OUR EVERYWHERE GOD

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before Him, and around Him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge his people:

“Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for He is a God of justice.

Psalm 50:1-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Through years of ministering to people, I have lost count of the number of times I have heard someone tell me they felt God was not with them, that He was somehow absent from their life.

Sometimes this attitude came in the midst of hardship as people tried to persevere through the difficulties that life can often bring. Trials can often times drag us into the depths of despair and hopelessness as we struggle to deal with our circumstances. It can hard to see any light in the midst of dark situations and we can feel withdrawn and alone, in dire need of someone to care and help us.

At other times, people have felt this way because they were struggling with believing that God exists at all. This world espouses everything else it seems but God in the way it encourages people to live. A person can set their own destiny by following their own dreams and living in accordance with their own will. In other words, a person doesn’t need God because they can be a god unto themselves. They don’t see God because they only look at themselves, immersed in self centeredness.

But God is not distant or non-existent. He is quite the contrary. In fact, He has always made Himself known to all mankind since creation. Consider these words of truth from Paul’s letter to the Romans:

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. Romans 1:18-20

Indeed, God is not hidden but in plain sight for all of us. His eternal power and divine nature are always on full display. This truth is within the heart of every man and woman God has created but as Paul so properly states, we have too often suppressed the truth through wickedness. In other words, we allow sin to have a greater place in our life than the righteousness we find in our ever present God.

This is why God’s wrath is upon all. At our core, we are godless and wicked, prone to opt for our own sinful desires over God’s will. And we have no excuse for our actions before the God of perfect justice, the God who is omnipresent or everywhere.

The opening of the 50th Psalm has more to share about the truth that God is in all places at all times. Consider these verses:

The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before Him, and around Him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge his people:

“Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for He is a God of justice.

The mighty God over all things is not silent but rather commands and dictates everything He created. He summons the earth and heavens above; who else but God can do that? He controls the rising and the setting of the sun every day; who else but God can do that? He maintains and sustains the beauty of His creation for all to see; no one does that but God.

And our God is far from silent. He judges and will continue to judge all people. His power and dominion over us is unrivaled. He sees all and knows all. Nothing done is concealed from His sight.

So where does that leave us? God is everyplace, wherever we are. And we are sinners who are in line to experience the fullest measure of His wrath and judgment. The psalm reminds us that God is a God of justice.

It may not look very promising and it would be if there wasn’t a way to be exonerated from our certain guilty verdict.

That’s where Jesus comes in.

For God is a God of justice. This means He is a just God, a God who is fair in His administration of judgment. He is a God of wrath but also a God of mercy, grace, forgiveness and love.

This was no better expressed than through God’s willingness to send His only Son, Jesus, to be sacrificed and pay the price for our sinfulness. Through Jesus, God offered us a way to be justified – or in other words, made to be just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned. As our life ends and we face God’s verdict, Jesus steps in and says He has covered our debt with the saving riches of His shed blood. We are pardoned, only because we chose to trust and believe what Jesus did for us, knowing He was our Savior. And instead of eternal damnation and destruction, we receive eternal life – a life free from harm, free from sin, free from hurt, free from affliction. It will be a perfectly peaceful life full of love and light with the God who will be just as ever present as He is today.

Friends, this world cannot possibly offer you what God can through Christ Jesus. This God who loves you enough to save you is all around you. Open your eyes and look around. Open your ears to hear the sounds of His creative masterpiece. And open your heart to Him and allow Him to live and abide within you.

I promise you it will lead you to proclaiming His greatness, His glory, and His goodness, everywhere you go…in the presence of the God who is everywhere.

    

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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