Do you desire to see God? Here is how
Many people think that God does not exist, mainly because they have not encountered him personally. Many people long to believe in God and desire to see Him in order to believe in His existence. Even among believers, there is a certain desire to have some form of encounter with God, which many believe would strengthen their faith.
The Bible does not heap condemnation on those who desire to see God. In fact, a verse in the New Testament Bible shows Christians a pathway to seeing God. In that verse, Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”As this text tells us, it is clearly possible to see God, but one must become pure in heart in order to do so. We shall here explore this Scripture, looking at what purity of heart means, how to make one’s heart pure and how a pure heart can lead to seeing God.
We Were Created to See God
Many Bible scholars believe that Adam saw and walked intimately with God before the Fall. It is recorded that after the Fall, God, as is his wont, came “walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” However, rather than the usual fellowship with Adam and Eve, “the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
A self-inflicted absence from God’s presence was one of the early indicators of what man lost by giving in to the devil’s wiles. How did man give in to the devil? It was by believing that God did not mean well for them. It was “impurity of heart” for Adam and Eve to think that God intentionally did not want them to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Impurity of heart led to the Fall of Man: descending from the position where they fellowshipped with God to where they became estranged from His presence.
What influences the state of our hearts?
The heart is the core of our being and the source of our thoughts and emotions. In Proverbs 4:23, the Bible says we should, “above all else,” guard our hearts, for everything we do flows from it. We give away the state of our hearts through our words and actions. The way we interpret and respond to a smile or a smirk can be traced to the state of our hearts. The heart determines our perception of our environment, our analysis of our experiences, and the interpretation we give to the words and actions of others. Two people can go through the same experience, but both can come out of it with different results owing to the state of their individual hearts.
What shapes the heart of a human being? Psychologists are of the view that factors that influence our thoughts and emotions are intertwined. Our thoughts are shaped by our genes, life experiences and education, while our emotions, psychologists say, are shaped by our genes, our traditions and beliefs, as well as our physical conditions.
Our previous life experiences mold our hearts. The things we go through in life shape the way we think, as well as our perceptions. If we have received a lot of hate in our lives, we tend to be on our guard, expecting even the most loving person to display actions of hate towards us. If we have received a lot of love and respect, we tend to give more love and respect and also expect the same in return. Our education, as well as how much insight we have into a particular area of life, guides our thoughts as well. The traditions and beliefs, the culture we were initiated into at birth and socialized with through adulthood fundamentally influence our feelings and dispositions.
Purity of Heart
A pure heart is one that bears no grudge and is unafraid. Unforgiveness and fear are two factors that can sully a person’s heart and drive God’s presence far away. All through scripture, the Bible calls on believers to practice forgiveness and not be afraid. God cannot dwell around negative energy, which unforgiveness and fear breed. Over three hundred times in the Bible, God’s people are admonished against harboring fear of any kind, level, or dimension. The word “forgive” appears 127 times throughout the Bible. In what is considered the most famous prayer of Jesus, Our Lord’s Prayer, it is made clear that only those who forgive others will be forgiven by God. In Acts 24:16, Paul said to the Roman governor, Felix, “In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.” Paul’s assertion came when, if going by human nature, he should be asking God questions about his trials, as well as blaming the body of Christ, the Romans and others for his predicament. The trial by a Roman governor was also a platform for fear of the unknown to breed in the Apostle Paul’s heart. Yet, his heart remained pure.
Seeing God by Cultivating a Pure Heart
We are all descendants of Adam. The Fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden transformed the DNA, or gene, of all humanity. The devil convinced Eve, who in turn convinced Adam, that the Almighty, most merciful, most perfect God did not mean well for them. As a result, we, the descendants of Adam, have genetically mutated from being creatures like God, who believe in the best intentions of God and people, to becoming like the devil, who thinks the worst of people and situations. As a result, we have a tendency to, among other things, think negatively about people, to think that people do not think well of us, and to think that people are out to destroy us. This tendency is naturally hard to overcome. Imagine that the devil succeeded in convincing Eve and Adam that the most loving, benevolent, and merciful God has a scheme to keep them ignorant.
As the impurity of the heart (a heart suspicious of love) led Adam to lose his place in Eden, Jesus came to restore the ability to cultivate a pure heart to believers. This is because, as Jesus stated in the Beatitudes, only a pure heart will restore the level of fellowship that humanity lost in Eden. By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and through His blood, our genes have been cleansed of the impurity of Adam’s DNA. However, receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal savior and believing in His finished work on the cross is only foundational; there is a lot more work to be done over that foundation. Jesus brings the power to enable humanity to rebuild a heart that is void of offense before God and man. Humanity will need to build on the foundation laid by the cleansing of our genes through the blood of Jesus. We have to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12–13).
A pure heart can be built through the constant study of and meditation on God’s word in order to transform our mindset. After our salvation experience, we must work on building a pure heart through constant and consistent study of and meditation on God’s word and acting on it. That way, the word will reset our minds. The Bible says that “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25–27). The word of God is like water and Jesus is the word made flesh. When we allow the word of God to wash our hearts clean of every impurity, our hearts become so pure that we see God in our fellow human beings and God's presence can dwell in us.
Forgiveness is foundational to seeing God. God made man in his own image, after his own likeness. We can see God in ourselves and in others when our hearts are free of offenses, hurts and all manner of impurities. When we forgive ourselves and forgive others, we lay the foundation for accessing God’s presence and intimately connecting with Him. Moses was a man of great stature before God. The Bible records that he was a man of great humility, a lover of God and God’s people, and a man who sacrificed everything in the service of God and his people. The Bible records in Exodus 33:11 that God and Moses spoke face-to-face. Moses interacted that closely and intimately with God due to his heart of purity towards God and towards people.
Although God is not a physical being, maintaining a pure heart towards people and towards God is the way to encounter God’s close and intimate presence. This purity of heart is achievable. It begins by surrendering one’s heart to Jesus. That foundational encounter will reverse the genetic mutation that occurred as a result of Adam’s fall. To grow in purity of heart demands studying and thinking about God’s word and practicing it consistently. Psalm 119 verse 9 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” The pure in heart will see the God in people and walk constantly in the tangibility of God’s presence.