Topical Bible: Seeking God: Includes Seeking: Christ

◄ Seeking God: Includes Seeking: Christ ►

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Topical Encyclopedia

Introduction:
Seeking God is a central theme throughout the Bible, emphasizing the importance of pursuing a relationship with the Creator. This pursuit is characterized by a heartfelt desire to know, understand, and align oneself with God's will. The act of seeking God is both an invitation and a command, promising spiritual fulfillment and divine guidance to those who earnestly pursue Him.

Old Testament Context:
The Old Testament frequently calls believers to seek God with all their heart and soul. In Deuteronomy 4:29, Moses instructs the Israelites, "But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul." This verse underscores the sincerity and totality required in the pursuit of God.

The Psalms are replete with expressions of longing for God. Psalm 63:1 declares, "O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land without water." This imagery conveys a deep spiritual yearning and dependence on God.

The prophets also emphasize seeking God as a means of returning to Him. Isaiah 55:6-7 exhorts, "Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon."

New Testament Context:
In the New Testament, seeking God is closely associated with seeking Christ, as He is the revelation of God in human form. Jesus Himself invites individuals to seek Him, promising that such a pursuit will be rewarded. In Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus teaches, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

The Apostle Paul reiterates the importance of seeking Christ in Colossians 3:1-2: "Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." This passage encourages believers to focus their desires and efforts on the eternal and divine, rather than the temporal.

Seeking: Christ
Seeking Christ is an integral aspect of seeking God, as Christ is the embodiment of God's presence and purpose. In John 14:6, Jesus declares, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." This statement highlights the exclusivity and necessity of seeking Christ to truly know God.

The pursuit of Christ involves a commitment to discipleship, as seen in Matthew 16:24: "Then Jesus told His disciples, 'If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.'" Seeking Christ requires self-denial, a willingness to bear one's cross, and a dedication to following His teachings and example.

Furthermore, seeking Christ is not merely an individual endeavor but a communal one, as believers are encouraged to seek Him together. Hebrews 10:24-25 urges, "And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Conclusion:
The Bible presents seeking God and seeking Christ as a dynamic and ongoing journey. It is a call to a deeper relationship, marked by faith, obedience, and a longing for divine truth. Through this pursuit, believers are promised the presence, wisdom, and peace of God, as they align their lives with His eternal purposes.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Malachi 3:1
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in: behold, he shall come, said the LORD of hosts.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Luke 2:15,16
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

The Meaning of Sin, and the Revelation of the True Self
... is the Eternal Thought of God, Who includes within Himself ... the good of others; to
seek and, seeking, surely to find, "the happiness which God Himself knows ...
//christianbookshelf.org/beibitz/gloria crucis/iv the meaning of sin.htm

Man the Vehicle for Exhibiting God's Perfections.
... what earnest seeking after God! ... includes both good and bad; likewise the term "angels"
includes both good ... of life in such a way as to honor God and demonstrate ...
/.../orr/how to live a holy life/man the vehicle for exhibiting.htm

Thirtieth Day. The Unction from the Holy One.
... be at the call of sinners seeking their God ... one anointed with the anointing of this
Christ, with this ... They shall be all taught of God,' includes every believer. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/murray/holy in christ/thirtieth day the unction from.htm

Anxious About Earth, or Earnest About the Kingdom
... the religious way of looking at nature includes and transcends ... Such seeking, says
Christ, is pure heathenism. ... nations of the world who know not God make these ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture e/anxious about earth or earnest.htm

"But Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God," &C.
... If ye seek not this kingdom as the one thing necessary, and your seeking proclaim
that ye account it so ... But this kingdom of God also includes the kingdom ...
/.../binning/the works of the rev hugh binning/sermon xviii but seek ye.htm

Sirs, what must I do to be Saved? and they Said, Believe on the ...
... And this reason includes both the obedience of Christ to the ... It is seeking that as
a preparation for faith, which ... left in the mind contrary to the law of God. ...
/.../finney/lectures to professing christians/sirs what must i do.htm

Christ and Nicodemus.
... Seeking, at first, the preservation of the law of Moses ... Jews who failed to confess
him; "we" includes himself and ... being "born of the word of God," to believing ...
/.../johnson/the new testament commentary vol iii john/christ and nicodemus.htm

Christ is All
... way, what it is that this truth includes, now, with ... been the bane and plague of the
church of God. This labor after flowery speech, this seeking after polished ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 17 1871/christ is all.htm

In the Name of Christ
... To use Christ's Name in prayer surely includes this, to ... with the exercise of fellowship
with God, are but a ... of a child asking bread, of our seeking and knocking ...
/.../murray/the ministry of intercession/chapter xi in the name.htm

The Power of Christ Illustrated by the Resurrection
... to the mercy-seat, you who will be seeking the souls ... next, that the language of our
text includes all supposable ... given up all religion, he loathed God, and had ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 17 1871/the power of christ illustrated.htm