Some may wonder why God doesn’t just show himself directly and demonstrate His existence to everyone, although He has provided ample proof through nature, human conscience, Jesus Christ and the Bible.
Yet many skeptics require even more evidence before accepting Christianity as truth. So why can’t God just give them what they require?
Table of Contents
1. He is all-loving
God is love, and this fact should form the cornerstone of all our relationships and worship services. He loves his people, this fallen world and all creation. As Paul wrote: “From Him and Through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever” (Romans 11:36).
“Why doesn’t God make himself more visible?” is flawed because it assumes a more obvious God would lead more people to believe in him; however, there is no evidence to support this assumption; even Jesus performed many miracles and signs for people yet they still denied his divinity and God himself! Whenever confronted by nonbelievers who raise skeptical objections against Christianity, our best response should be to focus on proclaiming the gospel message while praying that God changes hearts.
God does not appear directly, yet communicates his character, commands, and plans through scripture. Additionally, he communicates directly to his people via miracles or direct address – a process known as progressive revelation that does not mimic biblical miracles but still serves to demonstrate both His power and willingness to engage humanity.
God used to communicate more directly with his people in the past than he does today; however, that does not indicate any cessation of communication with his people; rather he uses similar means of progressive revelation as before, but at a slower pace than previously.
As part of God’s design, He has chosen to limit His personal interaction with his followers to the elect. This can be defined as God’s chosen people – be they individual believers or an entire church body. God has shown his affection towards this select group more than other nations or groups of people; He chose Israel in particular and helped drive out stronger nations from before them, yet has not shown the same blessing on any other groups or nations.
2. He is all-powerful
One of the hardest concepts to grasp is that God is all-powerful. While in Bible times He appeared frequently to people and performed miracles that defied explanation, we don’t experience these phenomena today – leading us to wonder why he made himself so accessible back then, but not now – even though He could appear directly before each human in this generation; He opts to reveal Himself differently instead. This doesn’t mean He has vanished or doesn’t exist – simply that He chooses not to reveal himself through specific channels instead.
There may be various reasons for God’s desire for people to know Him intimately: He wants a close, personal relationship between Himself and people – not simply as knowledge but as friendship or spouse – and us; He wishes for our joyous life everlasting with Him to continue and “this is my promise: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (John 17:3).”
Second, God knows that people are susceptible to sin and that sin leads them down the road towards hell. Because He loves people so much, He allows for this fact without forcing people into faith or following Him; He has given enough evidence that proves His existence but they must trust it and live by faith rather than sight (2 Corinthians 4:18).
Thirdly, He is Lord over all that exists and will bring all things back into balance through His power. He reigns supreme in the universe and can do whatever pleases. His plan for history includes even the smallest details and He cannot be shocked or taken by surprise by any event, either good or bad; He is truly omnipotent (meaning nothing can ever escape His reach).
Some argue that evil in the world proves God cannot be all-loving or all-powerful, which contradicts both philosophical thought and biblical descriptions of Him. Unfortunately, this doesn’t help anyone as loving God inspired a Bible which was often difficult for people to comprehend for good reasons.
3. He is all-knowing
The Bible states that God is omniscient, meaning He knows all things – past, present and future; He understands people’s thoughts and feelings as well as all actions committed throughout time – this enables Him to see the complete picture at any one time.
Omniscience is one of three characteristics that allow us to trust that God is all-powerful and all-loving, along with His omnipresence and omnipresence (being everywhere), that allow us to understand how much He cares for us – this is why prayer should be frequent because He listens carefully when we pray to Him and cares what is said during those prayers.
People often wonder why God doesn’t make himself more apparent, which can be difficult to answer. While He may use signs such as stars to let us know He exists, He doesn’t always do this. A loving God wouldn’t want millions of people going to hell so He doesn’t make Himself obvious enough so everyone believes in Him.
He chooses not to do this for several reasons. First, He understands that many will still disbelieve Him even when He shows Himself personally – just look at how many Jews didn’t follow His lead when He led them out of Egypt on a pillar of fire and smoke and parted the Red Sea! Even Jesus performed miracles and spoke directly to people, yet many still didn’t accept His authority either!
Reason two for God revealing Himself through our experience and prayer is character development. He desires for us to learn about Himself through Scripture, prayer and personal experience – from learning about His love and forgiveness through personal experience or prayer; or showing how powerful and wise He truly is through countless passages found throughout scripture – Psalm 139 is an excellent example.
4. He is all-loving and all-powerful
God is all-loving, all-powerful and sovereign over everything in creation – from universe clockwork to human body functioning – as evidence of His sovereignty over creation. Although He made all things, He does not condone or approve of every form of evil seen on Earth; although He created us with capacity for sin that could be used for bad deeds He could have stopped it but chose not too. Throughout creation there are signs that point toward His existence such as laws of physics or functioning bodies pointing back towards their Creator yet some choose to disregard it altogether. Despite these revelations some people choose to ignore its existence altogether despite these reminders of who or what their Creator really is!
He reveals Himself in many different ways throughout Scripture, such as speaking to Adam and Eve in Eden’s Garden, leading the Israelites out of Egypt using a pillar of fire and smoke, parting the Red Sea – among many others. God is long-suffering; He does not want anyone to perish but cannot forgive those who choose evil as punishment.
When He does act, it is in judgment. God is an angry deity who does not tolerate insults to Him from those who rebel against Him; His wrath burns with fury that cannot be contained and He does not take pleasure in the iniquities of men.
Skeptics might ask why God doesn’t make Himself more evident, but it’s important to remember that His hiddenness serves a purpose. He isn’t an oppressive dictator who would force Himself on us all; had He made Himself known, many may have rejected his authority; He has revealed Himself through scripture, miracles and Jesus but yet many continue to reject Him as Lord and Savior.
Perhaps a more overt, obvious version of God isn’t what we need or that He knows it won’t provide the “Ah ha!” moments some expect it would. If that is indeed the case, perhaps He is trying to show His mercy by remaining hidden; after all, He proved both His love and power by willingly taking on our punishment on the cross.
