Tag Archives: God

Reality Is in the Eye of the Beholder

Posted on by
Reply

English has past tense (he did, he was), present tense (he does, he is) and future tense (he will do, he will be). I’ve often thought that in order to describe God and his creation, we need an “always” tense. Something like “He do, He exist” would be more appropriate than anything we use, and along with that comes a way of seeing the world that we’re not capable of experiencing and barely able to think about.

God exists outside of time.

A great illustration of this is the way most people think of God, which I think may be an extension of the way deists see God. It might be stated as follows: “He set the world with all its laws in motion and now leaves it to its own devices.”

This unintentionally makes God subject to time. God *did create* something in the past is not the same thing as an act of creation that spans the entirety of time and encompasses the whole act. It also creates too distinct a separation between God and His creation. It might be more correct to say (using, of course, “always” tense) “God create the world.” If you can really wrap your head around that and imagine experiencing it, you’re doing better than I am.

The point I’m making is that God didn’t simply create the world and leave it to go its own way. He is involved in every aspect of His creation. Every atom in every instant of being is under His inspection and is being created, just as every other atom of every instant of being. In God’s experience, there is no difference between beginning and end. They are part of the same act of creation that “exist” (“always” tense).

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” – Colossians 1:16

As I said, we can’t really describe or understand it, but we do have to think about it in some way. I like to see it as a song that God is singing, and every now, every instant of everything every person does is enabled by the fact that God is currently “singing” him doing it.

This is not and CANNOT be thought of as an act of predestination.

That concept is vile and incompatible with reality. Properly used, predestination is simply another attempt at trying to understand God’s perspective, which is dangerous, if it affects our perspective and how we act.

In essence, God’s creation of everything is not something set in motion and abandoned, but of a piece, created and being created, and God is an intimate part of every moment.

Thus, it is in God and through God that everything exists. He is the reference through which it all holds together. In a sense, He is the nexus that pulls everything into perspective.

Reality is not what you perceive it to be. Nor is it what you want it to be. Reality is what it is because that is what it was created to be. It is what He said it is.

The “S” Word

Posted on by
Reply

In modern society, we don’t want to say the word “sin.” In my generation, at least, the concept of sin has been so maligned that the word itself is uncomfortable to speak, even for those of us who know its reality. It’s one of those trigger words that automatically discredits the speaker, relegating something that should be serious to the level of unicorns and pixies.

Even among believers, the concept of sin is so misused that it has been rendered toxic (and before I could speak to society’s sin dysfunction, I have to look at the confusion in the church.)

Sin Among Christians

For a meaningful proof of this, take a concordance and look up the word sin. Do a quick count of how many times sin is associated with condemnation or destruction and how many times it is associated with forgiveness or repentance.

My point is simple: In God’s vocabulary, sin would be defined something like this: “Sin is man trying to run away from the best possible thing that could happen to him.” God’s vocabulary also has words in it like “condemnation” and “destruction” but their meanings are almost directly opposed to that of sin. Sin is damage done to our relationship with God that must be repaired.

Try this: When you think of sin, instead of associating it with condemnation or destruction, think of it in terms of a sad mistake to be fixed. As I’ve come to understand, that’s quite close to how God sees it.

Society’s malady

Secular society mocks sin in the same way that Atheism mocks God. To society, sin is the ultimate acknowledgment of personal guilt.

There are only two responses to such an acknowledgment. First is to accept and attempt to live with guilt (which leads us to the cross and Christ). Second is to deny the reality of that guilt.

This is the malady of society. They deny their guilt, and in so doing deny reality and substitute their own delusions. Because God’s reality is always there, the bedrock on which everything is built, the only way to deny it is to run from it. This can be done with mockery or simple denial, or by keeping one’s attention entirely away from that reality.

In the end, the reality is that our sin is a terrible separation from the God who loves us. It is not an arbitrary judgment on us or a condemnation. It is a simple acknowledgment that we’re running away from Him.

All Things Work Together for Good

Posted on by
2

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

A long time ago, the importance of this concept was impressed on me in a way that I still have trouble describing.

Imagine that you have done the most terrible things you can imagine. Maybe you killed everyone you love in a fit of rage. Maybe you systematically destroyed your life and your relationships, one by one, as slowly and painfully as one can imagine.

The Almighty God will not just “fix” what you’ve done. He won’t make it as if it never happened. Humanity will never go back to a state of innocence, as we were in Eden.

God does not provide a magical “undo” button. What He offers is so much better than that…

Before I carry through to what He does offer, let me make the point that what God considers good is almost entirely outside of our experience. We now live in a fallen world, where sin and death are intrinsic to everything we experience. The taint of this world is inescapable.

What we see as “good” may just be mediocre or acceptable or unremarkable. What God sees as good is thoroughly, unreservedly good. Good in a way that we will never be able to experience in this world except through Christ.

What God provides is SO good that it has no downside, no regrets attached, no hint of evil.

God is in the business of perfecting us, not repairing us.

Those things in our lives that are evil or wrong–the things about ourselves that we know are offensive to a holy God–aren’t just going to be taken away from us or reversed. Instead, God has promised to work them into something Good.

That means He will take the things that are wrong and evil that we do or have done to us and turn them into something more beautiful and better than what could have been without them. No matter how ugly it may be, He has promised to use it to make something that He sees as good.

I cannot imagine a more substantive or meaningful reason for hope than that.