Always be prepared.

Leestijd / Lesezeit / Reading time: 6 min

A while ago, I spoke with someone who said that he had never seen God.

“Where is the evidence that God exists, is there a sign he could see that proves it?!!!”

The way he asked that was actually not a question. It was more like a kind of attack, looking for endless arguments, looking for quarrel. However, that does not mean you should not respond to that question:

1 Peter 3:15 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

Note, 1 Peter 3:15 does not call for pushiness, but for readiness. What does “always being ready” in 1 Peter 3:15 actually mean? It means:

• You are inwardly prepared, not that you have to convince everyone.
• If someone truly asks about your faith or hope, you answer with love.
• It is about gentleness and respect, not debate or conflict.

In other words, as long as it is about explaining, there is plenty of room for conversation. However, once a “fight is sought,” it becomes a different matter:

2 Timothy 2:24-25 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.”

First, I gave him a few Bible verses about being able to see God, because I can find and think of many things, but the Bible certainly says something about it as well:

Psalm 19:2: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

Isaiah 6:3: “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’”

Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

These kinds of verses emphasize that God’s presence and attributes are visible in creation, in nature, the cosmos, life on earth, and that people can therefore know something of Him, even without direct revelation.

In other words, we can see it, it is more than clear. Paul describes this very beautifully, but also very clearly, in the following verse:

Romans 1:19-20 “Because what may be known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Then only the question remains whether we also want or are able to see it spiritually, because denying that God exists is therefore not possible. And then we come to the following verse from that chapter:

Romans 1:21 “For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

You see, everyone knows God (in this example through nature and everything God created), but that does not mean everyone honors or thanks Him for it. The cause is also clearly stated in that verse: “Their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

People do see something of God (verses 19, 20), but they choose (verse 21) not to acknowledge Him. The consequence: their inner thinking becomes darkened. They begin to worship other things (like nature itself, or themselves) instead of the Creator. In verses 23-25, we see something that must be familiar, even to everyone in our time:

Romans 1:23-25 “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

Familiar? Just look around you, worship of what God has made is greater these days than worship of God Himself… Those “things they do with their bodies,” likewise. Very wrong ideas about sex are found everywhere.

So God knows everyone, but not everyone understands it. And then we come to the next verse:

1 Corinthians 2:14 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

Everyone sees the beauty of nature, but without the Holy Spirit, he cannot truly grasp the deeper spiritual meaning (God’s majesty, holiness, grace). It may just seem to him like “chance” or “natural force.” And where does that darkness come from?

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world (satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

So that is where this spiritual blindness comes from. Not from a lack of evidence (because there is more than enough evidence), but from an inner blindness, reinforced by the influence of evil. And then we come to something that brings much peace, if you understand what it says. This verse is about Lydia. She heard Paul, but only when God opened her heart did she truly understand the message:

Acts 16:14 “The Lord opened her heart so that she paid attention to what was said by Paul.”

In other words, we can say a lot that God has revealed Himself to everyone through what He has made, we can discuss with everyone about the evidence that God exists (until we’re blue in the face), but it is up to God, through His Spirit, to open their heart. We are not powerful enough for that (never), but God is. And then you can have conversations like this perfectly well with someone, without getting angry at them.

• Nature shows God’s existence and character (Romans 1:20, Psalm 19).
• But the spiritual blindness of man prevents true recognition of God (Romans 1:21, 2 Cor. 4:4).
• The natural man (without the Holy Spirit) does not understand spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14).
• God Himself must open the heart to truly see, believe, and acknowledge who He is (Acts 16:14).

And with that, we come to the last, somewhat more difficult Bible verses when it comes to questions that are really not questions, from people who “ask” you questions just to cause quarrels:

Proverbs 23:9 “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.”

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.”

So after explaining (with Bible verses) how we all see God, why we need God’s Spirit to open our darkened hearts and heal our blindness, for me the part of 1 Peter 3:15 (“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”) was done, and I moved on to another person who also had questions. Without resentment, anger, or negative feelings, nothing. It is now (and it was already before I started the conversation with this person) up to God, not me. My task was finished, God was and is in charge, and I prayed to God about that.

1 Peter 3:15 does not call for pushiness, but for readiness. Are you, today, willing to engage in conversation on this basis? Come on, the streets are full of people searching for answers, start the conversation, today.