Hiding From God?
Hiding From God?
By Dennis Huebshman
Psalm 139:1-16; “O Lord, You examine me and know. (2) You know when I sit down, and when I get up; even from far away, You understand my motives. (3) You carefully observe me when I lie down to rest; You are aware of everything I do. (4) Certainly my tongue does not frame a word without You, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. (5) You squeeze in from behind, and in front; You place Your hand on me. (6) Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension; it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. (Now for revealing questions, and some enlightening answers.) (7) Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee to escape Your presence? (8) If I were to ascend to heaven, You would be there. If I were to sprawl out in sheol, there You would be. (9) If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn, and settle down on the other side of the sea, (10) even there Your hand would guide me; Your right hand would grab hold of me. (11) If I were to say, certainly the darkness will cover me, and the light would turn to night all around me; (12) even the darkness is not too dark for You to see; and the night is as bright as day; darkness and light are the same to You. (13) Certainly You made my mind and heart; You wove me together in my mother’s womb. (14) I will give You thanks, because Your deeds are awesome and amazing. You know me thoroughly; (15) My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and sewn together in the depths of the earth. (16) Your eyes saw me when I was in the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in Your scroll before one of them came into existence.” (all emphasis mine)
King David had an appreciation of the total majesty of our Heavenly Father, and an intimacy with Him that few humans have ever had. He understood the Omnipotence (infinite power), Omnificence (creator of everything), Omnipresence (present everywhere at the same time) and Omniscience (all knowing) of the Lord God Jehovah. David accepted responsibility for anything he did that went against the Lord, and did not try to put blame on anyone else.
A popular Southern Gospel song is titled, “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.” Yes, Jesus was on that cross, but remember, Jesus and God are one. (John 10:30) He purposely took on full human traits, and therefore experienced all feelings and emotions that we do. He completely subjected Himself to the Father’s will. He was still fully God, and it’s very possible that while He was on the cross, He was able to see every human that ever lived, or ever would live on this earth.
Like Psalm 139:6 states, “Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension…” He cried out, “My God; My God! Why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) It’s believed that this was the exact moment that the sinless Savior took on all the sins of the world, past, present and future. For that brief moment He was separated from the Father, and this was worse than the whole crucifixion process.
Shortly after this, Jesus said, “It is finished”, (John 19:30) and “gave up His Spirit”. His human self perished, but He had paid the ultimate price for the sins of all who would receive the gift, and accept Him as their Savior. Needless to say, any and all who refuse to call on Him to be saved, will be responsible for every sin, large or small, they ever committed, and will have no advocate when they stand at the Great White Throne. (Revelation 20:11-15) There will be no acceptable excuse; no appeal of their sentence in the Lake of Fire; absolutely no hope. All this will be because 1 Corinthians 1:18 was their downfall. “For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing; (the good news) but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” The lost believed satan’s biggest lie of “Did God Really Say?”; or especially “You can accept Jesus any time; enjoy your life now.”
No one who ever became a part of Jesus’ flock (true believers), will stand at the Great White Throne. It’s totally for those who are lost. It will be as written in Revelation 6:15-17 after the sixth judgment seal was opened by Jesus, “Then the kings of the earth, the very important people (in their own minds), the generals, the rich, the powerful and everyone slave or free hid themselves in the caves, and among the rocks of the mountains. (16) They said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of the One who is seated on the throne; and from the wrath of the Lamb; (17) because the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to withstand it?” These are people who had the opportunity to escape the wrath, but would not believe and accept the Savior before the Rapture.
Isaiah 2:10-11 was written about seven centuries before Jesus time here, and gave the same warning. “Go up into the rocky cliffs; hide in the ground. Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord, from His royal splendor! (11) Proud men will be brought low; arrogant men will be humiliated; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.” No one can ever say they were not warned.
It seems there have always been those who choose not to believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Somehow, they feel there will be no issue because of their disbelief. Also, for those who are worshiping false gods, it’s the same as denying the true Trinity. Saying it isn’t so, doesn’t make it right.
It’s wonderful that our Heavenly Father gives us the right to make our own decision whether or not to accept His Son, Jesus the Christ. He gives us what we need to be informed, and help us with our decision. Everything is written in His word in the Bible. The prophecies written many centuries ago have come true with 100% accuracy. As long as we have a true translation, and not one of the new “edited by man” versions, we will see God cannot lie as given in Titus 1:2. Only those who believe all this is foolishness will not heed His word.
Adam and Eve were the first to try and hide from God after they sinned. (Genesis 3:8) They found out immediately, He was not fooled. This is why it is stressed that the first action we must take toward Salvation is to confess that we are sinners (Romans 3:23), because He already knows what we’ve done. By confessing and asking for forgiveness, we let Him know we are serious about being truthful and right with Him. (1 John 1:8-10) We realize that only through Jesus can we be forgiven and receive His gift of eternal Salvation.
God will not turn anyone away who truly calls on Jesus to be saved. As stated earlier, our Creator “Allows” us to decide where we will spend eternity. Even though He absolutely could force everyone to worship Him, He is pure love, and allows us our free will.
Those who choose to follow Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:9-13 will be saved. For those who would rather listen to, and accept satan’s lies, God will allow them to do so even though He wants no one to fail. (2 Peter 3:9) He does not take delight in watching people throw their souls away for the so-called “pleasures” of this earth.
Take a moment or two and consider your life up to now. If you are a member of Jesus’ flock, take the time to again thank Him for giving you eternal peace of mind. Also, if there’s any unconfessed sin in your life, have it removed forever by asking His forgiveness. It doesn’t mean you will never sin again on this earth, but the past will be over and done with. Reread 1 John 1:8-10.
If you do not have Jesus as your Savior, Revelation 20:11-15 gives your ultimate destiny, if you refuse to change. It’s not a “maybe” as satan would have you believe. Remember, his destiny is absolute as there’s no path to forgiveness for him or his demons (fallen angels). Carefully consider the few years we are here, compared to never-ending eternity. No one will be able to hide from our Heavenly Father.
By the way, you have not sinned bad enough that you cannot be forgiven. As long as you have breath in you, the Father stands by for your call so He can forgive you. If you pass from this life without Jesus, there will be no more opportunities to be saved.
King David was an adulterer and a murderer, yet God forgave him. Paul persecuted people of “The Way” all the way to their deaths; yet he became a main author of the New Testament. Being forgiven does not mean you will be totally free of discipline. Yet the discipline that the Father may give is still far better than eternity in hell. (Hebrews 12:5-11)
Once free of our earthly bodies, we will have eternal immortal bodies designed to last forever. We will not be subject to temptations or any sin again. Those who will be in the Lake of Fire because of their own actions, will also have eternal bodies. They will wish for complete death, but it will not come. The suffering is forever.
Don’t try to hide from our Heavenly Father, the Lord God Jehovah. Reread Psalm 139, especially 6-16. Time here is getting short as the call of all believers to meet Jesus in the air is imminent. Today would not be too early to call on Him.
Maranatha!