Die if you see God? - rethink

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.
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The Fear of The Lord

He. 10:31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The Church doesn't understand the fear of the Lord. It has gotten casual with God. It has redefined fear into "reverent awe." But we think the fear of the Lord is, or ought to be, literal fear. We tend to view fear as a negative, but this is not how the Bible presents fear. Holy fear is an desired attribute of the contrite heart. 

Fear of the Lord is the product of a revelation of the Glory. The glory of God is nothing to be trifled with. So a casual attitude about the Presence of God ought not be in the Church.

The Presence

There are many Christians who believe that there is no such thing as inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit. For example:

There is no need for believers to invite the Holy Spirit into a corporate gathering, private home, or an intimate setting, such as a room because for the born-again believer, He already indwells that individual.

However, it is certainly possible to create a situation where the Holy Spirit is negated The Holy Spirit can be

• Grieved. Ep. 4:30 (c.f., Is. 63:10):

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

• Quenched. 1Th. 5:19:

Quench not the Spirit.

• Resisted. Ac. 7:51

You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

• Insulted. He. 10:29: 

How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

• Ignored. He. 2:3-4: 

...how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

• Tested: Ac. 5:9 

Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

• Rejected: 1Th. 4:8 

Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

• Lied to: Ac. 5:3 

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

So if it is possible for the Holy Spirit to separate Himself based on what we do, it must be true for the opposite to happen, also based on what we do.

Cannot See His Face

Exodus 33:23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.

Exodus 33:11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. 

Would Die

It is a common belief that if anyone sees God he will die. There are many verses that speak to this:

Exodus 33:20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

Did Not Die

But there are many instances of people seeing God and not dying.

Genesis 32:30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

Isaiah 6:5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Judges 13:22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”

Judges 6:22-23 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

Deuteronomy 5:24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live.

Exodus 24:9-11 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, And they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

Genesis 16:13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

No One Has Seen Him

Adding to the puzzle is the claim that no one has ever seen God.

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

1 Timothy 6:16 Who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

John 6:46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.

Jesus, God in the Flesh

Scripture is very clear that Jesus is God in the flesh.

Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Vision Presently Dimmed

There will come a time when we will be in His presence and be able to look upon Him:

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Explanations and Speculations

The Father is so glorious that no human can gaze upon Him. Yet there are many biblical accounts of men seeing God. We think these sightings are actually the Angel of the Lord. It is our belief that the pre-incarnate Jesus is the Angel of the Lord. Jesus is God seen, God in the flesh, God shown to men. 

Because we have been made alive in Christ (Colossians 3:1) it isn't actually a matter of physical sight, it's more about receiving a revelation of the Living Christ:

He. 10:19-20 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body...

Re. 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!

And that born again status allows us to see spiritually:

Ep. 1:18-19 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Being alive in Christ means we do no have to worry about dying if we see God. The New Man is putting to death the flesh, which is the part at risk of death in the Presence. Our new life, our new identity, means a new status. 

We are now safe in the Presence.