Because I grew up in a Jewish family, the Passover was a very special celebration. Our family would gather together for two nights for the Seder; a ritual service and ceremonial dinner performed every year that would take place the first two nights of the Passover. Both Seder's included a reading of the Haggadah; a guidebook for the Seder meal that tells the wonderful story of God’s deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. our family would also eat lots of great food, drink wine, listen stories about Moses and the Jewish people, sing, and partake in other family Passover traditions.
Of these traditions, my
favorite one, was searching for the hidden Afikomin, a piece of Matzah wrapped
in a table napkin that was hidden somewhere in our house during the Seder. This
piece of Matzah is actually one part of three pieces wrapped together. During the Passover meal
one piece is broken off from the middle piece, removed and placed in a clean, white linen cloth which was then hidden by my grandfather somewhere in our home. Whoever
found it would get a reward, usually a few dollars. The final
part of our Seder was when everyone ate a small piece of the Afikomen and the Seder would be declared over. Honestly, aside from me getting to drink a
little wine, I couldn’t wait to try to find the Afikomen; however, I was not
always successful.
Today, the Afikomen (Matzah) represents
the substitute for the Passover sacrifice which ended the Passover meal
in ancient times. This broken piece of Matzah
is symbolic of the Messiah to Jewish believers. Little did I know back then how passionate I
was about finding the Jewish Messiah. I can now make the connection between
finding the Afikomen and finding the Messiah. Both have a reward, but with Jesus,
one will receive the reward of eternal life if they believe His sacrifice paid
the price for their sin.
You see, it’s really not hard to find God;
you just have to want to. Just ask God to reveal Himself and He will. For me, I
asked God to show me that Jesus was the Messiah for the Jews. Graciously, He clearly
made Jesus known to me through the prophets and many other passages I read in
the Old Testament. Through God’s supernatural revelation, I was able to connect
to what I knew and heard about Jesus to the passages I read in the Bible. By the time I finished the Old Testament I believed Jesus was the true Messiah for the Jewish people and I received Him as my Lord and Savior. Then I read the New Testament and saw how clear the fulfillment of God's plan unfolded. God had sent Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, to rescue His people.
My point is this; God does not hide Himself
from us. We hide ourselves from Him. We hide from God mostly due to our sin and
rebellious nature.
The fact is, many push God away so they can remain in control of their desires and plans to live and play by
their own rules. Some people claim to know God but are not willing to surrender parts of their
lives to Him. Some people choose to ignore His wisdom or perspective when it comes
to life and making decisions. Some unfortunately
refuse to believe God exists and they prefer to believe there is no Creator
even though there is so much evidence to the contrary. Because people reject God, and choose not to see what is clearly revealed, they miss out on the blessings and promises God offers His people.
So, what can we know about God?
God will not force us into a relationship
with Him nor will He force us to love Him. But, if we embrace God's forgiveness and offer of salvation, He will prove time
and time again His love for us by giving us the Holy Spirit that will grow our faith, give us an eternal perspective, guide our hearts, and give us a greater understanding of God's Word. He will change our lives so we can live for His purpose and pleasure. He will give us work to do that has meaning and eternal impact. As a result of this work in us, we will be changed from the inside out to become
one who reflects the goodness, kindness, graciousness and love of Jesus Christ.
So, where is God?
God is not hidden from us. His
magnificent work is on display for us all to see.
The Bible tells us:
Romans 1:18-20
The wrath of
God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them. For
since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power
and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that people are without excuse.
So what do many people do?
Romans 1:22-23
Although
they claimed to be wise, they became
fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal
God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and
animals and reptiles.
Unfortunately people have always found or created
their own gods or idols that they desire to worship instead of the one true
God.
It is truly
amazing how many people know about Jesus but don’t really care to know Him, receive His forgiveness, and embrace the free gift of eternal life that He offers. People celebrate
Christmas and Easter and know these popular holidays are about Jesus, yet other things become their primary focus. God didn’t
create a covert salvation plan to hide what He was up to. Jesus came into this
world to make Himself known, prove He was Messiah, and change people’s
hearts and minds so they could believe He had the power to save them from sin and
spiritual death. It was God’s plan all along to give His one and only Son Jesus,
to suffer and die on the cross in order to pay the price for our sin. John the
Baptist made it clear that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world (from John 1:29). In those days, year after year, a perfect lamb
without defect would be sacrificed as a sin offering in the Jewish temple.
Jesus was that perfect lamb that was sacrificed for our sin but in this case once
and for all. Jesus makes it clear that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
God reveals His plan:
Jesus life
and death was witnessed and written down in all the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John. Jesus’ resurrection was also witnessed by many people three days
after His death and recorded in those Gospels as well. So God did not hide
Himself from us. He made sure that His story and plan to rescue us was written and
passed down from generation to generation so we could know Him too.
So, through
God’s creation, through Jesus’ life, through the supernatural work of the Holy
Spirit and through God’s Word, we can know God because He wants to be known. He has nothing to hide. In fact, it is His greatest desire for us to know Him and
love Him.
This I know
for sure; if anyone really wants to know God, He will reveal Himself to them as their Lord and Savior.
We all must come to terms with the fact that Jesus is the only way anyone can reconcile with
God and receive eternal life. Jesus said it best Himself:
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14;6)
As
we celebrate this Easter I pray many people will also celebrate their new life in Christ. May God's plan of salvation be revealed powerfully in the hearts and minds of the lost and may they come know and receive God's free gift of eternal life through Jesus’ sacrificial love.
May you all be filled with God's love and grace.
Blessings…………….Dave
