Listen to Nancy answer this question recorded on Moody Radio with Kelli and Steve
Why would God ask anyone a question? He is Sovereign and loves us. Generally, we humans are the ones who are continually asking God to do a multitude of different things to help us. God, the Creator of the universe and all who live in it is also our personal God. He promises us that He will never leave us. He watches over us like a parent so we can refer to Him as Abba Father. He cares about us and wants us to know and communicate with Him. One way He does this is to ask us questions that will allow us to understand God and ourselves better.
1. “Where are you?”
God created Adam and Eve and met them daily in the garden. Everything was perfect. They had everything they could ever need: a lush garden with no weeds and their loving Creator doing life with them. They had it all!
Satan also was in the garden and tempted them to disobey God, breaking the rules God set for them and their relationship with Him. They knew they had sinned, as did God. They hid when God called their name because they did not understand how to deal with their disobedience and sin. I think this is one of the saddest questions in the Bible. God said, “Where are you?” God is sovereign; He knew physically and spiritually where they were. He wanted Adam and Eve to understand the penalty of sin, and spiritual separation from God. God is a God of restoration, so, as a good Shepherd, God kicked them out of the garden but quickly told them that he would send a Savior to pay the penalty for their sin. (Genesis 3:15)
For us today, the question is one we need to ponder. Where are you in your walk with Jesus? Are you communicating with Him through prayer and reading the Scriptures, or do you share with Him when you want something?
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).
2. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
When things don’t go our way, we tend not to trust that God is in control. When we know God, we will understand that He has everything under control for our good and His glory. He wants us to trust Him in the worst of times. God had richly blessed Job, and then He allowed Satan to take all he had away from him. He never turned his back on God, but he did complain to God that He had made a mistake and was not the sovereign Creator of the universe.
“Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7)
“My plans aren’t your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
3. “Whom do you say I am?”
This is the most critical question you will all have to answer. Your eternity depends on it. In today’s culture, the notion that all roads lead to God could not be further from the truth. Most would agree that Jesus is a good teacher, a prophet, a great leader, and a legend from his time. God never left Jesus’ deity open for debate. Jesus claimed to be God in many ways, and those who heard Him knew precisely what He was saying. Jesus being God is one of many things that differentiates Christianity from all other religions and cults.
“Very truly I tell you, . . . before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). Hearing this, the Jews clearly understood that He was claiming preexistence and, more than that, to be Yahweh, the great “I AM” of Exodus 3:14.
John 10:30, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”
The Gospel of John begins with a statement of Jesus’ deity: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). In verse 14, John identifies the Word: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Peter’s answer, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” is the correct answer (Matthew 16:16).
Who do you say Jesus is?
4. “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
Living out Christ is not for the faint of heart. It can be discouraging, annoying, and frustrating to the point that quitting might become an option. God said it clearly, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Going to and engaging with people, even those you have just met, means being available whenever and wherever the Holy Spirit is sending us. It’s that nudge in your Spirit that suggests someone Going and making disciples does not mean becoming a world traveler. It might mean staying home and living out your faith daily by loving and serving family, neighbors, and friends. The world might not notice your work, but God does!