An orator, preacher, or attorney will want to frame a question properly. How and when questions are asked lends impact to their answers. Recurring questions also point to undiscovered facts. Questions are tools for learning. Jesus asked questions and invited those around Him to answer. His questions were especially revealing. It’s also interesting that the Bible presents a couple of opening questions.
Biblical Questions
God makes many statements regarding His Creation. But it’s Satan who asks the first question. He asked Eve:
Did God really say…?
That question caused doubt about God’s goodness. Then came sin! That progression still works for the enemy. After that, we see God’s great question:
Adam, where are you?
The question was for Adam, not God. Adam realized what he had done and tried to hide from God. He also tried to cover up the result of his sin. And Adam’s children have been hiding behind fig leaves of pride, self-reliance, independence, and stubbornness ever since. The pages of the Old Testament are filled with examples.
Questions – New Testament
What about the New Testament? The questions continue to teach us. In fact, the Gospels open and close with questions:
Where is He Who is born King of the Jews?
Where is Jesus? Where have they taken Him?
As Jesus was taken up from the disciples, Scripture records in Acts 1 that the angels asked His disciples: Why do you marvel? The disciples were questioning where Jesus was going. There’s an irony for us to see. The Old Testament records God asking Man, Where are you? and the New Testament shows us Man asking God, Where are You?
I AM the Alpha and Omega
God closes His Scripture with the answer in Revelation 22:
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city….The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
In essence, God’s answer is: I AM here in My eternal glory. If you will reject your sin, you may enter in and fellowship with Me for eternity! That’s an invitation that defies description. So let me close with a final question:
