God 101

Exodus 33:20 (New Living Translation)
20 But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live."

1 Timothy 6:16 (New Living Translation)
16 He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.

As I can determine from these scriptures, no one has ever seen God's face nor ever will. His power is obviously more than anyone can withstand. Seems a no brainer considering he can create universes with his words. What we can see of God though, is his creation. Romans 1:20 says "ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."

The great minds of the world have gathered for millennia in an attempt to discover the origins of the world and the meaning of life. Regardless of the various theories you may ascribe to, the Bible gives a simple explanation for the origins of the earth and of man.

Hebrews 11:3 (NIV) By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Isaiah 45:12 (New International Version) It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens;
I marshaled their starry hosts.

Genesis 1:26 (New International Version) Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

While many may say it takes blind faith to believe in creation or God, I would suggest that it is no more likely that the intricacies of this world and those found in a single drop of pond water could have spontaneously developed from some primordial stew anymore than they could from a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle on you pantry shelf. In my opinion, it is far easier to see the hand of intelligent design in the vast ecosystems found in our world, than to believe that life came from some chance spark and kept mutating into the vast number of living species on earth today. And if this spark created life, how many other "coincidances" had to take place to have an environment in which this primordial cell could survive and reproduce. Food for thought, one amoeba contains the equivalent of 125 encyclopedias worth of DNA information that allow for it to live and replicate. How much more for us. This kind of order and planning does not come from chaos anymore than finding your Alphabets cereal spelled out your name at breakfast when you looked in the bowl!

If there is one thing that most people in this world don't understand or believe, it is that God is madly in love with us. He is not mad at you. He loves you. I hope the following verses give you a picture of his love for you!

Jeremiah 31:3 (New International Version) The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

Psalm 36: 7 How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

Romans 5: 8 God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2: 4 God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us.

Romans 8: 38-39 I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16 (New International Version) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God has been misrepresented for centuries by well-meaning religious folks who think he is sitting up in heaven gritting his teeth at the human race. Half of the reason I think he has been portrayed this way is because spiritual leaders have used this picture of God in an attempt to scare people into living holy.

The funny thing is, it doesn't work! The Bible actually says in Romans 2:4 (New Living Translation) "Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?"

God is kind, not mean. He is patient with us! He hopes to win us over with his love not his anger. 2 Peter 3:9 (New Living Translation) says,"The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent."

Ephesians 4:4-6 "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."

Matthew 28:18-20 "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'"

The trinity is a mind boggling thing. While the exact word cannot be found in the Bible, the concept is clearly show through many verses in scripture. So, how can they be 3 persons and yet one God? My feeble attempt to grasp the concept of the trinity is this. I believe that God has a family. His family consist of himself, his son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Just as my husband, my children and I are one family. We have four persons in our family, but we are one family. The trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Theologians can dispute this with me, and that is just fine. How I view the trinity does not affect my belief in God or the claims made in the Bible. So my analogy is just that, an analogy. A way for my tiny brain to grasp the vastness of an indescribable God.

John 1:18 (New Living Translation)" No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, (Jesus) is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us." Jesus and the life he lived gives us a snapshot of what the Father God is like.

Colossians 1:15 (New International Version) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

You have heard it said, "Like Father , like son." This case is no different. Jesus is a living picture of God in the flesh. Look at Jesus and his life and you will see what the Father God is like. John 14:7 (New International Version) says, "If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." If you want to see more of the Father God begin looking at Jesus. For more info see my upcoming lens Jesus 101.

I remember the horrible day my husband and I had off from work and watched in horror as the tragedy of 9/11 happened. Since that sad day and other tragedies like the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, I have heard it said many times, "If God is a god of love, then why do bad things happen to good people? If I were God, I wouldn't allow all the tragedies that happen in our world!" The God of the universe has gotten a bad rap. He gets blamed for all the bad things that happen in our world from earthquakes, tornadoes and other natural disasters to sicknesses; from accidents to acts of terror and outright madness. He is often accused of the very things that anyone in their right mind should assume come from the devil himself. Afterall, the Bible says in John 10:10 "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

So why do we blame God? I think it is because we know he is all powerful, and thus we assume that means he controls everything in the universe too. Want a big surprise?...He doesn't! What?!! Before I get comments about heresy, let me suggest this. God created man in his own image. With this creation he gave man something called free will. Free will is just simply that, the freedom to choose whatever it is we want. We are not robots, nor did he want us to be. Who wants a friendship with someone who is being forced to like them. We all would much rather choose to be with people who want to be with us. God is no different. When God made man he took the risk that not everyone would love him or choose to follow him. We all live with the benefits and liabilities that come with that freedom.

The evil that is in this world is a result of the freedom that man has to do whatever he wants. And living in this world, we are subject to the choices of others. Ultimately, we are all subject to the choice of the first man and woman created. Their choices brought evil into our world and a curse on the earth. All disasters natural and otherwise stem from their choice to disobey God's orders. So, before you blame God for all that is evil in the world, those of you who are parents should know and remember that while you have created your children, you cannot control their choices. You may want them to do things that will be best for them and those around them, but they may choose differently! Mankind is no different with God.

I believe God is as close as a prayer on your lips. Skeptical of his existence? It costs you nothing to simply speak a simple prayer, "Lord, if you are real, show yourself to me. I would like to get to know you." I challenge you to try this yourself. He is waiting to hear from you today.

Proverbs 8:17 (NIV) I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.