It's a messed up world out there! One really can see this, quite easily, while driving in traffic or in interpersonal relationships. God's perfect creation was tainted by sin, broken and cursed. What was it meant to be like? Scripture hints at it, Jesus embodies it and Revelation promises a re-creation, of sorts.
Yet.... There are countless, breath-taking examples of God's magnificent creative abilities. One can see this, quite easily, as well. My favorite scenario: A walk in a piney woods perhaps in the Great Smokies, just taking in the sounds, sights and smells. The peacefulness that comes from siting beside a stream and just taking it in. The smell and feel of a baby, the energy and naivete of a toddler, snuggling along with a favorite pet. Can you imagine the list we could make of the beauty all around us? Want to make one?
The same concepts can be associated with us humans. WE aren't what we were intended to be, are we? We are haunted by our flesh, our sin nature. We were born with it, and with it comes a life-long battle to overcome it. We don't do what we internally realize we ought, as Paul suggests. It is frustrating.
Yet.... There is glorious freedom in knowing that God has created us with a value based simply upon His Glory. We are loved and valued. He has sent His begotten into the world to provide us with forgiveness. He has patiently waited for us to hear his voice, feel His welcome and accept His Grace. So we live with this battle between who we are and who we were meant to be.
There is wonderful beauty and hope in this creation. It will be even better; so much better that we cannot even imagine it. Thus with us. We will be resurrected and new, yet we have inherent value in being God's children. That hope spurs us on to work at living a life that glorifies a most amazing Creator, Father and King.
Praise our God.
Showing posts with label God's created. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's created. Show all posts
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Friday, July 10, 2015
So what about before we were born...?
Well, if what I have learned both from scripture and from Christian teachers and
friends is accurate, God has been involved with our lives from the get-go! That's
a weird way of saying that His involvement is complete.
So we know that He knows the days of our lives like the pages of a book, that He
knitted us, His created, in the womb, that he knows each hair on our heads and values
us in a way we aren't capable of understanding. We know that we are immortal, that
we will, after death, spend eternity in one of two places with or without our Father
in heaven. We also know that our Father is absolutely omniscient, sovereign and aware
of everything, which means this is multi-tasking at its best!
But what about before we were conceived? Our purpose, here on this earth, a place
alien to us as ones saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, is to glorify God, to
bring glory to Him and enjoy our relationship with Him. Our future is life in a new
earth and a new heaven. That we have assurance of through the works of Jesus; yet,
what was the nature of us before we were conceived?
No, we didn't come back after being an Oak tree, this isn't our fifteenth lifetime as
we strive, alone, to be perfect and we have been given a name in the book of life that
only God knows. I believe that it would make no sense for us to simply not have
been before we were created. Part of the dilemma, here, has to be our concept of
time, something that God also created to help us. Its linear, as we understand it, but
we may not really understand it at all. It makes sense that we were created
right there in Genesis 1 at a "time" when all were created. Our presence in this
'time and space capsule,' as Alistair Begg likes to say, is a part of God's perfect
plan...He is, after all, both Good and Correct. The fact that we have appeared
here and now, does not mean that before we appeared, we weren't.
The whole predestination thing is an issue for another time, but predetermination,
the idea that we were always from the moment God created, makes sense if we are,
indeed, immortal! We are here with a purpose, were created for the right time
to be here and are on our way, through the grace and love of God, to an eternity
with our Father, His precious Son and Spirit, our friends and family in Christ and
this has been our story since God spoke all into existence.
That's my belief and I'm sticking with it! Praise our God and Father!
friends is accurate, God has been involved with our lives from the get-go! That's
a weird way of saying that His involvement is complete.
So we know that He knows the days of our lives like the pages of a book, that He
knitted us, His created, in the womb, that he knows each hair on our heads and values
us in a way we aren't capable of understanding. We know that we are immortal, that
we will, after death, spend eternity in one of two places with or without our Father
in heaven. We also know that our Father is absolutely omniscient, sovereign and aware
of everything, which means this is multi-tasking at its best!
But what about before we were conceived? Our purpose, here on this earth, a place
alien to us as ones saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, is to glorify God, to
bring glory to Him and enjoy our relationship with Him. Our future is life in a new
earth and a new heaven. That we have assurance of through the works of Jesus; yet,
what was the nature of us before we were conceived?
No, we didn't come back after being an Oak tree, this isn't our fifteenth lifetime as
we strive, alone, to be perfect and we have been given a name in the book of life that
only God knows. I believe that it would make no sense for us to simply not have
been before we were created. Part of the dilemma, here, has to be our concept of
time, something that God also created to help us. Its linear, as we understand it, but
we may not really understand it at all. It makes sense that we were created
right there in Genesis 1 at a "time" when all were created. Our presence in this
'time and space capsule,' as Alistair Begg likes to say, is a part of God's perfect
plan...He is, after all, both Good and Correct. The fact that we have appeared
here and now, does not mean that before we appeared, we weren't.
The whole predestination thing is an issue for another time, but predetermination,
the idea that we were always from the moment God created, makes sense if we are,
indeed, immortal! We are here with a purpose, were created for the right time
to be here and are on our way, through the grace and love of God, to an eternity
with our Father, His precious Son and Spirit, our friends and family in Christ and
this has been our story since God spoke all into existence.
That's my belief and I'm sticking with it! Praise our God and Father!
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