God Redeemer and Love

We can learn so much about God through His creation.

For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalms 19:1 NIV)

Unfortunately, creation seems to give us just enough information to recognize when we are in rebellion against that Creator-God.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. (Romans 1:18-23 NIV)

We need more than a Designer, Creator, Rule Maker, and Judge.  We need a God who is willing to let us come home, even when we have been far, far away.  We need One who will pay the price for our rebellion and set us free.  We need a Redeemer.

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. (Romans 8:19-24a NIV)

Beyond that, we need a God will love us enough to protect us from our enemies, never leave us, and will walk with us every step of the way.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39 NIV)

Thankfully, that is our God.

How about you?  Are you thankful for a God who is Redeemer and Love?

Rule Maker and Judge

It’s reasurring to know that the God who created everything, still holds everything together, and knows us intimately is also willing to provide good gifts whether we walk with Him or not.  Even knowing that, though, we still get a sense that something is wrong when we purposefully ignore or turn against Him.

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground. (Psalm 147:4-6 NIV)

Whenver I would teach this concept to my third through fifth grade class, I would bring out the Game of Life.  In my older version of the Game of Life, the rules were printed in the box top.  After some discussion, we would always come to the conclusion that the company who makes the game gets to create the rules.  The same principle holds true with God.  He created the heavens and the earth - all that is seen and unseen.  God gets to make the rules.

Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. (Psalms 96:13 NIV)

Not only does God get to define what is good or bad, right or wrong, but God also will act as the final Judge in all matters.  This is the part that frightens most people away from God, faith in God, or even believing that God exists.  Usually, a lack of faith is not about unanswered questions, philosophical differences, or theological conflicts.  No, its often a desire to eliminate a moral standard with a God who will be our final Judge.

So, how about you?  Do you see that God is the only one with the right to define what is good and what is not?  Do you recognize that God will be our final Judge?  Does this drive you away from or closer to God?

Provider Designer

It’s one thing to recognize that there is a God who created everything that is seen and unseen.  It’s another thing completely when we realize the implications of that statement.  He who creates it, owns it.  It can get uncomfortable very quickly when we realize that God owns it.  It’s like being the tenant of an apartment.  It’s not really ours.  We may feel like we need to pay security deposit, pay for rent, and take care of it like it’s not our own.  More than that, we realize that our ability to live here is directly dependent on our relationship with the owner.  A bad relationship results in no apartment.

Sing to the LORD with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. (Psalms 147:7-11 NIV)

With God, however, we find the perfect landlord.  He lets us live on the land of His world whether we get along or not.  He even lets us live here whether we acknowledge Him or not.

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45b NIV)

That’s because God is good even when we are not.  We are God’s children whether we want God as Father or not.  We are His masterpiece whether we see it or not.  A good God knows how to give good gifts to His children…and He does.  He designed us, so He knows what we need.

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalms 139:8-16 NIV)

How about you?  Do you see God as your Designer and Provider?  Are you grateful for the air you breath, water you drink, food you eat, and shelter you have from the storms of life?  Do you sense God?

Creator and Owner

I don’t know if you’ve ever really thought about it much, but there was a day before big church buildings, Bible studies, and video streaming of church services.  In those days, people needed a different way to find and experience God.  Just like today, however, God still made himself known to people.  They would first recognize God through His creation.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV)

God created the heavens and the earth and still holds all things together.  But God did it in such a way that we would ask questions and start to find God.  It doesn’t take long, after we enjoy the warmth of the noon day sun, until we move under a tree to enjoy its shade.  When we do, we eventually ask the question, “Where did that tree come from?”  We may investigate, even scientifically, until we learn that the fruit of that tree contains seeds.  We may also learn that new trees spring up from the very spot where the old tree’s seed had fallen.  We learn that a tree comes from a seed.

The questions, however, do not stop there.  Well, then, what tree gave its seed to produce this tree?  And where did the one come from before that and then before that?  Where did it all start?  How did it all begin?  These question send us on a search for a Creator.  That Creator is God.

Of David. A psalm. The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. (Psalms 24:1-2 NIV)

Even today, with all our scientific instruments and methods, our questions get answered only to drive us to more questions.  We put together theories and even recognize laws of nature.  That’s because nature is predictable enough to test and learn how it works in very great detail.  But we still end up with new unaswered questions.

We reach a point, for example, when we theorize that all matter is built upon building blocks called atoms.  Each atom contains protons (which are positively charged), neutrons (which have no charge) and electrons (which are negatively charged).  The atoms hold together until they come into contact with certain other atoms, at which point they can swap electrons and change.  But then this starts raising all kinds of questions again.  Why does this atom swap electrons with that atom but not with that other one?  How do the protons and electrons get their electrical charge?  Why doesn’t the charge ever wear out?  Can I put that stuff into my laptop battery so it doesn’t die in the middle of me writing this post?

No matter how much we learn about creation, it drives us to more questions about creation.  These questions drive us to a God who not only created the heavens and the earth, He still holds all things together. 

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17 NIV)

He is the owner of everything, seen or unseen.  He is the Creator-Owner-God.

How about you?  What do you see when you look at a tree?  What questions do you have when you study science, even in great detail?  Do they help you sense God?

The Path of Life

All paths do not lead to the same destination.  I had this confirmed for me when our family took a trip to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky.  We went to the Natural Bridge State Park to enjoy a bit of God’s Creation and went on what turned out to be several hiking trails.  My experience with hiking trails is limited and I’ve always thought that trails were designed to bring you right back where you began.  This time, however, that was not the case.

Some of the paths would, in fact, bring us right back to the place we started.  Some other paths brought us back to “civilization” but in a completely different spot from where we began - far away from our car.  One of the paths, though, really caught my attention.  It was a “dead end” that brought us out to a spot called “lovers leap.”  Once we reached the destination, there was nowhere else to go.

I have no idea what height the precipice was, but I’m quite confident that continuing on that path and leaping off the cliff would not end well.  It was certain death.

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 16:25 NIV)

The first time we enjoyed the views offered in this beautiful State Park, our family was much younger.  Our son was only two years old and loved to explore everything.  Our hearts would stop whenever he would find a “view” he wanted to see and walk right up to the edge of God’s stone-platform overlooking the sloping mountains below.  We thought it would be easier this time, now that he is seventeen.  Of course we were wrong.  The wonder of God’s creation still took him right up to the edge of cliff after cliff.  He thoroughly enjoyed the views on the walk.  We enjoyed when everyone was safely “down on the ground.”

Stern discipline awaits anyone who leaves the path; the one who hates correction will die. (Proverbs 15:10 NIV)

I’m not sure why people believe that all paths lead to the same place.  It’s simply not true in life and it’s simply not true spiritually, either.  Sometimes paths bring us right back to where we started.  Sometimes paths bring us to a completely different place, but changed for the better.  Sometimes a path, when followed to its end, will lead to death.  Watching the decisions of the people in the world around us confirm that this is true.  I’m not really sure why we act like it is not.

In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality. (Proverbs 12:28 NIV)

God provides a path for us that is easy to see, easy to follow, filled with beautiful scenery, and always leads us to life rather than death.  He offers to walk with us every step of the way, while giving us the freedom to explore and enjoy at our own pace and in our own way.  His path always leads back to The Garden, even if it is in a different place than where we began; and we are always the better for the journey we took with Him.

You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way. (Psalms 18:36 NIV)

The best path to take is the one God is walking on.  It has nothing to do with it being less travelled than the others.  It has to do with where the path leads.  All paths do not lead to the same place, so the best path brings us back to The Garden.  When we walk together with God, we are sure to walk a path that gets us there.  He’s travelled the path before - probably with someone before us.  Even before that, He cleared the path so it would be easy for us to recognize and walk.  The path to take is always the path walking together with God.

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalms 16:11 NIV)

How about you?  Do you walk the path of life?