Does God have a right to create us, other than being all powerful so that he can do what he wants?
This is from the our current Sunday School class study in John 14. It is well worth repeating for emphasis. Remember God does what he does only out of the richness and purity of his character, and unlike man, he can never act in a way that is outside of his character.
1 Cor. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love 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. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When 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. 12 Now 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. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)
This scripture about love is something we usually think that God is telling us to desire. But this scripture is also really the clearest, and most succinct description of God’s own character. I tend to be a very concrete and mathematical in my reasoning (just as my family). I want to recast this scripture within the framework of the mathematical equivalency that God = love (1 John 4:8). 1 Corinthians 13 reads quite differently.
1 Cor. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not God, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not God, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not God, I gain nothing. 4 God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. 5 God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. 6 God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 God 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. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when God (perfection) comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When 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. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see [God] face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know [God] fully, even as I am fully known [by God]. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and God. But the greatest of these is God. (NIV)
For those who scoff at a loving God by pointing to the world in such turmoil and pain, there is a much larger picture that I will be teaching about in Sunday School this week. Most of us certainly can picture what Jesus Christ went through before and during the crucifixion, but what about after the crucifixion?
Once you understand that story, I think you will see a loving God far beyond your wildest dreams or imaginations. His license to create is based solely in his love and not the fact that he has the power to do anything that he wants. Hopefully I’ll share more in a coming post after my Sunday School lesson.
God’s license to create us in the first place is simply because he is good and loving. He has the right to create because it is his nature to make creatures upon whom he can lavish his goodness and love. He is not controlling and self-serving. Loving goodness always seeks to propagate loving goodness. Loving goodness desires to give all of itself to its creation.
L