Diligently Seeking God

Man on a mountain

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

The Hebrew writer said that God will reward those who “diligently seek Him” (NKJV). Jesus promised that if we “seek,” we “will find” (Matthew 7:7). Is this a guarantee? Does the Bible teach that if we seek for God we can be assured of finding Him? Yes – provided we are seeking with the right attitude.

Paul told the ones gathered on Mars Hill that we can “seek God” and “find Him” because “He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). But how can He be found by those who are seeking for Him? In this article, we are going to consider how God made it so that He can be found by those who seek for Him.

The Physical Creation Testifies of Him

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

We can understand some things about God through Creation – His omnipotence, omniscience, love, etc. The psalmist described how “the glory of God” is declared through the physical world that He made (Psalm 19:1-6).

The Hebrew writer stated a fundamental principle relating to origins: “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God” (Hebrews 3:4). Anything that exists has something or someone that caused it to be. God is the creator of all things (Genesis 1:1). His creation testifies of Him and shows that He exists.

His Enduring Providence Is a Witness to Him

In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:16-17).

Just as the fact that the physical world itself is a testament to the existence of God (Romans 1:20), His enduring providence also shows that He exists and that He cares for us.

After the flood, God made a promise to Noah that His blessings would continue: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). As Paul told the crowd in Lystra, this has been a “witness” for God for “all the nations” (Acts 14:16-17) – even those who do not yet acknowledge Him (cf. Matthew 5:45). Paul indicated that the Lord is the one who sustains this world: “In Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Without Him, continued life on earth would not be possible.

He Has Set Eternity in Our Hearts

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

We were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Because of this, there is a spiritual element in us that sets us apart from the animals (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:21). Since God has “set eternity in [our] heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), we have a longing for something lasting and meaningful. Animals do not have this.

God made it so that we would seek after Him (Acts 17:27). We are naturally curious. We want to know where we came from and why we are here. This search leads us to God. God has placed in us an innate understanding that we have a higher purpose. Our great purpose in life is to “fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Until we discover this, we will find that “all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 12:8), just as the wise man did. This understanding that we have a higher purpose and the sense of discontent with the “futility” of life “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:17) will lead us to God.

The Scriptures Indicate That They Are of Divine Origin

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The writers of the Bible were “inspired by God.” This explains how forty authors from various backgrounds writing over a span of 1,500 years were able to produce this book without any real contradictions. That is not humanly possible; but since it is from God, Jesus could say what He did: “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

Furthermore, God confirmed the word through miracles. The Hebrew writer described this: “It was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Hebrews 2:3-4). Mark wrote that the apostles “went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed” (Mark 16:20). The Bible contains the words of men who were inspired (2 Peter 1:20-21). It would not have been possible to produce a book like the Bible otherwise.

The Resurrection of Jesus Is a Historical Fact

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

All history is based upon eyewitness testimony. There were hundreds of eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). Following Jesus’ death, the apostles preached the resurrection as a fact: “God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24). Their opponents could not produce Jesus’ body to refute these claims – all they could do was concoct a story of Jesus’ body being stolen while Roman soldiers guarded His tomb (Matthew 28:11-15).

Furthermore, the apostles went from a state of fear immediately following Jesus’ death (John 20:19) to being willing to suffer and die for Him (Acts 4:19-20). Why would anyone do this if they knew they were lying? In writing to the church in Corinth about the resurrection, Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:14-15). Later in the same chapter, he wrote, “If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). If the apostles were lying about Jesus’ resurrection, there was no reason for them to sacrifice their lives for Christ; but every one of them was willing to suffer and die for the testimony of Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope. Paul wrote, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. […] In Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). Because of His resurrection, Paul said he was willing to “count all things to be loss…in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11). We can have the same conviction and hope through the testimony of those who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

What Is More Reasonable to Believe?

Is it more reasonable to believe that matter is eternal or that it came from nothing? Or is it more reasonable to believe that God created the heavens and the earth?

Is it more reasonable to believe that the world around us operates perfectly by chance? Or is it more reasonable to believe that the Lord holds all things together by His power?

Is it more reasonable to believe that a sense of purpose or higher calling evolved in us? Or is it more reasonable to believe that God placed that within us?

Is it more reasonable to believe that forty independent men over a period of 1,500 years wrote a volume of books on their own without contradictions? Or is it more reasonable to believe that the Bible is from God?

Is it more reasonable to believe that the apostles willingly died for what they knew was a lie? Or is it more reasonable to believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

Conclusion

Those who will honestly and diligently seek for God will find Him. He wants all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9) and has made it so that we can find Him.


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Comments

  1. Kent Bailey says

    PLAIN BIBLE TEACHING is an excellent publication. It is journal that respects the pattern of the New Testament setting forth conservative Bible teaching in a kind, positive, yet uncompromising manner. I deeply appreciate the time and work as editor that you put into this effort.

  2. Thanks, Kent! I appreciate your kind words.