[6] Daniel 2:47
In the Psalms we read these promises:
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.[2]
Those that meditate on God’s word and follow His precepts are accorded wisdom from on high.
In the process of time, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, has a troublesome dream which he cannot remember. He calls for all the wise men in Babylon to divine the dream for him and its interpretation. The wise men protest saying the king could not ask such a thing as it was impossible for them to know the king’s dream, if he himself could not remember it. But the king insists and says, “Tell me the dream and the interpretation of it or you will all be slain.”
It is at this point that Daniel tells the captain of the guard to give him time and he will find out the dream and its meaning. Daniel and his friends get down in desperate prayer and pray that God in his mercies will reveal the dream unto them. Daniel in a vision in the night sees the King’s dream and learns the interpretation of it. And Daniel thanks God:
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.[3]
Afterwards when Daniel is before the King, the King asks him if he is able to make known to him his dream and the interpretation thereof. Daniel responds:
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;[4] But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.[5]
Daniel goes on to explain the dream and its interpretation. The king bows down before him and worships him and says,
The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.[6]
Daniel is made ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. His friends are also given positions of authority in the province of Babylon, but Daniel served as the king’s counselor. It was Daniel relationship with God; it was his desperation and ability to hear from God, which enabled him to be able to interpret the king’s dream, a prophecy about the future of the world.
I put this section about Daniel in to reiterate the point that God is a revealer of the future. In fact, the Book of Daniel is one of the most important prophecy books in the Bible. A little book with only twelve chapters, it has nearly eight whole chapters given to prophecy and two other chapters given to prayer. One prophecy that Daniel received predicted the year of the Messiah’s death.
Footnotes:
[1] Daniel 1:20
[2] Psalm 119:98-100
[3] Daniel 2:20-23
[4] Daniel 2:27-28
[5] Daniel 2:30
[6] Daniel 2:47
copyright@DennisE.Molinski
Tempo Quieto — Seu Salva-vidas! O segredo para a sua sobrevivência!
Mantenham contato com a fonte!
(Jesus fala:) Força espiritual vem de Mim — de se apoiar em Mim, se apoiar no Meu EspÃrito. Ela Me pertence e Eu a dou à queles que se alimentam avidamente da Minha Palavra, que a entesouram, que se nutrem com ela. Pois estes são os Meus verdadeiros soldados — os que desejam verdadeira força, os que tem a fé de pôr outras coisas de lado e se banquetearem com o Meu EspÃrito fortalecedor que é fruto da Minha Palavra.
É preciso fé para pôr as coisas de lado e vir a Mim. Este passo em si resulta em força de espÃrito, porque isso é confiar em Mim. Confiem em Mim de todo o coração e não se apóiem no seu próprio entendimento. Reconheçam-Me em todos os seus caminhos e Eu endireitarei as suas veredas.
É tão fácil ficar ocupado com um pouquinho aqui e um pouquinho ali, pois há sempre tanto para fazer. Mas lembrem-se de tomar esse tempo Comigo, para fazer contato Comigo, para manter esse contato Comigo, pois ao fazerem isso o Meu EspÃrito pode fluir. Estará à disposição quando for necessário, estará bem ali para vocês, vai ajudá-los com as soluções.
Mantenham-se em contato com a Fonte! Deixem-Me reabastecer os seus reservatórios de força espiritual constantemente. Tomem tempo para ir à fonte, para abrir o seu vaso e deixar que seja enchido. Entesourem o que é mais necessário. Absorvam e deixem que se torne parte de cada parte do seu ser. Que represente tanto que vocês não consigam fazer nada sem isso. Estejam tão imersos nele que terão medo de se movimentar sem ele, de tomar qualquer decisão sem ele, sem saber se estão no Meu canal, permanecendo no fluxo do Meu canal e deixando que Eu os guie, os oriente, os fortaleça, os revigore, e mantenha-os sãos, felizes e realizados.
A verdadeira inspiração vem da fonte da Minha luz, e Eu dou em abundância. Eu gostaria que fluÃsse livremente sobre todos os que vêm a ela, a desejam, e sabem que precisam dela. Fluirá de vocês para os outros. Portanto, estejam felizes por estarem imersos no fluxo do Meu EspÃrito. Eu tenho oceanos no quais nadar que vocês desconhecem! A única maneira de encontrá-los é lançando-se, nadando até não poder mais, e depois relaxando completamente e descansando em Mim.
Deixem-me enchê-los! Permaneçam em Mim e Eu em vocês. Como a vara de si mesma não pode dar fruto, a não ser que esteja na videira, vocês tampouco podem, a não ser que estejam em Mim. Eu sou a videira, vocês as varas. Aquele que permanece em Mim dá muito fruto!
Vocês sabem a importância de ficar perto de Mim, e só quero incentivá-los a se esforçarem por continuar a fazer isso. Eu estou à sua disposição e os ajudarei. Continuem a olhar para Mim, a se apoiarem em Mim, continuem a pôr a sua mão na Minha, e deixem-Me guiá-los. A sua fé vem por ouvir, e o ouvir pela Palavra de Deus. Vocês têm abundância de Palavra. Usem essa arma. Usem essa ferramenta. Aprendam a usá-la com perfeição. Aprendam a usá-la com destreza e vão lucrar muito com isso!
Continuem a confiar em Mim, e Eu continuarei a usá-los e ajudá-los. Continuem a lançar sobre Mim as suas cargas, e Eu os carregarei. Eu vou sustê-los. Vou fortalecê-los. Eu os sustentarei. Serei seu auxÃlio na angústia. Serei seu Conselheiro, seu Consolador. Eu os ajudarei a consertar os corações partidos, tratar as feridas, pôr nelas o bálsamo sanador e aliviador do Meu amor e do Meu EspÃrito.
Continuem a se entregar e Me deixar agir da Minha maneira perfeita. Continuem a submeterem-se. Continuem a dar tudo de si e Eu continuarei a fortalecê-los. Eu os guardarei e os ajudarei. Continuem a esperar e a confiar em Mim. (Fim da mensagem de Jesus.)
(Jesus fala:) Força espiritual vem de Mim — de se apoiar em Mim, se apoiar no Meu EspÃrito. Ela Me pertence e Eu a dou à queles que se alimentam avidamente da Minha Palavra, que a entesouram, que se nutrem com ela. Pois estes são os Meus verdadeiros soldados — os que desejam verdadeira força, os que tem a fé de pôr outras coisas de lado e se banquetearem com o Meu EspÃrito fortalecedor que é fruto da Minha Palavra.
É preciso fé para pôr as coisas de lado e vir a Mim. Este passo em si resulta em força de espÃrito, porque isso é confiar em Mim. Confiem em Mim de todo o coração e não se apóiem no seu próprio entendimento. Reconheçam-Me em todos os seus caminhos e Eu endireitarei as suas veredas.
É tão fácil ficar ocupado com um pouquinho aqui e um pouquinho ali, pois há sempre tanto para fazer. Mas lembrem-se de tomar esse tempo Comigo, para fazer contato Comigo, para manter esse contato Comigo, pois ao fazerem isso o Meu EspÃrito pode fluir. Estará à disposição quando for necessário, estará bem ali para vocês, vai ajudá-los com as soluções.
Mantenham-se em contato com a Fonte! Deixem-Me reabastecer os seus reservatórios de força espiritual constantemente. Tomem tempo para ir à fonte, para abrir o seu vaso e deixar que seja enchido. Entesourem o que é mais necessário. Absorvam e deixem que se torne parte de cada parte do seu ser. Que represente tanto que vocês não consigam fazer nada sem isso. Estejam tão imersos nele que terão medo de se movimentar sem ele, de tomar qualquer decisão sem ele, sem saber se estão no Meu canal, permanecendo no fluxo do Meu canal e deixando que Eu os guie, os oriente, os fortaleça, os revigore, e mantenha-os sãos, felizes e realizados.
A verdadeira inspiração vem da fonte da Minha luz, e Eu dou em abundância. Eu gostaria que fluÃsse livremente sobre todos os que vêm a ela, a desejam, e sabem que precisam dela. Fluirá de vocês para os outros. Portanto, estejam felizes por estarem imersos no fluxo do Meu EspÃrito. Eu tenho oceanos no quais nadar que vocês desconhecem! A única maneira de encontrá-los é lançando-se, nadando até não poder mais, e depois relaxando completamente e descansando em Mim.
Deixem-me enchê-los! Permaneçam em Mim e Eu em vocês. Como a vara de si mesma não pode dar fruto, a não ser que esteja na videira, vocês tampouco podem, a não ser que estejam em Mim. Eu sou a videira, vocês as varas. Aquele que permanece em Mim dá muito fruto!
Vocês sabem a importância de ficar perto de Mim, e só quero incentivá-los a se esforçarem por continuar a fazer isso. Eu estou à sua disposição e os ajudarei. Continuem a olhar para Mim, a se apoiarem em Mim, continuem a pôr a sua mão na Minha, e deixem-Me guiá-los. A sua fé vem por ouvir, e o ouvir pela Palavra de Deus. Vocês têm abundância de Palavra. Usem essa arma. Usem essa ferramenta. Aprendam a usá-la com perfeição. Aprendam a usá-la com destreza e vão lucrar muito com isso!
Continuem a confiar em Mim, e Eu continuarei a usá-los e ajudá-los. Continuem a lançar sobre Mim as suas cargas, e Eu os carregarei. Eu vou sustê-los. Vou fortalecê-los. Eu os sustentarei. Serei seu auxÃlio na angústia. Serei seu Conselheiro, seu Consolador. Eu os ajudarei a consertar os corações partidos, tratar as feridas, pôr nelas o bálsamo sanador e aliviador do Meu amor e do Meu EspÃrito.
Continuem a se entregar e Me deixar agir da Minha maneira perfeita. Continuem a submeterem-se. Continuem a dar tudo de si e Eu continuarei a fortalecê-los. Eu os guardarei e os ajudarei. Continuem a esperar e a confiar em Mim. (Fim da mensagem de Jesus.)
copyright@http://www.afamilia.org/
Saturday, October 4, 2014
The Nature and Power of God
http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/nature-and-power-god/
By D. Brandt Berg
Audio length: 7:56
Download Audio (7.2MB)
God is the power of the universe. He is a part of every living thing because the very life that they have is a part of the life of God. “In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”1 “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”2 “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.”3
We know, however, that there is another power in the universe today, an evil power that operates within our world who the Bible calls Satan or the Devil. For the same reason that God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to choose either good or evil, and to obey or disobey Him, to believe His Word or doubt it, so He allows Satan to operate.
If God had not allowed the Devil and his evil to exist, we would not know what good was. If you have known nothing but good or light, how do you know it’s light? You’ve never known darkness.
We think of God as a person, because the Bible has no other simple way to present Him to us except in the sense of persons. But as we think of people and persons, God is not the same. God is a Spirit.4 No man has seen God5 at any time because He is everything everywhere, the power of the universe, the power of love. He is only personified in His Son, Jesus. This is why Jesus was sent, to personify God and to show us what God is like and in a sense to show us who God is—to bring God down to our human level of comprehension, our human level of perception, so that we can understand Him. In other words, to bring Him out of the fourth and fifth dimensions and God knows how many dimensions, down to what amounts to our flatlander level to show us what God is like. And Him we see in Jesus, His Son.
He had Jesus come to this world in a very common human fashion, born of a woman. His Son was born like any other baby so He would be just as human as we are and be able to understand our humanness, our human frailties and problems, and be a sympathetic high priest for us.6 At the same time, being a part of God Himself, the Son of God, He represented God to us, God personified in the flesh in Jesus. Otherwise, in the strict sense of human language, although God talks like a person in the Bible and He has many similarities to human beings, because we are made in His likeness, He is not actually a person that you can see, a great king with hoary hair, as some artists have depicted Him.
But how else are you going to depict God? How else are you going to depict Jesus’ Father unless you depict Him as a person, although in the technical sense He is not like we are? He is the power of the whole universe. He is love, which is the power of the universe. So you cannot say that God is a person, because He is not human; you cannot see Him. You cannot touch Him or feel Him, except through His spiritual power and the powers that He operates, and we feel those every day.
Since He is not a physical person but a spirit, that means He is a power, something spiritual that you cannot see. The Bible says very clearly that God is a Spirit. “No man hath seen God at any time, for God is a Spirit.”7
Jesus is in a sense a picture of God. He is like a symbol of God, a characterization of God. He is the Son of God, and we often say, “Like father, like son.” Your child is in a sense you, a picture or reflection of you, although distinct and separate in what might be termed as personalities. God, in a sense, pictures Himself as a person in the Bible because there is no other way He can cause us to understand Him.
God Himself walked in the person of a man, in the Garden of Eden with Adam. Later Abraham met Him as a man.8 He appeared in the Bible as a man, but that body was merely a personification of Him. So we have no other way to picture God or the Holy Spirit but through these figures and these personifications. Since God speaks of Himself as a Father, we represent Him as a Father.
Jesus is an actual person with a body like ours, like we are going to have when we have our resurrection bodies, who can eat and drink and feel all the same things that we can feel because He is human, although He is the Son of God. God and the Holy Spirit can take on bodies as representations of themselves, which they sometimes did in the Bible, figures representing them which the prophets saw. Daniel saw Jesus being brought before the Ancient of Days.9 The Ancient of Days must have looked like an old man, like a king upon his throne. He was seeing personifications or representations in these figures that he saw in his visions.
So God had to bring these things down to terms that the human mind can understand in concepts, figures, representations of the spiritual. We have to represent them just like the Lord does in the Bible. He shows Himself, in a sense, in word pictures when He says “God did this” and did that and said this and said that, and He appeared to Adam and walked with him in the Garden, He appeared to Abraham, He appeared to this one and that one in some type of figurative representation. I’m no theologian, and I’m just trying to bring Him down to the level of the average person. God is a Spirit, but He calls Himself a father and He is like a father.
We can’t understand everything; many things are beyond our comprehension. His ways are above our ways, as high as the heavens are above the earth, and so who can understand the mind of God, the Scripture says?10 It is beyond our comprehension. Thank God we know whom we worship—the one true God, and Jesus Christ His Son, the only Savior!
*
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.—Isaiah 40:2811
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?—1 Corinthians 1:2012
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 4:713
Originally published October 1984. Adapted and republished April 2014.
Read by Jerry Paladino.copyright@thefamily.org
Footnotes:
1 Psalm 104:24 NIV.
2 John 1:3 NIV.
3 Romans 11:36 NLT.
4 John 4:24 KJV.
5 See John 1:18.
6 Hebrews 4:15.
7 John 1:18, 4:24.
8 Genesis 3:8, 17:1, 18:1.
9 Daniel 7:13.
10 Isaiah 55:8–9, Romans 11:33–34.
11 NIV.
12 ESV.
13 NIV.
By D. Brandt Berg
Audio length: 7:56
Download Audio (7.2MB)
God is the power of the universe. He is a part of every living thing because the very life that they have is a part of the life of God. “In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”1 “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”2 “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.”3
We know, however, that there is another power in the universe today, an evil power that operates within our world who the Bible calls Satan or the Devil. For the same reason that God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to choose either good or evil, and to obey or disobey Him, to believe His Word or doubt it, so He allows Satan to operate.
If God had not allowed the Devil and his evil to exist, we would not know what good was. If you have known nothing but good or light, how do you know it’s light? You’ve never known darkness.
We think of God as a person, because the Bible has no other simple way to present Him to us except in the sense of persons. But as we think of people and persons, God is not the same. God is a Spirit.4 No man has seen God5 at any time because He is everything everywhere, the power of the universe, the power of love. He is only personified in His Son, Jesus. This is why Jesus was sent, to personify God and to show us what God is like and in a sense to show us who God is—to bring God down to our human level of comprehension, our human level of perception, so that we can understand Him. In other words, to bring Him out of the fourth and fifth dimensions and God knows how many dimensions, down to what amounts to our flatlander level to show us what God is like. And Him we see in Jesus, His Son.
He had Jesus come to this world in a very common human fashion, born of a woman. His Son was born like any other baby so He would be just as human as we are and be able to understand our humanness, our human frailties and problems, and be a sympathetic high priest for us.6 At the same time, being a part of God Himself, the Son of God, He represented God to us, God personified in the flesh in Jesus. Otherwise, in the strict sense of human language, although God talks like a person in the Bible and He has many similarities to human beings, because we are made in His likeness, He is not actually a person that you can see, a great king with hoary hair, as some artists have depicted Him.
But how else are you going to depict God? How else are you going to depict Jesus’ Father unless you depict Him as a person, although in the technical sense He is not like we are? He is the power of the whole universe. He is love, which is the power of the universe. So you cannot say that God is a person, because He is not human; you cannot see Him. You cannot touch Him or feel Him, except through His spiritual power and the powers that He operates, and we feel those every day.
Since He is not a physical person but a spirit, that means He is a power, something spiritual that you cannot see. The Bible says very clearly that God is a Spirit. “No man hath seen God at any time, for God is a Spirit.”7
Jesus is in a sense a picture of God. He is like a symbol of God, a characterization of God. He is the Son of God, and we often say, “Like father, like son.” Your child is in a sense you, a picture or reflection of you, although distinct and separate in what might be termed as personalities. God, in a sense, pictures Himself as a person in the Bible because there is no other way He can cause us to understand Him.
God Himself walked in the person of a man, in the Garden of Eden with Adam. Later Abraham met Him as a man.8 He appeared in the Bible as a man, but that body was merely a personification of Him. So we have no other way to picture God or the Holy Spirit but through these figures and these personifications. Since God speaks of Himself as a Father, we represent Him as a Father.
Jesus is an actual person with a body like ours, like we are going to have when we have our resurrection bodies, who can eat and drink and feel all the same things that we can feel because He is human, although He is the Son of God. God and the Holy Spirit can take on bodies as representations of themselves, which they sometimes did in the Bible, figures representing them which the prophets saw. Daniel saw Jesus being brought before the Ancient of Days.9 The Ancient of Days must have looked like an old man, like a king upon his throne. He was seeing personifications or representations in these figures that he saw in his visions.
So God had to bring these things down to terms that the human mind can understand in concepts, figures, representations of the spiritual. We have to represent them just like the Lord does in the Bible. He shows Himself, in a sense, in word pictures when He says “God did this” and did that and said this and said that, and He appeared to Adam and walked with him in the Garden, He appeared to Abraham, He appeared to this one and that one in some type of figurative representation. I’m no theologian, and I’m just trying to bring Him down to the level of the average person. God is a Spirit, but He calls Himself a father and He is like a father.
We can’t understand everything; many things are beyond our comprehension. His ways are above our ways, as high as the heavens are above the earth, and so who can understand the mind of God, the Scripture says?10 It is beyond our comprehension. Thank God we know whom we worship—the one true God, and Jesus Christ His Son, the only Savior!
*
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.—Isaiah 40:2811
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?—1 Corinthians 1:2012
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 4:713
Originally published October 1984. Adapted and republished April 2014.
Read by Jerry Paladino.copyright@thefamily.org
Footnotes:
1 Psalm 104:24 NIV.
2 John 1:3 NIV.
3 Romans 11:36 NLT.
4 John 4:24 KJV.
5 See John 1:18.
6 Hebrews 4:15.
7 John 1:18, 4:24.
8 Genesis 3:8, 17:1, 18:1.
9 Daniel 7:13.
10 Isaiah 55:8–9, Romans 11:33–34.
11 NIV.
12 ESV.
13 NIV.
