God is SO good. I mean, really. Do we fully appreciate how great and awesome our God is!!?!?!
I for one don't. It took having a conversation where it was suggested that God might be "the universe" (and not really a person) for me to really dig in and look at my bible again. To see all the places were God interacts with man (from Adam and Eve, through the whole Old Testament and as Jesus Christ in the New Testament.) I gained a re-appreciation (new word!) for the love of God. "The universe" can't love someone...but God does. John 3:16 says He loved the whole world and sent Jesus to die. Romans 5:8 says that he shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
So, think about that a little more with me. The bible says that God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16 both mention that He is holy as well as MANY other passages) which means that God is, among other things, pure and morally blameless. Yet. almost 2000 years before I was born, Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for my sins. Yet, God knew that I would be born, and in my sin, I would spit in His face long before I would ever accept Him as my God and my savior.
...but it's so much more than that. Consider that God is omni-present. That word omni has to do with the idea of "all" or "perfect." There is no where than God is not at. But it can in fact be said that God is both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. *mind blown*
Ok. Another way: God created everything. That includes the universe, time, matter, and space. So, God, as the creator of these things, is not constrained, controlled, or constricted by any of them. How could He be constrained, controlled, or constricted by something He himself made? So, God is everywhere at the same time....but God is at every time at the same time....God cannot be stopped or hindered by any matter or by any length or depth of the universe.
What this really means, is that once time was created, God was always everywhere. He was at my birth. He was at my death. He was at every moment of my sin and my unholy living. He was at every moment where I glorify Him, And He was at the cross....all at once. God was at the moments when I literally said, "God, I am convinced that you are there and I hate you for allowing XYZ." God knew. Yet...He...Loved!!!
Quick addition: God is love...but His love isn't the "I only want you to be happy" version that I keep seeing portrayed lately. I heard it said of God recently that if you step out in faith, "God will not let you fall." Guess what? There are cases where I would actually MAKE my daughter fall. If she wants to run into a street when there is a truck or car coming....I would make her fall. If she wants to grab an open flame, I would make her fall. If she wanted to spend time alone with a man who I knew was a convicted rapist, I would make her fall. If she set her mind on these things, I would go out of my way to stop her because I know that they are not what is best for her.
So, here is the reality that I want to share this morning. God is too awesome of a God and too loving a God to guarantee us that we won't fall or fail in anything that we do. There would be no love there.
Last: "the greatness of God inspires fear in us, but the goodness of God encourages us not to be afraid of Him. To fear and not be afraid. That is the great paradox of [our] faith." - A. W. Tozer
Our God is an awesome God!!
To God be the glory!!!
I for one don't. It took having a conversation where it was suggested that God might be "the universe" (and not really a person) for me to really dig in and look at my bible again. To see all the places were God interacts with man (from Adam and Eve, through the whole Old Testament and as Jesus Christ in the New Testament.) I gained a re-appreciation (new word!) for the love of God. "The universe" can't love someone...but God does. John 3:16 says He loved the whole world and sent Jesus to die. Romans 5:8 says that he shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
So, think about that a little more with me. The bible says that God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16 both mention that He is holy as well as MANY other passages) which means that God is, among other things, pure and morally blameless. Yet. almost 2000 years before I was born, Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for my sins. Yet, God knew that I would be born, and in my sin, I would spit in His face long before I would ever accept Him as my God and my savior.
...but it's so much more than that. Consider that God is omni-present. That word omni has to do with the idea of "all" or "perfect." There is no where than God is not at. But it can in fact be said that God is both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. *mind blown*
Ok. Another way: God created everything. That includes the universe, time, matter, and space. So, God, as the creator of these things, is not constrained, controlled, or constricted by any of them. How could He be constrained, controlled, or constricted by something He himself made? So, God is everywhere at the same time....but God is at every time at the same time....God cannot be stopped or hindered by any matter or by any length or depth of the universe.
What this really means, is that once time was created, God was always everywhere. He was at my birth. He was at my death. He was at every moment of my sin and my unholy living. He was at every moment where I glorify Him, And He was at the cross....all at once. God was at the moments when I literally said, "God, I am convinced that you are there and I hate you for allowing XYZ." God knew. Yet...He...Loved!!!
Quick addition: God is love...but His love isn't the "I only want you to be happy" version that I keep seeing portrayed lately. I heard it said of God recently that if you step out in faith, "God will not let you fall." Guess what? There are cases where I would actually MAKE my daughter fall. If she wants to run into a street when there is a truck or car coming....I would make her fall. If she wants to grab an open flame, I would make her fall. If she wanted to spend time alone with a man who I knew was a convicted rapist, I would make her fall. If she set her mind on these things, I would go out of my way to stop her because I know that they are not what is best for her.
So, here is the reality that I want to share this morning. God is too awesome of a God and too loving a God to guarantee us that we won't fall or fail in anything that we do. There would be no love there.
Last: "the greatness of God inspires fear in us, but the goodness of God encourages us not to be afraid of Him. To fear and not be afraid. That is the great paradox of [our] faith." - A. W. Tozer
Our God is an awesome God!!
To God be the glory!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment