To me it seems foolish to look around at our universe and think it all came about my chance (without divine intervention anyway)...that at one point a bunch of amino acids came together and formed protein and DNA which came together and formed a single celled organism which somehow evolved into a multi-celled organism which evolved into plankton which somehow evolved from vegetable matter to tiny animal matter which somehow, etc, etc...
This violates two rules of science that I remember learning in elementary school.
1. You can't create life from non-life.
2. The universe is constantly moving toward a state of greater disorder (entropy) not greater order.
If you believe in the big bang theory, then that was a great coincidence that the planets just happened to be thrown in such a way that the earth would be just the right distance from the sun so that life could be supported and that the moon would just happen to orbit in such a way that it would give us light by night. The odds of that happening and then the odds that amino acids would even exist, and then the odds that they would start to arrange themselves in an organized fashion-- from a scientific perspective is impossible. But it happened. It's difficult to ignore the fact the divine intervention is the only way.
So if you can agree that divine intervention is the only way, then why couldn't this god be an all knowing, all powerful being (after all - He did create the universe and all the intricacies about it including astrophysics). And wouldn't it be awesome if this god was a loving, good, "just" god? The fact is that He could be a jerk if He wanted to be. But He isn't a jerk. He is so good that we as humans cannot even comprehend His goodness.
(I'm drifting here but stay with me) One day I woke up and realized how fortunate I was to have a loving, caring husband. Lots of women marry abusive men (through no fault of their own) not knowing when they first started out in the relationship that they would be mistreated. A lot of these women wake up and wonder how they ever got in this position (especially those who don't come from any background of abuse). I can only say that with my childhood being what it was, it is an act of God's intervention in my life that I did not wind up with an abusive husband.
And so, as I was thinking about this, I thought how awesome it was that God is a good god. If you believe in the Trinity, then you understand that Jesus is God (along with the Father and the Holy Spirit). Christian belief is that the church is the bride of Christ. Jesus could have been an abusive husband to His wife (the church), but He is not. He is a loving, kind husband. Christian belief is that at one point Jesus will come back, and He will take no prisoners, but His fury will not be directed at His bride. There is a verse that is directed at the church that says "For we must all be recompensed for the deeds in the body according to what we have done whether good or bad" I Cor 5:10, but Jesus' fury is not for the church.
God could have been a sadistic evil being who toys with His creation. But He is not. He is all good, all "just". So let's just assume that this is truth- that God is all "just". If He is all "just", then there needs to be compensation for wrongdoings. So we as humans commit "wrongdoings". Even if you say that you try your best to live life the right way, you will still inevitably do selfish things, say things that hurt someone else, lie, steal, cheat, etc. So if God is all "just", then there needs to be penalty for that. Eternal damnation a bit severe? Not if God is so good-- so very holy, so very "just". He created the Heavens and the Earth and gave us life, and then we ignore Him and live selfishly. He is GOD. He can do anything He wants. He could send us all to hell.
But what he did was very different. He decided to make a provision for us that would maintain his holy, "just" character. This is the gospel. Jesus came to the earth and humbled Himself by being born in a manger. He could have chosen anyone to be His mother- a queen, an aristocrat, the daughter of a wealthy ruler. He chose the daughter of a common man. A young woman who did not come from money, power, or fame. The man who would be His earthly father was a mere carpenter. Jesus is divine. He could have lived a marvelously decadent life on earth. Instead He lived like the common man, and when it was time for Him to do His work, He spoke truth even when it put Him in danger- even when it made Him unpopular. Then, when it was time, He allowed mere mortals to torture Him. He allowed them to spit in the face of God. He allowed them to beat Him savagely, to rip skin off His back, to taunt Him, to HUMILIATE Him. All the while He was meek and mild and didn't utter one word of contempt or anger. This is the gospel. That God came to earth TO TAKE OUR PUNISHMENT.
Whew. Okay. I hear ya. You might be saying, "well, why would God put us in a position that we would sin? Why would He even give us that option? Why didn't He just create us all good and without the capability to sin? Since youth I have been taught that He did this because He did not want us to be robots- because He wanted us to have free will to choose Him or not. Still. It seems a cruel thing. To create people so that they would have the choice, but knowing all the while that many- even MOST would not choose to follow You- would not even choose to believe in You. Just like any gift, you cannot receive it unless you accept it, so if you do not accept this gift of forgiveness, then you are doomed to pay the consequences for your "wrongdoings". People who choose not to believe in what Jesus did are doomed. If you were God, and you sent your divine Son to take the punishment for a group of beings who did and thought wicked things everyday, and then some of them chose to ignore it or out and out deny that it happened, what would you do? Okay, what would you do if justice was such an intricate part of your character that you could not ignore it without some recompense?
So why did He do it this way? Why would some of His creation be doomed? Sorry. At this point I am a blank. If anyone has an answer that is better than the whole freewill thing, I am all ears. All I know is this- HE IS GOD. He can do anything-- ANYTHING that He wants. So I choose Him. I choose HIM. I choose to believe and follow this god who would even think of letting me into His court. I am a wretch. If anyone has made it this far into this note, then let me tell you- I am an absolute wretch. But I am precious to Him. His word compares His love for the church as a divine romance (and let me touch on that- if God can create the universe, I think He can allow man to put together a book that says what He wants it to say that would survive for thousands of years). There are no words to completely describe the love that He has for me... for ME (an egocentric statement, but let me assure you I say this with a humble attitude). And Laura brings up a good point. The bible says that God chose us before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4) which makes it all even more incomprehensible, and so I just lean of faith.
So there it is. My Christian belief in a nutshell. I'm not a theologian. Far from it. There are many things about Christianity that I do not know and do not understand. It's a journey not a destination. There is no state of nirvana. Even when I die, I do not believe that is the end. I don't believe I will be all knowing and all powerful when I die. I cannot believe that I will be a god. I believe that even after I die there will be so many things to learn and do that eternity is not long enough. The afterlife will not be a boring place full of harps and angels. It will be exciting and everything that we would want heaven to be and more so. After all, God is a good, all powerful, all knowing being. I am sure what He has in store for me is better, so much better than I can even imagine. I think this thought is what brings comfort when I think about believing loved ones who have graduated on.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment