Living with Tozer's God

BlogPost #3 - Chapter 1 

 'Living with Tozer's God'

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" Matt. 5:8

Think about that statement. Would you want to 'see God'? If so, why? Would it be a great desire or  just idle curiosity? As we have discussed, the truth is that we now live in a world where multitudes of people really couldn't care less about seeing God. When you consider the annals of history (which most folks don't), that's really a stunning thought. 'Seeing God', interacting with God, living with God, pleasing God; these have all been essential elements of the mindset of man as far back as history records it...and beyond. Even when men didn't seem to have a 'formal' religion, there was always the idea that 'gods' controlled the world and you needed to know what to do to keep them happy...or bad things might happen! Only in the last 150 years has there been a serious attempt to ridicule and 'prove' that God does not exist. One might ask whether this is evolution or devolution...are we evolving or devolving?

Now, if evolution is true, then the idea that 'seeing God' or 'knowing God' has any real value is ludicrous. Evolution and the claims of the Bible about God cannot both be true. It's just not an option. But, if God does exist, then this issue is of the greatest importance. since we will 'see Him'...and of even greater importance is, what will happen when we do!  Will He be pleased with me?

The central issue then becomes a moral question, 'How should we prepare to see or meet God?'. Is there any way to know? Does the fact that we are apparently flawed, immoral beings or worse even matter? This is where the proverbial 'line of demarcation' is drawn in pursuit of the knowledge of God. Do all roads lead to God? Is sincerity in the pursuit all that is required to succeed? Or, is there just one path and all the other paths lead to places that we didn't want to go or even worse, nowhere? Can we know which is which?

Christianity says there is one way to God and that the Bible clearly explains what (really who) it is and how to find it. You may disagree with this, but you can't argue that this isn't what the Bible teaches. That is indisputable.

Back to the verse at the top of the page. Assuming He exists, what would you give to 'see God', the 'one true and living God'? The scriptures declare that no man can see God and live, yet this is one of the great promises to those who dwell in God's Kingdom: they will see God! Is this a contradiction? No. There's one condition, you must be 'pure in heart'. For the natural man, this is an insurmountable obstacle. The Scriptures declare that his heart is 'polluted', 'more deceitful than all else and desperately (terminally) sick'.

But, faith in God can change things, it can change anything and everything in a person's life. Ultimately, it changes the heart attitude towards God and that changes our experience of God. But, what would it be like to see God? Speak to Him? We know of one man who did and of the effect he had on others because of it.

'Face-to-Face' with God

Scripture tells us of one man God spoke to 'face-to-face': Moses. One of the great passages of the O.T. occurs in Exodus 33, (remember the tale of the golden calf debacle?). The irony is that this occurred while Moses was on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments from their God!). But, what I want to focus on is this. All the people in the camp knew that Moses had a special place where he met with God. Each time this happened, the people used to gather outside their tents and watch him enter the tent, it was a solemn moment. The people knew that 'there the Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face'.

But, think about it. How did the people really know that God met Moses there? I don't want to be cynical, but could they see inside inside the tent? How could they know that Moses didn't just go in and take a nap? The answer was quite clear...and visible to all.

The Bible records that after these meetings with God, Moses had to cover his face. Why? Because as a result of God speaking with Moses 'face-to-face, just a man speaks to his friend', Moses was allowed to gaze upon the glory of God and dwell in His Presence...and it left an afterglow, a lingering proof of his encounter with God and the people saw it. The Israelites knew this man was intimate with God. And because of this, they listened to what he had to say when he spoke to them. They knew it was a word from God. Please hear me now...

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we still seek after such a man. Not just a man who knows a lot about God, but a man who knows God Himself. When we go to church or listen to a recorded message, the unconscious need and hunger of the heart is to hear the voice of a man which bears the mark of a man who has been with God, waited in His presence and has a word from God. Such men are rare today and seem to be getting more rare.

Many believe A. W. Tozer was such a man. I am among them. His voice and message were bathed in a spirit of worship, as of a man who had truly been in the 'presence of God'. His raspy voice had a ring of 'authority' that few seem to possess...even in his day (back in the 1950's), much less in our modern world.

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"When we go to church or listen to a recorded message, the unconscious need

and hunger of the heart is to hear the voice of a man which 

 bears the mark of someone who has been with God, 

waited in His presence and has a word from God."

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Yet he has left a written legacy for the church which has consistently met the need of hungry hearts in each new generation. 'Hearts' that don't just want information....rather hearts that need the encouragement that it is still possible to have an experience, a rich spiritual experience, an intimate encounter with God Himself. Tozer gives that encouragement. He speaks to the hungry heart.

One of the most compelling works Tozer has left us is a little gem of a book entitled 'The Knowledge of the Holy'. It's a book about the attributes or character qualities of God. I know, I know... 'attributes'....aren't those like 'Bible doctrines'? Should this be pronounced D.O.A. (Dead on Arrival)? That's what we'd normally expect from this, right? Boring. To be honest, some books of that type are. But, trust me, Tozer's approach is very different.

His approach is practical, not technical. It's like he's telling us about someone he really knows, a person he has spent time with, someone who has become an intimate confidante. And he wants to share his insight and experience so that we can have that same experience. That is his primary goal in the book.

You have to understand Tozer's motive, really his passion. Tozer has simply been overwhelmed by the awesomeness of who God is and the revelation of it in the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. This truly incomprehensible truth has entered his soul; he has found what Paul calls the 'love which passes knowledge'. He has seen in a life-changing way the truth about God and what He has done in Christ.

He sees the heart of God and His desire for man. He has seen the passion which God has for lost souls...and now it's his passion. But, more than that, he 'knows' God and the experience has left him with a passion for all men to know Him. Why? Because he has discovered the reality of God's great desire for men to know Him and....more, to share His life and glory! This is his living reality. It's incredible, hard to believe, impossible to comprehend...but it's real!

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"...Tozer... 'knows' God and the experience has left him with a passion for

all men to know Him. Why? Because he has discovered the reality of

God's great desire for men to know Him and...more, 

to share His life and glory!

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To our great benefit, Tozer never recovered from this revelation. Tozer's goal in writing is to try to help any hungry soul to find and experience God, as a person, as a living daily reality, not a doctrine. Why is this so important?

It Will Determine Our Eternal Destiny 

 

Tozer's begins his book with this simple conclusion: It is a person's response to the revelation of the knowledge of God that will determine his eternal destiny. That is quite a statement! (In future posts we'll discover the truth of this statement.) But, assuming it is true, it's crucial that when a person is presented with the knowledge of who God is, that knowledge must be accurate. To miss the mark on this point can lead to spiritual and eternal ruin. 

 

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"A person's response to the revelation of the knowledge of God 

will determine his eternal destiny."

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When a person finds and begins to understand something of the truth of who God really is, it's often a shocking revelation. That's not an exaggeration, it really doesn't compute. It makes no sense, at least not in terms of normal human understanding. Why? We have limits to our ability to understand even human things, how much more the God who created it all???

As Tozer first begins his attempt to try to reveal God to us, he begins with the awesomeness of God. The incomprehensibility of His greatness, the power, the majesty of the God of the Bible...it all leads to a somewhat mystical place. He tries to shake us out of the doldrums of our limited human concepts. We can't appreciate God in His glory if we limit Him to human understanding. This 'God' is real. This 'God' is not an energy, not a 'force', not an idea, HE is a Person. And He has constantly demonstrated His reality by His power and works, though our post-modernist, evolutionist culture denies this truth,

"The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands" (Ps 19:1).

His works declare not only His existence, but also that He has designed and planned it all with a specific purpose in mind. Who is this? What is His Name?

2 "Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name 3 Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jer 33:2-3

In future chapters, Tozer will give us great opportunities to see the character of God and His faithfulness in many different aspects. But, the most compelling point he will make about it is this: How a person responds to this knowledge will determine his eternal destiny. It is not idle knowledge, there is real personal accountability.

We'll see this in future posts. I would encourage you to get Tozer's book, The Knowledge of the Holy. It really is a good read. We do not intend this blog to just be a rehash of what you can read for yourself. Instead, we intend it to be a launching pad to further our pursuit of Him, to give us fuel which inspires us to actually stop and think about who God is and what that means to us in real life and how we can begin to 'see God'. This post is a little longer than future posts will be, but it seemed important to lay this groundwork as we started.

Think about the key question: What has been your response to the 'knowledge of God'? How has it impacted your life?

Until next time....

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