What Does it Mean to Be Without God?

Chris Swanson

How do we explain to someone that without God there is nothing?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).

What is the significance here by the Word? The Word was a term utilized by scholars and philosophers, both Hebrew and Greek, in many ways.

In the Hebrew Scripture, the Word was a specialist of creation (Psalm 33:6), the wellspring of God's message to his people through the prophets (Hosea 1:2), and God's Law, and through the heart (Psalm 119:11).

In Greek, the Word was the heavenly quintessence that kept everything intact, God's optimal example for creation.

God Was and Is

John's portrayal shows obviously that he is discussing Jesus (John 1:14), a person that he knew and adored, and yet the Creator of the universe, a definitive disclosure of God, the living image of God's blessedness, and the one by whom “all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).

To John, this new comprehension of the Word was the gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ.

To the Jewish readers, “the Word was God” was ungodly. To the Greek readers, “the Word was made flesh was unbelievable.

We know that God is creative; as the Creator, he is unmistakable from his creation; he is everlasting and in charge of the world. We do not know why God created, but he did. He did not have to make the universe; he chose to make it (Genesis 1:1).

With that line of thinking, we must pose a question: if we are without God, then we are also without what else?

1. We Are Without Peace

“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22).

Some individuals shout out for solace, security, and alleviation; however, they have not found the principal way to eliminate the transgression in their lives and free the channels to God.

They have not tried to atone for their sins, nor have they sought to trust in him. If we want genuine peace, we need to look to God first, then at that point, we can obtain it.

Jesus tells us to have courage. Regardless of the struggles that we will face, he is with us. We must remember that the victory has already been won (John 16:33). We must daily choose to center ourselves on God.

Daily, in every situation, we should ask ourselves, what would Jesus want me to do (Romans 8:6). Paul is telling us that the peace of Christ should be the umpire of our hearts.

In our hearts, there is continual conflict over what is right and what is wrong, hopes and fears, love and jealousy, and other aspects (Colossians 3:15).

The choices we make will either promote peace or remove it (Psalm 119:165; Galatians 5:22; John 14:27; Numbers 6:26; Psalm 29:11; Philippians 4:7; Romans 5:1; Romans 15:13; 2 Thessalonians 3:16).

2. We Are Without Sustenance

“but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).

Numerous spiritual aspects are comparable to physical capacities. Our bodies get hungry and thirsty, our souls do as well.

However, our souls need spiritual food and water. We would not consider denying our bodies of food and water so for what reason would be a clever idea for us to deny our souls of nourishment?

We can fulfill our spiritual thirst and hunger and support our spiritual life simply with a relationship with Jesus Christ.

3. We Are Without Strength

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).

We are defenseless because we could not do anything all alone to save ourselves. Somebody needed to come and save us. In addition to the fact that Christ came at an opportune time, however, he likewise came with flawless timing, and as per God's own timetable.

God controls all eras of time and history, and he controlled the circumstance, the techniques, and the consequences of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

4. We Are Without Hope

Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12).

The Jews and the Gentiles could both be blameworthy of profound pride. The Jews believed that their services and ceremonies raised them above everyone else.

The Gentiles failed to remember their hopeless position prior to accepting Christ. Spiritual pride blinds us to our own shortcomings and amplifies the deficiencies of others. We should be mindful so as not to become proud of our salvation.

We ought to modestly express gratitude toward God for what he has done and empower other people who may be battling with their faith.

5. We Are Without Love

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them (1 John 4:16).

John said, “God is love” not “love is God.” This world, with its shallow and egotistical perspective on love, has turned these words around and defiled how we might interpret love.

The world thinks that love causes us to feel better, and it will forfeit moral standards and the rights of others to acquire such love. In any case, which is not genuine love; it is love's opposite, which is selfishness.

We cannot relate to God from the perspective of love that is promoted by a malicious world. Our meaning of love should come from God who is sacred, just, and immaculate. Simultaneously, assuming we really know God, we must discover how to love as he does.

6. We Are Without Life

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:12).

Simply stating, if we believe in Christ and the work that he did on the cross, and have accepted him as our personal Savior, then we have eternal life.

We do not have to wait for it. We do not have to work for it. We do not need to worry because God has given us guaranteed eternal life through his Son Jesus.

7. We Are Without Anything

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3).

When God created everything, he created something out of nothing. Since we are created creatures, we have no reason for pride. We ought to recall that we exist simply because God made us, and we have extraordinary endowments since God gave them to us.

With God, we are something important and special; aside from God, we are nothing since we are leaving the reason for which we were created.

A conscience without God is like a court without a judge.

For further reading:

How Do We Know God Is Real?

How Are We to Walk with God?

Why Does the Bible Say That The Lord Your God is with You?

How Can We Reconnect with God?

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/fcscafeine


Chris Swanson answered the call into the ministry over 20 years ago. He has served as a Sunday School teacher, a youth director along with his wife, a music director, an associate pastor, and an interim pastor. He is a retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman with over 30 years of combined active and reserve service. You can contact Chris here, and check out his work here.

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