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UNDERSTANDING GOD SERIES
UNDERSTANDING GOD PART 1
There is something about God, His nature and
His person that we need to understand. There are two men in the Bible who have
walked with God to the extent that they could be in the boardroom with God.
There are certain types of prayers that
relate to
The first man we want to look at is
Abraham and the depths that he moved into. Gen.18: 1 Then the Lord appeared
to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he was sitting in the
tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked and behold
three men were standing by him. When he saw them he ran from the tent door to
meet them and bowed himself to the ground and said, “My Lord if I have now
found favor in Your sight do not pass on by your
servant. Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest
yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread,
that you may refresh your hearts after that you may pass by in as much
as you have come to your servant. And they said, “Do as you have said.”
In verse16, then the men rose from
there and looked towards
In verse18, `since Abraham shall surely
become a great and mighty nation. And all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed in him. For I have known him in order that he may command his children
and his household after him that they keep the way of the Lord to do
righteousness and justice that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken
to him. The Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great
and because their sins are very grievous I will go down now and see whether
they have done although according to the outcry against it that has come to Me
and if not I will know” then the men turned away and went towards Sodom. But
Abraham still stood before the Lord. And Abraham came near and said, ` Would
you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous
within the city, would you also destroy the place and not spare it for the 50
righteous that were in it? Far is it from You to do
such a thing.’ The Lord said, `If I find in
I want you to know that when Abraham was
talking to God, he was not talking from a position of pride. Neither was he
talking from a position of self-confidence. Although he was negotiating with
God, it was more in the form of entreaty. He was entreating God. Yet the fact
is God was listening to him. And that’s a very deep realm that he had moved
with God. Abraham’s statement here showed he was not approaching God saying, “I
can come to God now freely.” No, he was also aware that God was the One who is
all-powerful. And there is an awesome fear of God that he was experiencing.
In verse27, “Indeed now I who am but
dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose there
were five less than the 50, would you destroy it?” And God said, `If I find there 45 I will not destroy it.’ Then he
reduced it again and brings it to 40. Then he is a bit frightened now. He had
never moved that far with God. Remember this is negotiation talk. How many
people could talk with God in that way? Here he started with 50. And he got God
to agree on the 50 first and for the final time in verse 32, he says, “Lord,
don’t be angry if there were 10.” God said, “I won’t destroy it for lack of
10.” The fact is from 50 he reduced it to 10. That is the kind of boardroom
meeting that he had with God.
Here is another man named Moses. When you do
things like that, you have to tread very carefully. Exodus 30, notice here the
Lord talking with Moses in verse 7, “Get down for your people whom you
brought out of the
Verse11, then Moses pleaded with the
Lord and said, `Lord why does your wrath burn hot against your people whom you
have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand.
Why should the Egyptian speak and say He brought them out to harm them to kill
them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth. Turn from
your fierce wrath and relent from the harm to Your
people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and
This is a remarkable incident, especially
knowing the Lord in verse10 that says, “Let Me alone that My
wrath may burn hot against them that I may consume them.” God was saying he
was greatly displeased with His people and He wanted to destroy them. He
actually told Moses, “Get aside I am coming to destroy them.” Moses was
in a boardroom with God and he countered, “God please don’t do it for the sake
of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the covenant that they have made with You. Lord, don’t do it. Remember that covenant.”
But the fact is how did
these people like Abraham and Moses reached that level with God? How is
it that it could reach that point where they are like they are in a position to
negotiate? They are in a position where they could be part of the planning
committee with God. As we say they are those who pray prayers. There are some
Christians who know what prayer are answered. But
there are different realms. All you know is prayer and you got answers to your
needs. You have not gone beyond the
Then there are others who moved further,
they have gone beyond the first veil. And they seek God for ministries. They
seek God for gifts, which you need too. We are talking about in terms of
proportion. How much of your time do you spend in those areas? We are not
talking in terms of just
“yes/no” we know as long as you are on this earth, you have
spiritual needs, soul needs and physical needs. And Jesus included it in the
Lord’s Prayer when He taught, “Give us this day our daily bread.” So the
question is not just yes/ no. But the question is of proportion. Apparently
Jesus wants the proportion on physical thing to be quite small. Otherwise He
would not have given Matt. 6:33, “Seek ye first the
There are some that move into the
Comparing our human body to the Tabernacle
of Moses, your
But the other veil separating the soul and
the body is not opened yet. If it is opened what will happen? The physical
world would see the spiritual world like the physical world. Now it’s only opened
through the gift of the discerning of spirits. But that veil will only be fully
opened when Jesus comes again and we receive a new body. And in your new body
there is no difference between physical and spiritual. In your new body, the
spiritual and physical realms flow into one another. And there is no such thing
as invisible any more. Now there are angels that are invisible that only by the
grace of God through the gift of discerning of spirits that we can see them as
the Spirit wills. He allows us to see beyond that veil once in a while. But
otherwise He demands that we walk by faith with that veil closed. But one day
Jesus will take off that veil and there is no such thing as invisible. Jesus
had not opened the other veil. The other veil will be completely opened at His
coming when we are given a new body. Now for the time being, once in a while
according to His purpose and plan, He will open that veil for us to experience
the spiritual realm. But most of the time we should realize that the ultimate
transformation as far as this life is concerned, the maximum that you could
reach in this life is where your soul is so much like the spirit. In this way
God could use both your spirit and your soul.
You reach the day where Hebrews 8 and 10
take place, where He has His laws and His will written in our hearts and in our
minds until our minds and our will and our emotions function very much in that
spirit world. Which is why Jesus has opened the veil
separating the spirit from the soul. So that Jesus could flow and fully
saturate the soul until the soul is totally renewed. What a wonderful promise
He has given to us.
There are men of God who have walked quite
close in that realm. In modern history one such person is
One of the reasons why in the book of Jude
it records that the angels disputed over Moses’ body is because Satan actually
had a legal ground not to let people who have died be taken up and transported
spirit, soul and body to heaven. Now in Enoch’s and Elijah’s case they didn’t
die. The spirit of death could not touch them at all. They were just taken up.
Satan didn’t even have a chance. Then there was this Moses. It was a little bit
different. He died and the angel of death caught him. But God buried him. God
had such wonderful fellowship with him.
Remember in those days before Jesus died,
a righteous person who died would look forward to Jesus’ coming to meet them in
Hades. In the Old Testament normally those who were righteous would go down
into a place called Hades. In Hades there are two parts like Jesus mentioned in
the parable of Lazarus. There is a side called Abraham’s bosom. The other side
is filled with torments, and the two sides are separated by a great chasm. And
Abraham’s bosom is the part that we call paradise. It is like a waiting room
but more luxurious than that. It’s like an airport lounge. They are waiting on
God and all they did was waiting. When Moses died he went there. After Jesus
died, He went to the waiting room and all those who were there got discharged.
So when Jesus came down and went to the center of the earth, one of the works
He did was to open up the waiting room. Matt.27, “When He arose the graves were
opened and many came out.” They were physically resurrected and that was the
first resurrection. So their spirit,
soul and body were physically resurrected. Eph. 4 says that Jesus took
captivity captive. From that time onwards, those who died after Jesus came and
gone go into heaven with their spirit and soul but waiting for their body. When
Robert Liardon and Percy Collette went to heaven
(separately at different times), they said that they fellowshipped with the Old
Testament saints and the New Testament saints. There is a difference. The New
Testament saints did not have their bodies yet. But the Old Testament saints
already had their new spiritual bodies like Jesus.
In the light of that when Moses died, his
spirit and soul went to the waiting room. But because of his close fellowship
with God, God may have desired for him to come to heaven for further
fellowship. In those days there was not many human in heaven. Elijah was not
born yet. Enoch was possibly the only human being in heaven. The rest of the
Old Testament saints who died were in the waiting room. The book of Jude tells
us that Michael went there to get the body of Moses. He wanted to resurrect
Moses’ spirit, soul and body. I am sure it was very easy for Michael to just
take Moses’ spirit and soul up. But he wanted to get that body resurrected too.
But Satan came and said, “This is unfair, he is not due yet.” So he made a hue
and cry. That’s what happened in the book of Jude. He cooked up a fuss. But
there were higher laws that Satan was not aware of. In Moses’ case, there was
the law of walking with God. It is the same law that operated in Enoch’s life,
where he walked with God and he was not. So Satan doesn’t know all things and
cannot read your mind. So he kicked up a fuss and a row. And Michael said, “The
Lord rebuke you,” and went ahead and took that body up. See Satan was
protesting a law that he thought he understood. He thought that there was no
ground. But there was a ground. Moses had walked so close with God that later
you would notice on the
One of the ways to get into this key is to compare the similarities between the life of Abraham and the life of Moses. There are certain things similar in them in their walk with God that will help us to walk into the realm of what I call understanding God. Being very close with God. Having a rapport with God.
So point No. 1 Abraham and Moses
had both given up everything. Abraham knew what it was to totally depend on
God. In Gen.12, when God spoke to him and said, “Get thee out of the land, get
out of your kinsfolk and go to the land, which I call you to.” He left
everything. He knows that God was his source. He has already passed through the
What you confess about God, your
knowledge of God reveals your application of God’s principles. If you are
someone who constantly says, “God is the source and the supplier of all the
earth,” it shows your knowledge of God and how dependent you are on God for
your own supplies. So here he says, “He is the possessor of heaven and earth. I
will take nothing from a thread to a sandal strap, indeed I will not take
anything that is yours lest you should say I have Abraham rich.” He said he
does not even want something offered to him in case they said they should say
they have made Abraham rich. He doesn’t want that. He wants only God to say, “I
have made Abraham rich.” Look at his dependence on God. One thing I realize
that Abraham had made a decision not to receive from anyone but God. He has
also made a decision not to have anything but what God gives. In other words he
has given up everything. Everything that he could get by himself and everything
that man could give, he had already given up. He had no desire for it. He is a
man that has gone out of the
Remember Jesus Christ was confronted by the devil in Matt. 4. One of the temptations said, `I will give you all these riches and the glory of them if you bow down and worship me.’ The devil didn’t promise one thousand dollars or one million dollars. The devil promised everything. And Jesus said, `No.’ It is the same as Abraham said, “No.” A lesser man would say, “Just give me a million dollars would do.” But something has happened to his life as it has happened to Jesus’ life.
And it had happened to Moses’
life. Moses had everything. But Heb.11
tells us he gave up all. There is something about a surrendered heart; a
surrendered mind and surrendered body that reaches into the depth of God like
nothing else can reach. Heb.11: 24-26, “By
faith, Moses when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Esteeming the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures in
There was one thing common about
these people. They have passed the limit test. They were found to be people who
just were not interested in this world. Moses had all the treasures of
Pride always comes before a fall
in the world. I remember in the early days the Shah of Iran was strong and
mighty. He said he is the Lion of Judah; pride crept in. His kingdom began to
fall. As I analyze both previous history and present history, once in awhile
you get a leader or nation that show pride. Watch out, the Bible is never
wrong. Bible principles cannot be violated by individuals, by families, by
cities, by nations or by the world and not taste the consequences. The Bible
says, pride comes before a fall. But if a nation had
been humble and does not forget God, then God will continue to bless that
nation.
There are some things that attract God and some things that cause God to be angry with you. One of those things is pride and self-dependence. In 1 Peter 5, it says God exalts the humble and what does He do to the proud? What did he say? Resist the proud. I want you to know the word resist implies judgment. To resist is different from to ignore the proud. When you get proud God pays attention. But it is the kind of attention that you don’t want. In other words God pays attention to both the humble and the proud. Whenever success is tasted the first thing to do is get on your knees and say, “Thank You, my Father and God, it’s by Your grace.”
Perhaps none of us are in a position where a whole nation looks up to you. But some of you may be in a lesser position where you could be heading a multi-national company and maybe having 50,000 employees. When you taste success, pride comes. Remember that’s the fastest way to get judgment. If you want extra help quickly bend your knees. Or some of you are just starting off and you are starting to taste success in your ministry or in business. My friends one of the fastest things you should do is to run to God at every success. See these are things people forget to learn. Human beings know how to run to God in a crisis. Let me tell you that it is vital to run to God in success too. Run to God at the peak of acceptance. Because that is when it is also critical. In a crisis it is critical. It could be a life and death situation. Let me tell you. Successes are also potential failure because the peak of success could mean saturation point. And saturation point means you need a new breakthrough after that. And a new breakthrough cannot come to break to another plateau or another higher realm unless you bend the knees and ask God to lift you higher by humbling yourself saying, “God we recognize Your grace,” and then God will exalt you further. This is one of the great principles in drawing God’s favor.
The Bible has a blessing that was given to the priest to pronounce on the people. It was made into a song. “The Lord blesses you and keeps you. The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.” God gave that. God teaches them how to bless. What I like is the part that say, “The Lord makes His face shine upon you.” See God has a face. When His face turns to you that means favor. See there is something that draws God.
We find that in Moses’ life and Abraham’s life. They have given up everything and put their dependence on God at the peak of crisis and at the peak of success. They have acknowledged the same God. See Abraham was at the peak of success. He had just won a battle. But he says, “God is my source.” He had a covenant with God, which Moses had too. But Moses learned it the hard way. He had tasted the other side. And he had to taste the next side. And he is nothing before God. The Bible called Moses in the book of Numbers, “the meekest man on earth.” Num.12: 3, “Now the man Moses was very humble.” That’s one of the characteristics that caused God and Moses to have a good rapport. I am giving you secret that brings God’s attention and face.
One of the big principles of understanding God and how He operates is to know how He values humility. And how He values people who give up all and to trust none, to trust Him alone. Numbers 12: 3, “Now the man, Moses was very humble, more than all the people of the earth.” That is why at that time he was the closest man to God in his generation. Now in every generation there is always one man living closest to God. Otherwise Paul wouldn’t talk about a race we were running.
One of the most inspiring things to me in David Brainerd’s writing was in his diary when he recorded in his mission to the Red Indians or American Natives. One of his inspiring statements that he wrote is he aspired in his generation to be the man when God looks down of the planet earth saying, “There is the man who is closest to My heart.” Wouldn’t that be lovely? Tonight go after that. Why not say more by saying, “Lets aspire and stir one another up to run that race to be the closest man in our generation.”
Moses was that low and humble before God. Look at what God did. God told Aaron in verse 6, “Hear now My words if there is a prophet in your nation, I make Myself known to him in a vision and I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses. He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face even plainly and not in dark saying and he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” He is saying about Moses who actually stands in the office of a prophet. And He is saying he is not only a prophet. He is My friend. Have you ever heard God defend His friend? It can be awesome.
There are some that desire to see visions. There are some that desire to dream dreams. But thank God, get all the dreams you can. Thank God get all the vision you can. But lets desire for a face-to-face meeting with God. We are talking about the Holy of Holies, face to face, seeing the form of God. What was the key? Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth. To me meekness and humility mean total surrender. You have surrendered your right. You have surrendered your property. You have surrendered your life. In fact you regard that you are somebody’s ownership, His. If you are in that position, it’s very hard to be proud because you are just owned. If you are in that position, you’ll realize there is nothing that will react and cause reaction in your life. So one of the first keys is humility and meekness. I can only sum up as a total surrender to God to move into the realm that God move.
Lets
aspire to reach into the realm of God even tonight. Let me tell you that
humility and meekness are things that don’t come instantly. Human beings don’t
surrender easily. We may surrender certain portion of our life. The more we
grow in God the more we discover there are more areas to surrender until we are
fully surrendered. But if tonight you reached into the realm of God and you
really come into the face-to-face encounter, remember there is a strong
spiritual magnetic force that causes God to turn His face in favor upon you.
There is something that draws God. There’s something that displeases God. God
is a person we cannot fully understand. If there is someone whom you cannot
fully understand, the other aspect is to must come in with trust. The reason
trust applies more than understanding when we relate with God is because He is
so big. Even if every cell in our mind work to comprehend Him it will still
blow us up. That is why when you relate to God, trust is more important than
understand. If you get into that place,
there is such an awesome drawing that God draws you to Himself as He draws near
to you. James 4: 7-8, “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh unto you.”
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