Undeserved Humility
Even though this semester in college has been very difficult, I have been learning a lot. Subjects like humanities, American history, Chinese, New Testament survey and theology have really made this semester one of the most intriguing semesters I have had so far in college. I just hope I can finish this semester with flying colors! Anyways this concept came to me sitting in my Theology 101 (Christian theology) class a couple of weeks ago. I have been thinking and exploring on this since that class. I know this will be a rather long article, but please bear with it, I am praying that you will not regret reading this.
I think that everyone that has read the Bible or maybe those who have not read the Bible probably could at least say that the overall message of God’s Word is how He redeems us (His creation). Well lets analyze this for a moment. The Bible teaches us that God is all knowing, He knows what is going to happen, even before it happens. Why? Because He created everything and He is omniscient. So what does this really mean if God is all knowing?
If God is really all knowing, then He knew way before we were created that we would rebel against Him. God knew that once Adam and Eve were placed on this planet, they would eventually turn from the path He placed them on. Not only would Adam and Eve turn their backs on God, but the rest of mankind there after. But God still chose to put all of us on this planet, even though He knew we would all sin against Him. Wow! That in itself is pretty breathtaking.
Well lets go into some more depth about God. Maybe these are some concepts you haven’t gone over in your regular church service. They may not even be concepts that you have ever thought about. What are some quality traits of God? Love is not just the only answer! I hear so many people say “well God is love”. He is so much more! In fact, just merely placing a label on God is limiting God. The Creator of the universe cannot be described by earthly terms, because to do so is to define Him by earthly means! That in itself is kind of subjecting God to a lower level than that of which He should be exalted to! Whatever term you describe God as, whether it be; love, all knowing, Almighty, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, even Yahweh is not enough. Haven’t you ever wondered why God is known by so many names in the Bible? It’s because we cannot limit Him to just one term! Even the pastor/ instructor of our class made a comment along with our discussion that whatever concept we have of God is so limited, that when we see God face to face in heaven, it will blow our minds.
So we have mentioned how God created us, even though He already knew His creation would turn against Him. We have also mentioned how God is somewhat limited by our standards, because we cannot even describe him adequately. There are two other points I would like to make before I conclude this article. Why does the Bible teach us that God is a jealous God? If you have not read any books from Piper, I truly recommend his writings to you. First of all, we may think of jealousy as a bad thing. Well I would have to say your wrong! By our earthly ways of understanding jealousy, it is wrong. But remember since we are coming from the Bible, God is perfect in every way possible. There is NOTHING He can do that would be considered sinful. So lets try and think of a God that is so perfect and Almighty that jealousy actually becomes a virtue instead of a dysfunctional character trait. Here is a God that is so perfect, so powerful, so wise, that He actually gets jealous. Why does God get jealous? Well God is so amazing that He wants us to enjoy Himself. Our primary mission in life is to bask in the Glory of the Almighty. He is jealous because He is so good, that He wants us to focus on Him, instead of anything else. He is jealous because He loves us so much and He wants us to dwell upon the very best. The very best being GOD Himself! He is not being jealous for any sort of gain on His part, but He is jealous because He wants His creation to have the very best in life before, during and after.
If you knew the secret to obtain eternal happiness and had the chance to share it with anyone you knew, would you do that? I sure would hope so. You would tell all of your family and friends, because you love them! This is the same for God. What kind of father would give his son a serpent after his son asked for bread? God Almighty is our father and has our best interest at heart, no matter what hardships we have experienced. God is so amazing that there are angels surrounding Him with their eyes closed and ever so often they open their eyes slightly. This is happening for all eternity and the angels have to cry out God’s glory every time they see another glimpse of Him. This is definitely overwhelming for our finite minds.
The final paragraph I would like to talk about before I close this article is about how God has to communicate with us. God being so much Higher than any of us has to daily lower Himself to even speak with us! Even words are insulting to God. He is so much higher than us that even the way we speak is somewhat demeaning of Him. I heard a friend put it this way. God often was to speak to us in baby talk. This really hit me. Every single thing that God has to do with us is requiring God to sacrifice Himself to us daily, even by the minute. Think about it. Our limited vocabulary and means of talking to Him are so much lower than God is. Every one of our actions are the filthiest of rags compared to just one-fourth of God’s Being. But you know what, He still chooses to speak to us every day, whenever we are willing to hear Him. He still chooses to bless us whenever He wants to. God still chooses to love us (every one of us) every second of our existence. From the beginning to the end.
So lets dive in a little deeper here. Why would God ever want to deal with something as low as mankind. God is so good that He Himself could delight in Himself for all eternity. By the way, this is not prideful. What if we served a God who could not admire Himself for His purity, for His goodness, for every character trait He holds? Well that would not seem to be a very powerful God. If God cannot delight in Himself, then what kind of God would He be? Anyways back on subject, we serve the Highest Being ever! We as humans are just one step higher than the animals. Why would God ever want to even deal with such lowly creatures? Creatures that turn their backs on such a Holy God. It is because He loves us! This to me doesn’t even make any sense. Such unconditional love is unimaginable. He paid the price for us by sending His Son to die for us on the cross. This pays the debt we owe God for rebelling against Him. We cannot ever pay this debt, we are too impure and unholy to even try and attempt to pay off our debt to Christ. But doesn’t this just speak leaps and bounds about the God we serve? Wow, so I am sorry that this blog entry was so long, but this is just something that God laid upon my heart to share. It is something that He has been revealing to me. I am praying that this will speak even more to you and that God will expound upon this concept to you many times over! Thanks for reading and God bless.
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