Part I: Breaking the Mould - Misconceptions and Limitations.
One of the problems that many people have with coming to Christ is that there are many things that seem not to make sense on a moralistic level, as the justification may seem an excuse or a religious oversight. I have myself in the past questioned myself on some of the examples that I'll present in this first part, and also show (I feel prove is a rather strong word) why these certain notions are... the way they are (this will make more sense as I further unravel a few misconceptions.)
One that I shall open with is the question, "Why would create us just to serve him? I mean God is God, of course. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving: he has no flaws. God doesn't have a low self-esteem, that idea in itself is ridiculous enough. Therefore why would God create us inherently for our only inherent goal is to serve him, and if we don't, then we go to hell. that means that free will is illusive."
There are many things that have been addressed in that statement, so I'll try to move chronologically (but probably fail in the process.) In the Bible in Genesis 1:27, The Bible says that God created us in his image. This could mean a lot of things, but I would assume that this means (possibly) how he looks but probably mainly emotionally and psychologically, and we share a spiritual aspect as well. ( Notice it is in his image, and image is an imitation - Mirrors are two dimensional. God is all powerful and we are not, therefore we are not direct replications.) As we are in the image of God, once again, God does not have low self-esteem! - He doesn't hate us, quite obviously, he created us as his gem of creation and therefore as an omni-benevolent God, he does not manipulate us to serve him. If God wanted to manipulate us, having all power he totally could! there would be no point in the manipulation if God could inherently just force us to serve him (this wouldn't make sense on a moralistic level anyway.)
This quite neatly flows into the (presented) freewill argument - do we really have free will if initially we only have the two options of right and wrong? and if God knows our future, is it already predetermined? First of all, Yes is the simple answer, We do have free will. Simply having the decision to be able to choose between doing the "right" or "wrong" thing is free will. The repercussions of those said actions do not determine whether it is free will or not. There is constant warfare over our lives between God and the Devil. I feel this is a good place to talk about the Limitations of God.
Now the statement "Limitations of God" may cause some theological warriors to immediately close this tab or rant about how God is all-powerful so he cannot possibly have limitations, but just hang in there. God has limitations because first of all, he put those limitations there, and second of all in order for there to be moralistic boundaries to do right by his own laws, and also because he wants to cater for us because of his endless love. Calling these laws "Limitations" as such then seems rather detrimental, as it would suggest that God has no power to overcome them, so let's call them "Boundaries". Free will for God is a boundary but for us is freedom. It's freedom for us as we have the freedom to inherently do what we want, even if there are consequences. This is a boundary for God, as free will means that God in our daily lives does not have dominion necessarily directly on our actions (although you could say in theory he does because he created us, but that's not a direct approach.) God is OK with this boundary, because he created it himself. Another example of this is our relationships with other people. In Genesis 2:18 the Bible says "The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” This is in regards to creating Eve. Therefore even when God was in his fullness, God created a boundary for himself, that benefitted Adam: He didn't let himself be enough in order that Adam could have a relationship with the woman given to him, Eve. Therefore returning to the notion of free will, free will is a gift from God, as it sets a boundary for himself. God is More than OK with that boundary, as God wishes that we have the choice of choosing our path, and giving us the chance to reject him if we want, but both options are on the table, and we are aware of the repercussions of both events.
To finish this First Part (of which I plan 2 parts but knowing myself there will probably be more) I think that when you come to love God the notion of heaven and hell initially fall away, and what I mean by that is that (and this is in some way the churches fault) some churches go about their ministry by trying to scare people into coming to Jesus. We've all seen the provocative messages concerning the fact that Jesus is coming soon (referencing to Revelations concerning prophecies of the Anti-christ and the rapture) The problem with that is then if people do come to christ this way, then their faith will be built on the fear of a perilous doom etc. And I am not saying that I don't believe that this will happen, I 100% do, and am completely aware of these facts. The problem is that fear is not a healthy state, and when a good tree is planted in rocky ground, how can it bear forth fruit? people will blame Christianity for the wronging of their life, and therefore questions like the ones I have just mentioned will be asked and with no real guidance can be misinterpreted and miscalculated conclusions such as "free will is illusive" will alienate people. Therefore, Christianity needs to be built on relationships, humbleness and humility. The relationships to be able to connect with people on an understandable personal level, and the humbleness and humility to know that the people you are trying to reach out to are as broken as you. You are not perfect because you are a Christian, Luke18:9-14 talks of the self-righteous Pharisee who prays to God saying that he Follows all of the laws, and that he is basically perfect in the eyes of God. Let us not as a church be as that man, but yet humble ourselves to be able to have reasonable conversations and relationships with other broken people and show love, and not cast them out. I know that there are many churches that do this, but that is not what I'm addressing. There are certain cultures that have arisen where worldliness and the Church collide, and the difference between christian and non-christian behaviour becomes indistinguishable. so therefore, Brothers and Sisters let us remember that we are made in the image of God. God shares a relationship with us, and does not entice or seduce us to the church. That's what the enemy wishes to achieve, to seduce us to worldliness. Instead, let us build relationships with others in the same way God treats us.
I pray that God therefore creates spiritual and emotional healthy relationships in your life, and that you have the strength to discern between God and Worldliness. I also pray that your hearts shall be open to the wisdom of God if you ever ask yourself these type of questions.
God Bless.
Comments