How to Find God

About 500 years ago, a new theory regarding the world started to emerge.

People used to think the planet Earth is the center of the universe,

and everything revolves around it.

But through observing the sky and recording the location of few known stars over time,

a few scientists concluded that the sun is the center of our galaxy,

and we revolve around the sun,

and there is something much bigger that is at the center of the universe.

Scientists and astronomers continue to explore the night sky

in order to find out the size of our neighboring planets

and their exact distance between each other

in order to work out the size of the solar system

and hopefully to work out the size of the Milky Way galaxy and the universe.

In early 1700s, astronomer Edmund Haley proposed that

one way to calculate the exact distance between each planet of our solar system

is to observe Venus moving across in front of the sun

from different parts of the world.

So in 1769, Lieutenant James Cook travelled to Tahiti

to observe the transits of Venus in front of the sun.

The answer to great scientific question is in observing.

By observing the sky,

scientists were able to work out the exact distance

between planets of our solar system.

After his work at Tahiti was done,

Lieutenant Cook carried on his forager,

down south to survey and charter what they can find.

And in April 1770,

he landed on a huge uncharted landmark stand under,

and he named his landing place Botany Bay.

The planet Venus not just helped scientists

to work out exact distance between planets.

It also led to the landing of which Australia,

the land down under, was found.

Today, Psalms also tell us that

the heaven and skies will help us to find out

something very important for each one of us too.

something as important as the finding of a new country

and a new life.

So let's pray.

Father, as we start the new year

and looking into your words,

please help us to have attentive ears

and an open heart for your words.

Please help us in this coming year

to keep searching and looking for who you really are

and have a true relationship with you.

In Jesus, I pray.

Please turn with me to Psalm 19 again.

I would like to use today's passage

to answer the question,

how do we know God?

There are three areas that I want to explore with you.

First one is,

how is it possible to know God?

Secondly,

what does nature say about God?

And lastly,

what is the way to know God?

So let's start from Psalm 19,

first one to four.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day,

they pour forth speech.

Night after night,

they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech.

They use no words.

No sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth.

Their words to the ends of the world.

When we start thinking about God,

what does that make you feel?

If I tell you,

you are now in the presence of God,

does that wake you up

and cause you to sit up straight?

Or does it make no difference

because you think

you already know God

and be in his presence all the time?

For many cultures,

God is someone who hovers above us,

waiting to send down thunder and lightning

when we do something that he disapproves.

We often associate God

with punishment and retribution.

How often do you think about the glory of God

and the works of his hands?

The heavens declare the glory of God.

The skies proclaim the works of his hands.

Do you believe God as a personal God

that you can approach

or a mysterious, powerful force

that you need to reckon with?

The Jewish tradition believed

the divine name of God

is too sacred to be uttered.

So they used an equivalent of the Lord

instead of calling God directly.

They do not dare to call God's name directly

out of fear and respect.

The Chinese believe the realm of God

is about three feet above our heads.

So as we grow up,

we are told we need to sit properly

at our dining table

and do not hit the table with our chopsticks

because it will upset the gods above us.

And what God will do is

he will send us nightmares

and make our teeth fall off when we sleep.

Some believe God is localized

in each particular culture.

So the God of the Bible

is a Western God

and people from Asia

should believe Buddha

or people from Middle East

should follow Allah.

as if God is how human beings

make him out to be,

as if we control how God is to be known.

Just like what people used to believe

the world revolves around the planet Earth,

we believe we are the center of the universe

and everything revolves around us.

If we hold to a very unhealthy

and unrealistic view of God,

how is it possible

for you to know God?

The heavens declare the glory of God.

The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day,

they pour forth speech.

Night after night,

they reveal knowledge.

The knowledge of the glory of God

and the work of his hands

is revealed to us

through God's creation.

It is possible to know God

because God has revealed

that knowledge to us.

the heavens and the skies

are calling out to us

to say that there is much more

to what we think

we know about God.

In verse 3,

they have no speech.

They use no words.

The sound is heard from,

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into the earth.

Their words to the end of the world.

There is something very fundamental about God.

It is so fundamental

that we humans often miss it.

We are often too busy

working out how to keep the world

revolving around us

that we forget to observe

the fundamental truth.

It is there in the second half

of verse 4.

In the heavens,

God has pitched a tent for the sun.

The God of the universe,

the God of our world,

has everything under control,

even the sun.

God has pitched a tent for the sun.

He has set the course for nature

in place of his glory

to reveal the knowledge

of the work of his hands.

God is not a concept

of human imagination

to somehow make us feel better

about ourselves

or to help us

to parenting our kids.

God,

not us,

not you or me,

is the center of our universe

and he is active

in reaching out to us

for us to know him better.

So,

how is it possible

to know God?

It is possible

to know God

because God

has revealed

that knowledge to us.

It is possible

to know God

because God

is much bigger

than what we can imagine

him to be

and he is under control.

Everything in nature

has its proper course

for us to know God.

In the heavens,

God has pitched a tent

for the sun.

It is like a bridegroom

coming out of his chamber,

like a champion

rejoicing to run his course.

It raises at one end

of the heavens

and makes its circuits

to the other.

Nothing is deprived

of its warmth.

God has said

the most powerful thing

in nature,

the sun,

in a circuit.

God has pitched

a tent for it.

What is the meaning

of that to us?

What does that say

about God?

I believe

it says that

no matter how powerful

we think the nature is,

it is not God.

For many years

and even now,

many cultures

worship nature.

They worship

the sun,

the moon.

However,

nature is only

the reflection

of the glory of God.

God has a power

and ability

to manipulate nature

to achieve

his goals.

But not every

natural phenomenon

is a result

of God's manipulation.

when natural disasters

strike,

like a tsunami

or earthquake,

to attribute them

to God

and saying God

is pronouncing judgment

is very irresponsible

and wrong.

The same attitude

can be applied

to our lives,

ups and downs.

Not all the ups

are the reward

of God

and not all the downs

are the punishment

from God.

God

is not

the purpose

of the sun

to run its course

is that nothing

is deprived

of its warmth.

The presence

of the sun

is unavoidable.

It hits

every senses

of our body.

The bright light

hits your eyes,

the warmth

you feel

on your skin.

The presence

of God

is even more

unavoidable

and undeniable.

My family

went to

Hokkaido,

Japan

on Christmas Eve

and we got back

just after

the New Year.

In Hokkaido,

there is no

New Year Eve

countdown

or firework.

So we followed

the Japanese tradition

and we got up

around 5 in the morning

on New Year Day.

We caught the cable car

to man

Mao

and

to welcome

the first sunrise

of 2019.

The sun

meant to come out

at 7 or 3

in the morning

but it was

very windy

and stormy.

The snow

was just blowing

very heavy.

So we didn't

see the sun

until about

8 o'clock.

But we feel

the sky

brighten up.

The temperature

when we get up

to the mountain

is negative 3.

Just before

the sun rises

it drops

to negative 6.

But after

the sun rises

it becomes

0 degrees.

So we feel

the warmth

swell a little bit.

The presence

of God

like the sun

is undeniable.

David

in another

psalm

in Psalm 139

Psalms 139:7–10

verse 7

to 10

says this.

Where can I

go from

your spirit?

Where can I

flee

from your

presence?

If I go up

to the heaven

you are there.

If I make

my bed

in the death

you are there.

If I rise

on the wings

of the dawn

if I settle

on the far

side of the sea

even there

your hand

will guide me.

Your right hand

will hold me

fast.

nature

tell us

that God

like the sun

will surely

rise after

a long

dark night

to provide

us with

warmth.

God is

everywhere

and he knows

our coming

and going

and the works

of his hand

is to guide

us and hold

fast to us.

You might

for some reason

want to run

away from God.

You might want

to go from

his spirit

and flee

from his presence

but no matter

where you run

to

he will be

there

up to the

heavens

or down

to the

death.

God is

there

not to

punish you

but to

celebrate

your life

with you

like a

bridegroom

running out

of his

chamber

like a

champion

rejoicing

in running

his course.

God will

go from

one end

of the

heavens

to the

other end

to make

sure you

fulfill the

course that

he set

for your

life

and declare

the glory

of God.

Do you

look at

God

with this

kind of

understanding?

What do you

think is

the purpose

of life

God has

intended for

you?

Or are you

currently trying

to flee and

hide from the

presence of

God?

One other

thing we can

learn from

the metaphor

of the

son is

that God

is concealed

from human

sight for

a reason?

In our

stupidity,

we often

think that

we can

handle the

ray of

the sun

blinding

ourselves.

We often

think that

we can

handle

God.

We say

things like,

if God

is so

loving,

why did

he allow

suffering

to exist

in this

world or

in my

life?

If God

is for

me,

why don't

things go

my way?

God is

the most

important

thing of

this

universe.

He set

everything

into

motion.

He is

in

control,

and he is

the only

one that

really knows

what is

best for

you and

me.

So let

me encourage

you to

look into

nature and

be amazed

of the

glory of

God that

he declares

and proclaims.

Let me

encourage you

to run

towards

him and

not away

from him,

for he

will guide

you and

hold fast

to you.

We can

know God

because God

has revealed

himself to

us through

his creation,

through the

heavens and

the skies.

The nature

tells us God

is much bigger

than what we

can imagine

him to be.

God is

everywhere and

all-powerful,

and he

controls even

the sun.

So how do

we really

know God?

Is

looking at

nature and

God's

creation enough

to let us

know God

intimately?

Let's

read on

from Psalm

Psalms 19:7

19,

verse 7.

And we

look at the

last point,

what is the

way to

know God?

Verse 7.

The law

of the

Lord is

perfect,

refreshing

the soul.

The

statue of

the

Lord are

trustworthy,

making

wise the

simple.

The

precepts of

the

Lord are

bright,

giving joy

to the

heart.

The

commands of

the

Lord are

radiant,

giving light

to the

eyes.

The

fear of

the

Lord is

pure,

enduring

forever.

The

decrees of

the

Lord are

firm,

and all

of them

are

righteous.

The

Psalms tell

us that

by our

serving

nature,

it's not

enough to

know God

intimately.

We need

something more

from God.

The

law,

statutes,

percepts,

commands,

and decrees

of God

referring to

his words.

These are

what we can

find in the

Bible.

Nature is

only a

pointer,

pointing us

to the

specific

revelation of

God through

his words.

The

Bible is

given to

us as

the most

reliable

source of

knowing God

intimately

to build

a personal

relationship

with God.

The

Bible is

perfect,

it's

trustworthy,

it's right,

it's radiant,

it's firm.

It

refreshes the

soul,

it makes

simple people

wise,

it gives

joy to

the heart,

gives light

to the eyes,

and all of

it are

righteous.

As we

know God

intimately,

as we

build a

personal

relationship

with God,

we shall

have a

sense of

fear

towards

God

growing

within

us.

This is

not the

same fear

that most

cultures

don't know

about God

personally

have.

It's not

a fear

of punishment

or retribution.

As we

experience the

greatness and

glory of

God,

as we

come to

realize how

precious is

our

relationship

with God,

how sweet

it is to

be loved

by the

creator of

the universe,

his word

warns us

that in

obeying God

there's

great reward.

Do you

find it

strange that

we are

warned about

a great

reward?

Wouldn't it

make more

sense to

say in

disobeying

there's a

great

punishment?

But instead

say that's

a great

reward.

God is

not

hovering above

us,

waiting to

punish us,

but he

knows that

we are

so feeble

that we

cannot

discern

our own

error or

keep

ourselves

from

sinning

against

him.

So he

became

one of

us and

lived among

us and

paid the

price for

our

disobedience

on the

cross.

God

had done

the

impossible

to make

it possible

for us

to be

in loving

relationship

with him.

by trusting

him for

his grace,

he will

forgive our

hidden

thoughts

because the

punishment for

our disobedience

has fully

paid out.

There are

only rewards

left within

our relationship

with God.

Apostle

Paul is

so overwhelmed

by the

greatness and

majesty of

God,

he breaks

out with

these words

in Romans

Romans 11:33–36

11,

verse 33

to 36.

O the

death of

the riches

of the

wisdom

and

knowledge

of God!

How

unsearchable

is his

judgment,

his path

beyond

tracing

out!

Who has

known the

mind of

the Lord,

or who

has been

his

counselor,

who has

even given

to God

that God

should

repay

them?

For

from him

and through

him and

for him

are all

things,

to him

be the

glory

forever.

Amen.

By

treasuring

our

relationship

with God

like pure

gold and

honey from

the

honeycomb,

God will

keep you

from

willful

sins,

from being

ruled over

by evil.

He will

make you

blameless

and keep

you in

relationship

with him

forever.

This is

the right

kind of

fee,

the right

kind of

attitude

towards

the almighty

creator

of this

universe.

Take

courage

that God

is full

of wonders,

big with

mercy,

and because

of what he

had done

for you,

he looks

upon you

with a

smiling face.

We can

find God

because he

has revealed

himself to

us through

his creation,

used them

as a

pointer to

point us

to his

words,

the Bible.

The creation

of God,

nature of

itself,

cannot

help us

to build

an intimate

personal

relationship

with God.

The word

of God

is the

way to

know

God.

How are

we to

know

God?

God is

his own

interpreter

and he

will make

it plain

to us.

So

forgive my

hidden

thoughts.

Keep

your servant

also from

willful

sins.

May they

not rule

over me,

then I

will be

blameless,

innocent,

of great

transgression.

May these

words of

my mouth

and this

meditation of

my heart

be pleasing

to your

sight,

Lord,

my rock

and my

redeemers.

My wishes

for you

in the

new year

are to

discover

God

through

his

word,

to

discover

your

rock

and your

redeemer,

to have

a pleasing

personal

relationship

with God.