Creator Revealed (Part 3)

This is the third part of a series of posts on 'How God is revealed through creation' based on a section of that name from Chapter 3, God Makes: Creation in Marc Driscoll's book Doctrine:What Christians Should Believe. 


The first part discussed, 1) that there is only one God AND 2) that He is the perfect union of three in one (trinity). If those seem contradictory, I suggest you read that first bit if you haven't. 


The second part covered the ideas that, 3) God is uncreated and eternal, 4) living and active, AND 5) independent. These characteristics are those that are particularly God's allowing Him a freedom of existence and action that a created being such as you and I do not really have. This distinction and interaction is further described in today's portion. 

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT TODAY


How is God revealed a) generally within creation, b) specifically through the Word, and c) personally through the Holy Spirit, TO BE:
6) transcendent and 7) immanent 


Those are a couple of words we don't exactly use in everyday conversation, so they bear some discussion and definition. 


Let's start with transcendent, Driscoll puts it like this:
"6) God is transcendent.  God is separate from His creation.  there is a clear demarcation between Creator and creation.."



Merriam Webster Dictionary shows four meanings: Definition of TRANSCENDENT
1 a: exceeding usual limits : surpassing
   b: extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience
   c: being beyond the limits of all possible experience and knowledge
2: being beyond comprehension
3: transcending the universe or material existence — compare to immanent (<<<LOOK AT THAT!!!)
4: universally applicable or significant 


OK, so let's compare Transcendent with Immanent 


Driscoll > "7) God is immanent.  Not only is God transcendent over creation, but contrary to the deists' claim, He is actively at work in His creation, sustaining and providentially ruling over it."


Webster > Definition of IMMANENT
1: indwelling, inherent <beauty is not something imposed but something immanent — Anthony Burgess>
2: being within the limits of possible experience or knowledge — compare transcendent


Well which is it?  Is God beyond our comprehension or is it possible to know Him?  Is He outside and beyond His creation OR is He intimately involved and revealed in every bit of it?  To quote the philosopher-poet Forrest Gump, "I think they is both happening at the same time."


Let's consider a couple of examples in creation to better illustrate the point:


The leaf tells us much about the tree, what type, what kind, much of its very makeup, but it is not the tree.  The original tree is still itself without the leaf, it has interaction with the leaf as they are attached, but the tree does not rely on it solely for its existence - the tree transcends the leaf, but it is immanent to the leaf's existence. This is the vine and the branches bit of John 15 where in v5 Christ cautions us that if we will remain in Him much may be made of and through us but that apart from Him, nothing.  A dried up leaf is no longer good for any purpose but to be raked up and burned.  


Another try here:  Among the greatest things I have had involvement with in creation is my children.  My daughters are alot like me, they look like me, they act like me - but they are not me.  I am outside them, wholly distinct from - I continue to interact with them on a consistent and daily basis.  They are to some extent a partial image of me, but surely not an exact copy or even somehow a required part of me.  They follow my counsel and direction only imperfectly and often not at all, to their own peril by harm they fail to avoid or discipline I choose to provide.   If they ultimately choose to rebel against that relationship and ignore their old man, what can I do for them except pray and hope.  If my influence is no longer present, then they will be less and less like me with each passing day - eventually holding only a limited physical resemblance. 


Now consider this same point with another child, the Son of God.  Unlike my daughters, Christ was the perfect image bearer of His Father.  Unlike me and my daughters, the Father and Son are in their very being one and so Christ is the perfect expression of out little problem with this versus that. Because, Christ is the perfect union of God and man, the full indwelling of God in our frail form.  He is the transcendent presence of God made immanent to His created (Immanuel=God with us).  Uncreated became, infinite lived for a time, and the unknowable / incomprehensible Creator became knowable and revealed.  


Christ is the contradiction resolved - unsolvable problem solved - sin reconciled.  IS this the case in your life?  Not just that simple prayer of Christ be my Savior and live in my heart, but really the Spirit of transcendent Creator and Lord of the Universe indwelling in you - actively working and sustaining.  May this be the case for all who believe on Christ for salvation unto life.      

Creator Revealed (Part 2)

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT TODAY

In the first part of this bit we considered points 1 & 2 of 'How God is revealed in creation' from Chapter 3, God Makes: Creation from Marc Driscoll's book Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe.

Now consider how God is revealed a) generally within creation, b) specifically through the Word, and c) personally through the Holy Spirit, TO BE:

3) eternally uncaused;

4) living and active; and

5) independent

Click to --> READ THIS SECTION OF THE BOOK.

This set of three characteristics of God speaks to His Sovereignty. That He as separate and distinct from His creation is the only One with true freedom of action. That is to say He is not compelled to action or externally motivated. Since the Lord is uncreated and eternal, His being is not predetermined by any limitation, whereas we are born into a finite existence bearing certain constraints, the most significant of these being the frailty of life in such a form and an assured physical end.

*** How does creation reveal both the eternality (unbegun/unending) of the Creator AND the temporality (definite time) of the Creation?

The Deists would have us would have us believe that such a God either once existed and now does not or that He brought the Universe into being and then by lack of concern or interest wandered off to more pressing cosmological matters. That is to say His single momentary creative act was all that mattered to His purposes.  That somehow He set in motion some great master Rube Goldberg machine of coincidence and collision which neither needs or wants for His continued involvement and then He just poofed out of existence or involvement.  Interestingly enough the underlying assumptions and key conclusions of scientific creationism are not unlike the Deist conception of this Mad Professor god rather than a living/active and Sovereign Lord over Creation. This is where the 'design requires a designer' argument ends and an encounter with the Creator begins.

*** How does creation itself reveal that God is living and active? What are some Scriptures that reveal God as a living and active being who is involved in His Creation? Listen to the Spirit, even now He speaks bringing life to you and me.

A strong understanding and combination of the first two points adds up to seeing how the independence of God is revealed.  As an uncreated, eternal, living and active being He has need for no thing.  This is true independence of existence, thought, and action.  The opposite of this is fallen man who constantly requires sustenance from the mere creation just to exist.  How then can we claim any ability of freedom in our thoughts and actions when we are bound even by the simplest of needs?  If you don’t believe this, will yourself not to eat ever again – soon enough you’ll understand my point.  Even better, as Christ said – make one hair on your head change color (without dye and gray does not count).  Even more than this limited physical form, we lack independence of will, emotion, or even coherent thought. All that we are, and in fact all that Creation is, is determined by some other thing at some level.  Why then should that other thing in our lives that determines us not be as was intended to be, the One that is not bound by any thing? 

*** Consider anything in creation and how it relies on other things for its existence.  Now consider your own life – what are you dependent on?  Do you rely on these things and/or your ability to secure these things apart from the One Will that is beyond these things?  Have you been living your life as if you alone were the determining factor of your existence or as if some thing other than God were what made you who / what you are?  Admit your dependence and then submit it to God alone.

Creator Revealed (Part 1)

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT TODAY

How does creation reveal (both generally through physical existence & specifically through Scripture) that: 
a) there is One God 
AND 
b) God is a perfect unity of three (trinity). 

READ these two points AND scripture references from pages 86-87 of Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe, by Mark Driscoll. 

1) How are both of these seemingly contradictory statements true (reread/browse Ch 1 as needed)? 

2) How do we as the image of God (even as corrupted beings) reflect this same concept (more on this in the next Chapter on Image:God Loves)? 

3) What are a few general biblical things any person could do to better integrate/reconnect these differing states of being (body, mind and spirit) to each other and God that would be worshipful in so doing? In other words, how can we worship God with our body, with our mind, and with our spirit and how does this reconnect these to each other and Him?

4) Ask God to reveal to you now one very specific issue / sin in your life that is causing you to not better reflect His perfect love. Is this a physical sin, a mental sin, or a spiritual sin (likely an unholy trinity affecting your whole being)? Which is really the problem? Behind every sin is a lie we are believing and continuing to tell about God. Talk with Him about how this dishonors His glory and clouds your perception of Him... Now offer this part of yourself to the Lord as a living sacrifice and act of worship.

Conquered by the King

Spirit of Grace

so full in its force

my mind in place

set on its course

the body must face

the Holy reigns and bit as a horse.

Sin has no hold

there is no allure

thoughts no more rolled

from their purpose pure

my soul grows bold

Christ is forever and always the cure.

Once my sin was a mountain

Holy fear now draws me near

El Shaddai has heard my cry 

I am conquered by the King.

My heart now alive

the world can never

take away this drive

with sin’s hold severed

my soul will thrive

Christ is King – now, always, forever.

Prayer for the Nation and Economy

We bless Your Name Lord.

We know that You are truly Sovereign in all things.

Hear our prayer Father for our Country.

We pray for its economic health.

These are such difficult times for so many people,

and our very future seems so uncertain at times.

Help us to have that peace that surpasses all understanding,

which lies in knowing that You are the One who truly provides for us.

Lord bring to our attention people who are in need around us

and give us the desire and the ability to help them.

We freely admit Lord that much of our current trouble

is due to our own failings in doing business in an honorable way

that is based on true stewardship of what you have given to us.

Help us Father to grow our economy and build industries

in a way that is honoring to you and does not rely

on dishonesty or unfair treatment of others.

We pray Lord for our Nation and its leadership,

Lord direct and guide all those involved in the government of these United States.

For our President, we pray he would seek you and follow you as he works,

For our Congress, we pray they would work beyond political differences 

to make laws that are honoring to You and beneficial to our Country.

For our Courts, we pray they would be just and fair

finding based on fact and law and not be moved by power or personal agenda.

Help us Lord as a people to pray for our leaders,

place it on our hearts daily to lift them to you

that you would bless them and bless this great United States of America.

Help us as a people to find humility in our successes

and hope in our darkest moments.

Help us to find concern and kindness for each other,

based on the love and compassion you have shown us.

Give us the strength to stand for what is good in Your sight and

to reject that which would lead us away from Your ways.

Bless this Nation Lord as it blesses you,

In the name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ we pray. ~Amen

a new coat of paint will not do

In the yard sits a little pink playhouse. My father, wife, and I built it many years ago. My daughters spent much of their childhood filling it with their imagination and play. From the front porch carpeted with blue turf, to the eraser board walls, and the light blue trim against the pink exterior featuring painted flowers along the bottom, the playhouse of their early years was given much thought, work, and care. Great attention was given to the many details that made the playhouse so uniquely theirs.

As time has passed and the children have grown, the playhouse is showing its age and disrepair. Some of the shingles on the roof have gone missing in the many windstorms of the years. The bright pink paint has faded and light blue trim pieces have been knocked off by close calls with mowers. Rot has infested the porch and destroyed the floor that once held small chairs of restful breaks from play. Childhood is so soon forgotten for other less innocent play things.

Now the noise of the Wii, the distraction of gameboys, solitude of iPods, and companionship of cell phones, laptops, or kindles garner the time and attention of young minds limited to what an electronic device allows them to perceive. The excitement of simple play replaced by the boredom of nothing better to do than complain about nothing to do. The only interruption to be the clash of strong personalities which once together created whole worlds of imagination now no longer content to agree in reality. 

I have often thought to refurbish the playhouse and restore it too its old condition, to never start due to a pain inside. On many occasions, I have briefly considered selling or giving away the playhouse and even the playset that sits just as idle nearby. Even at the thought I stop, not ready to acknowledge the reality I now see and know each time I look at the playhouse. There is no repair to be made to what has really happened in my life, there is no way to restore the childhood of my sweet daughters. It's time is too soon to pass. A new coat of paint will not do. 


[I wrote this in July 2010, the day after I wrote this we had some work done on the roof of our house.  Unprompted, the roofers used some extra shingles left from the house to reroof the little pink playhouse.  I call these 'God saying Hi' moments.  Clearly He enjoyed the moment, I know I did.]



[UPDATE April 2012: With an impending move, the little pink playhouse is up for grabs... my daughters progress with startling speed toward womanhood, which holds its own new challenges deep with love and hope for God's peace & Glory to be lived out in their lives.]

a break from Church becomes Worship...

If you are in a place of service in a Church, than you understand how difficult it is to take a break occasionally and hopefully how important it is to do so.  On the Sunday of our 12th Wedding Anniversary (back in October) we took a little weekend trip to North Dallas for some much needed time away.  Time away from kids, from work, from the grind of life, and yes even (especially) church.  

It was reasonably simple thanks to alot of friends who understood the need to step up and help cover responsibilities.  I am indebted to friends like James Woods and Jim Gibson who took leadership of studies that were over that weekend.  I am even more indebted to awesome family members who are always willing to spend time with our kids so Telly and I can steal away.  I am encouraged by ministry leaders like our music minister Steven Sullivan who understands the need for time out.

So I think it took Telly a second to comprehend the thought that I wanted to go to church on that Sunday morning while we were in Dallas ~ it being our Sunday 'off'.  I tried to sell it as a break from our 'regular' service and an opportunity to check out 'something different'.  We woke up late Sunday morning and were moving really slow, but after a nice Waffle House breakfast found ourselves just wandering around right at 11A.  

I had just about talked Telly into going to church when we passed Shiloh Missionary Baptist in Plano.  Now as we made the U-turn at the next street, Telly got really nervous about the idea of being underdressed (jeans and decorative cross t-shirt), not knowing anyone, being late, and not fitting in generally.  I made the comment we should just act like we were completely lost (in the spiritual sense) and enjoy the experience 'as if'.  

Now I admit, I knew we'd never make the front door for I had a pretty good suspicion just how different this particular church was likely to be, but it became clear to Telly just how different when she saw several VERY well-dressed African American families entering the church.  We never made the parking lot - we would have been out of place for more reasons THAN JUST race (she was really most concerned about being in blue jeans in such an environment) and it was way too much for my sweet OCD ridden wife to withstand.  I remember making the comment, I could careless about any boundaries as such but knew it would likely be a disturbance to their worship time so I let it go. (http://www.smbcplano.org/)

We finally ended up wandering through the Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson for a little while and then heading toward East Texas.  Along the way back we listened to some excellent praise and worship music and then a podcast sermon.  Now let me say that Telly is going to eventually learn her lesson about randomly picking sermons off my ipod to listen to with me.  Last time it was a bit on Marriage, which spoke at a time we both needed some tough teaching on how Husbands and Wives should treat that relationship (good bit from Proverbs).  

That Sunday our lengthy conversation about what worship really is or ought to be was serendipitously followed by the random selection of Mark Driscoll's, Religion Saves (+9 other misconceptions), this particular hour (<--- yeah hour) on the regulative principle of worship (<yawn>).  (http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/religionsaves)  

What is the regulative principle you say?  Man, I'm glad you asked... in a very brief nutshell, there is the *normative principle of worship that would allow worship (in a group setting) in any form that is not expressly forbidden by or in contradiction to biblical precept AND is otherwise glorifying to the Lord and includes those things it should (preaching, singing, giving, and prayer) WHILE the *regulative principle allows ONLY those forms and practices expressly set forth specifically in the bible with no addition, novelty, or innovation (at least to our tradition/interpretation as such).  An excellent listen the next time you have an hour...

NOW HERE'S THE POINT... that hour plus of conversation, worship and praise music and hour plus of sermon was the best worship time we'd had together as a couple, ever.  We skipped Church and went for worship on a drive in the Impala.  This is not an every week standard, nor would I want it to become so.  

If I've learned anything in my reading and studying of worship - it is this... there IS NOT and SHOULD NOT be any standard method of worship as we (as human beings) might create it and follow it.  It is likely the repetitious and mundane nature of a man-made Church Service that CAN devastate worship, most especially for the well-versed / comfortable religious practitioner.  This is where forsaking the Lord for the sake of our own traditions takes hold.  We are ultimately Burger King Worshippers, we want it our way... preferably quickly and at a cheap price.  

Over the past summer, we took a three month sabbatical from all church service and leadership for several reasons: 1) it was just work for work's sake, 2) God had been telling us to lay down certain things we just could not for fear of it failing, 3) we knew we had several weekends we'd be out over the summer, 4) we knew we needed to get back to the heart of worship and service, 5) the stuff / doing incorrectly became more important than the people and relationships.  It was hard to take that time off, there were alot of folks who just didn't get it (probably still don't.)  But in that time off, we found exactly what we were looking for, a fresh encounter with the living and Holy Creator of the universe and a renewed understanding of the grace and mercy given to all believers in Christ.  This leads to worship and service which would otherwise be empty and hollow without such vision of the Lord's working in and through us.

So 8 weeks into our recent return to service in the church, we were graciously blessed with a reminder during a break from church.  We serve a powerful and mighty Lord who deserves our worship because of His glory and majesty alone, but even more so because of His concern, provision and love for us.  Don't miss the importance of joining with other believers in study and accountability, BUT don't think that's all there is, or solely required, or even enough.   So this Sunday, wherever you find yourself, worship the Lord (for that matter, delete the 'So this Sunday' bit at the front of this sentence and just WORSHIP THE LORD).