The Apostle John writes that "God is love." But how do we define love? The American Heritage Dictionary defines love as "an intense affection for another person based on familial or personal ties." Often that "intense affection" stems from sexual attraction for aother person. We love them when we feel attracted to them, and when we think we can gain satisfaction from them. That indicates that we love conditionally; in others words, we love a person when they fulfill a condition that we require before we'll be willing to release our heart's affection toward them. We hear someone say, "I love him, he's so cute;" which means that we love because of a physically pleasing appearance. Or someone else adds, "I love her, she's so sweet;" meaning, "I love her because she treats me well." In each case we have imposed conditions in connection with our love.
Our love is not only conditional, it is also mercurial. That is, our love is based on feelings and emotions that are subject to change from one moment to the next. The divorce rate is extremely high in our society precisely at this point. Couples go through tough spots in their marriage and conclude they have fallen out of love. How often we hear a person say, "I still love him, but I'm not in love with him anymore." Evidently, the marriage vow of "till death do us part" means the death of the love that led to the altar in the first place.
When we read that "God is love," we are to understand that His love is neither conditional nor mercurial; God loves unconditionally, and because He is unchangeable in His nature, that love will never die nor fade away. Can anyone comprehend unconditional love? Perhaps the love of parent toward child is the closet we can get to unconditional love, at least without help from the Lord. God's love is truly unconditional, and is not based on any requirements we must meet, or any emotions He might feel. He doesn't love us because we are loveable, or because we make Him feel good. He loves us because He Himself is love.
Why do you think this aspect of the divine character is so appealing to human kind. And by the way, regardless of whether the love we offer ever achieves the godly standard, we still want to know that we are loved without conditions. So help me out; why are we so drawn to this attirbute of God?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
How Wise is God?
The twentieth century produced an information explosion unparalleled in human history-instant access to volumes of konwledge at the click of a mouse. Yet with all we've learned and with all that's been written, man's wisdom is still impotent to answer life's most basic spiritual questions, and to make life's most important choices. With all our accumlated knowledge and technological advances most of humankind still lives utterly foolishly. Knowledge is not enough; wisdom is needed to save us from ourselves.
Because of the expansive knowledge that has been unlocked over the past hundred-fifty years, we can now experience things that before were found only in science-fiction novels. And we can now do things that ethicists aren't sure we should do. Or to put it another way, we now have the ability to understand and achieve things that before were impossible, but not the wisdom to decide whether we should do them or not. Again, what is needed is wisdom, and not wisdom that comes from the direction of man, but wisdom that comes from above, from God Himself.
Webster defines wisdom as "the quality of being wise; the power to judge rightly; and following the soundest course of action based on knowledge, experience, and understanding." Wisdom is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. Wisdom sees the end from the beginning, so there's no need to guess or conjecture. The wisdom of God then is the attribute of God whereby He produces the best possible results by the best possible means. How can we tap into the wisdom that comes from above, from God?
We attain God's wisdom first, by fearing Him. Proverbs 9:10 assures us that "the beginning of wisdom for man is to fear God." Wisdom is vitally connected with the reverence toward, and obedience to God. Secondly, we attain God's wisdom by asking for it. We are clearly taught in Scripture that "if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives genereously to all without reproach" (James 1: 5).
God's infinite wisdom is revealed...
* Through Creation- Psalm 19:1-7; Psalm 104:24
* Through Providence- Psalm 33:10-11; Romans 8:28
* Through Redemption- 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
God's almighty wisdom is always active, and never fails. All His works in creation and providence and grace displays it. And we cannot know His wisdom until we know the end toward which He is working. What is His purpose? He plans to gather a great host of people to honor and worship Him for all eternity. To that end He is moving, and for that end we are called to cooperate with Him.
Because of the expansive knowledge that has been unlocked over the past hundred-fifty years, we can now experience things that before were found only in science-fiction novels. And we can now do things that ethicists aren't sure we should do. Or to put it another way, we now have the ability to understand and achieve things that before were impossible, but not the wisdom to decide whether we should do them or not. Again, what is needed is wisdom, and not wisdom that comes from the direction of man, but wisdom that comes from above, from God Himself.
Webster defines wisdom as "the quality of being wise; the power to judge rightly; and following the soundest course of action based on knowledge, experience, and understanding." Wisdom is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. Wisdom sees the end from the beginning, so there's no need to guess or conjecture. The wisdom of God then is the attribute of God whereby He produces the best possible results by the best possible means. How can we tap into the wisdom that comes from above, from God?
We attain God's wisdom first, by fearing Him. Proverbs 9:10 assures us that "the beginning of wisdom for man is to fear God." Wisdom is vitally connected with the reverence toward, and obedience to God. Secondly, we attain God's wisdom by asking for it. We are clearly taught in Scripture that "if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives genereously to all without reproach" (James 1: 5).
God's infinite wisdom is revealed...
* Through Creation- Psalm 19:1-7; Psalm 104:24
* Through Providence- Psalm 33:10-11; Romans 8:28
* Through Redemption- 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
God's almighty wisdom is always active, and never fails. All His works in creation and providence and grace displays it. And we cannot know His wisdom until we know the end toward which He is working. What is His purpose? He plans to gather a great host of people to honor and worship Him for all eternity. To that end He is moving, and for that end we are called to cooperate with Him.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
How Smart is God?
Who is the smartest person who ever lived? I mean, of course, apart from Jesus, whom I believe would win the medal hands down. It is an interesting question you'll have to admit. I guess there's really no way of knowing, and what would be the criteria by which to judge the candidates? I do think, however, that several folks would have to be figured into the discussion. Sir Isaac Newton invented calculus and showed us how ordered the universe really is. Albert Einstein changed the way we perceive the world with his theory of general relativity. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle formed the basis of modern reasoning, and helped lay the ground work for modern philosophy, though it would be a toss-up between him and Plato or Socrates. William Shakespeare should be included because his plays are the literary peak of mankind. Probably the number one smartest person in the mind of many would have to be Leonardo De Vinci. He was the renaissance man of the renaissance, and had he lived 500 years he would have never reached his full potential. This of course is a somewhat secularized list I know. To be thorough about it we would have to include geniuses in various disciplines, such as medicine, genetics, physics, biology, theology, the arts, politics, etc. And even after we have searched through every discipline, in every era, there still would likely be someone no one's ever heard of who had an off-the-chart IQ. So I guess we'll never know the answer to our question. Of course, there is one person who knows the smartest person who's ever lived, because there is one being who knows everything, and that is the all-knowing God.
The apostle Paul employs the phrase, "the depths of the riches," to express his wonder at the knowledge of God (Romans 11:33). The word "riches" carries the meaning of abundance. It is not uncommon for Paul to use the term "riches" to speak of some attribute of God (Romans 2:4; Ephesians 1:7; 3:16). It is in this way that the Apostle describes the knowledge of God. God's knowledge is absolute, full, and complete. The Greek word "oida" is most naturally used in speaking of God's knowledge. "Oida" refers to knowledge that is grasped directly, without an intermediary. That is, God doesn't need a counselor, teacher, or mentor. He knows because He knows. And His knowing is limitless; therefore the word omniscience is often used in speaking of this attribute. To say that God is omniscient is to say that He possesses perfect knowledge and that He has no need to be taught. In truth, God has never learned and cannot learn. What He knows, He has always known.
God knows Himself perfectly. He knows humanity perfectly. He knows the universe perfectly. Since He created everything He possesses a perfect working knowledge of everything. No matter the discipline, whether it is the sciences, history, the arts, medicine, whatever, He knows everything about everything. And His knowledge is always in His conscious mind. We have knowledge that has slipped into our subconscious, even to the point that we do not have instant or absolute recall. We know things as past and present. With God, however, His knowledge is always before His face, in His immdeiate consciousness. He knows totally, instantly, and effortlessly all truth.
This means that He knows everything about us. He knows our actions, our thoughts, and our motivations. Likewise He is aware of our afflictions and adversities, and whatever may befall us, He knows and cares. He knows our sin and will forgive us; He knows our troubles and will help us; He knows what we need before we do and stands ready to add His sufficient grace.
The apostle Paul employs the phrase, "the depths of the riches," to express his wonder at the knowledge of God (Romans 11:33). The word "riches" carries the meaning of abundance. It is not uncommon for Paul to use the term "riches" to speak of some attribute of God (Romans 2:4; Ephesians 1:7; 3:16). It is in this way that the Apostle describes the knowledge of God. God's knowledge is absolute, full, and complete. The Greek word "oida" is most naturally used in speaking of God's knowledge. "Oida" refers to knowledge that is grasped directly, without an intermediary. That is, God doesn't need a counselor, teacher, or mentor. He knows because He knows. And His knowing is limitless; therefore the word omniscience is often used in speaking of this attribute. To say that God is omniscient is to say that He possesses perfect knowledge and that He has no need to be taught. In truth, God has never learned and cannot learn. What He knows, He has always known.
God knows Himself perfectly. He knows humanity perfectly. He knows the universe perfectly. Since He created everything He possesses a perfect working knowledge of everything. No matter the discipline, whether it is the sciences, history, the arts, medicine, whatever, He knows everything about everything. And His knowledge is always in His conscious mind. We have knowledge that has slipped into our subconscious, even to the point that we do not have instant or absolute recall. We know things as past and present. With God, however, His knowledge is always before His face, in His immdeiate consciousness. He knows totally, instantly, and effortlessly all truth.
This means that He knows everything about us. He knows our actions, our thoughts, and our motivations. Likewise He is aware of our afflictions and adversities, and whatever may befall us, He knows and cares. He knows our sin and will forgive us; He knows our troubles and will help us; He knows what we need before we do and stands ready to add His sufficient grace.
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