God Lives

by R. Darke, Vancouver, B.C. | Category: General | Feb 1968

Some modern theorists tell us that God is dead, while in David's day the foolish sceptic said, "There is no God" (Psalm 53.1). The Christian's answer is simply that GOD IS! This is what we are told in Hebrews 11.6, "...for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that seek after Him". In this wonderful chapter are revealed the twin truths that "FAITH IS..." (v. 1) and that "GOD IS..." (v.6), and these have been living links between godly souls and the throne of heaven throughout the course of time. When sorrow, anxiety, and stress come into the life, the believer says, "GOD IS our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46.1). The unbeliever says "God is dead", and so he carries his ever-increasing burden of despair through life, as. through a valley of gloom, and he sees no hope, but only hopelessness. Not so the Christian. We have a living God who IS, and who is a Rewarder of them that seek after Him. Abel sought Him with excellent sacrifices; Enoch walked with Him, and was translated to glory by Him; Noah believed Him and built an ark which saved him and his family from the floods of judgement; Abraham obeyed Him, and received a land of promise which his present-day progeny are prepared to defend with their lives. And what shall we say of Jacob who wrestled with Him, of Moses who heard Him from a bush which burned and was not consumed: of Isaiah who saw Him in majestic glory; and of Paul who was delivered by Him from lions, from enemies, and from storms, and who declared confidently "I believe God... "? (Acts 27 25)

These were men of faith, and had faith's answer to all life's questions and problems. They "wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4.20). They believed that creation was a miracle, that "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea together as an heap; ... For He spake, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast" (Psalm 33.6,7,9). They believed that God is eternal, and He is the dwelling-place of His people (Deuteronomy 33.27). They believed, too, that His Son is eternal, and that, as God, His throne "is for ever and ever" (Hebrews 1.8). They believed that the Holy Spirit is eternal (Hebrews 9.14), and that the word of the LORD is right (Psalm 33.4).

We believe all these things too, and in an age of scepticism, scorn, and unbelief, we declare our unshakeable faith in the living God, "In Him we live, and move, and have our being", and "He is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17.27,28). He is our great God and Saviour, and through the perfect sacrifice of His Son at Calvary, and the power of His resurrection, death, which men so much fear, has lost its sting. To faith, death is no longer a mystery; and "the unseen" and "the unknown", as men describe the after life, are not in faith's vocabulary. The Lord Jesus has lifted the veil and has shown us that after death there is Paradise or pain (Luke 16.19-31). We know that Christ is now living in heaven because Stephen saw Him there (Acts 7.55), and Saul heard Him speak (Acts 9.4,5). It is to the place where Christ is that the soul of the believer goes at the time of death, Paul describes this as being, "absent from the body... at home with the Lord... "(2 Corinthians 5.8). We see in these precious truths that the mystery of death has been solved and "the unseen" and "the unknown" are seen and known to faith.

The child of God should humbly thank God daily that we know Him through His Son. "And this is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17.3). God is not dead but living! Sinful man is afraid of God, and has ever been seeking a hiding place from Him. It has been so from the beginning. When Adam transgressed he said, "I was afraid... and I hid myself" (Genesis 3.10). Man is still hiding from God, and today he is using the "trees" of philosophy, unbelief, scepticism, alcoholism, and drugs, because he is afraid. Oh! that men would realize that the perfect love of a living God has cast out fear. Christ paid the penalty for sin at Calvary, and God is now able to come to men with the blessed gift of eternal life. God is not dead, but man is! He is dead in trespasses and sins, but a God who lives "willeth that all men should be saved". Men are being saved. That there is a testimony on this earth for God today, which He calls His spiritual house (1 Peter 2.5), is proof that God is not dead. To us He is EL BETHEL, God of the house of God, and we are His living stones who have been built together that He, the living God, might in very deed dwell among men.

R. Darke, Vancouver, B.C. | Feb 1968
General