Romans 8:20-21 “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the
freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
Often, we hear people (or read social media comments) demanding that God reveal Himself to them so
that they might believe in Him. This usually comes from someone burdened by struggles of life, weighed
down by unending challenges, longing for rest. They may think that God is unfair and has brought
afflictions upon them, yet they believe that if God appeared to them, they will be assured that comfort
is possible.
While I empathize with such cases, we have to realize that, though we may not understand the ways of
God, we should not remove ourselves from the causes of the problems we face. When we encounter
problems, we often start looking for someone to blame.
Consider our first parents, Adam and Eve. When God confronted them about their sin, they started the
blame game. But who did Adam ultimately hold responsible? Examine his words: “The woman whom
you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Gen. 3:12). Who is Adam reminding of
the cause of everything? God. He is implying that he sinned because God gave him the woman. And
honestly, we can be just like that. We blame God for the misfortunes that we ourselves choose to make.
Imagine a politician exposed for his crimes by a whistleblower. Who is to blame—the whistleblower or
the politician? Or consider a pastor whose immoral videos were leaked after a thief stole his phone.
Who is at fault—the thief or the immoral pastor? We should not remove ourselves from the
consequences of our own choices. We do not want ugly things to happen, but we recklessly indulge in
sinful and ungodly lifestyles. We are sinners and we have to take responsibility for our actions.
Because Adam fell, the whole creation was under curse. This is the world we living in. This is the world
we live in—a sinful world where temptation and corruption creep in daily. Can we do something about
it? I don’t think so. Our corrupted nature in Adam is the cause, and therefore there is no longer any
work that we can do that is admirable before God (Rom 3:23). Only the work of someone untainted by
sin, perfectly and perpetually pure, would be acceptable to God. And who is that? No one else but God
Himself.
So if people desire God to come down, the answer is: He already has, in the person of Jesus Christ. The
second person of the Trinity, God the Son, humbled Himself. What is it for? Because we need a Savior
from our desperate condition. What did He declare? To come to Him and He will give rest (Matt 11:28).
He carried the cross for us, suffered for us, received and endured the full weight of God’s wrath, and
died for us, so that we would no longer suffer all of those. His uncorrupted, unblemished, perfect work
is our righteousness. God came down and rescued us, and indeed, His presence assures us of comfort.
May this reality caused us to humble ourselves, and admit that we indeed sin, surrender to God, and live
for Him.
