Thursday, November 20, 2008

Mere Reflections of Truth

God is big.  I mean huge.  But at the same time He's small.  Small enough to "live in your heart" as they say.  Does anyone see the paradox there?  God is pure spirit and yet was fully human in the form of Jesus Christ.  It doesn't make any sense!  Perhaps that is why people believe.  Physical nature deals in example.  In experience.  In tests.  The spiritual nature doesn't understand that.  Perhaps the greatest example is that of God's love.

People have tried to qualify the love of God for years.  In many cases, the concept has become an effort to disprove the existence of God.  

'If God is love, why does evil exist?' 

'If God is love, why do bad things happen to good people?'

But to the true Christian these statements don't need to be qualified.  God is love in the good and the bad.  Everything is willed by Him, and for us to believe in His love is believe in His existence, His very Being.  It is not a kind of love that can be qualified like the weaker version of human love that we try to compare to it, but rather one that goes beyond explanation.  It precedes experience.  It goes beyond tests.  The love of God is beyond complete human understanding.

As is the ultimate truth of who or what God is.  This blog is an attempt to bridge the gaps of knowledge along the road we call life.  Paul teaches in Ephesians 4 that unity within the body leads to spiritual development and the growth of the knowledge of God within that body.  This is an attempt at reaching that goal as well.  I'm seeking to search my own soul and thoughts, but also to use those searchings and thoughts to spark discussion within a communal setting--to allow this body of believers to discuss and grow in their knowledge of God.

Because we're never going to know it all, are we?  But the Bible teaches us that together we can learn much more than we can individually.  We can gain a fuller understanding of the Word.  We can get closer to the heart of God together than we ever could apart.  We can begin to dust off the glass to see the Being and love of God for what it is, with greater clarity and fullness than we could have ever imagined.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. -1 Corinthians 13: 8-13

I look forward to striving towards fully knowing God together as a community.  I pray that His love will continue to overflow in your life, and that you can testify to the love of God no matter what experiences you face.

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