"Not Far"

I was just doing a word study this morning on the Greek word for "far", and lo and behold, it appeared in Acts 17: "That they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." This is the passage where Paul is talking to the people of Athens, looking at all of their foreign idols, and he begins to tell them about one of their idols, the "unknown God." In the midst of his sermon, he says that God is "not far" from each of us.

I still can't reconcile this with all the other places in Scripture where it says that we have been separated from God, that we are far from Him. Perhaps we can be a people who hold both truths in tension. Although we know that people are vastly separated from God, we can see the truths in their culture and in their lives that show a God who is already at work, who is already near in their lives.

Near or Far from God? Which one is it?

I'm having a hard time figuring this out. Before you experience Christ, before you invite Him to come dwell inside Your heart, are you far from God, or are You standing at His doorstep?

As I read Scripture, it seems like I find both ideas. For instance, I was just reading Ephesians 2:12, where it talks about the Gentiles who were estranged from the promises made to Israel, having "no hope and without God in the world." I was also reading John 3, where Jesus says that unless you are born again, you "cannot see the kingdom of God."

But what about Acts 17, where Paul says that they were worshipping a God who they do not know? He seems to be emphasizing the idea that they're not as far from the God of the Old and New Testament as one might think. And people who pursue social justice will pick up on these verses and show us how God is moving in the lives of those who have never placed faith in Christ. And yet the straight-up evangelicals will preach distance, alienation, estrangement, separation.

Which one is it? Until you become a Christ-follower, is he near, or is he far?