The Hidden God
Does God hide Himself from His
people?
The Hidden God
by. Dr. C. Matthew McMahon
There are aspects of God which remain
hidden from our eyes because we are finite beings. God is infinite and
we cannot possibly understand everything about Him. This tract was
written to show forth one of those aspects of God which we commonly take
for granted and never think about. We seem to always forget about the
hiddenness of God.
The term "hidden" is more of a
collective thought than an individual attribute of God. It is primarily
aimed towards looking at what God does, and then seeing this strange
description of hiddenness about Him. Probably the only time we
ever use the idea of the hiddenness of God is when we talk about those
people who are lost who "seek after Him." When the church uses
the term, it is usually applies it incorrectly because people really do
not seek after God (Romans 3:10ff). Is God lost that people must seek
Him? And if He is not lost then why can't people find Him? The fact is,
God is certainly not lost but everywhere present. Yet, this always
present God reveals Himself in His own time and in His own way. And
strangely enough, God does not reveal Himself to everyone. Actually, the
number of people He does not reveal Himself to is far greater than to
those He does.
Why does God like to remain hidden? Why
doesn't He do everything right out in the open for all to see? Someone
may say, "I do not believe God is hidden. I believe He does reveal
Himself to everyone." So the first thing to do is prove from the
Scriptures that we are all dealing with a hidden God, and then to show
that this God does not reveal Himself to everyone.
The first Scripture to look at is Matthew
11:25-28. It states, "At that time Jesus answered and said, "I
thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these
things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even
so Father, for it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been
delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the
Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to
whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus' words are poignant,
yet troubling. At a first glance it almost seems that the beginning
verses contradicts the ending verse. But let us look closely at the
point Jesus is making here. Jesus thanks the Father for hiding things
from some people, the wise and prudent and then the word carries over to
thank the Father, in the same sense, for revealing them to the babes.
The wise and prudent are those people who think they can learn and know
about God simply through studying, and through worldly wisdom. But we
know from reading texts such as 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, John 3:3, and
others, that this is impossible. God sovereignly bestows the knowledge
of salvation on whom He wills as our text states. Jesus' whole discourse
concerns salvation and repentance. It begins in Matthew 11:1 and
continues all the way to 11:30. All of it concerns three things: the
Kingdom coming, a response to the Kingdom, and the salvation that
accompanies the Messiah.
The emphasis is really on the
"why" of the situation. Why did God hide these things from
people? Doesn't God want to show all people His salvation? Doesn't He
send His Son for each and every individual? You would search the Bible
in vain to find a text that states that God loves and desires to save
"each and every individual." Rather, God hides Himself in
almost everything He does. The reason Jesus gives for "why" is
verse 26, "Even so Father, for it seemed good in Your sight."
It is good to hide salvation from some and give it to others. It is good
and glorifies God to do such a thing, for God never does anything which
would not bring Him glory.
The word hidden, in Greek "kruptows"
means, "to conceal or hide." And this particular usage of the
word is in a tense that signifies that this is something God began to do
at a specific point in time in the past, and continues it into the
future. The particular starting point of hiding God's Word from people
can be seen with Adam and Eve. After the Fall of man and the expulsion
from the garden for His disobedience, God only revealed a portion of his
Word to Adam (just like He did before the Fall because God did not give
him all revelation). He revealed more of His plan to Noah, concerning
the flood; He revealed more to Abram (Abraham) concerning the coming
Seed, of which Abram would be a blessing; He revealed more to Moses,
concerning the Law; He revealed more to Joshua concerning the Land; He
revealed more to David concerning the temple, and etc. all the way up to
Christ. Each time, God revealed more of His plan to each individual. It
is like turning pages in a book; the more you turn and read, the more
information you receive about a specific subject. God was revealing bits
and pieces to each of His chosen people, and each time He did this it
built upon the former and established the Covenant of Grace
progressively. And this revelation was completely revealed when
Jesus came. But even when Christ came, God was still hiding other things
as well. He chose Mary and Joseph to watch over the babe--them and them
alone. The shepherds were informed in the fields, and they were only
able to witness to a few people in the city about what had happened. A
few Magi came from the East and worshipped the child in secret. There
was no cosmic billboard. There was no huge advertisement. Just a glimmer
here and there to a few chosen people. Even when Jesus Christ began His
ministry He repeatedly told people to keep quiet about Him (Mark 1:44).
Even the demons, who knew who Jesus was, were commanded by Him to keep
silent (Mark 1:23-25). God was still hiding things for a reason.
When Jesus taught, He commonly taught
with those theological masterpieces called parables. Many times people
will tell us that parables were "aids" in teaching. But a
careful study of the parable shows that Jesus is teaching profound
theological ideas before people coupled inside the parables. And these
parables were always a mystery to many. Matthew 13:10 (and Mark 4:1-11)
tells us specifically why Jesus taught in parables. "And the
disciples came and said to Him, "Why do you speak in
parables?" He said to them, "Because it has been given to you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not
been given... Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they
do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in
them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, "hearing you
will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not
perceive."" Jesus speaks to people in parables so they cannot
understand. A parable serves two purposes: 1) it helps those to whom
salvation is given to understand the things of the kingdom of God, and
2) it condemns and hardens the hearts of those who are not chosen for
salvation. Parables save and parables condemn, depending upon who is
listening. God is a God who is hidden in the mystery of salvation and in
the cryptic messages of Jesus' parables.
To finish Matthew 11, we come to see how
someone can understand the Kingdom of God. There are two prerequisites:
1) the Son must reveal the Father to the person, and 2) these people
must "come" to Jesus. When Jesus says "Come to me all who
are heavy laden and I will give you rest," He is not saying,
"all you who have figured these things out come to me." What
the context of the text shows us that no one will come to Jesus unless
Jesus reveals the Father to that person (Jesus' words are "the one
whom the Son wills to reveal Him..."). People must be
"able" to come to Jesus before they can come to Him. Jesus
makes them able. He reveals the Father to them and then they are able.
From the Father and the Son the Holy Spirit is sent (John 14:26; John
3:1-8). When the Father is revealed to a person, these elect people are
enlightened by the power of the Spirit to understand.
You may ask, "What does election
have to do with the whole idea of the Hidden God? Sounds like you are
trying to persuade me to believe in election rather than your intended
purpose." But the intended purpose was to show forth the idea that
God is the hidden God and He is primarily hidden in the purpose and
intentions of election. There is no way a person can refute election if
they truly read and study the Word of God. It is mentioned in every Old
Testament book of the Bible explicitly except for Esther (which still
shows us God's complete and perfect Sovereignty), and it is developed
and shown to us in every book of the New Testament by Christ and the
Apostles. God is hidden. He reveals Himself to some. He opens their
minds by the Spirit, changes their heart, and enlightens their
understanding about Him. The Son wills to reveal the Father in a special
and personal way in which it will not always be the same. Paul's
experience in Acts 9 on the Damascus road was far different than Lydia's
conversion in Acts 16. The belief of some of the Jews on the day of
Pentecost in Acts 2 was radically different than the outpouring upon
Cornelius' house in Acts 10. The arguments about Paul's conversion which
hardened Felix, almost convinced Agrippa to be saved. God reveals
Himself personally and specially to each person. But, salvation always
involves these four things in order: 1) the Word of God being preached
or heard, (Romans 10:14-17) 2) regeneration (John 3:3), 3) faith
(Habakkuk 2:4; Ephesians 2:8-10), and, 4) justification (Romans 3:24).
Without these a person cannot be saved.
God is the God who shrouds Himself in the
darkness and reveals Himself only to those the Son wills to reveal Him.
He is the God who has "clouds and darkness surrounding Him (Psalm
97:2), " "He makes darkness His secret place...(Psalm
18:11)." And He revealed to Solomon that "The Lord said He
would dwell in a dark cloud (1 Kings 8:12)." He surrounds Himself
in His cloud of glory and He allows only a few to enter in to see Him.
God is the hidden God who may have
already revealed Himself to you. If He has, how much are you thanking
Him for showing Himself to you? For God has no obligation to reveal
Himself to anyone. If He has not revealed Himself to you, do you cry out
to Him? Do you cry out like the leper of Mark 1:40 and say, "if you
are willing Jesus, You can make me clean." Are you dirty with sin?
The Bible says you are (Romans 3:10ff). Do you want to be washed? The
Bible says you need to be (Titus 3:5). If you desire this, then God has
already begun working in your heart. If you desire this, know that God
has already sent His Spirit to call you, and His Son to reveal Himself
to you. Call to Him and throw yourself upon His mercy, and maybe the
dark clouds of concealment will disperse, and His ever revealing light
will commence. Then you will see the light of the Word, the living Word
who is Jesus. And He will say back to you, "I am willing, be
cleansed." And you will be clean. |
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