Seeking God’s Face
Posted: Saturday, July 16, 2011
by John Waddey
firstcenturychristian
Have you noticed how many times God’s Word speaks of people "seeking God’s face?" Obviously, this is something God wants us to do. Many, because of their ignorance of his Word, are seeking in the wrong places. New Age worshipers seek for God within themselves. Rather than finding Jehovah they discover their own egos and like Narcissus they fall in love with themselves and think, "How great I am." Change agents are also seeking for God. They are rummaging around in the moldy monasteries of Catholicism and in the empty store house of New Age teachers. Neither of these groups will find the face of the Father where they are looking. Jeremiah’s observation is still true. "O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (10:23).
I. God’s wants us to seek his face. "If my people who are called by may name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land." (II Chron. 7:14). This passage, alone, tells us what is involved in seeking God’s face. There must be humility of spirit, prayer and repentance, i.e., turning from wickedness, if we hope to reach our goal.
II. What is meant by seeking God’s face? It is obvious that we should not expect to literally see Jehovah with our physical eyes. He tells us "Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live" (Ex. 33:20). John echoes this thought, "No man hath seen God at any time..." (John 1:18). So we must conclude that we hope to see God with eyes of faith. Thus Paul prayed for the Ephesian saints that the eyes of their heart would be enlightened, that they might know the exceeding greatness of his power (Eph. 1:18).
We can see proofs or tokens of God’s existence, his power, his love, his judgements. "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Ps. 19:1). "That which is known of God is manifest in them... for the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity..." (Rom. 1:19-20). Jesus came to "declare" God to humanity (John 1:18). He told Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 15:9). "Jehovah hath made himself known, he hath executed judgment..." (Ps. 9:16). "I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge thee" (Ezek. 35:11). In times past, God spoke to the fathers through his prophets, in different portions and manners, but now "at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son..." (Heb. 1:1). In the gospel of Christ God has revealed his righteousness (Rom. 1:16-17).
When we seek the face of someone, we want to know them in a personal way. We may have heard their name or read their story, but we want to see and know them. That is what we should understand about "seeking God’s face." James calls this drawing nigh unto God. When we do that, He will draw nigh unto us (Jas. 4:8).
III. How shall we seek God’s face? Certainly we should do so earnestly (Ps. 63:1) and hopefully. Our search should be done in an intelligent way. There have always been folks who have sought for God in strange and bizarre ways. There have been hermits living in caves. Some have starved and punished themselves like the Indians who sought a vision. Trappist monks seek God by not speaking. Some seek Him under the spell of hallucinatory drugs. Even now, people are seeking God in self-induced trances, repetitious prayers, labyrinths and other practices borrowed from pagan religions. We should seek him constantly (I Thess. 5:17) and with our whole heart (Ps. 119:2).
IV. Where shall we look for God’s face? This should be the goal of our private prayers. We must learn to get beyond the asking for gifts in our prayers. The most important aspect of our prayers is to know God, to see His blessed face. We should find time to meditate on God, his Son, His Holy Spirit and his Word (Ps. 77:12). We discover the face of God when we read and study his divine Word. I find it strange that some of those who talk most about seeking God’s face pay minimal attention to the Scripture. They seek a mystical experience. Some actually resist the Word because its message goes contrary to their wishes and desires. Without the Bible we would be in heathen darkness. God has revealed himself to us through Christ and the Scripture. We look for the face of God when we participate in worship with other saints. David looked upon the face of God "in the sanctuary" (Ps. 63:1-2). Many of those who talk most about finding God have nothing good to say about the public worship of the church. Perhaps they are chasing a phantom.
V. When should we seek for God’s face? Every day, in all that we do, our ultimate goal should be to see "the beauty of the Lord" (Ps. 27:4). Our search for God should begin early in our youth (Eccle. 12:1). Samuel walked before Jehovah from his childhood to his last days (I Sam. 12:2). We should seek him in both good and bad times. A selfish person only seeks for God when he is in trouble. "Seek his face forever more" (I Chron. 16:11).
VI. There are many reasons for seeking God’s face. "They that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing" (Ps. 34:10). "Let all those who seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee" (Ps. 40:16). "Seek ye Jehovah and his strength" (Ps. 105:4). He will forgive the sins of those who seek his face (II Chron. 7:14). We seek his face that we might better understand his glory, his holiness and righteousness (Is. 6:1-3). We want to know him as much as is humanly possible. Paul reflected this desire (Phil. 3:10). We seek for God’s face that we might better understand his will for our life and the mission he has given us. We seek God that we might appreciate just how frail we are and what our end will be (Ps. 39:4). When we seek God’s face we discover that "God is for" us (Ps. 56:9). What a consolation that is. In seeking his face, we learn that God’s judgments are always righteousness (Ps. 119:75). In finding his face we learn that "Jehovah is good; his loving-kindness endureth forever and his faithfulness unto all generations" (Ps. 100:5).
Today, we seek God’s face through the eyes of our heart. A day will soon come when we will see him face to face (Rev. 22:4). For that reason alone, we should never allow anything or anyone to distract us from our goal of seeking God’s blessed face.
This Article has been viewed 545 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.