J. B. Phillips wrote the book Your God Is Too Small. And Martin Luther replied to Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam that his God is too small too, in that he said, "Your thoughts of God are too human!"
J. I. Packer says he hears often: "I like to think of God as the great Architect (or Mathematician or even Artist)." "I don't think of God as a Judge," "I like to think of him simply as a Father." This is a prime example of putting God in a box or limiting God who is infinite and cannot be defined.
We don't define or label God (He only can do this), but He can do that to us. Like a psychiatrist that labels a patient as manic-depressive, Jesus cannot be labeled by a shrink; he is too balanced and normal! It is obvious that Christ was in full possession of His faculties, even though He claimed outright deity: His teachings are not the rantings and ravings of a madman. "Canst thou by search find out [figure God out] God?" (Job 11:7). There is always more to God than we apprehend, and we will be learning about God and getting to know Him throughout eternity (the finite cannot contain(or grasp) the infinite, the Greeks said).
"With God nothing shall be impossible," (Luke 1:37). But God cannot be God, or do something against or contrary to His essence or nature. God is logical; therefore, we have math and reasoning ability and we can reason with God. Can God make 1 + 1 = 3? No, that is not a question of the omnipotence (God is almighty) or plenipotence of God, but a matter of arithmetic! Can God make a stone too big to lift? No! No matter how you answer the question, you are limiting God.
In the same reality, an immovable stone, and an unlimited force cannot exits--it's that simple (either way God would cease being God and there are certain things God has decided not to do). God is so so big that everything is small to Him! His love is so great that no detail or trivia is too small (like the number of the hairs on your head or the lighting of a sparrow. Conversely, nothing is too big for God, since he is bigger than everything.
Don't ever think that some request you have for God is a "bother" or too insignificant to waste God's time (God does not live in the time-space continuum and time is irrelevant to Him!). Just because something hasn't happened before doesn't mean it cannot happen--there's always a first time. Don't ever get discouraged by statistics or odds, such as in recovery from illness!
How else do we limit God and make Him out to be too small? You cannot limit the attributes of God! For instance, you cannot say that God cannot forgive suicide or some heinous sin (even Judas could have been forgiven and Hitler could have had deathbed repentance)--that is limiting the love and mercy of God. With God, forgiveness is a matter of quality, not quantity. If we limit God in any way our God is too small.
Putting God in a box is the third way to have a small God: Whenever you say, "I like to think of God as so and so." Einstein thought of God as a mathematical mind and superior reasoning power revealed in the universe. Some people like to think of God as a sentimental old Grandfather who dotes on us and spoils us, even being slightly senile and permissive. Other's think of God (and they did this in antiquity) that God is like us, only more so--in other words he also lusts and just has superhuman strength like Zeus. and Hercules his son. The philosophers were embarrassed at their mythical gods. Some people merely say, "I like to think of God as a mean Judge or a good Father. Remember that we are imago Dei or in the image of God and we must be less than Him and not vice versa.
Examples to ponder: The Indians thought of God as a Great Spirit in the sky. The Romans thought Jews were atheists because they worshiped a God they couldn't see and was just in their imaginations or mind. We could say God is Mr. Nice Guy and just think that God is always nice and never stern or strict, but a pushover and easygoing as it were. We have a saying in Minnesota that we call something "Minnesota nice." Jonathan Edwards, initiating the Great Awakening, in 1741 preached the sermon: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry [God is also love] God." I understand that God defines what nice is, but we tend to put God in a box when we go "beyond that which is written" and make our own definitions of God: It is true that God is love; God is light; God is true, God is love, et cetera, because these expressions are biblical. Be aware that when we say, "God is good," we are to also realize that Romans 11:22 says, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity [sternness] of God." That is, never one at the expense of the other or compromising the other. [Emphasis mine.]
It is a sin to presume on God's nature: "God will forgive me, for that's His business," it has been said. When we know something is a sin and deliberately insist on doing it, it is presumptuous and willful sin and David asked God to keep him from this in Psalm 19:13 says, "Keep me from willful sin (presumptuous sin)." I do not believe in the doctrine of "entire sanctification" or perfectionism wherein we no longer willing sin and can say, unlike the apostle Paul, that we have "arrived."
Finally, because we are the offspring of God, as Paul said in Acts 17:28 saying, " ... As some of your poets have said, 'We are His offspring.''' What this implies is that there is no evolution--we have devolved and gotten worse, not better. God is greater than man because He created us and you have to be greater than something to create it. We are in His image implies that we alone can communicate with God and are made for Him and His pleasure.
Another way we limit God is to take one attribute at the expense of the others and believe in a just God, but not a loving and merciful God. Note that mercy is withholding justice or what is due, and grace is going beyond and giving what we don't deserve, instead of our due (which is justice). You cannot always say that God shows justice to everyone because He withholds it in mercy and grace in some of His choosing, but He is unjust to no one! Not showing justice or non-justice is not injustice and the Supreme Judge has this right at His discretion, We can say that God is just, but not justice epitomized! The Bible says not only that God loves, but that He is love (this is the very essence of His character and the Bible doesn't say He has love either). It doesn't say God is goodness, but that He is good; there is a nuance of meaning here to recognize. To reiterate: Having mercy and showing grace are not forms of injustice! We say that the holiness of God regulates His attributes and keeps them in balance to that we cannot put God in a box: God is infinite by definition!
Some people like to think of Jesus as the nice one, the Father as the stern one, and the Holy Spirit as the mysterious one! Jesus said that if we have seen (beheld) Him, we have seen the Father. To believe is to see, not to see is to believe ("But we see Jesus..." (Hebrews 2:9). What Jesus meant is that He is the ikon or image of God and everything we need to know or see is in beholding Him "Look to Me and be saved," (Isaiah 45:22). There is nothing "un-Jesus-like" in the Father and so forth; one is not "nicer" than the other or has more of the attributes: They are co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent. They all have the same essence even though they are different persons and we say there is merely one God and we must find God's will and seek God's glory. (Soli Deo Gloria!)
In summation, if we limit God, we are limiting ourselves and what we can become in Christ, who is the ikon, the image of God (cf. Col. 1:15). Soli Deo Gloria!
J. I. Packer says he hears often: "I like to think of God as the great Architect (or Mathematician or even Artist)." "I don't think of God as a Judge," "I like to think of him simply as a Father." This is a prime example of putting God in a box or limiting God who is infinite and cannot be defined.
We don't define or label God (He only can do this), but He can do that to us. Like a psychiatrist that labels a patient as manic-depressive, Jesus cannot be labeled by a shrink; he is too balanced and normal! It is obvious that Christ was in full possession of His faculties, even though He claimed outright deity: His teachings are not the rantings and ravings of a madman. "Canst thou by search find out [figure God out] God?" (Job 11:7). There is always more to God than we apprehend, and we will be learning about God and getting to know Him throughout eternity (the finite cannot contain(or grasp) the infinite, the Greeks said).
"With God nothing shall be impossible," (Luke 1:37). But God cannot be God, or do something against or contrary to His essence or nature. God is logical; therefore, we have math and reasoning ability and we can reason with God. Can God make 1 + 1 = 3? No, that is not a question of the omnipotence (God is almighty) or plenipotence of God, but a matter of arithmetic! Can God make a stone too big to lift? No! No matter how you answer the question, you are limiting God.
In the same reality, an immovable stone, and an unlimited force cannot exits--it's that simple (either way God would cease being God and there are certain things God has decided not to do). God is so so big that everything is small to Him! His love is so great that no detail or trivia is too small (like the number of the hairs on your head or the lighting of a sparrow. Conversely, nothing is too big for God, since he is bigger than everything.
Don't ever think that some request you have for God is a "bother" or too insignificant to waste God's time (God does not live in the time-space continuum and time is irrelevant to Him!). Just because something hasn't happened before doesn't mean it cannot happen--there's always a first time. Don't ever get discouraged by statistics or odds, such as in recovery from illness!
How else do we limit God and make Him out to be too small? You cannot limit the attributes of God! For instance, you cannot say that God cannot forgive suicide or some heinous sin (even Judas could have been forgiven and Hitler could have had deathbed repentance)--that is limiting the love and mercy of God. With God, forgiveness is a matter of quality, not quantity. If we limit God in any way our God is too small.
Putting God in a box is the third way to have a small God: Whenever you say, "I like to think of God as so and so." Einstein thought of God as a mathematical mind and superior reasoning power revealed in the universe. Some people like to think of God as a sentimental old Grandfather who dotes on us and spoils us, even being slightly senile and permissive. Other's think of God (and they did this in antiquity) that God is like us, only more so--in other words he also lusts and just has superhuman strength like Zeus. and Hercules his son. The philosophers were embarrassed at their mythical gods. Some people merely say, "I like to think of God as a mean Judge or a good Father. Remember that we are imago Dei or in the image of God and we must be less than Him and not vice versa.
Examples to ponder: The Indians thought of God as a Great Spirit in the sky. The Romans thought Jews were atheists because they worshiped a God they couldn't see and was just in their imaginations or mind. We could say God is Mr. Nice Guy and just think that God is always nice and never stern or strict, but a pushover and easygoing as it were. We have a saying in Minnesota that we call something "Minnesota nice." Jonathan Edwards, initiating the Great Awakening, in 1741 preached the sermon: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry [God is also love] God." I understand that God defines what nice is, but we tend to put God in a box when we go "beyond that which is written" and make our own definitions of God: It is true that God is love; God is light; God is true, God is love, et cetera, because these expressions are biblical. Be aware that when we say, "God is good," we are to also realize that Romans 11:22 says, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity [sternness] of God." That is, never one at the expense of the other or compromising the other. [Emphasis mine.]
It is a sin to presume on God's nature: "God will forgive me, for that's His business," it has been said. When we know something is a sin and deliberately insist on doing it, it is presumptuous and willful sin and David asked God to keep him from this in Psalm 19:13 says, "Keep me from willful sin (presumptuous sin)." I do not believe in the doctrine of "entire sanctification" or perfectionism wherein we no longer willing sin and can say, unlike the apostle Paul, that we have "arrived."
Finally, because we are the offspring of God, as Paul said in Acts 17:28 saying, " ... As some of your poets have said, 'We are His offspring.''' What this implies is that there is no evolution--we have devolved and gotten worse, not better. God is greater than man because He created us and you have to be greater than something to create it. We are in His image implies that we alone can communicate with God and are made for Him and His pleasure.
Another way we limit God is to take one attribute at the expense of the others and believe in a just God, but not a loving and merciful God. Note that mercy is withholding justice or what is due, and grace is going beyond and giving what we don't deserve, instead of our due (which is justice). You cannot always say that God shows justice to everyone because He withholds it in mercy and grace in some of His choosing, but He is unjust to no one! Not showing justice or non-justice is not injustice and the Supreme Judge has this right at His discretion, We can say that God is just, but not justice epitomized! The Bible says not only that God loves, but that He is love (this is the very essence of His character and the Bible doesn't say He has love either). It doesn't say God is goodness, but that He is good; there is a nuance of meaning here to recognize. To reiterate: Having mercy and showing grace are not forms of injustice! We say that the holiness of God regulates His attributes and keeps them in balance to that we cannot put God in a box: God is infinite by definition!
Some people like to think of Jesus as the nice one, the Father as the stern one, and the Holy Spirit as the mysterious one! Jesus said that if we have seen (beheld) Him, we have seen the Father. To believe is to see, not to see is to believe ("But we see Jesus..." (Hebrews 2:9). What Jesus meant is that He is the ikon or image of God and everything we need to know or see is in beholding Him "Look to Me and be saved," (Isaiah 45:22). There is nothing "un-Jesus-like" in the Father and so forth; one is not "nicer" than the other or has more of the attributes: They are co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent. They all have the same essence even though they are different persons and we say there is merely one God and we must find God's will and seek God's glory. (Soli Deo Gloria!)
In summation, if we limit God, we are limiting ourselves and what we can become in Christ, who is the ikon, the image of God (cf. Col. 1:15). Soli Deo Gloria!
Your faith can't be bigger than your God; think big! Our relationship and concept of God should grow, not be static.
ReplyDeleteChildren get some of their first impressions of God from their parents, who stand in loco Dei or in the place of God. Having a poor father image does interfere with one's relationship and concept of God's nature and acceptance of Him as one's Father. Freud thought that religion was just a throwback to our need for a father image, but all of us have a so-called crutch and a "god" of some kind and unless we are Christians, we are idolaters worshiping a false God.
ReplyDelete