By Bishop Gabe Abdelaziz
I want to introduce many of you to the Eternal God. There is a knowledge of God far beyond the religious doors of a church building or a denomination. Man has created various ways, avenues, thoughts, and ideas about God. All these are feeble attempts to quiet the angry and guilt-ridden soul. Man is always trying to barter, bribe, work, or pay penance to get back to God but there is only one way. That way is through Christ.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Since we were created in the image and likeness of God, it would be highly advantageous for us to know our Maker. Far too many people know about Him but never take the time to know Him. We find it very easy to stop at the swinging doors of religion and feel that is how we get to know God. We can only know Him through a relationship and through experiencing His love, grace, and forgiveness.
Genesis 1 tells us, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” I am writing this, and you are reading this, solely because of God’s eternal grace. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Let it be known that God is not a racial God. He is not a political God. He is not a denominational God. He is the Creator of it all. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.
In the Garden of Eden, man chose to accept sin into his life, and thus into the world by disobeying the instructions of God. Adam (the first man) had a living and walking relationship with the Creator. Adam had been made in the image and likeness of God. Man had been covered, not with just flesh, but covered with the presence of God. When man sinned, both man and God experienced something that had never happened. Sin had torn the garment of righteousness from God’s precious creation and Adam and Eve lost their divine intimacy. Christ, becoming the second Adam, paid for the sins of lost humanity. The Creator made provision for us to be redeemed to our original state.
This whole article is about us accepting the work of Christ through His sacrifice on the Cross. We come to know God by believing that the eternal Word of God (Christ) in John 1 is true. Romans 10:9 tells us that we must confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Knowledge is achieved as one acquaints themselves with the person or the subject studied. Knowledge uncovers the very root of the subject. We need to know that God is the ultimate source of all knowledge. Because there was and is nothing before God, it is His Spirit that brings a revelation to know what we are lacking. When coming to know God, there are no religious hoops or forms you must jump through. It is simply and honestly recognizing and confessing personal sin and asking for forgiveness, asking Christ to live and make His home in your heart and life. So right there in your easy chair, at your desk, or laying on your bed, ask Christ to change your life.
Pastor Gabe Abdelaziz is an independent columnist for The Atascadero News and Paso Robles Press; you can email him at alphabeth@tcsn.net
