Whatever It Takes

If you are connected at all to the media, you know that our world is falling apart.  Syria is unleashing chemical weapons on its own people.  Egypt is in a dangerous social unrest that has affected the entire world.  Central America is consumed with violence, and the United States' is teetering on the brink of economic disaster.  In your own neighborhood, no matter where you live in the world, kidnappings, drug busts, school shootings, public bombings and senseless murders have become a daily topic of discussion. 

In the midst of the chaos, many have wondered, "Where is God?"

Some cling to their religion instead of God.  Some cling to their morals as testimony to God.  Some are in hiding to find God; others are declaring holy wars in the name of God.

What is it about the idea of GOD that intrigues and inspires us so?

Even atheists, who claim there is no God, spend a great deal of effort on denying his existence... which is somewhat contradictory, considering the fact that it is logically insane to deny the existence of something that does not exist.

So, it brings us back to the original question: "Where is God?"

Romans 1:18-32 (NLT) gives us a great answer:

"...ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.  Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks... they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, [so] he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done..."

We spend so much time looking for, or avoiding, God, that we fail to see the evidence of His power and nature all around us.  We don't really want to know where God is: we want to know how to fix a broken world.

You were created as an intricate being.  Your being is made up of several essential parts: soul, heart, mind, body, and spirit.

• The soul - your personality, what makes you, YOU.
• The heart - your emotions, your dreams and desires, your passions
• The mind - your intellectual capacity
• The body - the physical, ever-dying cage that you are bound to between birth and death.
• The spirit - the God-given life within you

Apart from one another, the individual parts of our being have their own unique functions and attributes, but they are useless unless they work together in harmony.  Our personality influences our emotions and life-goals; our passions and dreams influence our intellectual quest; and within our body we experiment the individuality that these entities create in their collaborations.

Harmony is a innate desire placed in us by our creator.  We desire to live in harmony within ourselves, and to see harmony in our world.  

Yet interestingly, one part functions all on its own: The spirit.

The spirit is the life that comes directly from God, and is only awakened and alive when the spirit of God is directly connected to it.  Without that divine connection, our spirits are dormant.

God told Adam, the first man created on this earth, "Do not disobey my command, because in the day that you disobey me, you will die." (Genesis 3).  In the moment of Adam's disobedience, the Spirit of God was separated from communion with his spirit - God is perfect, and in His perfection, it is impossible for Him to dwell in the presence of sin.

In that moment of separation, Adam's spirit became dormant, incapable of functioning in harmony with the rest of the elements of the person of Adam. As the father of the human race, Adam passed on this innate disobedience to his descendants, and as a result, the spirit of God is perpetually separated from mankind.  We have a tainted existence with an undeniable emptiness; a piece of the puzzle of our lives that, when missing, leaves us longing for completeness.

Throughout history, man has attempted to fill this empty area of his life with substitutions.  Attempting to satisfy the longing of the other elements of his being (soul, mind, body, and heart), he pursues money, sex, individuality, power, education, and relationships.  These may bring temporary relief to the emptiness, and in and of themselves, are not destructive; but they are useless in filling the gap of our necessity, because what we lack is the missing interactive entity of our being that perfectly intertwines with our body, soul, mind, and heart.  Awful consequences such as war, adultery, murder, abuse, poverty, social injustice, and human slavery are bi-products of mankind's attempt to remedy his empty existence.

People will do whatever it takes to fill the void in their lives.

Yet, man does not need to fill the emptiness - he needs to revive what is dead.

This is what Christ referred to when he explained to Nicodemus the concept of being "born again" in John 3:6 --  "Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life."

We were not created by our maker as finite creatures, but as eternal beings destined to live forever.  This body is just a temporary element of who we are on this earth, and is made of dust, and one day it will cease to function and return to dust, but our spirits will continue to exist.  If they are dormant at the time of death, they will not be able to exist in the presence of God, for one must be born again spiritually in order to enter into the gates of heaven.  Those who are not permitted into heaven will spend an eternity separated from the presence of God in eternal torment, a place we have come to know as "Hell."

When we find life through the Spirit of God, we call this being "saved," because we are saved from the fear of spending an eternity of separation from the presence of God.  It is also a salvation from our emptiness and brokenness.  When the long-missing piece of the puzzle is finally revived and put into place, we suddenly realize our meaning for existence and are filled with the hope and life that were intended to have.

Romans 10:9-10 tells us how one can be born again:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Are you empty?  Do you feel incomplete?

We live in a world of people who kill mothers, rape children, enslave the poor, and destroy the powerless.  Yet, their deprivation did not begin overnight.  They, like you, felt empty, incomplete, and desperate to find the missing puzzle piece to the haunting emptiness in their lives.  The choices that they made and the roads that they followed in order to find wholeness eventually led to a self-destructive life that destroyed themselves and everyone around them.

So, remember the original question: Where is God?

Many believe that God has abandoned us on this earth, uninterested in our plight and deaf to our pleas.  Yet, those who have found life through Jesus Christ know that this is far from the truth.  God doesn't cause pain and suffering, nor does he willingly allow it; people do.  God has not gone anywhere.  In fact, He is very active in this world. He has provided the solution to the greatest problem of humanity: Jesus Christ reunites the Spirit of God with the spirit of man, and brings back the harmony that we so desperately and innately desire. 

Confess that Jesus is Lord.  Believe in your heart that He died on the cross in order to pay for the disobedience of mankind, including yours, and that by His death you are freed of guilt and shame.  Believe that God raised him from the dead, and be made right with God through your faith in Jesus Christ.

Surrender to Christ, and you will find the missing piece of the puzzle that you have always longed to have.  Find Christ, and you will find the life that will forever fulfill the emptiness.

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Inspired by Group 1 Crew's latest song, "Dangerous," featured on their album released in September 2012, Fearless.