Can I know God personally ? What Scripture teaches us.

Can I know God personally?   Scripture teaches us.

*In the Old Testament the thought of even seeing God or hearing Him was an honor strictly reserved for prophets and priests.  And when this relationship was found, God was HUGE, untouchable, hidden and spoke with thunder and lightening that struck fear into the hearts of men.  It is recounted in 1400 BC in Exodus 20:

18All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.”

1000 BC The Song of Solomon was written not only a poem of love to his betrothed but a fore shadowing of the intimacy the church His Bride would celebrate with her Lord and her God

*800 BC  the Lord’s heart ached for His people and finally He sent word of the coming Messiah, as it is written in Isaiah 40

“Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.” A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

7″For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. 8″In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the LORD your Redeemer.

Isaiah 49:13
Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

Isaiah 54:5
For your Maker is your husband– the LORD Almighty is his name– the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.

Isaiah 54:10
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Yet through all this reassurance from prophets and kings, still the vision of who God truly was to the believer was still shrouded in fear, that is until Jesus began His ministry.  From the day He performed His first public miracle to the day of His passion, He went about doing good and revealing the heart of God, as it is written in John 1:  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

By His every action we were taught the true nature of God.  His kindness, mercy, forgiveness and unconditional love. God walked among men and revealed Himself breaking with convention as He went about doing good.  The woman caught in adultery was forgiven and rescued from the punishment of the law,  being stoned to death.  He covered for the young couple who ran out of wine at the wedding feast.

The unclean woman with an issue of blood touched Him and was healed.  The lepers and Centurion’s servant were healed, and one of His chosen apostles was a hated tax collector and He Himself came from Nazareth, a place notorious for nothingness.  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  John 1:46

All of these events point to a God who honors the poor, the simple, the sick, the sinful, for truly it is not the healthy that need a physician but the sick. Luke 5:31

Jesus is the Father’s love letter to humanity.  …7″If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

Jesus is the very heart of the Father who is calling us into intimate communion with Him.

One would expect to find something significant in symbolism that revealed the separation between man and God had finally been reconciled and now we are free to come to Him just as we are.

Hebrews 9:1-9 tells us that in the temple a veil separated the Holy of Holies—the earthly dwelling place of God’s presence—from the rest of the temple where men dwelt. This signified that man was separated from God by sin (Isaiah 59:1-2). Only the high priest was permitted to pass beyond this veil once each year (Exodus 30:10; Hebrews 9:7) to enter into God’s presence for all of Israel and make atonement for their sins (Leviticus 16).  An early Jewish tradition says that the veil was about four inches thick.  The size and thickness of the veil makes the events occurring at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross so much more momentous. “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:50-51a).Or torn in two from Heaven downward.

“So, what do we make of this? What significance does this torn veil have for us today? Above all, the tearing of the veil at the moment of Jesus’ death dramatically symbolized that His sacrifice, the shedding of His own blood, was a sufficient atonement for sins. It signified that now the way into the Holy of Holies was open for all people, for all time, both Jew and Gentile.

When Jesus died, the veil was torn, and God moved out of that place never again to dwell in a temple made with hands (Acts 17:24). God was through with that temple and its religious system, and the temple and Jerusalem were left “desolate” (destroyed by the Romans) in A.D. 70, just as Jesus prophesied in Luke 13:35. As long as the temple stood, it signified the continuation of the Old Covenant. Hebrews 9:8-9 refers to the age that was passing away as the new covenant was being established (Hebrews 8:13).”
Taken from http://www.gotquestions.org/temple-veil-torn.html

The old religious system separated man from God and seeing God face to face was simply not going to happen for the everyday believer, even the most devout.

But this is the New Covenant and Heaven has decreed this thing and now we have access to the Holy of Holies, even the Father through Jesus Christ, with Holy Spirit.

Not only did the Lord tear the veil open, He promised, “I will be with you always.” Matthew 28:20.  And further promised His Holy Spirit will teach us all things.  “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26

The veil is torn, let us enter in and fellowship with the Lord of glory, He has removed every restriction and invited us into His intimate companionship.