Page 2 - HOW GOD CAN BECOME REAL To You

TEEN Mini-Study
How God Can Become Real to You
[Originally from Youth Magazine – April 1984 – this copy edited by the Bible Fund editors, March 2020]
Instructions: The format of these mini studies is similar to that of the Bible On-Line Study Course. Look up and read in your Bible the scripture references given in answer to the questions. Comments following the questions further explain the scriptures just read. That’s all there is to it! (These studies are based on the King James Version of the Bible, unless otherwise stated.)
__________________________________________________________________
Are you like many people who say, “I believe in God, but He seems so distant – so unreal to me?”
But think about it for a moment. Almost everyone already believes in some things that can’t be seen. Air, wind and gravity are invisible. Yet, these are quite real.
God is composed of spirit and therefore cannot be seen by human eyes. But He does have definite form and shape, and lives in a specific place. This study will show you how God can become very real to you, and how you can even come to know Him personally!
Before you begin, be sure to get a Bible, pen or pencil and paper. Look up the scriptures that answer the questions. Writing out the verses will help you remember what you will be studying.
1. In the second chapter of Genesis we learn that God warned Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that was in the Garden of Eden. In spite of the warning, they disobeyed – sinned – by taking the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6, 17). What did they do when they heard God walking in the garden? Genesis 3:8.
They hid from God! God had been teaching the first man and woman. He wanted them to get to know Him and His way of life. But when they disobeyed, they felt guilty and wanted to hide from Him.
2. In the days of Moses, what did the Israelites do after God spoke to them from Mt. Sinai? Exodus 20:18-19.
When the people heard the thunder and saw the lighting and other evidence of the almighty God, “they trembled and stood afar off.” Here were human beings wanting to cut off contact with God. They were telling God, who was very real to them then, to leave them alone.