God Is Not Far From Us

August 29, 2017

God Is Not Far From Us

How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!

    His understanding is beyond comprehension!

Psalm 147:8

In previous meditations (Psalm 11 and 125), I have referred to the Age of Enlightenment, which was birthed with the scientific and industrial age, approximately three hundred years ago.  With the coming of this Age, there was a seismic shift in the worldview of the Christian faith in Western Civilization. This shift was manifested in two ways. First, the Christian faith contained at its core, an affirmation of the foundation of Judaism, which is known as the “The Shema Yisrael.” Based on Deuteronomy 6:4, this prayer proclaims, “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is One LORD.”  In succeeding generations, since the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, Christian worldview has shifted away from the uniqueness of God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. In today’s culture, God, the Father of our Lord, Christ Jesus, is just a generic god, one of many.

The second shift was in the nature of God’s involvement in the affairs of humankind. Prior to the Enlightenment, the Christian faith believed God directed the course of human affairs, as well as the ebb and flow of nature. Post Enlightenment, God is viewed as more of a watchmaker. He created all that is, wound it up and left it to run on its own. Psalm 147 is an eloquent reminder that God, who established His people Israel, “has not done this for any other nation” (Psalm 147:20). God’s relationship with Israel, and His children, the followers of Jesus, is most assuredly unique in the entire universe. The psalmist celebrates that God is not far from us, uncaring about our lives:

The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing the exiles back to Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth,

    and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures.

He sends peace across your nation and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat.

Psalm 147:2-3, 8, and 14

The Age of Enlightenment has produced blessing after blessing for humankind, not the least of which is overcoming the power of superstition that crippled the development of civilization. However, respect for the depth of human intellect is not mutually exclusive from a deep and abiding faith in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord. Perhaps greater than any other theologian, John Wesley was able to find a mutually inclusive faith when he ordered his theological studies through a balance of: Scripture, Reason, Tradition and Experience (Known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral).

Praise the Lord!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.