Where God Can Be Found
by Sammy Tippit

Jesus is not one of the group of the world's great. Talk about Alexander the Great and Charles the Great and Napoleon the Great if you will... Jesus is apart. He is not the Great. He is the Only. He is simply Jesus. Nothing could add to that. Charles Simpson in Boston Christianity

And I began to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. And they sang a new song saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." Revelation 5:4-5, 9

Jesus is unique in human history. He is not merely one of the gods. He is God. He is not just a good man. He is the only man who is perfect in His goodness. He is not only a great leader. He is the only leader worthy of absolute devotion and allegiance. He is not only royalty, but He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus is holy, righteous, and eternal. John called Him the Son of Man. He is the God-man. He is in a class all His own.

The great search of the human heart is the search to discover the One who is worthy of our worship. Margaret Cleator, in The God Who Answers by Fire, tells the story of a young man in India, Arjun, who made such a pilgrimage. He began his journey as the consequence of a great tragedy in his family. He had been away from home, studying in the university. When he graduated, he returned to his home, and there, as he walked into the house, he heard his mother screaming, "She's dead! She's dead!" Arjun's sister, Tara, had become ill and died. Her death left Arjun in a state of shock and despair. He decided that he must find answers to life's most basic questions.

Arjun set on a journey to the great temples of India. He wanted to know God and find some reasons for his sister's life and death. For one entire year, he visited temple after temple. At the first temple he visited, he spoke with a yogi and said, "Swamiji, I have a question to ask."

The yogi only replied, "You have no offering?"

Arjun apologetically said, "I have no money."

With a stare into spac,e the yogi said, "You come into the presence of God with empty hands."

It was then that Arjun realized he would need money to give to the religious leaders when he asked them for the answers to his questions. He responded quietly, "I wanted to ask you if you have found God." The yogi gave no answer, and Arjun left.

The months that followed were depressing for Arjun. No one was able or willing to tell him how to find God. He even met a priest who had studied at Oxford in Great Britain. The priest told him he could only find God as he was "absorbed into his essence as a drop of water is absorbed into the ocean." He told Arjun to memorize the thousand names, titles, and epithets of Vishnu, a Hindu deity, and to stand in the Ganges River at midnight with water up to his neck, repeating those names. Then he would become one with God.

Arjun obeyed the priest only to realize that the priest had given him a command to commit suicide. The river's current was so swift that Arjun almost drowned while screaming the names and titles of Vishnu. He was saved by a temple prostitute the very moment before the current swept him away. The prostitute threw a rope to him and brought him safely to the shore.

Arjun regained consciousness on the shore and continued his desperate search for God. However, no religious leader could tell him how to find God. After a year of searching, he finally gave up. He headed back home, very despondent.

While Arjun was walking homeward, a common man in a bullock-driven cart asked him if he would like a ride. The man asked Arjun why he looked so downcast. Arjun told him of his search for God and how he had not found Him. This common man told Arjun that he had found God five years earlier. He told him the only way really to know God was through the God-man, Jesus. He spoke of the purity of Jesus and of His love for all men. Arjun learned that Jesus was not like the religious leaders he had met on his pilgrimage. He learned that Jesus is full of grace rather than greed. And Jesus offered him life rather than death. But most of all he learned that God is holy.

Arjun already knew he was sinful. Now he learned that Jesus had died on the cross as the penalty for his sins.

Arjun spent much time with his new friend. He read the Bible and observed his friend's quality of life. Then, one day, Arjun bowed before Jesus as the worthy One and received Him into his life as Lord and Savior. At last he cried out, "I've found Him! Oh, I've found Him! He's made me clean. I've got peace at last!"

Arjun had searched throughout his country to find God, but he could not find Him. However, when Arjun came to the end of his own means, God found Arjun.

I believe Arjun's search expresses the desire in the heart of every person who has ever lived. At some point in every one of our lives, we have wanted deeply to know if there is a God and how we can have a relationship with Him. I have met young people in Eastern Europe who have been taught all their lives that there is no God. Yet deep within themselves they still have a yearning to know God. Others have sought openly for God in the western world only to become disillusioned with greedy religious manipulators. These searchers point to the inconsistency of some Christian ministers and like, Arjun, give up their search.

However, there is One who is unique in human history. He alone is worthy of worship. He is not like any of the gods of this world. Nor is He like those who use His name for their own selfish ambitions. He is Jesus, God manifested in human flesh. The book of Hebrews describes Jesus as "the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature" (Heb.1:3). To know, love, and worship Jesus is to know, love, and worship God.

Such a bold claim can be made on the basis of the clear distinction between Jesus and all other men. Jesus is different from all other men in His character, His claims, and the confirmations that attended His life.