Sometimes I stand in awe of how clearly and simply God reveals truth to us and how often we fail to see it. God loves us so much that He gave His Son to save us, and He is not trying to make the path to heaven hidden in some mystical way. He gives us deep, profound truth about so many things, but He reveals the truth about salvation in words that everyman can understand it.
How could Adam and Eve not understand what God wanted them to do to maintain the amazing relationship with Him inside the Garden of Eden? He told them that they could eat of every tree in that garden except one. The consequences of not doing what He said would be death. He did not hide truth from them. It was so plainly stated.
The same is true of His instructions to Noah. He described the ark, giving simple truths about its material, its dimensions, its interior design and the specific number and nature of the animals to be taken into the ark. He is not trying to hide truth, but to reveal it.
If you had been Abraham, would you have been able to understand God when He told him to offer his son as a sacrifice? Take your son, Isaac, to a specific mountain and there burn him as an offering. There may be thoughts we have about this when we first hear the story, but never overlook the fact that God gave simple commands to reveal to Abraham words so simple that even a child can understand them. God is not trying to trick us by hiding truth.
This most important question that we all must face was asked by the prophet Micah in his message to the Jews. “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God” (Mic. 6:6). He suggests possible answers which might be given. Should he bring burnt offerings like a young calf? Should he bring thousands of rams? Should he bring ten thousand rivers of oil? Should he bring his son, like Abraham did, to offer him to God as a sacrifice for his sins? His answer to these questions shows what the Jews had left out of their service to God. If you want to know God’s answer, read the rest of that paragraph. God was not trying to hide the answer in a mystical, theologically perceived way. God is not a “Heavenly Riddler” who hides truth. He gives simple answers in simple words that all can understand.
God alone reveals the path to Him. Do you know what He wants you to do? Does He reveal you must believe? What about repentance? What about confessing Jesus? What about baptism? Read His simple answers in Hebrews 11:6; Acts 17:30; Romans 10:9; Acts 2:38; 22:16. What you hear on TV may not be the way. God never gave the sinner’s prayer as the way!