Why does God not just show himself?

[Ymeg]

I am a very devoted atheist; burning bibles, killing kittens, eating children's souls etc, and I have always wanted to know why your god does not just come out and say believe in me? Doing this he could get well over 98-99% of the population to change their beliefs. Not doing so would seem to be holding in the holy spirit which is a sin right?

 

[Key]

I am a very devoted atheist; burning bibles, killing kittens, eating children's souls etc, and I have always wanted to know why your god does not just come out and say believe in me?

Well he did do that.

Jesus came and said "I am the way the truth and the life" and, we killed him.

So God did do it.

Doing this he could get well over 98-99% of the population to change their beliefs. Not doing so would seem to be holding in the holy spirit which is a sin right?

We do not "Hold in" the holy spirit, we spread the Gospel, and there will those that accept and those that reject.

Now, even if we could "Hold in" the Holy Spirit (Which we can't) it is not a sin, as no rule or command of God, says we "are not to do that".

Now I reason that there is no "Sin" involved, is because it is not something we are able to do anyway.

I hope I have answered these questions for you.

God Bless

Key

 

[Ymeg]

I do believe I was referring to modern times.

 

[Zeena]

it is not something we are able to do anyway

Acts 7:49
Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

 

[Zeena]

I do believe I was referring to modern times.

John 12:19
The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

 

[PenelopePitstop2]

AS has alread been said Jesus did come and the people did not believe. Those who believe He came are christians. He will also come again at the end times.

I disagree that 99% would be converted if God showed himself. He shows himself now in many ways and yet men still choose to reject Him and His offer of salvation.

Christianity is more than believing God exists, many believe in God but will not enter heaven. You have to have a relationship with Him and make Him Lord of your life.

 

[Zeena]

Through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, the ONLY SAVIOUR of the world!

 

[hlaltimus]

I am a very devoted atheist; burning bibles, killing kittens, eating children's souls etc, and I have always wanted to know why your god does not just come out and say believe in me? Doing this he could get well over 98-99% of the population to change their beliefs. Not doing so would seem to be holding in the holy spirit which is a sin right?

God is not cheating humanity by not "showing Himself", but benefiting humanity the rather. To be perfectly frank, we wouldn't survive this exposure. I don't want to behold God physically while still inhabiting an imperfect, sinful body....The two will never mix. Even if God did allow for the enlistment of 98-99% of humanity based upon visual evidence alone, He would then be in possession of a community of people who have followed Him out of motives that no man would ever marry a woman for. We would expect an inward, loving and faithful motive behind any prospective bride, and why should the Creator of the universe settle for anything less? Just as I gave my person, assets and devotion to a woman upon terms, so the Lord will give His precious Holy Spirit to any and all humanity...But upon His terms of devotion of character on our part. It is very reasonable.

 

[calidog]

I am a very devoted atheist; burning bibles, killing kittens, eating children's souls etc, and I have always wanted to know why your god does not just come out and say believe in me? Doing this he could get well over 98-99% of the population to change their beliefs. Not doing so would seem to be holding in the holy spirit which is a sin right?

He will (again) during the milenium.
Now He gives eternal life through faith.

 

[ebia]

I do believe I was referring to modern times.

He has - in his church, the body of Christ.

What you really mean is "why hasn't he revealed himself on my terms", so perhaps you had better make explicit what your terms are.

 

[visionary]

God is not cheating humanity by not "showing Himself", but benefiting humanity the rather. To be perfectly frank, we wouldn't survive this exposure. I don't want to behold God physically while still inhabiting an imperfect, sinful body....The two will never mix. Even if God did allow for the enlistment of 98-99% of humanity based upon visual evidence alone, He would then be in possession of a community of people who have followed Him out of motives that no man would ever marry a woman for. We would expect an inward, loving and faithful motive behind any prospective bride, and why should the Creator of the universe settle for anything less? Just as I gave my person, assets and devotion to a woman upon terms, so the Lord will give His precious Holy Spirit to any and all humanity...But upon His terms of devotion of character on our part. It is very reasonable.

Yes, He does need to prepare a people before showing himself in all His glory. This is where the work of the Holy Spirit come in. He does promise in Rev 3:20 that if you hear His voice and open up your heart, He will come in and talk with you and you can talk with Him. He just needs you to work with Him in preparing you for the experience, after all you are going to be meeting a Holy God.

He is real, and for an unbeliever to face such enormous implications of even such a thought let alone experience can be overwhelming. It is overwhelming for those who claim to know Him. Isaiah said "Woe is me for I am undone" and began throwing dust on His head in shame. In Revelation, it says that people will beg for rocks to cover them rather than being in the presence of God.

 

[japhy]

You should be asking why God didn't reveal himself 100 years after the Resurrection of Jesus, or 200 years after, or 300 years after, etc. Every century there have been people asking that question -- every time has been "modern times" to the person asking the question. People were asking it before even a century had past, inspiring St. John to write the words of Jesus to a doubting apostle: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. (John 20:29)

 

[Zeena]

Are you blessed?

 

[Raph]

There are two kinds of people, those with a spiritual mindset and those with a physical mindset. To those with a spiritual mindset “Believing is seeing”and they see God active in everything in their lives. God is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and not the flesh. To these, God shows Himself daily. To those with a physical mindset “Seeing is believing”and they are unable to see God in anything (god is dead types). Jesus spoke of them in Matthew 13:13 “...Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” Even if they did see the miraculous, those with a physical mindset just cannot believe and would dismiss such an event in their life as a trick of the light or just s piece of half-digested pizza.

The truth is God did come in the physical (as Jesus), performed miracles and most did not recognized Him. Jesus asked his disciples (Matthew 16:13-14), “'Who do they say the Son of Man is?' They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; Others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Then Jesus asks His disciples (Matthew 16:15-16), “'But what about you?' He asked, 'Who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, Son of the living God.'”

Now we get to the interesting part (Matthew 16:17), “Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.'” So I would gather by Jesus statement, that Simon Peter recognized Jesus for who He is, by revelation from God or in other words by spiritual insight (mindset). Therefore, if God revealed Himself today, those without some kind of spiritual insight would not recognize Him and either dismiss it as a weather balloon or an illusion worthy of David Copperfield. In other words nothing would change (George Santayana), “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

God is looking for those who will (John 4:24), “...worship Him is spirit and in truth.” and those of the spirit do not need signs and wonders to know Him because they know him through His spirit.

 

[Emmy]

Dear Ymeg, God did show Himself in Jesus, He told us so, too. " Who has seen me, has seen God," and he died, paying our debt to God`s Holy Law, that we might live, might repent, and follow Jesus back to God. If I may say so, Ymeg, God is not like a cheap magician, now you see me, now you don`t, God is real, and God is here to stay. He loves us, He wants us back again, and all we have to do, REPENT, learn to love God and each other, and follow Jesus God-Son, back to the Father. I say this humbly and lovingly. Emmy, sister in Christ.

 

[Zeena]

Was that NECESSARY?
Or do you just appreciate defiling one's character?

John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

 

[MikeMcK]

I am a very devoted atheist; burning bibles, killing kittens, eating children's souls etc, and I have always wanted to know why your god does not just come out and say believe in me?

How would you know it's God?

Doing this he could get well over 98-99% of the population to change their beliefs. Not doing so would seem to be holding in the holy spirit which is a sin right?

Not quite. You forget, God has already revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.

Not only did "98-99%" not follow Him, they killed Him.

Men love darkness because their deeds are evil.

 

[Key]

I don't know why God hasn't shown himself.

Every have a really, just, wonderful day, when things just worked?

How do know that is not God, taking care of you?

I'm not sure, why it was that various passages in the Bible tell folks, "Stay at your post! Christ is coming soon!" As most of that was nearly 2,000 years ago, I have a problem with using the word "soon."

This was so that we would not "Drop our Guard", if Jesus had said "Well it's not going to happen for a while" we would become lazy and in time we would never watch. Better to always be ready, then be caught off guard.

I'm sure God is a busy guy, but a minor personal appearance doesn't seem to be all that much. And God revealed himself many times to the prophets to Daniel, Saul, Abraham, etc. He then spoke in a clear voice which left no doubt as to his identity, so why not?

Jesus came, and died so that you can enter Heaven. God came down, in flesh and blood, God came to this earth, and said "I love you, this much" spread his arms and died, so that you could see, and understand how valuable you are to him.

Now, imagine, you stand before Jesus, with the holes in his hands and feet, the spear mark in his heart, and the wounds across his back from the flogging, Jesus looks at you, and for a moment goes sad, and then asks "was my pain and death, not enough for you?"

What do you say to that?

Why does God not answer the phone when I call? I can't say, but I'm sure it'll be one of the first questions I ask if I ever get the chance (assuming something more pressing like, "Get me outta here" doesn't take precedence).

Well, if you have his phone number, I'm just impressed.

At the moment, I'd trade the end of my physical existence for an answer to the question, "God why don't you take my calls?"

Then again, that's me.

Cheers!

Well I really would not want you to trade your existence, that seems a bit over the top.

God Bless

Key

 

[AbelieverinGod]

Okay, here we go...
1.God gives man choice for a reason. He already knows what the outcome will be, but without a choice, our obedience would be worthless. It would be like we were inmates at a prison, though if you willingly give obedience, you are submitting to God's will. See the difference? Now, don't get me wrong, God did not make us to be slaves to his will. He wants to have a personal relationship with each and everyone of us. This started with Adam and Eve, but they disobeyed. God had to punish them because they had sinned. A perfect, just God has to punish sin, otherwise he would no longer be perfect, am I correct? And trust me, everyone has punishment for their sin.

The punishment for sin is death.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 7:23

2.People may know about God, but that does not mean they have a personal relationship with him nor follows his ways. There is head knowledge, and then there is Faith. Even the demons know about God -

"Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 'What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!" - Mark 1:23 -
24

"Knowing about" God will not save you.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of Heaven..." - Matthew 7:21a

3.God answers. Not always in the form that we expect, but God does listen. Not only that, but God is the only one who truly knows the needs we have as humans. Remember in prayer you are talking to God, don't take advantage of it. And don't expect immediate answering to you prayers. When Solomon was building the temple for the Lord, he prayed and his prayer was answered months, perhaps even years later. God will answer at the right time. By the way, this information came from 2 Chronicles 7: 11 - 12 and some past references in the Bible. Be sure you are praying for spiritual guidance as well as worldly guidance, as its need arises. I know God answers my prayers.

4. God is infinite and it is impossible for our finite minds to comprehend. Explains a lot, No?

I am not trying to be rude or be show offy if I came across in that way. I just wanted to answer. That is all.

P.S. Works will not get you saved.

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

 

[£amb]

I am a very devoted atheist; burning bibles, killing kittens, eating children's souls etc, and I have always wanted to know why your god does not just come out and say believe in me? Doing this he could get well over 98-99% of the population to change their beliefs. Not doing so would seem to be holding in the holy spirit which is a sin right?

People would see that He was real if He were to do that, but do you think these same people who adamantly say He does not exist will immediately turn their lives over to God and are willing to submit?