The Open-Air Mission
‘Holding forth the word of life...’
(Philippians 2:16)
(Philippians 2:16)
‘Holding fast the faithful word...’
(Titus 1:9)
(Titus 1:9)
© The Open-Air Mission 2007
Why can’t I see God ?
Jesus Christ gives us a very direct answer to the question in the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ Matthew 5:8.
The problem lies with ourselves. We do not have pure hearts. We have polluted sinful hearts. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked’ Jeremiah 17:9. Everyone of us has sinned against God. Isaiah the Prophet describes the resulting separation that has taken place between us and God, ‘But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear’ Isaiah 59:2.
Our sin has caused a huge barrier to stand between ourselves and God. However we might try, there is nothing we can do to remove it. Our only hope is for God Himself to come to the rescue and this He has done in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. His great rescue mission centred upon His sacrifice and death which He made for sinners on the cross. ‘Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed’ 1 Peter 2:24.
The problem lies with ourselves. We do not have pure hearts. We have polluted sinful hearts. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked’ Jeremiah 17:9. Everyone of us has sinned against God. Isaiah the Prophet describes the resulting separation that has taken place between us and God, ‘But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear’ Isaiah 59:2.
Our sin has caused a huge barrier to stand between ourselves and God. However we might try, there is nothing we can do to remove it. Our only hope is for God Himself to come to the rescue and this He has done in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. His great rescue mission centred upon His sacrifice and death which He made for sinners on the cross. ‘Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness -
The Apostle Paul writes, ‘For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures’ 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. God the Father has proved to the whole world that His Son’s sacrifice was accepted by raising Him from the dead.
If we are to receive the benefit of what Christ has done for us then we must:
If we are to receive the benefit of what Christ has done for us then we must:
Acknowledge our sin.
Repent of our sin.
Trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.
Repent of our sin.
Trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.
The barrier of sin within your life will then be removed and you will experience God’s amazing forgiveness. You will also know what it is to become a child of God, to be able to call Him ‘Father’ , and to know Him as a wonderful reality in your life. You will also know for certain that though now you will only see Him with the eyes of faith, one day you will see Him face to face.
Edwin Baker