Fellowship Bible Church - Mullica, Hill N.J.
God Is: Near
Our Vision: Together, strengthening you to change your world for Christ.
Locations & Times
Fellowship Bible Church
590 Jackson Rd, Sewell, NJ 08080, USA
Sunday 9:15 AM
God Is: Near
Where is God?
When we can’t make sense of something, we often times immediately and subconsciously begin choosing which attribute of God I am going to reject.
When we can’t make sense of something, we often times immediately and subconsciously begin choosing which attribute of God I am going to reject.
Five truths help us better understand God’s nearness:
Nearness is seen in God’s Character
Nearness is realized by God’s Compassion
Nearness is demonstrated through God’s Will
Nearness can be misunderstood by God’s followers
Nearness is experienced through God’s Word
Nearness is seen in God’s Character
Nearness is realized by God’s Compassion
Nearness is demonstrated through God’s Will
Nearness can be misunderstood by God’s followers
Nearness is experienced through God’s Word
Nearness is seen in God’s Character
Our God is a near God.
When theologians talk about the proximity of God, they use the terms immanence and transcendence:
· Immanence means that God is near to His creation.
· Transcendence speaks of His exaltation above man because He is God and Creator.
Our God is a near God.
When theologians talk about the proximity of God, they use the terms immanence and transcendence:
· Immanence means that God is near to His creation.
· Transcendence speaks of His exaltation above man because He is God and Creator.
“…the doctrines of transcendence and immanence describe the royal dignity and presence of the God who came to be among his people in Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.” – John Frame
“We can pray to him, worship him, obey him, and love him, and he can speak to us, rejoice in us, and love us. Apart from the true religion found in the Bible, no system of religion has a God who is both infinite and personal.” – Wayne Grudem
Nearness is realized by God’s Compassion
V3: 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
V5: Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
V11: After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
V34-36 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
V3: 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
V5: Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
V11: After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
V34-36 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
When he saw large crowds, He had compassion on them.
When a widow lost her son, He had compassion on her.
When people needed food, He had compassion on them.
When a widow lost her son, He had compassion on her.
When people needed food, He had compassion on them.
The smallest detail of your life Christ cares about:
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6,7.
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6,7.
“Lord, help the North Korean regime to be willing to accept missionaries, and Lord, would you heal my hang-nail?”
That’s our God – He intimately cares for both!
That’s our God – He intimately cares for both!
Nearness is demonstrated through God’s Will
“This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Verse 6 says “So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”
Verse 39 says “Lord by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
“This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Verse 6 says “So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”
Verse 39 says “Lord by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
God not acting does not mean He is not near or that He doesn’t care.
But His actions always achieve His purposes.
· When Joseph was waiting in prison for likely a decade, God was working His will.
· When Moses was in the wilderness looking after sheep for 40 years, God was working His will.
· When Simon-Peter denied Jesus and was waiting for restoration, God was working His will.
But His actions always achieve His purposes.
· When Joseph was waiting in prison for likely a decade, God was working His will.
· When Moses was in the wilderness looking after sheep for 40 years, God was working His will.
· When Simon-Peter denied Jesus and was waiting for restoration, God was working His will.
Nearness can be misunderstood by God’s followers
21: “Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’”
32: “Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’”
For the sisters their dilemma is a question of nearness: “Lord, if you had been here...” Where? Here.
21: “Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’”
32: “Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’”
For the sisters their dilemma is a question of nearness: “Lord, if you had been here...” Where? Here.
Think about it – do you really want an all knowing, all powerful God to scrap His plans to accomplish exactly what you want, at whatever cost?
Nearness is experienced through God’s Word
When Jesus refers to himself as “the resurrection and the life” (v25), he is drawing on several key Old Testament prophecies, many of them centering around the Davidic Covenant, that point to the death and resurrection of the Messiah.
When Martha says to him (v27) “Yes Lord, I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is come into the world” she is drawing on several different Old Testament passages that confirm the true nature of God’s Messiah.
When Jesus refers to himself as “the resurrection and the life” (v25), he is drawing on several key Old Testament prophecies, many of them centering around the Davidic Covenant, that point to the death and resurrection of the Messiah.
When Martha says to him (v27) “Yes Lord, I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is come into the world” she is drawing on several different Old Testament passages that confirm the true nature of God’s Messiah.
You simply cannot separate the nearness of God and the Word of God.