John 4:24
God is Spirit
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Isaiah 55:8
God's Thoughts and Ways Are Not the Ways of Man
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
Acts 17:16-34
Paul In Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Matthew 5:17
Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament Prophecies
17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Luke 4:14-21
Jesus Fulfills Scripture
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Matthew 12:38-45
The Pharisees Ask for a Miracle
38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.
43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
The people of Athens are like many people Paul would meet...They wanted to believe in God...While Paul was in Athens he argued for God...Paul stood up in his first meeting of the Areopagus and said: "People of Athens!...I see that in every way you are very religious...For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD...So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you."...
The people of Athens wanted to believe that is why they had an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD...So the people seemed to know and want to believe in God, two thousand years ago, but God had not given them a suitable or more obvious evidence of Himself...God had not shown Himself to the Athenians for them to believe...He had not done a miracle for them to believe in Him...Why hadn't He done a miracle for the country of Greece or the city of Athens, or every city in the world for that matter?...Why isn't He more clear and obvious to us?...
Faith, to the Athenians, was now a choice...Paul offered them choices...Those listening to Paul had choices after he completed his short sermon...Their choice was really one of three choices at this time...Later the choice and our choice narrows to two...One either believes in God or they do not...The Athenians could now believe in God and what Paul said, or they would not believe...Their third choice was to hear more and learn more on the subject -and believe or not believe later after studying more evidence...After we hear and read more evidence the question can still remain about God...Why isn't God made clear to me, after my studying more evidence?...Why hasn't God shown Himself to Greece, so this country that started philosophy and was seen as a nation of wisdom could believe in Him?...Would not that help God?...Wouldn't that make it much easier than having missionaries and ministers going out arguing, discussing, and telling others about Him?...
Paul states that the time for believing in God is now... From one man named Adam He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands...God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us...‘For in Him we live and move and have our being...’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’...“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill...In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent...For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed...He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”...
We need God's help...God does not need our help...Paul has stated that the mystery of the Messiah and the Gospel is now made known to us...Paul says that God appointed a Man and raised Him from the dead...And this is great evidence of God, that the Old Testament Scripture is fulfilled...Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Prophecies...The Spirit of the Lord is on Jesus, because God anointed Him...Jesus proclaimed the good news to the poor...God sent Him to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor...That time is now...
God purposely sent Jesus for us...And this is great evidence...Does God have other purposes?...Is God's purpose or one of His purposes to show Himself to us?...And what about miracles?...As we read through the Bible, we really see that God since the time of Adam and Eve has not done miracle after miracle...If I had to name the main miracles of the Bible, I would say Creation, the Great Flood, Moses and the Exodus from Egypt, the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, and Him sending His Son to earth and His ministry are most of the Bible miracles...God does not do a miracle on every page of the Old Testament...And many of the Old Testament Books refer back to the Exodus and the Hebrews escape from Egypt, when the authors write about the miracles of God...His New Testament Miracles are centered around Jesus and then His Disciples and Paul...
God's main evidence for me is the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus...Is it harder to believe that Jesus was born, lived, or died, or resurrected?...I would say His resurrection stands Him apart from other men...All of were born, will live, and will die...Why can't we resurrect like Him, back to friends and family?...Is the resurrection any harder to explain than explaining one's personal birth?...Some people need less evidence to believe, and some people need more evidence to believe in God...If personal miracles are needed for one's faith, it seems that God may have answered that with the Pharisees...The Pharisees wanted a sign...Jesus told them none would be given to them, except for His resurrection...Jesus answered the Pharisees this way, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!...But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah...For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth...The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here...The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here."...
Some may believe that these few words are not enough to convince me that Jesus is Divine...It has rained hard today and me and my wife are going out...If I see a tiny sign saying "Do not enter -flooding over road."...Do I enter the road, because the sign is very small...Or do I need a large, flashing sign that just really grabs my attention...For the most part we are not given the big obvious clear flashing sign...His evidence does not normally come to us in a clear, flashy, and obvious way...This subtle gentle-humble approach is His way...He sometimes shows Himself in a subtle gentle way...Throughout our lives, we are given glimpses and little slices of Light to see Him...We can ignore and forget these very small signs of glimpses and these slices of Light we get, or we can look at these signs and believe...Faith is sometimes comes to us in a small gentle choice...