I believe several things about God that are false.
I do not mean that my theology is incorrect.
Theology literally means the study of God. It is the set of things that we think are true about God, and about people in relation to God. We often say that we believe these things.
But belief has another, stronger meaning. It means something that we have faith in, or that we trust. This kind of belief goes beyond mere intellectual agreement. We live consistently with the things that we believe in this deeper way - not perfectly, but for the most part.
I am convinced that my theology is correct. But the way I live my life shows that I don't always believe my theology.
This article is about theology. It's about who God is - His character and nature. But it is also about belief - real belief, the kind that expresses itself in how we live our lives.
The first thing we need to say about God is that He is. He doesn't merely exist as a religious idea or a philosophical necessity; God exists as a real person.
God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush when He sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. Moses asked (among other things) what he should say when the Israelites asked what God's name was. God told Moses to tell them, "I am has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14, emphasis added).
In addition to God's name for Himself, this may also be a rather pointed contrast to the gods of Egypt. Unlike them, the One sending Moses really existed.
God isn't just a fantasy or a nice game of pretend or a religious myth. He exists in reality.
In John 5:26, Jesus said, "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself..." God has life in Himself; He doesn't depend on anyone or anything else for His existence. In this, He is very different from us. We depend on air, water, and food, at least. In contrast, God is self-existing. He doesn't need anything or anyone in order to continue existing, just as He didn't need anything or anyone to give Him existence - to create Him. He is, with or without anything else.
If you don't believe in God, He doesn't stop existing. This is a challenge to the skeptic - "your unbelief doesn't make God disappear" - but to the believer, it's a tremendous comfort. Even when our faith wavers, even when we feel like there is no God, even when our lives fail to show any evidence of His existence, He still is.
However, even though this is true, we still should live like God exists, rather than like He doesn't exist.
How do we live like God doesn't exist? Well, when I am lonely or bored, I often turn to entertainment or other coping mechanisms to (try to) satisfy myself emotionally. That's precisely how I would have to deal with such times if God wasn't there. I almost always depend on my own strength and ability to solve my problems and make it through my day - just as I would if God didn't exist. Perhaps you do something similar.
Believing that God exists is the starting point of faith, the most basic truth that we are to believe. "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is..." (Hebrews 11:6, emphasis added). This does not mean mere intellectual assent - the rest of the chapter is a list of actions done in faith. True faith will bring about actions that show our dependence on the object of our faith. The measure of our faith in God is not our minds, but rather our lives.
Hebrews 11:6 continues, "...and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
Jeremiah 29:13 promises that those who truly seek God will find Him. Although this verse is a promise to a specific generation of Israelites, it shows us God's heart. He wants people to seek Him and to find Him.
However, we cannot see God. We can't perceive Him with any of our physical senses. We cannot deduce God's character merely through human logic. As John 1:18 says, "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known" (New International Version). This expresses not only the problem, but also the solution: since we could not know God or find Him on our own, God chose to reveal Himself, which is the only way we could accurately know anything about Him. More specifically, this verse speaks of Jesus making known - revealing - to us who God is.
God reveals Himself to us through His creation (Romans 1:19,20). He reveals Himself through His word, the Bible, which tells us numerous specific things about Him. It also recounts specific, historical instances of God revealing Himself to people. And it tells us of God revealing Himself most notably and most clearly through His Son, Jesus Christ.
God hasn't told us everything about Himself. But He has told us enough that we can have an accurate understanding of His character, even if our understanding is not perfect or complete.[1]
Since God wants us to find Him, let us seek Him. Since He has taken the trouble to reveal Himself, let us listen to what He has said. Let us listen to God's revelation of Himself more than we listen to everyone else who tries to tell us their idea of what God is like, whether it be our society, people in our church, religious leaders and authorities, or our own feelings.
In particular, let us listen carefully to God's Word. It tells who God is much more clearly and precisely than nature does, and it vividly shows us God's Son, Jesus, who is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:5), and "the exact representation of His nature" (Hebrews 1:3).
Among the things God tells us about Himself is that He does not change. "For I, the Lord, do not change..." (Malachi 3:6a, see also James 1:17). (In fact, God is more than just unchanging - He is eternal. He always has been, and He always will be. See Genesis 21:33, Isaiah 43:13, and Psalm 90:2.)
God doesn't change. This is disquieting news to some, who find His character to be inconvenient, irritating, or even offensive. They may say things like, "I can't accept that God is like this", or "He ought to be this other way." But God is not going to change to match our opinions, desires, or beliefs, no matter how much we think He should. He always will be who He always has been. We must deal with Him as He is, whether we like it or not, because He is not going to change.
On the other hand, since God never changes, He is the one thing that we can truly depend upon. We don't know what the future will bring, but we know that God will always remain the same. Though we can't predict what He will do, we know that His character will not change.
We are wise to base our lives on that which is certain, rather than on that which is changeable. God's unchanging character gives us a secure rock on which to anchor our lives.
God is a person, not in the sense of being human, but in the sense of having personality. God is a He, not an It; He is Someone, not Something. He has thoughts, emotions, and a will. He even has a sense of humor (for example, see Psalm 2:4).
Since God has a personality (and we do also), it is possible for us to have a personal relationship with Him.
You probably have heard people talk about "a personal relationship with God." By this phrase, I think most people mean that we each need our own, individual relationship with God. It isn't enough that our parents have such a relationship, or that our minister or priest does.
We each need our own relationship with God. However, a "personal relationship" means more than merely a relationship as an individual. It also means a relationship where the persons involved interact with each other as persons.
An example may make this clearer. The president is a person, and therefore I could have a personal relationship with him - but I don't. I know he exists. I know what he looks like, and I know a little bit about what he's like as a person (or rather, I know some of what the media says he's like). But knowing about him isn't the same as knowing him personally.
For his part, the president knows me as a statistic. He knows me as a registered voter in a state that he doesn't have to care about, since it always votes for the same party. If he wants to know more about me, the Federal government has a lot of information about me. But even if the president bothers to find out all this information about me, that's not the same as him having a personal relationship with me.
I could work for the president. He could talk to me several times a day: "Do this." "Did you get that done?" "What's the status of this issue?" This is a working relationship, but it's still not a personal relationship. I have that kind of relationship with my computer.
But in a personal relationship, I could tell the President whatever is on my mind, and he would listen, not because it would look "presidential", but because of our relationship. In a personal relationship, we could talk, not only about politics, but also about our kids having colds, about fishing - about everything.
A personal relationship is one where we interact with someone else as a person, as opposed to interacting with them as an object, or interacting with information about them. When God wants us to find Him, this is what He wants. He wants us to come to know Him in a personal way.
God could have remained aloof. He could have merely given us information about Himself. He could have let us work for Him, but kept Himself distant. But God is not seeking a superficial, shallow relationship with us. Instead, He invites us into a personal relationship with Him, a relationship with depths of friendship (Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23, John 15:15), even intimacy.
Intimacy with God? The idea may seem unbelievable, yet the Bible clearly states that it is possible. "For the crooked man is an abomination to the Lord; but He is intimate with the upright" (Proverbs 3:32).
God knows more than just information about us. He knows our secret thoughts and deepest emotions (Psalm 139:2-4). Similarly, He doesn't just reveal to us facts about Himself. He reveals His thoughts and emotions - His heart. Finally, when we establish a personal relationship with God (we will say more about how we do this later), God Himself comes to live in our hearts, in the person of His Spirit (see I Corinthians 6:19, II Timothy 1:14). Relationships don't get any more intimate than that!
"Personal relationship with God" is not just a trite religious phrase. What this personal relationship really means is nothing short of astounding.
Since God is willing to enter into a personal relationship with us, we should by all means do so. Actually, "by all means" is exactly the wrong phrase, because there is only one way to enter into such a relationship. Jesus said, "I am the way... no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6). The only way we can have a personal relationship with God is through Jesus Christ. (We will explain why this is so when we discuss God's holiness.)
Beginning a personal relationship with God, however, is only the beginning. After that beginning, we need to not forget the "personal" aspect of our relationship with God. This is harder than it sounds (at least it is for me).
For instance, as part of my relationship with God, I try to have a time of prayer each day. Unfortunately, however, my prayer is often not very personal.
Personal prayer - real prayer - is a conversation with an intimate friend. By "conversation", I mean two-way communication, both talking and listening (though it can be difficult to distinguish God's voice from my own thoughts and wishes). In contrast, my prayer often is merely reciting my list of requests to God, often the same requests as the day before, often even in exactly the same words as the day before. This kind of prayer is as personal and intimate as a form letter.
We can have an intimate, personal relationship with God. Don't settle for less. God deeply desires such a relationship with us. Don't give Him less.
God is unique. There is only one of Him. As Isaiah said,
Also, there is no one else even remotely like God. He is, in C. S. Lewis' words, "infinitely different from anything else."[2]
Isaiah 40 expresses this beautifully. Verses 12 through 17 describe God's greatness, both His wisdom and His enormity. "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in a pair of scales?... Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales... All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless." After this awesome description of God, verse 18 says, "To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?" Verses 19 and 20 go on to describe the futility of idols. Verses 21 through 24 tell of man's insignificance compared to God: "It is He who sits above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers." And speaking of human rulers and judges: "But He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble." Verse 25 drives home the point: "'To whom then will you liken Me that I should be his equal?' says the Holy One." Finally, verse 26 states that God made the stars - a feat that is far beyond the power of idol and human alike.
No person comes close to comparing to God. No idol does, either. In many parts of the world, the idols are gone, but we have set up other things in their place - ideas, philosophies, astrology, people, money, sex, and most of all ourselves. None of these compares to God, and none of these can take the place of a relationship with Him in our lives.
"For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13). God said this about the nation of Judah after they abandoned Him for idols. The same is true whenever anyone tries to substitute anything else for God. It is true because the other thing is not God and cannot adequately substitute for God. We may think that something can almost replace God in some area - a cistern is almost as good as a fountain - but nothing comes close to being able to replace God. All we get are broken cisterns.
There is only one God. Accept no substitutes.
God is true. Jesus said, "He who sent me is true" (John 7:28; He stated it again in John 8:26). Jesus Himself "is called Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:11). Jesus said, "I am... the truth" (John 14:6). He also called the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of truth" (John 15:26).
When God speaks, what He says is true (John 17:17). When He promises you something, you can count on it (see Joshua 21:45).
(I feel I must digress here. Sometimes it looks like God doesn't keep His promises, when the real problem is that we don't understand who He made the promise to. There's an old song that says, "Every promise in the Book is mine." The song is wrong, and the idea is misleading. A number of promises recorded in the Bible are given to specific people and do not apply to everyone, or even to all believers. As an absurd example, in II Samuel 7:5-17, God promised that He would place a descendant on the throne of Israel. That promise was made to David, and it doesn't apply to me. (I'm not even Jewish.) Other promises come with conditions. For example, "The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3). If I am not trusting in God with a steadfast mind, He is under no obligation to keep me in perfect peace. But when God makes a promise to you - or to a group that includes you - and you meet any attached conditions, He will do what He promised.)
Since God is true, we should believe that what He says is the truth (see John 3:33). We should believe that what He says is truer than what our culture, our emotions, or our logic say. (This is not blind faith. We believe God because we know who He is - because we know that He is true.)
However, "God is true" means more than just that God tells the truth. It means that truth is so much a part of God's character that He can be said to personify truth. And when Jesus said, "I am the truth", it means still more. Jesus is God's revelation of the truth about Himself.
As truth characterizes God, so He wants it to characterize us as well. "Surely you desire truth in the inner parts" (Psalm 51:6a, New International Version). From there, it should overflow into every area of our lives. Truthfulness should mark our relationships, our business dealings, our income tax forms, and even our relationship with God.
If God is true, and wants truth to characterize our lives and our relationship with Him, we can - and should - tell Him the truth. We can tell Him when we're struggling. We can be honest with Him about our failures. We can openly tell Him our feelings, even if we wouldn't admit to them in polite company. We can even tell God that we are angry with Him or feel that He let us down. He won't be shocked by any of this. God can handle the truth, and He prefers it to pious-sounding lies.
Truth should also characterize our worship. "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23,24).
What does it mean to worship God in truth? Certainly it includes doctrinal correctness - that is, believing the truth about God instead of something else. (Immediately before talking about worshiping in truth, Jesus cleared up a doctrinal issue.) Worshiping in truth also includes coming to God through Jesus, the One who said, "I am the truth". To me, it also means that I should worship God with true worship, as opposed to in hypocrisy or merely going through the motions.
If I worship God because it makes other people think I'm spiritual or holy, that's hypocrisy. If I worship God because that's simply what I'm supposed to do, it's going through the motions. But if worshiping God is my heartfelt response to recognizing how truly worthy He is of my worship, that's worshiping God in truth.
Now, there is a place for doing what we should do, even when we don't feel like it. (After all, we live by faith, not by our feelings. Often our feelings come after we start to act, rather than before.) So there are times when I go to church, and I don't feel like worshiping God. Perhaps I'm tired, or my mind is on something else. At such times, I still should go to church (Hebrews 10:25) - not so that others see me, not just to do it, but out of obedience to God. Even the obedience is not in a vacuum; instead, it flows out of my personal relationship with God. I obey the One I know.
But I don't just obey. I often also pray, asking God to help me set my mind and heart on Him, so that I can truly worship Him. This may even mean that I stop singing the worship songs for a few moments, so that I can prepare my heart to really worship God - to worship Him in truth.
In addition to telling us that God is true, the Bible also tells us that some things lie. Money lies ("the deceitfulness of riches", Matthew 13:22). Sin lies ("the deceitfulness of sin", Hebrews 3:13). Most of all, Satan lies.
In John 8:44, Jesus said, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies."
Note how the issue of God's truthfulness was central to the temptation of Eve in Genesis 3. First, the serpent asked, "Did God really say...?" (verse 1, New International Version). This question cast doubt on God's truthfulness. Next, in verse 4, came the flat-out lie: "You surely shall not die!" And with it was the next casting of doubt: "For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (verse 5). Satan claimed that God was withholding something wonderful from Eve, and so cast doubt on God's motives. But if God had bad motives, that also cast doubt on His moral character - on His goodness. The whole temptation, then, was an attack on the truthfulness of God's words, motives, and character.
Eve fell for it, but God was telling the truth. It was Satan that was lying.
Jesus said, "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31b,32). Note well that this promise has a condition attached. We do not inherently know the truth; our knowledge of the truth comes through listening to Jesus' teaching and following Him, and through our relationship with Him. (Most fundamentally, He is the truth that sets us free.)
But the reverse of Jesus' statement is also true: If you believe and live out lies, they will make you a slave. Let us be careful, then, to listen to the truth - to God - rather than to lies. Let us build our lives on the truth.
God is no fool. He is very wise. In fact, He is the wisest - far wiser than anyone else. Wisdom is part of who God is, and marks everything He does. As Paul said in Romans 11:33, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" (See also Job 12:13, Ephesians 3:10, and Colossians 2:3.)
However, we don't always recognize how wise God is, because His wisdom runs counter to human wisdom. "Yet we do speak a wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (I Corinthians 2:6-8). My friend Darren Yager summarized the difference well: "The world's wisdom is all about man. God's wisdom is all about God."
While these two kinds of wisdom are opposed to each other, the battle between them is rather one-sided. God's wisdom is much wiser, and much more effective. In I Corinthians 1:19,20,25, 3:19,20, Paul said, "For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?... Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men... For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, 'He is the One who catches the wise in their craftiness'; and again, 'The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.'"
The most critical flaw in human wisdom is that it does not lead us to know God. In I Corinthians 1:21, right in the middle of many of the verses quoted above, Paul said, "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
God makes His wisdom available to us. "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" (Proverbs 2:6. But note well the condition given in verses 1-5: that we seek wisdom earnestly.) God gives us this wisdom through His word, the Bible (see II Timothy 3:15), through His body (other believers), and through His Spirit, which lives in those who establish a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
Since God's wisdom is superior to human wisdom, and since He makes His wisdom available to us, we would be foolish not to heed it. We should trust God's wisdom more than anyone else's - including our own. We should trust that His perspective on things is more accurate than anyone else's - including our own. We should seek His wise counsel and let it guide our lives. To paraphrase I Corinthians 3:18, "If you are wise in terms of human wisdom, become wise with God's wisdom, even if it makes you foolish in human terms."
God is everywhere - absolutely everywhere. In David's poetic words,
If you don't want anything to do with God, this is a big problem! No matter where you go or what you do, you can't escape from Him.
But if you have chosen to build your life around God, this is a tremendous comfort. If you can say, "But as for me, the nearness of God is my good" (Psalm 73:28a), God's presence everywhere is very good news, because He is always near.
God is right here, right now. He is here as I write these words; He is here as you read them.
God's presence doesn't mean that we won't have problems. We will. Sometimes they will be major, serious, and difficult. But even when things look so dark that it seems that they can't get any darker, God is still there - there to be with us and comfort us, and there to strengthen and help us. Psalm 46:1,2 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea." No matter what problems come our way, no matter how earth-shaking they are, we don't have to be afraid, because God is still there.
In my younger (and dumber) days, I used to climb cliffs, by myself, without a rope. Once, I got in serious trouble - trapped on a ledge 30 feet up, on the verge of falling, with no room to even turn around without falling off. Even though there was no human help available to me, God was still there. When I asked Him to help me, He did at least three specific things to help me out of the nearly lethal trap that I had gotten myself into.
We often don't feel like God is present - for example, when we are tired, or when we're having a bad day. But He is present, whether we feel His presence or not. So let us keep turning to Him and trusting Him in every place and situation.
Earlier, we said that it was possible to have an intimate relationship with God. Now we are saying that God is present everywhere. Combining these ideas, we see that, wherever we are, whatever our surroundings, and however difficult our circumstances, God's intimate presence can still be with us. (Sin in our lives can block our intimacy with God, but nothing external can.)
Since God is everywhere, if He sees anything at all, He must see everything. And indeed He does. Jesus said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:29,30). Clearly, God's knowledge of what goes on in the material world is complete - He knows what happens to every bird and to every one of our hairs. And, as Psalm 139:11,12 says, it really doesn't matter whether it's broad daylight or pitch black. God sees just as well in the dark as in the light.
But God's knowledge goes much deeper than events in the physical universe. As we mentioned before when we talked about an intimate relationship with God, He knows our inner thoughts, motives, and feelings. Listen to the words of Psalm 139: "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me... You perceive my thoughts from afar... You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord" (Psalm 139:1,2b,3b,4, New International Version).
God knows even more. He also knows the future. Later in the same psalm, David says, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:16b, New International Version). Note that this does not mean that God controls what we will do. He allows us freedom to choose; He does not make us into robots. Nevertheless, He still knows what we will do in the future.
If God sees everything, He already knows everything we ever did. He also knows what our motives were when we did what we did. Since He already knows, there is no point in trying to conceal anything from Him.
Several years ago, my father-in-law and I were going to his house, in separate cars. I got there ahead of him, and backed into a parking space in front of his Suburban. Unfortunately, I backed a little bit too far. Then my father-in-law arrived, and I tried to pretend that I had merely parked very close. My attempt failed, however, because he came around the corner while the Suburban was still rocking from the impact. It's hard to fake out someone who saw enough to know what happened.
God doesn't merely come around the corner before it's over; He sees the whole thing. We can try to lie, to pretend that nothing happened, but He sees it all. This can be rather frightening, but it can also be very freeing. We can stop trying to hide from God. He already knows our actions, our thoughts, and our feelings. He won't be shocked or surprised if we admit to them. He already knows.
We may feel that some things are ugly enough that they should not be expressed, even to God. But admitting that we did, thought, or felt them doesn't make them any worse, and trying to hide them doesn't make them any better.
The Psalms are loaded with examples of people freely expressing their feelings - even negative ones - to God. Examples include fear and anguish (Psalm 55:4,5), feeling overwhelmed (69:1-21, 88:1-18, 102:3-11, 143:3,4), feeling abandoned by God (10:1, 13:1,2, 22:1,2, 44:9-14), desiring vengeance on one's enemies (137:7-9 is perhaps the best example, but there are plenty of others), and envy (73:2-14). The Psalms also contain some great examples of people confessing their sin to God (Psalm 38:18 and 51:1-17).
The book of Habakkuk records a prophet's argument with God. Habakkuk complained about Judah's moral state. God revealed what He was going to do about it - bring a Chaldean (Babylonian) invasion. Habakkuk didn't like this answer, and told God so quite plainly. Then Habakkuk waited for God's answer, knowing that he wouldn't win the argument. But the point is that, even though he knew that God would win, Habakkuk felt free to tell God what he thought and felt.
Jeremiah flatly accused God of misleading him (Jeremiah 20:7). Probably he was thinking of God's promise to him in Jeremiah 1:18,19 that the people of Judah would fight against Jeremiah but would not overcome him. He probably thought that God's promise was not true because Pashur the priest had just had Jeremiah beaten and placed in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:1,2). Jeremiah felt that God had betrayed his trust, and he didn't have to hide how he felt. (There is need of balance here, however. While we are free to be honest with God, He is also worthy of utmost respect.)
Since God knows everything, He is not afraid of our questions. We don't need to be afraid of asking them, either. We aren't going to accidentally ask some question that is too hard for God, suddenly realize that He cannot answer, and have our faith shattered. (God does not have to answer, and may, for His own reasons, choose not to do so. However, we still don't need to be afraid to ask.)
However, God is not particularly tolerant of dishonest questions - questions that are asked merely as a smokescreen, rather than because we really want to know the answer (see Luke 20:1-8 for an example).
When God allows something to come into our lives, He knows what He is doing - even if it is something difficult, something we don't want, or even something horrible. When God "causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28), He isn't guessing. He knows what will bring us good. (Note that there is a condition: "those who love God". Also note that this does not mean that everything that comes into our life is good in and of itself. On the contrary, some things are very bad. But God works them together for good. He who knows the future knows that the end result will be our good.)
When we see something come into our life that seems bad to us, rather than responding with panic or fear, let us trust the God who knows everything, and who, knowing, still allowed it for our ultimate good. Instead of trying to manipulate our circumstances into what we want them to be, we can trust God and seek to walk with Him in and through our circumstances. Then we can truly "always give thanks for all things" (Ephesians 5:20, emphasis added).
God is holy (see Psalm 99:9, Isaiah 6:3, and Revelation 4:8). By "holy", we mean that He is morally pure, untainted by any evil, any sin, or any moral wrongness. When I John 1:5 says, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all", it is not describing God's physical appearance, but rather His moral character.
President Calvin Coolidge was famous as a man of few words. Once, after he attended church, his wife asked him what the minister had spoken about. "Sin", said Coolidge. His wife persisted, asking what the minister had said about sin. Coolidge replied, "He's against it."
That minister was on the right track, because God is also against sin. To Him, sin is horrible, appalling, and vilely repulsive. This is not merely because sin offends His sense of taste. God is against sin because God's character is holy.
"Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil" (Habakkuk 1:13a). God does not condone or approve of sin - not other people's sin, not yours, and not mine. And this applies to more than the big, ugly sins like murder, adultery, and stealing that are listed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). God also does not approve of "little", socially acceptable sins like gossip (Romans 1:29-32, II Timothy 3:2-5). For that matter, the tenth Commandment says "do not covet" - do not desire other people's possessions - even though doing so is currently socially acceptable (it is sometimes called "keeping up with the Joneses").
Though many people believe that there is no universally applicable moral standard, such a standard does exist. The standard is the moral character of God Himself. (It can be hard to see what that standard says about our daily moral situations, so God also gave us specific commandments, which express the same standard.) And this standard is not some abstract philosophical ideal, it is the standard for our lives. "...but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'" (I Peter 1:15,16).
However, though holiness is the standard for us, we do not - cannot - measure up to it, because we are all morally flawed. Paul said, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). John said, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (I John 1:8). History also agrees with this. While we have made progress on many fronts, we see that attempts to morally improve people may initially have some success, but almost always fail in the end, ruined by human nature.
The standard for our lives is holiness, but we are not holy. We cannot even make ourselves holy. We will see the solution for this dilemma in the next section. For now, we will simply say that the only way we can become holy is to be transformed by the holy God. Even then, we still have the moment-by-moment choice of whether or not to live in conformity with God's moral standard, and the responsibility to choose moral purity.
Moses said, "all His [God's] ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4).
In Isaiah 61:8, God said, "For I, the Lord, love justice..."
Psalm 89:14 says that justice is part of the foundation of God's throne.
What does "just" mean? It means judging correctly - having an opinion that is appropriate to the situation at hand. It can refer to judges, parents, and others in authority, when they hand down fair, unbiased decisions and appropriate punishments.
And God is a judge. Rather, God is the judge - the ultimate and final one, the one who cannot be avoided and whose verdict cannot be appealed. As Peter said, "And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth... but they shall give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead" (I Peter 1:17, 4:5).
And yet, as we look around the world today, we see horrible examples of injustice - everything from economic oppression and exploitation to wars of racial extermination. Powerful people get away with almost anything, simply because of their power. We see this, and we wonder: Will there ever be justice?
Yes, there will be justice, and it will be very thorough. Ecclesiastes 12:14 says, "For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil." Those who seem to be getting away with terrible things need not trouble our sense of justice, because in the end, they will not get away with anything at all.
A little review here reinforces the point. God has seen everything every person has ever done, said, or thought. God's character is the perfect moral standard, against which everything will be measured. And the same God who is the holy moral standard is also the just judge, who will not leave unpunished deviations from His perfect moral purity. Those who do what is wrong will certainly face justice.
And so will we. We also fail to live up to God's perfect moral standard. We also do what is wrong in God's eyes - I certainly do. There are those who in our opinion justly deserve condemnation, but our own condemnation will be equally just.
What is this condemnation? Matthew 25:46 says that it is "eternal punishment". In II Thessalonians 1:9, it is called "the penalty of eternal destruction." Revelation 20:14 describes it as "the second death, the lake of fire." It is nothing less than eternity in hell.
Mercifully, God does not leave us at this hopeless point! There is one - and only one - way of escape from this devastating (though justly deserved) condemnation. Paul explains it in Romans 3:21-26:
I have quoted from the Living Bible here, rather than the New American Standard or the New International Version, because in both those versions this passage is fairly hard to understand, full of words like "propitiation" that are not part of most people's day-to-day vocabulary. However, in at least one aspect I prefer those translations: instead of saying that God is fair, they more accurately translate it to say that He is just. And that is the point of the passage - that God can be truly just and still not condemn us for our wrongs, because Christ took on Himself the punishment for our sins with His death on the cross.
However, not everyone will escape God's condemnation. We only escape "if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins". When we place our trust - our faith - in Jesus Christ (in particular, in His death to pay the penalty for our sins and deliver us from condemnation), then - and only then - we are forgiven rather than condemned.
Faith does not mean that I close my eyes to all the facts and believe really hard. (No matter how much I believe something false, it is still false.) Also, faith does not merely mean that I am persuaded that something is true. Real faith means that I choose to entrust myself to (or depend upon) the object of my faith.
Suppose I am looking at a chair. I could examine it carefully to determine whether it was structurally sound. I could even apply the formulas of mechanical engineering to calculate the chair's load-bearing capacity, to prove that it would carry my weight. At that point, I have enough evidence to convince me that the chair is sound, but I still do not have faith. Faith (choosing to entrust myself) is when I simply sit down in the chair. Also, I can only sit in one chair at a time. Sitting in a chair inherently means not sitting in all other chairs.[3]
Faith in Christ, then, is more than recognizing that we are sinful, and that our sin is abhorrent to God. It is more than understanding that Christ's death for us is the only possible way of satisfying God's justice that still lets us escape from God's condemnation. Faith in Christ means that we choose to depend on Christ's death to pay the penalty for our wrongs and to make us justified in God's sight. We must rely on Christ's death alone - not on religious activity or "being good" or anything else. All those things are hopeless; they can never make us morally right before God. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can do so.
Many people pray a prayer of commitment to Christ; many people are baptized. As outward demonstrations of our choice to depend wholly on the blood of Jesus, both prayers and baptism are excellent. Without such a choice to depend wholly on Christ's death for us, however, they are merely empty rituals that do nothing.
This is not an abstract point, nor is it a minor one. God has provided a way - the way, the only way - for us to escape the condemnation we justly deserve. Will you take it? You must choose to entrust yourself to Christ; no one else can choose for you.
For more information on what it means to place your faith in Jesus, see this page or this one. If you would prefer a language other than English, go here.
Ultimately, God will be perfectly just. However, His concern for justice is not limited to the final judgment. He also cares a great deal about justice here and now.
When we who have faith in Christ do what is wrong, God will not judge our wrong with eternity in hell, but He will still judge it. We will lose our intimate fellowship with God, we will lose some of our eternal reward (I Corinthians 3:11-15), and we may even lose our lives (Acts 5:1-11, I Corinthians 11:30).
Mercifully, God does not leave us at this point either. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9, New International Version, emphasis added). If we confess our sin - that is, admit what we have done, and agree with God that it was wrong - then God will forgive us and make us pure, restoring our relationship with Him. (We may still suffer some consequences of our actions. Also, the reward is lost permanently, because we cannot ever go back in time and re-do the specific incident where we failed. But after our confession, we are forgiven, our soul is clean, and our relationship with God is restored.)
God's concern for justice isn't limited to our individual lives, either. He cares passionately about social justice.
God Himself works to bring about social justice.
When God evaluates a person or a nation, He places far greater weight on social justice than He does on religious activity - even religious activity that He Himself commanded!
God takes social injustice personally. Proverbs 14:31 says, "He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him." Treating someone unjustly is an affront to God's moral character, since He is just, but it is also a personal insult to God, since the person we are oppressing is made in God's image.
Finally, when a whole nation allows injustice to run rampant, God will judge that nation (Jeremiah 22:3-5, Zechariah 7:9-14, Amos 5:10-15). He may not judge them immediately - for which most nation, including our own, should be grateful - but He will judge in due time (Genesis 15:16).
In light of God's concern for justice in society, how should we live? First, we should be just ourselves - we should not oppress, cheat, or take advantage of others, even if we have the opportunity to do so. Second, we should do what we can to defend those who are treated unjustly, even if we do not know them personally, and even if they are not members of our social, political, racial, or religious group. As Isaiah said, "Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:17).
I am just to those who are strangers to me - at least I think I am. But I am still unjust. I am unjust to those closest to me - sometimes to my wife, and often to my children.
Partly this is because the closer I am to a situation, and the more emotionally involved I am, the harder it is to be fair. Also, with the children, issues come up so frequently that I often just want to end matters rather than resolve them fairly. As Bill Cosby said, "Parents don't want justice; they want silence."
Nevertheless, despite all my explanations and rationalizations, God still expects me to treat my family fairly. But as often happens in the Christian life, what I am supposed to do is beyond my power and ability. To treat my family justly, I need God's help. I need the just God to enable me to be a just person. This only happens as I allow Him to live through me, and I am then empowered to live in a way that I never could on my own. I am trying to let God live through me consistently, but I still have very far to go.
God created everything. The enormous variety of plants and animals in the world (Genesis 1:11-13,20-25, Psalm 146:6), all the stars and galaxies in the universe (Psalm 8:3), ourselves in His image (Genesis 1:26, Psalm 100:3) - God made it all. John summarized this point quite succinctly: "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:3, New International Version).
Note that God is a separate entity from His creation. The universe is not God, nature is not God, and we are not God. All these are God's creation, but they are not God Himself.
God being the creator deals a double blow to our pride. We can see that all our achievements are pretty small potatoes compared to God's creation. What's more, since God is our creator, anything in ourselves that we might point to with pride is something that God made in us, and anything impressive we might have done was done with talents that God gave us. We have no grounds for pride.
Since God made everything, He also has the right to make the rules - and He has made them. Both physically and morally, life is played by God's rules. We do not get to make up our own set of rules, no matter how badly we want to.
When we look at creation, it is quite clear that God is creative - not only in the sense of having created, but also in the artistic sense. God doesn't do the same thing each time. He comes up with some very beautiful and very amazing things. He applies this creativity in creation, and also in His dealings with us.
Be careful, then, of thinking that you have God figured out. Don't think that you know what He's going to do next. He may well surprise you by doing something that you never dreamed of. Even when He has given us a promise, and so we know what He will do, He is likely to do it in a completely unexpected way - in a creative way.
God doesn't just create; He also re-creates. In the end, He will make all things new, as He promised in Revelation 21:1-5:
In the end, then, God will re-create everything - heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and the whole human condition. In the meantime, God also re-creates us when we place our faith in Christ. As Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." And from that point on, as we walk with God, He continues to make us new. II Corinthians 4:16 says, "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day."
Does your situation seem hopeless to you? Do you see no possible way out? Even when we consider circumstances to be hopeless, God hasn't run out of ideas. In fact, it seems to me that God does the "impossible" more often by unimaginable creativity than by unimaginable power.
God is our provider. While He may provide through other things, ultimately God alone is our provider - not our ability, not the economy, not Mother Nature, and not our bank account. As Paul said, "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy" (I Timothy 6:17, see also Genesis 22:14).
In fact, God is much more than our provider. He Himself is our Provision, the satisfaction of our true needs. His names show this. For example, to the hungry, He doesn't just say, "I will feed you." He says, "I am the Bread of Life." To the thirsty, He is the Living Water. To the widow, He is the Bridegroom. To the orphan, He is the Everlasting Father. To those who are trapped, with no way out, He is the Door. To those who are distressed or grieving, He is the Comforter. To those who are confused and lost, He is the Way. I could go on, but suffice it to say that for just about every human need, there is a corresponding name of God to show that God Himself is the true fulfillment of our needs. Not what God does - God Himself.
That God provides tells us something about Him - not merely about His actions, but about His character. God has a giving heart.
Do you hesitate to let God have your whole life, with nothing held back? Are you afraid that if you let Him have everything, He will take too much? God's heart is to give; He may take things, but only for our greater good (see Romans 8:28). We need not fear, then, to let Him have every part of our lives.
God provides. However, this does not mean that we can be lazy, quit our jobs, and sit around waiting for God to provide. Paul makes this very clear in II Thessalonians 3:10-12: "For even when we were with you, we used to give this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread." We should not respond to God providing with laziness or arrogant presumption.
But if we can't be lazy, is it really our work that provides for us? No, it is still God. "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.' But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth" (Deuteronomy 8:17,18a). God providing means that, even if our jobs are the immediate source of what we have, God is the real source. He also is the source of our abilities that enable us to do our jobs. But it is ingratitude and laziness for us to ignore the abilities and opportunities that God provides us, and demand that He provide without us lifting a finger.
How then should we respond to God providing for us? "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6,7). This passage isn't specifically dealing with God as our provider, but I think that it beautifully states what our response should be. We should be thankful. We should not be worried or anxious about our needs. We should be prayerful - humbly and trustingly asking our Provider to supply our needs. And we should know and experience peace, even when we have needs, and we can't see how they will be met, because we are trusting the God who provides.
Sometimes I wish that God would provide enough that I wouldn't need Him to provide any more. This means that I am not really trusting Him to provide; I perhaps trust Him to provide for today, but don't trust Him for tomorrow. But the same God who provided in the past, who provided for the present, will also provide in the future.
Similarly, we should be generous with what God has given us. To hoard what we have is to fail to trust that the God who provides will continue to provide.
However, note that there should be limits to our generosity (though for most of us, the problem is not too much generosity, but too little.) II Thessalonians 3:10-12, quoted above, gives one limit - our generosity should not enable other people's laziness. Also, our generosity should not itself be a form of presumption. For example, blithely giving away the rent money and then expecting God to provide by the due date is presuming on God. Instead, we need to be sensitive and obedient to God's leading regarding what we keep, spend, and give away.
Merely calling God "powerful" is an understatement. One of His names is the Almighty - the One with all the power. The Bible calls God this in a number of places, from Genesis 17:1 to Revelation 11:17.
God is powerful enough that nobody can successfully fight with Him. Even Satan can't. Revelation 20:9,10, which describes the very last battle, shows this very clearly. "And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." God's enemies, both human and demonic, are destroyed by overwhelming power, and with a minimum of fuss. (Another good example of God's power compared to demons is in Luke 4:31-36.)
Have you ever fought with God? I have, several times. I always lose, and I usually only last a few hours. (I last more than a millisecond only because God is being very, very gentle.) You would think that some day I would learn: You can't fight against God and win.
And yet, sometimes we see people fighting against God and looking like they are winning, and it disturbs us. We need not be troubled, God will win. He is merely doing with them what He does so often with us - being gentle and patient, allowing time for repentance (see Romans 2:4, II Peter 3:9, and Revelation 2:21,22). It is well for us that He does!
God is powerful enough to be self-sufficient. He doesn't need to depend on our help. As Paul said to the Athenians, "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:24,25).
We often act like God's kingdom depends on the power of our own efforts. But human power is simply useless for advancing God's kingdom. In Psalm 127:1, Solomon said, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keep awake in vain." Or as Pastor Paul Weisenborn said, "None of us is qualified to do God's work."
If we cannot take on yet another ministry opportunity, God's kingdom will not fall apart. His kingdom runs on His power, not on our working ourselves to the point of burnout. Psalm 46:10a seems appropriate here: "Cease striving and know that I am God." Or, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth" (I Corinthians 3:6).
But even though God does not need our feeble efforts to work on His behalf, He still condescends to work through us to advance His kingdom. We do not need to try desperately to make God's kingdom happen by our own efforts, but we do need to faithfully do what He asks us to do.
I saw this vividly illustrated when trying to feed my daughter. She was seven months old, and had pretty much figured out that she had to open her mouth for us to be able to get any food in. But then she wanted to do it herself, even though she didn't have the ability to do so. She kept trying to grab the spoon. When she succeeded, she would try to pull the spoon into her mouth, but she didn't have the coordination, and so the spoon would miss her mouth and hit her face, making a mess. Even when she failed to grab the spoon, her hand was an obstacle that made it harder for me to get the spoon into her mouth.
We are just like my daughter when we try to do God's work in our strength. Our efforts don't actually do any good. Instead, we hinder God's work. (It's not that God isn't strong enough to work in spite of our well-meaning hindrance. However, God will not share His glory with us or anyone else - see Isaiah 42:8, 48:11).
Instead of using our own power to try to do God's work, we should actively seek to yield ourselves to God, for His power to do His will in and through us. (It is easier to remember to do this when we really grasp how totally useless our power is for doing God's work.)
God doesn't merely have power that He might theoretically use. He has used His power many times throughout history. Some examples are creation (Jeremiah 51:15), the flood, the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 9:16, Deuteronomy 5:15), the wars of Israel (Judges 7:2), Jesus' birth (Luke 1:35), and the miracles of Jesus (Luke 4:36). Perhaps the greatest example of all is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Romans 1:4, II Corinthians 13:4). And God continues to use His power. As Jesus said, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working" (John 5:17).
God's power takes many forms. Some of them I don't usually think of as being God's power, such as the gospel. Paul, however, did think of the gospel that way:
The gospel - the message of the cross - is God's power because, when we believe it, it brings us God's forgiveness for our sins, along with eternal life. (By saying this, I am not ignoring the role of the Holy Spirit in making the gospel speak to our hearts.)
God's power is not reserved only for the big events in history, nor even for our coming to salvation. It should flow into our daily lives as well, and be our strength for daily living (see Philippians 4:12,13).
The primary way that God's power flows into our daily lives is through the Holy Spirit. (God gives us His Spirit when we place our faith in Him and are justified. See, for example, Ephesians 1:13,14.) Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit when He told His disciples, "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). This power - God's Spirit dwelling in our hearts - is our source of power for dealing with the day-to-day circumstances of life. What's more, it is our power for living the Christian life, which often means supernaturally rising above our circumstances, and responding in a way that is humanly impossible.
My heart - the person I am on the inside - is a mess (Jeremiah 17:9). It is such a mess that I cannot hope to fix it myself. However, the Holy Spirit living in my heart is God's power to transform my heart so that it reflects God's character instead of my own sinfulness (Romans 8:29).
God's power is always enough. Even when our problems are tough enough to be completely beyond us, God's power is still more than enough. As Paul said, "And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me" (II Corinthians 12:9).
When I see my circumstances as impossible, I show that I am looking at my strength rather than God's power. When my first response to a problem is to try to fix it rather than to pray, I demonstrate that I am relying on my strength rather than God's power.
When I find myself trying to make life work by my own power, I need to stop relying on myself and start relying on God's power - His power to change the situation around me, and also the power of His Spirit to change my heart.
This does not mean that I sit around and do nothing. Rather, it means that I try to let God direct what I do, and that when doing, I try to depend on His power rather than mine.
Also, this does not mean that I will wind up with the outcome that I wanted. God's power is for enabling me to do God's will, not for getting God to do my will.
Depending on God's power doesn't even mean that something - anything - will happen by the time that I want it to. If you are seeking God's power and nothing seems to be happening, be patient and keep seeking to live in dependence on His power. Isaiah 40:28-31 is appropriate here, both for telling us to wait for God's power, and also as a beautiful summary of this whole section:
No, this is not a joke. Even though it sounds unbelievable, God is humble.
Before I am accused of heresy, let's look at Philippians 2:5-8:
Well, you may say that this passage refers to God's specific action of humbling Himself to become a man, and therefore that it doesn't tell us anything about His attitude. But listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 11:29: "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls." He was "humble in heart"; that is, the attitude of His heart was one of humility.
God wasn't too proud of being God to become a man. He wasn't too proud of being the Creator to die for His creation. He wasn't too proud of His glorious home in heaven to be born in a stable (or, as it may have been, a cave).
In John 13:3-5, we read, "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God, rose from supper, and..."
What would you expect Him to do? I would expect Him to teach, and to do so with authority. Alternately, I would expect Him to pray. In fact, Jesus did both during His ministry, but at this point He did neither.
Instead, He "rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded." Knowing several things that gave Him legitimate grounds for exalting Himself, Jesus responded by washing a bunch of dirty feet.
And not just feet. Although God is perfectly pure and totally holy, He is still willing to wash our unclean, impure, sinful lives.
God isn't too proud of being infinite to come live in our very finite lives. He isn't too proud of knowing everything to help us when we are confused. He isn't too proud of having it all together to deal with our messed-up lives.
Though God created us to have fellowship with Him, He does not force us into it. Instead, He humbly waits for us to seek or reject it. (This does not mean that He waits passively. In fact, He may pursue us relentlessly. But He does not force us into fellowship with Himself.) He leaves us free to reject Him, both for eternity and in each situation we face. Let us, then, humble ourselves to admit our need for God. Let us choose fellowship with God rather than reject Him, because the nearness of God is our good (Psalm 73:28).
And rather than seeking to exalt ourselves, let us humble ourselves to serve others, as Jesus did. After washing the disciples' feet, He said, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him" (John 13:12-16). If such menial service is not beneath our Lord and God, it should not be beneath us either.
Sometimes little problems are worse than big ones. As Robert Service, the author of The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew said, "It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe."[4] Well, God isn't too proud of being the ruler of the whole universe to care about our small problems. (All our problems are small to God, but they aren't beneath Him.) He cares about even the really little stuff, like how many hairs are on each of our heads (Matthew 10:29,30). So let us give Him all of our concerns and problems - even the ones we think are too small - because He cares about us and our tiny problems (I Peter 5:7).
"Sovereign" doesn't merely mean that God is the king (though He is). It means that God is in control, and there's nothing you can do to change that. You can't appeal to a higher authority. You can't do an end run around God. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you cannot thwart God's will or His plan. As Peter said in Acts 11:17, "If God therefore gave to them the same gift as He gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"
Nebuchadnezzar knew what it meant to be sovereign. He was king of Babylon. Today we would call him emperor rather than king, because Babylon was not just a nation, it was an empire - the empire of its day. After he ran into God's sovereignty, Nebuchadnezzar said, "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?'" (Daniel 4:35).
God does what He chooses. You don't tell Him what to do. You ask, humbly. If you have been adopted as His child (Ephesians 1:5), you may ask boldly (Ephesians 3:12), but still humbly. God is not a vending machine that will give us what we want if we push the right buttons.
When you pray, is your attitude that of telling God what to do? Or are you asking, with the understanding that God is the One who chooses what He will do? (For that matter, we should listen as well as ask, because He may tell us what to do. And if He is our sovereign Lord, then we should do as He says. As Jesus said in Luke 6:46, "And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?")
But even if I do not obey, God's plan will not fail. This does not excuse my disobedience - I am still morally responsible for what I do - but God, who sees the end from the beginning, has already planned for my disobedience. (See the story of Jonah for a good example of God carrying out His plan even though Jonah determinedly tried to do something entirely different.)
My circumstances, no matter how difficult, will not cause God's plan to fail. Neither will my problems, no matter how large. The situation that I think is impossible doesn't wreck God's plan - not even His plan for my situation.
God's plan will not fail because I have more to do than I can possibly get done. God's plan will not fail because I get stuck in traffic - not even His plan for my day. My plan may be destroyed, but not God's.
Often we work frantically, desperately, as if God's plan will fall apart if we can't manage to salvage it for Him with our heroic efforts. What arrogance! We should serve Him willingly, obediently, and faithfully, but not frantically, as if the weight of eternity were on our shoulders.
God's plan is much bigger than just us. He uses other believers, non-believers, and nature, along with His own direct action, to bring about His purpose. He even uses Satan and his demons. (Satan, like us, is morally responsible for his evil, and will be judged for it, but God uses even Satan's evil to fulfill God's good and perfect will.)
God's sovereignty should comfort us, because we don't have to make everything happen. We don't have to hold it all together by our strength and cleverness. But it is also a bit frightening that God will do what He chooses to do, and there's nothing we can do about it. If you think about it, you begin to realize that you are totally at the mercy of an uncontrollable and irresistible force. The situation would be terrifying were it not for God's goodness and His love for us. But because of God's goodness and love, His sovereignty is wonderful!
"God is love" (I John 4:8) - but that doesn't tell the whole story. Taken by itself, "God is love" is rather nebulous and abstract. It doesn't tell us where God's love is directed.
"God so loved the world" (John 3:16) doesn't tell the whole story, either, though it does tell us that God's love is directed at the human race.
The rest of the story is that God loves you. His love is not just a directionless abstraction. It is not merely directed at mankind in general. Out of all the mass of humanity, God loves you.
Why does God love you? It's not because you're so wonderful. It's not because of what you can do for Him. It's simply because He chooses to love you (see Deuteronomy 7:6-8).
God gets emotional about you - very deeply emotional. He feels sympathy when you are weak (Hebrews 4:14-16). He feels compassion (Psalm 103:13). He feels affection (Deuteronomy 10:15). God cares deeply about you.
But real love is much more than feelings. God loves you not only with His emotions, but also with concrete action.
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). The day after Jesus said this, He proved how much He loved you by dying for you. (As we said earlier when discussing God's holiness, the price for your forgiveness was Jesus' death.)
Paul also points to Christ's death as proof of the depth of God's love for us. "In human experience it is a rare thing for one man to give his life for another, even if the latter be a good man, though there have been a few who have had the courage to do it. Yet the proof of God's amazing love is this: that it was while we were sinners that Christ died for us" (Romans 5:7,8, Phillips translation).
God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die for our sins, but His love doesn't stop there. Neither does His giving. He lovingly gives good things even to those who reject Him (Matthew 5:43-48). And to those who have received His forgiveness through faith in Christ, He gives much more. Listen to His extravagance, beautifully described by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians:
God also shows His love to those who have placed their faith in Him by adopting them as His children. "See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God, and such we are" (I John 3:1a, see also John 1:12 and Galatians 3:26).
We miss the force of this because we miss the full image. John and Paul do not merely mean that we have been adopted from one family into another, not even from a dysfunctional family into a healthy one. Paul and John probably had in mind what to them was recent history.
Julius Caesar adopted Octavian, who became Caesar Augustus, during whose reign Jesus was born. Augustus adopted Tiberias, during whose reign Christ was crucified. Tiberias adopted Caligula. A bit later, the emperor Claudius adopted Nero, during whose reign Paul wrote several of his epistles.
I believe that John and Paul intend us to understand that we have been adopted into the emperor's family, not merely into a good one. The analogy of a street kid adopted by the emperor understates the reality of a sinner adopted by the King of heaven, but it does hint at how astonishing it is that He loves us at all. He has adopted us, not just into His family, but into His heart. We can come to Him, not just as creatures to their Creator, not just as servants to their Lord, not just as sinners to their Judge, but as children to their loving Father (Romans 8:15b).
There is much more that we could say about this adoption - it gives us a new identity, it gives us access to the power and resources of God - but the point here is that it shows us God's love for us.
God loves us too much to allow us to continue to sin unchallenged. Even after we have placed our faith in Christ, sin in our lives still erects a barrier in our relationship with God, and the barrier remains until we deal with the sin (I John 1:6-10). God loves us too much to let us ignore the problem. (It is not good for us to be separated from God, so God is not being manipulative or controlling in doing this. Rather, out of love He wants our relationship with Him to be restored.)
But God is not a disciplinarian, whacking us around and telling us that it's for our own good. Yes, God does discipline us, but in doing so, He is truly concerned for what is best for us. As Hebrews 12:10b says, "He disciplines us for our good, that that we may share in His holiness." (Note that "for our good" is primarily spiritual: "that we may share in His holiness." God is also concerned for our physical well-being - personally, I would be dead if He wasn't - but by far He is more concerned with our spiritual health than with our physical health or material wealth).
And just as God's concern for us is much more genuine than a disciplinarian's would be, so His whole manner is also different. Like all genuine love, God's love is kind (I Cor 13:4) and gentle. In Isaiah's poetic words, "Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes" (Isaiah 40:11; see also Matthew 11:29).
God's incredible love for us gives us tremendous security and confidence. Listen to Paul's words in Romans 8:35-39:
In the middle of this passage, we see our confidence: that, no matter what we have to face, the One who loves us is more than enough to enable us to face it in triumph. At the beginning and end of the quote, we see our unshakable security: that nothing - nothing - can remove us from God's love for us. This does not mean that our lives will be free from great tragedy or deep suffering. But even in the midst of tragedy and suffering, we have the iron-clad assurance that God still loves us, and still deals with us in love. He uses even these very negative things for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).
So when life doesn't go the way we wish it would, we have a choice. We can pine for life to be the way we want it to be, or we can choose to trust God's love for us.
Even our failures and sins cannot remove us from God's love. (However, because of His love God may need to discipline us, as we said earlier.)
This kind of love is tremendously freeing. We don't have to become worthy of God's love; He loved us though we were completely unworthy. We don't have to earn God's love; in fact, we can't. We cannot lose God's love, no matter how badly we mess up or fail. We don't have to work or perform or do something to merit God's love; He already loves us. We can simply rest in His love, rather than having to strive to be worthy of it.
You may feel that you've blown it too badly for God to love you, or that you're so messed up that God couldn't possibly love you. But "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:11). God's love is bigger than your failures and your flaws. No matter how big a mess you are, God's love is much bigger.
In God's love for us, we find our identity. Since He is our Creator, He has the right to say who we are. He says that those who have placed their faith in Him are His beloved, and Christ's bride. This is our true identity, despite what anyone else may think of us, and even despite what we often think of ourselves.
I often don't feel like I am God's beloved. Sometimes I feel like a failure. Sometimes I feel worthless. Sometimes I feel unlovable, and often I do not feel loved.
But even though I fail, that does not make me a failure. Even when I place no value on myself, that does not make me worthless. God has the final say on who and what I am, and He says that I am His beloved.
But still I must choose whether I will believe that I am who God says I am, or whether I will believe my feelings. This is not just an academic choice, because I will usually act as I believe that I am. People who believe that they are loved behave quite differently from people who believe that they are worthless failures.
If we have received God's incredible love for us, our normal, reasonable response is to love Him in return - and love Him wildly, madly, passionately, with nothing held back. He is worthy of that kind of love.
Nevertheless we always have the choice: In this moment, will we love Him? Will we love Him with our entire being - with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)?
Our love for God involves our emotions, but more fundamentally it is a matter of our attitudes and actions. God loves us by seeking our best interest, even at great personal cost; our love for Him should do the same.
In II Corinthians 5:14,15, Paul said, "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." God's great love for us, and our response of love for Him, should motivate us to obey Him from our hearts.
This may seem rather frightening. We might have to give up our recreations, our coping mechanisms, our little pleasures. But living for God's will rather than our own does not need to frighten us at all, precisely because of God's love for us. A love this strong and sure, this gentle and caring, backed by this much wisdom, that knows us so well - such a love we can trust to act for our good. If we surrender our lives to the God who loves us, we will find that He does not leave us emotionally empty and barren, but rather leads us to places of true joy.
Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34). And in I John 4:11,20,21, John wrote,
If God's love has genuinely touched our lives, we should not only love Him, we also should love other people.
Which people? Luke 10:25-37 addresses this question. An expert in the Jewish law was talking to Jesus. The lawyer quoted "Love your neighbor as yourself," and then realized that he didn't measure up to that commandment. So, looking for a way out, he asked, "Who is my neighbor?" But since the command was "love your neighbor," the question really was, "Who must I love?"
In response, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, where the Samaritan helps an injured Jew, even though he was a complete stranger, even though it was inconvenient and expensive, and even though the Jews hated and despised the Samaritans. And then comes the punch line: "Go and do the same." Go and show love to whomever God brings into your path, even if there seems to be good reason not to, even if they are your enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).
Again, note that while this love involved emotion ("he felt compassion", verse 33), love was primarily expressed in concrete action (he bandaged the victim's wounds, took him to safety, and paid for his care).
God is the self-existing one (John 5:26). Nobody gave God life; He always has been alive. And He gives life to all living things (Acts 17:25).
But God gives us more than physical life; He also gives eternal, spiritual life. Jesus' words (in John 5:21, 24, 39, 40, 11:25, 26) speak for themselves:
And in I John 5:11-13, John wrote,
God doesn't give us eternal life apart from Himself. When we place our faith in Him, He gives us Himself. Having Him, we have truly have life, and that life lasts forever.
Jesus said, "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" (John 10:10b). Eternal life is more than merely an unending existence. It is truly "abundant life", overflowing with love and joy, because God's presence brings real joy (see Psalm 16:11 and Psalm 43:4).
Unfortunately, far too often the life I experience is very different from what I just described. The problem, however, does not lie in the life that God gives. The problem is that I wander away from God, and this life comes only through relationship with Him. (Eternal life is securely mine when I place my faith in Jesus Christ. However, I only experience that life in its abundance when I am in intimate fellowship with God.)
As we have explored different aspects of God's character, we kept repeating the same theme, though we never stated it explicitly: Let us live like God truly is who He truly is.
God is awesome. My words haven't scratched the surface of the grandeur of who He is. He deserves our deepest respect and reverence. Anything less is foolishly refusing to recognize who we are dealing with. But "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10). Wisdom begins with a proper understanding of who God is, and a very healthy respect for Him.
In fact, God is worthy of far more than merely respect; He is worthy of our worship, our adoration, and our deepest love.
God is the center of everything; we are not. The universe revolves around Him, not around us. Let us also make Him, rather than ourselves, the center of our lives. He is worthy of that place.
When we understand who God is, we see that if we have Him, we have everything that matters. He is infinitely more valuable than anything else we might set our hearts on. A nice vacation, a new car, a boat, a better job, a large bank account, our dream house, or the perfect mate - God far surpasses all of them. If we have Him, then, we have enough to be content, whatever else we may have or not have. As the book of Hebrews says, "Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you'... [you] accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one" (Hebrews 13:5, 10:34b).
Finally, knowing who God is should make us pray. This was brought home to me rather forcefully during the 2002 Winter Olympics. (I live in Salt Lake City, where they were held.)
I like trains. So I rode the commuter rail line downtown, then walked past the Medals Plaza over to the railroad tracks to watch trains for a few hours. To my surprise and delight, I found a special train. The Union Pacific Railroad's fleet of historic passenger cars (from the 1940's and 50's) was in town for the Olympics. These are wonderful railroad cars - what a passenger train ought to be, but isn't any more. Naturally, my first thought was that I wanted a chance to go aboard and look around.
Unfortunately, this was five months after September 11. Security at the Olympics was tight, even around the train. I approached a security guard and asked if I could go on board for a few minutes.
"No, but you can look from here."
I tried again. "What would I have to do to get on?"
"You'd have to have a million dollars in your pocket." Of course, I didn't.
"Is there any other way I could get on?"
"You'd have to know somebody."
After several more fruitless minutes, I gave up and walked away, still looking longingly at those beautiful old passenger cars.
The Olympics ended, and the special train left. Two days later, we got a phone call from a friend. He works for the Union Pacific Railroad, and used to go to our church in Salt Lake until he moved to corporate headquarters in Omaha.
It turns out that he was the corporate officer on the special train, and would gladly have given me permission to look around. But he didn't think of letting me know that he was with the train until it was too late, and I didn't think of him when the security guard said that I would have to know somebody to get on board.
When I heard this, my first thought was, "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2). If I had known that my friend was in town with the train, I certainly would have asked!
It is the same with God and prayer. If we knew that He is here, if we knew that He is listening, if we grasped how deeply he cares and how willing He is to help us, if we realized how wise He is to know the best possible answer to our cares and concerns, and if we really understood His tremendous power that is far more than enough to handle all the issues that concern us - if we really understood all this, not just with our heads but with our hearts, then we would pray.
And we would pray differently. We would pray less selfishly - for God to be glorified through our circumstances, rather than for us to escape from them. We would pray for bigger things - not just for ourselves or other individuals, but also for nations. We would pray with boldness (Hebrews 4:16), daring to speak to God about matters that we would not yet have the courage to mention to anyone else. We would pray with patience, knowing that God's silence means neither that He is deaf nor that He is ignoring us. We would pray less to tell God what we want Him to do, and more to entrust matters into His hands, and to find out what He wants us to do. And we would pray with confidence - not confidence that He will do what we want, but that what He does will be for our good (Romans 8:28).
God's character matters. It is not just abstract theology; it has enormous significance for our lives, in concrete, practical ways. We can seek to live lives that are consistent with the reality of who God is, or we can live in ways that are contrary to His character. To the extent that we live contrary to His character, our relationship with Him will suffer. (Also, our lives will not work as well, because the way we live will be fighting against God's character, and His character will always win.)
Let us live like God truly is who He truly is.
[2] C. S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity", 1st paperback edition, p. 55, MacMillan Publishing Company, New York
[3] I borrowed the chair illustration from Evangelism Explosion.
[4] I don't know which of Robert Service's works this quote is from. Perhaps some kind reader can enlighten me.
Copyright 2007 by Mike Stimpson. Permission is freely granted to make and distribute full copies of this article, provided that they are not for profit or commercial use.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright© 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.