That question used to be used a lot more than it is now, or perhaps I heard it so often that I almost became immune to its significance. That the God of the universe would come to us personally, in the form of a human in the Gospels and in the form of the Holy Spirit to us today, is unique from all of the other religions.
In the Gospel of John, there is never a mention of systematic theology or a study of God, neither is there a study of Christ in the educational sense. And yet the master teacher produces an exquisite way of teaching that reveals characteristics of Christ.
For instance, in the first Intransitive I Am Statement, Jesus said, “Jesus said to her, “I am He, the One speaking to you.”is speaking to the woman at the well. In my book,
The Gospel of John One Day at a Time, I described the encounter as follows
In the Old Testament, Jehovah God would reveal Himself and distinguish Himself from the other “so-called” gods who were made out of wood and did not speak or do anything. When Jesus came to the woman at the well, she was surprised that a Jewish man would speak to her, a woman with a questionable reputation. Today, many are surprised that the God of the universe would speak to them. As I write this, I am in awe that God forgave my sins and puts up with me. I love Him and He “walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own” (In the Garden, hymn published 1912). The idolatrous images made in the Biblical days did not have a personal relationship with those who worshipped them. We, on the other hand, have a God whose presence is with us always, who invites us to pray to Him, and responds when we do.
In the Old Testament, another woman, Hagar calls God “The God Who Sees”. “So she named Yahweh (I AM) who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?” (Gen. 16:13)
God saw her and Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman in a personal encounter. The first stand-alone I AM Statement in John also precedes the first Transitive I AM Statement, showing that God not only sees, not only comes, but God through Jesus and now through His written word, the Bible, speaks to us. Several times in the Old Testament, God mocks the false idols for, “They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see.” Psalm 115:5, 135:16.
Instead of His presence and his voice, we often forsake Him, the one true God, for idols that we have made and as we have made gods in our own image and likeness, they have mouths but cannot speak, ears but do not hear. Like them, we have no knowledge to speak of and no discernment with which to hear. We need to see God and His presence and His speaking to us.
There is an entire book in the Bible called “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” God wants to reveal, unveil, take away the hiddenness of Christ and become personal. I wrote a four-part study on the one word of “Revelation” you can read (see the link below).
Yes, I believe God will speak to us in a personal relationship with us, primarily through the Bible, through prayer, through discernment of His spirit, through other believers, through nature, through studies with others, through sermons, through experiences. In fact, there are very few things that we experience in life that is not a revealing of God’s desire to be in relationship with us.
So, I ask again, "Have you asked Jesus to be your PERSONAL Lord and Savior?"
