I recently
read an atheist cartoon—yes, there are such things. It was mocking the
worship of an “invisible, inscrutable, and vindictive deity.”
Rather than be offended, I actually thought, “Hmm, an atheist affirms the superiority of Christianity!”
I’m sure the atheist would be put off, to say the least, by my interpretation.
And I’m sure many Christians are wondering what in the world I’m getting at.
Consider
this. As a Christian, I think there are religions that worship an
invisible, inscrutable, and vindictive deity. However, that’s not the
God I worship in Christ.
From Invisible to Incarnate
Now, I’m sure
that by “invisible,” the typical atheist is mocking all theists as
believers in a myth—something or someone that is unseen because he does
not exist.
From a
Christian perspective, our God is “invisible” if by that one means
“spiritual” and “immaterial.” However, as Francis Schaeffer said decades
ago, “He is there and He is not silent.” For the Christian, “invisible”
does not mean non-existent or inactive.
In Isaiah 46,
Isaiah exposes those who do indeed worship a non-existent being. So,
ironically, the atheist and Isaiah find some common ground!
But there’s more, so much more. Our invisible God is our incarnate God in Christ. As John reminds us:
“The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his
glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth” (John 1:14).
The very
Creator of all things visible and invisible not only became visible in
the incarnation of Christ, He dwelt among us—pitched His tent, made His
abode—with us. Immanuel—God with us! Continue at BOB
