Tag: 1 John

Difficult to Define Him.

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It was my observation, if John had aggressively declared that love is only what God is, we would be compelled to say God is what love is (see 1 John 4:8). If love is equal to God, then the God we have defined leaves little space for any other attributes, He becomes a man-made deity. He no longer is Elohim. Let us open the aperture of thought to a larger f-stop. When we examine God’s other attributes, we can learn more accurately about His love. For example, if God is self-existent, then love has no beginning; if Elohim is eternal, love has no end; if the Logos is infinite, he has no boundaries for his love; if he is holy, he is pure in love; if He is immense, His love is incomprehensible.  Now we can say his love is like a sea with no end, and we bend in silence at his grace and grandeur (see Psalms 36:5-9).

Psalms 104:30-35 says — When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. (NIV). Selah.

If we know God, we are compelled to try to speak of His love and grace. Try we must, but none of us do it very well. There are no words in my vocabulary to properly define the formidable and wonder-filled attributes of God. Children reach toward a star hoping to grab the light. Their outstretched arm points towards the love of God. This is the best we can do – encourage others to look up.

1 John 4: 13-18 says —   This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so, we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (NIV).

I am not foolish enough to say – I know exactly what love is. But I can see many things that exhibit the notion of love. We can see love pours out goodwill towards other people. Love does not wish fear for others. John said there is no fear in love. Fear is a painful thing; it grips us and blinds us to a path towards safety. It persists and grows; it smashes our hope. Yet, the moment we encounter love, fear runs away. Fear is powerless over us; that is the impact of love. My mother is many things, but her love can arrest my fear.

Our world is full of trouble and enemies. A casual examination of the news suggests that our enemies’ resolve is strong, and trouble is inevitable. Soldiers are taught to focus on the endgame, get the job done, adapt to the situation and overcome the problem. Their answer to fear is to redirect their focus. Yet, I think, the effort to vanquish fear without addressing the cause is silly. Our heart is wise enough to know as long as we trust our plan to outmaneuver the enemy, we may have every good reason to be afraid; we may have overlooked something, may have failed to ask a question we did not know we needed to ask. But, in the end, we know that fear is a liar. We are wise to focus on love – the endgame.

This is what I know – God is a God who defines love, in the secret place of our heart, we lean on Jesus. Love is not the sum total of God; but it is an essential truth of his sovereignty. Our effort to adapt and overcome fear is nothing compared to his Love. His love casts away all fear. When we embrace God’s love and mercy – fear retreats into the shadows. Nothing can really hurt us, perhaps temporarily, but not forever. Love will win. I choose Jesus.

How do you know me?  

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It has been my observation while reading scripture that word meanings matter. We rest our salvation on the twist of a phrase or a deeper understanding of a few terms. Words matter. I think it is useful to invest time in the meaning of terms we encounter in scripture if we are to have a reasonable chance of understanding the truth in Scriptures. Let us begin at the beginning. Our key words and terms gleaned from scripture should express God’s ideas, we are not idea creators, we are interpreters. The words, themselves should not be the endgame. We say that God is love; we say that God is light; or we say that Christ is truth; we are conveying a truth about God the Father and Jesus. Consider the implications of this example sentence — “My friend is patient.” By making this statement, we are not saying that the sum total of my friend is patience, i.e., patience and my friend are equal; we are merely saying our subject (my friend) exhibits a tremendous amount of patience. The term – is, are, and be all express a similar idea and are used in a similar way. Our subject (my friend) is more than just patience, but he is very patient. The differentiation is an important distinction, one that requires thought.

The attributes of God are collective, together they help us to know something about God and about how he will respond to things. If we impair the concept of personality in God and reduce His attributes to one, then, by inference, we are relegating that specific attribute as our God. We could say God is power. If we were defining God, with the notion that God equals power, would we not also have to say power is God? What if we said, God is mercy. Would we not also have to say mercy is God? When we start accidently limiting God by our terms, the God we have left is not the God of Abraham; He is not the God and Father of Jesus; He is not Elohim, the power behind the prophets and the apostles; He is not the Redeemer of his church, nor the God of the new covenant, and he is not the God of the universe..

Let us push a little deeper into the notion of God’s attributes.  What we are talking about is quiescent attributes vs active attributes. Quiescent attributes define God’s essence. Active attributes define how God interacts all the time with the things around Him. Please understand, this differentiation of attributes is not an easy thing to discuss. Ask three people about this, you will get three different answers. In my view, the quiescent attributes of God are eternal, omniscience, indivisible, sovereign, holy, immutable, omnipotent, and infinite. The active attributes are love, knowledge, wisdom, truth, righteousness, goodness, grace, mercy, justice, and power.

Why does this matter – because when we limit our view of God to only one or two of these attributes, we render Elohim impotent – we limit his activities. If you were part of the community trying to negate the impact of God (progressive theologians), I think this would be a primary goal of this community – limit God’s sphere of operations. Negate the effect of as many active attributes as possible. Deny the existence of all quiescent attributes with a simple theorem – nothing stays true forever. Reduce God to a few active attributes, choose the attributes carefully and then lament of his inability to act or his inconsistent actions over time. This is the underlying goal of the liberal theologian.

When John says, ‘God is Love’, he is defining an essential, active attribute of God (see 1 John 4:8). Love as well as life reveals its presence by its actions. Love is a powerful characteristic of God but is not the sole attribute of God. Love is the underpinning for holiness, justice, faithfulness, mercy, kindness, and truth – to name a few. Because God is immutable, He acts consistently with love. He never stops being himself – ever. In context, John is saying, if we cannot or do not love the people around us, then we do not have God in us, for he loves the people around us – God is love, God is embodiment of the type of love we should and will have for others.  IF WE ARE FILLED with God, He will exude from us, why? He is love. We cannot hold him back.   Therefore, I choose Jesus.

A Still Small Voice

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It has been my observation while trying to make sense of the Book of Job that sometimes God speaks to us with an audible voice, a whirlwind, an angel, a prophet, or a dream. He even writes stuff on a wall (Daniel 5). If we hear an audible or see a big sign, we feel more confident stepping out – we will follow the plan. When he is subtle, we can often get timid. It is easy to doubt what we are hearing. For sure we need to confirm all messages with scripture, but the truth is simple – God speaks in the way he decides is best for the specific situation. We are wise to trust his judgement.

We all experience confusing circumstances (1 John 4:1). Sometimes we just want God to send a text message to tell us what to do. Maybe you feel far from God and want Him to reach out to reassure you He is still there. Maybe you have heard people say the God of the Bible is personal, but you have never interacted with God before and wonder how to begin. The one true living God communicates with each of us.

This communication mode is central to the notion we are created in the Image of God. He always reaches out in the way that is best for us and best for the circumstances we are in (implied in Psalms 143:8). However, never assume he will communicate on your timetable. When you say something to another person, we wait for a response. If nothing ensues, we rapidly follow up – Did you hear me? What say you? Yet when talking with God, a timetable and polite responding is not part of the game. The communication plan is his, the schedule to communicate is his, the message is his. We are told to rest and be still. Wait. Help is coming!

So how does God speak to us? On the night Jesus was arrested, He spoke to His closest friends. He knew that He was going to return to His Father (implied in Matthew 26:47-56). His friends, the disciples, had spent several years with Jesus every day. They never struggled to hear His voice. But this was changing. Soon, His disciples would need guidance every day to make decisions about where to go and what to do next.

Jesus told his disciples — I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own authority; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come (John 16:12-15). The comm plan emerges! And the wait begins. They barely understood what the spirit of truth was all about. But they waited. They trusted Jesus to do what he planned on his timetable.

Fast forward to now – after the second chapter of Acts (the arrival of the Holy Spirit is documented in Acts 2). The presence of the Holy Spirit in your life changes everything about hearing God’s voice. His presence delivers complete confidence that He lives within you and is always ready to deliver guidance. The Holy Spirit is our communications portal.

We read in 1 Corinthians 2:9-13 a description of the communication portal — What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love himthese are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. [NIV]

However, if we are not focused on God regularly, it is implausible to expect clear communication. God often speaks through the Bible. He uses scripture (coupled with insight from the Holy Spirit) to help us live the life we are called to live (implied in 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is full of lessons, experiences with God, wisdom, truth, and the message you need to hear to enhance and give direction to our ‘walk with God.’ Reading scripture on a regular basis is paramount. Getting to know the message is paramount. Learning the vocabulary of God is paramount. The message we hear will always align with Scripture.

Studying the Bible, spending time in prayer, and talking with other followers of Jesus are not just part of our to-do list – these actions are paramount. God encourages us to do these things because they help us to learn about His character and learn to recognize His guidance. However, I would be remiss if I did not say in clear language — If you think you have heard God speak to you, but it seems to be inconsistent with scripture, it is unlikely the message you heard came from Him. Pay attention, verify, then act on the message (implied in 1 John 4:1). Do not let Lucifer or your imagination get you into trouble.

AW Tozer said – the voice of God is a friendly unassuming voice. No one need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it… Whoever listens will hear [God in Heaven speaking].

I think we are incredibly blessed be in contact with the one true living God. The more I learn and write about his attributes the more astonishing I find his attentiveness to our personal needs. Words fail me. We worship a God with undefinable range and power. Then comes us; finite and incredibly frail – needy. Goodness. I am prostrate on the floor. No place else to be. No words left except…

I choose Jesus.

OmniScience Of God

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It was my observation while reading Isaiah 40:13-14; God is saying — who has directed the Spirit of the Lord or been his counselor or has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel and who instructed him and taught Him in the path of judgment and taught Him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Who knows more than God? Do you know anyone? I think not! (NIV) Continue reading “OmniScience Of God” →