Wednesday, July 2, 2008

My God is Sovereign Part 2

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Genesis 1:1

This statement acknowledges a pre-universe era. I hesitate to use the term "time" because I'm not sure there was "time". We humans have time bred into us. We have difficulty comprehending existence without chronology.

The universe had a beginning, and before that God IS.
Without this simple statement, God probably is very limited in power.

New Age has become very popular and even some ignorant Christians think they can mix it with Christianity. Not so. Let me add that New Age is not new. It is at the root of old pagan philosophy called pantheism.

New Age or pantheism states that God, or the gods, were created along with the universe. They are in and part of everything. This means God is in the flowers, in the stars, and part of every human being. Thus we can worship anything and ourselves. We can make up our own rules as long as we are sincere about our beliefs. This sounds so nice on the surface, doesn't it? Yet this system ultimately fails us.
There are laws that govern the universe and no matter what we want to believe, these laws rule our existence. A woman can believe with all her heart that she is pregnant. But this is not what makes her pregnant. She is either carrying a fetus or she is not.

To every action there is a reaction. Have you ever seen steel marbles suspended on strings that when one marble on the end is released into the next marble that the marble on the far end will spring out and then comes back to collide with its neighbor, and the action continues on indefinitely unless an intervening force stops it?

So it is with our behaviour. There is always a reaction either with positive or negative reactions. We don't live in a vacuum. Our behaviour bumps and collides into one another's paths. Even when we are convinced we are isolated we are only fooling ourselves.

Some of the most basic laws that society would agree with are the Ten Commandments:
Don't kill
Don't steal
Don't desire your neighbor's wife nor his things.
Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the earth. (This is an interesting one that many ignore. If you mature, you will long to know more about your parents and grandparents. you will find understanding about yourself.)
Keep the Sabbath day holy. (Practical for good health.)

There is an order to the universe and there is One in charge who is the Author and Founder. He is sovereign. This means that we are not going willy-nilly through this existence called life. Someone - God has designed me and my surroundings. He is outside of time. He sees before my beginning and He sees way beyond my end.
Even though I appreciate the gifts of freedom of thought and ability to change the path in front of me, I am glad, so very glad, that ultimately I am not in charge. Good things and bad things can happen that are out of my control.

I am not the designer. I am the designed. And yet, here is the surprising thing: God is so big and so grand that He permits His creation to be creative. We can change much of our destiny and yet still be inside God's plan.

God is sovereign. He created this universe, this world, this people, this soul.
He has a plan. I am not the center of that plan, but I am part of it.

Love is my next topic for discussion. And after that: failure and sin.

5 comments:

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

...New Age is not new. It is at the root of old pagan philosophy called pantheism.
New Age or pantheism states that God, or the gods, were created along with the universe. They are in and part of everything. This means God is in the flowers, in the stars, and part of every human being. Thus we can worship anything and ourselves. We can make up our own rules as long as we are sincere about our beliefs. This sounds so nice on the surface, doesn't it! Yet this system ultimately fails us.


True.

I wrote on this previously on thekingpin68.

Thanks, Vicki.:)

It can be stated here that the God of the Bible is not pantheistic as the creator is totally independent in nature from his creation. Erickson (1994: 303). God existed before the creation of matter as a purely spiritual being, and was not dependent on matter or anything other than himself for existence. God is not equal to his creation or matter, he is beyond it. God is also not to be considered in a panentheistic context as although the creator does sustain all of his creation through his power he is not the vital force within all he creates. Erickson (1994: 307). God in pantheism may be considered to be equal with a tree. God in panentheism may be considered beyond the tree, but the vital force within it, where as in my view a traditional Christian understanding would be that God is beyond a tree and sustains it, but is not the vital force within it. If God is the vital force within a tree, it could be argued that the tree’s essence is infinite and eternal and I think that this would be error. In contrast I think that God sustains and energizes all of his creation while allowing it existence separate from his own. The tree remains finite although it is sustained by God. When the tree dies so does its essence.

ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

jeleasure said...

Yes, Vicki,
Remember the phrase, "tree huger". I remember having walked the mall in Washington D.C., probably, fifteen years ago. I would just be facinated with the show "new agers" would make in their ritualistic displays of prostrating themselves on the ground or kissing and wrapping themselves on trees.
Very odd belief system for this present day. Those poeople either had a lot of faith, or they just plain wanted and enjoyed the attention.

jeleasure said...

Reply to your comment left on "Journaling For Growth" July 4, 2008.

Here is an example of a "Mature", or "grown" person running out and playing in the dirt:

Another blogger talked of her experience in a friend who claims to be a Christian having a party at his home. When this blogger arrived, she found there was alcohol, cigarets, secular music and foul language. The girl said that she disapproved sharply. Then her 'Christian' friend said, "Christians need to shake things up". Then he discussed that the Bible does not say anything about not using profane language. (I can think of a few. How about the requirements of an elder? Or, do not take the name of your God in vain).
This guy is what I call a periphal Christian. He has been saved and is now living in filth.

Vicki said...

Thanks Russ,
I appreciate your thoughts.

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

Hi Vicki,

I see you pulled an article.

Done that...;)

Great Grandfather Humes

Great Grandfather Humes
Great Grandfather, Charles Humes, started the family interest in trucks. He is in the center of the picture and Great Grandmother, Eva Humes, is to the left of him.